Despite four decades as a divorce attorney, Bethesda lawyer Cheryl New found herself in uncharted territory during a recent case. Her client’s husband was sending messages—and hundreds of thousands of dollars—to a creator on an adult-content site. Eventually, he learned that the woman wasn’t a real person at all but an AI chatbot. Still, he opted to continue their relationship, giving “her” his desire, money, and attention, similar to any other affair.
“I’ve handled my share of unconventional cases,” New says. “But this was the first time I’ve thought, ‘I don’t even know if I can call her a person.’ ”
New isn’t alone. Local divorce attorneys say they’re encountering a steadily growing number of cases where AI is at the center of marital breakdown. It’s showing up in different forms: companion apps such as Replika and Nomi, marketed as always-available girlfriends or confidants; chatbots on adult-content platforms, where a customer can talk to an AI version of a real or invented person; and, increasingly, general-purpose platforms such as ChatGPT, where people spend hours engaging in unfiltered emotional conversation. Lawyers say the technology is rarely the sole cause of a divorce, but it’s becoming a common thread or the tipping point for a marriage.
According to Bridget Todd, the DC co-author of Love at First Prompt: AI and the Future of Intimacy, building an interpersonal relationship with AI is a gradual, often unintentional process. It starts with menial tasks, and then the connection can escalate to something more intimate. Research shows that humans have a natural tendency to personify technology. Consider how we project traits onto an adorable Roomba vacuum.
“AI is no different, especially when AI is designed to speak to you in friendly and flattering ways,” Todd says. That strong emotional connection can also lead to secrecy. “People are turning to AI because they have other parts of themselves that they want to be able to share without judgment and without feeling like, ‘Oh, I have to be mindful of the other human in this interaction.’ ”
DC attorney Rebekah Sullivan recalls a case in which her client’s husband accused his wife of cheating. He told a chatbot his theories about her and other men. The AI, trained to be agreeable and validating, affirmed his suspicion of an affair. Not only was it incorrect, but the allegation made the divorce difficult to settle. “There were live humans around him telling him that didn’t happen,” Sullivan says, “but he chose to believe AI over the humans.”
In the courtroom, judges aren’t differentiating between old-fashioned and AI affairs. According to New, conduct with chatbots is taken into account if it affects asset division, spousal support, or custody arrangements. Sometimes, in cases such as New’s example of the affair with a chatbot, transactional relationships with AI can be used to allege financial irresponsibility. In custody disputes, AI chats are presented as evidence that a parent is being inattentive or neglectful.
The technology may be modern, but for New, the behavior is not. This phenomenon of AI disrupting relationships reminds her of the early 2010s, when she started to see marriages strained by online games. Back then, it was World of Warcraft guilds and late-night chats on Words With Friends. But in 2026? It’s a chatbot that always remembers your birthday and never asks you to unload the dishwasher.
Top Divorce Lawyers
These attorneys were named by their peers as the area’s best divorce lawyers in our most recent survey
Jessica E. Adler
Law Office of Jessica E. Adler
Alice Ahearn
Eris Law Group
Sanford K. Ain
Ain & Bank
Erik P. Arena
Arena Family Law
Natalia Wilson Armstrong
Ain & Bank
Kristina Badalian
Grover & Badalian
Emily C. Baker
Tucker Family Law
Marina S. Barannik
Tucker Family Law
Elizabeth M. Bookwalter
Patterson Bookwalter
Jennifer Bradley
Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law
