Heartbalm tort
Civil action in common law for end of relationship
In the common law tradition, a heartbalm tort or heartbalm action is a civil action that a person may bring to seek monetary compensation for the end or disruption of a romantic or marital relationship. A heartbalm statute is a statute forbidding such actions.
Heartbalm actions in the United States typically include seduction, criminal conversation, alienation of affection, and breach of promise to marry. Of these, criminal conversation and alienation of affection are marital torts, originally restricted to husbands but in many states later made available to spouses regardless of gender. Seduction and breach of promise are nonmarital torts.
In England and other common law jurisdictions, additional heartbalm actions were traditionally recognized, such as enticement and wrongful harbouring (tortious refusal to allow a husband to visit a wife who has left him). A claim for damages based on loss of consortium is also sometimes considered a heartbalm action in England and elsewhere.
In the United States, heartbalm actions were widespread until high-profile stories in the early 20th century about heartbalm claims being abused for blackmail and extortion led to calls for repeal. The first state to abolish all heartbalm actions was Indiana, with “An Act to promote public morals” in 1935. By 1952, 16 more states had followed its example.
The public source identifies “Heartbalm tort” as civil action in common law for end of relationship. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Heartbalm, tort and Civil.
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Contemporary correspondence, administrative files and participant testimony can test how later narratives organized the event or institution. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q85766060. The first chronological checks are 1935 and 1952.
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This entry incorporates text from “Heartbalm tort” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.