What Is Alienation of Affection? Attorney Breaks Down Rare Legal Concept That Cost a Tiktoker $1.75 Million

A TikToker's North Carolina lawsuit is making headlines.

[...]

Brett Ward, a partner in Blank Rome's Matrimonial & Family Law Group and co-chair of the firm's litigation department, tells PEOPLE about the history of alienation of affection and how social media played a role in Montague v. Kennard.

What is alienation of affection?

Alienation of affection is a civil tort that allows individuals to sue another for intentionally spurring the end of a marriage. Ward says the law often goes hand-in-hand with another civil tort, criminal conversion, which allows one to sue for extramarital sexual acts. Montague accused Kennard of both statutes.

In alienation of affection cases, the burden of proof is only preponderance of the evidence, which Ward notes is the lowest possible burden, being "just one tick higher than 50 percent chance this happened," he says.

"What's very interesting about these cases is [that] it's often very hard to prove, other than when you go on social media and publicize what you're doing," says the attorney, referring to Montague v. Kennard. Otherwise, the case is controlled by "circumstantial evidence," which also informs the jury's decision.

To read the full article, please click here.

"What Is Alienation of Affection? Attorney Breaks Down Rare Legal Concept That Cost a Tiktoker $1.75 Million," by Zoey Lyttle was published in PEOPLE on January 23, 2026.