Sandra A. Brooks
Offit Kurman
Barbara A. Burr
Burr Law Firm
David Rust Clarke
Blankingship & Keith
Heather Collier
Roberts Family Law
Joseph A. Condo
Offit Kurman
Glenn M. Cooper
Lerch, Early & Brewer
Heather A. Cooper
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
James Ray Cottrell
Cottrell Fletcher & Cottrell
John K. Cottrell
Cottrell Fletcher & Cottrell
Gerald R. Curran
Curran Moher Weis
Jonathan M. Dana
Tucker Family Law
Jennifer A. Davison
Tucker Family Law
Julie Hottle Day
Culin Sharp Autry & Day
Lin Delaney
Delaney Stafford
Regina A. DeMeo
Markham Law Firm
Sara M. Donohue
Stein Sperling
Laura C. Dove
Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law
Matthew W. Edwards
Boies Schiller Flexner
Darryl Feldman
Feldman Jackson
Lisa Fishberg
Webb Soypher McGrath
Casey Weinberg Florance
Florance Van Scoy
Julie Curran Gerock
Maddox & Gerock
David L. Ginsberg
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
Erin C. Golding
Offit Kurman
Steven A. Goldman
Curran Moher Weis
Daniel L. Gray
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
Anne E. Grover
Grover & Badalian
Colleen M. Haddow
Schinstock & Haddow
Hadrian N. Hatfield
Strickler, Platnick & Hatfield
Sandra L. Havrilak
Blankingship & Keith
Lynn E. Hawkins
Bean Kinney & Korman
Kristin Henrikson
Henrikson Law
Cheryl L. Hepfer
Offit Kurman
Susan M. Hicks
Hicks Crandall Juhl
Brian M. Hirsch
Hirsch & Ehlenberger
Leslie Weber Hoffman
Family Law & Mediation Center
Heather Q. Hostetter
Hostetter Strent
Anne Marie Jackson
Feldman Jackson
Eva N. Juncker
Cipriani & Werner
Sheila J. Kadagathur
Hostetter Strent
Lynette Kleiza
Seltzer Gurvitch
Erin L. Kopelman
Lerch, Early & Brewer
Robert Kostecka
Paradiso, Taub, Sinay & Kostecka
Samantha H. Kravitz
Offit Kurman
Melissa Kucinski
MKFL: International Family Law
Kristen L. Kugel
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
Christian M. Lapham
Bean Kinney & Korman
Robert C. Liotta
Jeff Lowinger
New & Lowinger
Katharine Maddox
Maddox & Gerock
Christopher Malinowski
Malinowski Hubbard
Sarah E. Mancinelli
Ain & Bank
Jessica Markham
Markham Law Firm
Michael C. May
Briglia Hundley
Jennifer McCammon
Bean Kinney & Korman
Rhian McGrath
Webb Soypher McGrath
Margaret J. McKinney
Lerch, Early & Brewer
Heather L. Mehigan
Shulman Rogers
Theresa M. Mihalik
Bean Kinney & Korman
Jennifer Mullett
Mullett Dove & Bradley Family Law
Cheryl New
New & Lowinger
Gregory Nugent
Nugent Law
Nathan J. Olson
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
Katherine A. O’Rourke
Tucker Family Law
Carrie M. Patterson
Patterson Bookwalter
Brian K. Pearlstein
Brodsky Renehan Pearstein & Bouquet
Sarah A. Piper
Hicks Crandall Juhl
Sonya L. Powell
Powell Radomsky
Cynthia M. Radomsky
Powell Radomsky
Paul J. Reinstein
Reinstein, Glackin & Herriott
Christopher W. Roberts
Roberts Family Law
David E. Roop Jr.
Roop Law
Christopher W. Schinstock
Schinstock & Haddow
Sean P. Schmergel
Schmergel Family Law
Wendy H. Schwartz
Wendy H. Schwartz and Associates
Rebecca C. Shankman
Feldman Jackson
Michael Sinay
Paradiso, Taub, Sinay & Kostecka
Stephanie J. Smith
Cooper Ginsberg Gray
Paul R. Smollar
Smollar Kuntz Locey
Howard B. Soypher
Webb Soypher McGrath
Amy Spain
Boies Schiller Flexner
Hope L. Stafford
Delaney Stafford
Amy B. Strent
Hostetter Strent
Rebekah Sullivan
District Family Law
Robin Taub
Paradiso, Taub, Sinay & Kostecka
K. Leigh Taylor
Taylor Huguley Powers
Donna E. Van Scoy
Florance Van Scoy
Deborah L. Webb
Webb Soypher McGrath
Marshall Yaap
Offit Kurman
Julia A. Yolles
Blankingship & Keith
Sogand Zamani
Zamani & Associates
Sarah J. Zimmerman
Tucker Family Law
This article appears in the August 2026 issue of Washingtonian.
Before becoming Research Editor, Damare Baker was an Editorial Fellow and Assistant Editor for Washingtonian. She has previously written for Voice of America and The Hill. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she studied international relations, Korean, and journalism.
