House gives adultery suits a deadline

The House voted in favor of a bill that tweaks the state's laws that allow lawsuits over adultery.

In North Carolina, a man or woman can sue his or her spouse's lover for "alienation of affection." The jilted person can sue his or her spouse for "criminal conversation."

The bill states that the ability to sue doesn't apply if a couple has separated but not yet divorced. The bill sets a three years limit, beginning at the last act, for filing such lawsuits and it prohibits suits filed against businesses.

Rep. Johnathan Rhyne, Jr., a Lincolnton Republican, tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill to say that the law applied until a couple had obtained a legal separation agreement. Without the amendment, couples would have no incentive to try to save their marriages, he said.

"In North Carolina we have a one-year period of separation before you can get a divorce," Rhyne said. "Marriages are considered precious things and we've given a cooling off period."

Rep. Melanie Wade Goodwin, the bill's sponsor and a Hamlet Democrat, said the amendment ignores the reality, that many people don't get separation agreements until their lawyers have investigated the spouse's finances.

Rep. Mark Hilton, a Conover Republican, said the bill weakened marriage.

"What we're going to be doing if this bill passes is saying it's open season," Hilton said.