Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #484

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North Carolina Man Sues Ex-Wife’s Lover Under ‘Homewrecker’ Law Wins $750,000
North Carolina man won $750,000 in a lawsuit against the man he alleged broke up his marriage. Kevin Howard was married 12 years when his wife told him she wanted to sepa- rate.
“It was like some- one calling you and telling you that a family member had tragically died,” Howard told WITN.
Howard was awarded a $750,000 settle- ment against his ex-wife’s lover under North Carolina’s alien- ation of affection law, according to court docu- ments.
Under North Carolina alien- ation of affection laws known as “homewrecker” or “heartbalm” laws, which means a case can be brought to the court by a spouse who has
been deserted because of the actions of a third party, according to Lawyers.com.
“He came to my house and ate dinner with my children and I and her,” Howard said. “He would
visit with her while I was at work.”
“I filed this case because I believe it’s very important that people understand that sanctity of mar- riage is important especially in this
day and age when people question every- one’s morals, people questions everyone’s liabili- ty of a person and the state backed me up on it,” Howard added.
There are six other states other
that allow home- wrecker lawsuits, including Hawaii, Illinois, New Mexico, Mississippi, South Dakota, and Utah. The North Carolina law goes all the back to the 1800s and fol- lows English law dating back to 1745 when wives were considered property accord- ing to CBS 11.
Kellie Gonzalez, an independent attorney said, “I think the law should be repealed. There have been sever- al legislative movements and attempts to have the law removed but those have failed.”
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