Can you marry an AI chatbot and leave it your inheritance?

My first ever time hearing a human marrying Ai chatbot was when Alainai Winters married AI-generated partner. 

As the world develops and technologies seem to replace humans, you will come across stuff that seems weird and nonsense but there’s nothing you can do about it. The world is wired to move forward whether at the detriment of human survival or for the fun of it, nobody cares. 

In this short episode, we will try as much to answer whether or not I can marry an AI chatbot and leave it my inheritance. 

With my non-law background, I can say this is a complicated question to answer. Why? Because we are yet to embrace the reality that Artificial Intelligence is here to stay. Here to stay with it’s own problems, adding to our already sophisticated unsolved challenges, but yea, Elon Musk needs more robots lol. 

Well, if animals have laws, why not Ai? May delay but no impossible!

Why is marriage and Inheritance legally relevant in today’s tech-driven society?

Let’s take this scenario to examine if this legal conversation about Ai chatbot marriage and inheritance is worth it. 

Supposing you already have kids, with another human and then moved on to marry an Aibot, after your death, there obviously will be a conflict of how much of what is inherited by your close relatives. This is where the actual headaches stem from. 

From the above case, a legal framework might be the only solution. Isn’t it?

Can You Legally Marry an AI?

Let me bruise your ego, sorry, as of 2025 June while writing this post the short answer to whether or not you can legally marry an Ai is No. 

And anything that is not legal can not be legally left inheritance. 

Repeating it, You have no legal backing to legally marry any AI chatbot on earth here. This makes your quest to leave inheritance nulled and void. 

You are asking why? Simple, Artificial intelligence AKA, Ai Chatbots have no legal personhood or rights in any country in the world as of 2025 June. Think otherwise? Correct us with a comment below!

A. What Is a Legal Marriage?

For the purpose of education, what exactly is marriage, legally? 

Supposedly, we use the laws of the United States, marriage is defined as a civil agreement  between two people who have the legal capacity to consent and enter into such an agreement. 

Even though Marriage has been in existence long before centuries, a case in the U.S. Supreme Court reaffirmed what marriage means. The case between Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015), reiterated that marriage is a basic right under the Constitution, stating:

“The fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

Breaking it down, the federal law further states that marriage is a civil contact between two humans. 

The above definition didn’t mention specifically whether same sex or heterogeneity however, something is specific “humans”. 

Key Points about marriage definitions:

• Marriage is a union between two legal persons (Humans).
  
• Marriage requires legal capacity (consent, age, rights).
  

B. Global Legal Perspective of Ai Chatbot Marriage and Inheritance.

Lets make it snappy. We can not talk about all 190+ countries in the world. Here are key facts about major countries around the world where this conversation has emerged;

• United States: Only human-human marriage is allowed law
  
• United Kingdom: The main legal governing body in the United States called “Marriage Act” disputes non-human unions (Marriage Act 1949)
  
• Japan: Symbolic AI marriages also known as fictional character marriages have occurred, but not legally recognized. This took place between Akihiko Kondo and Hatsune Miku. Even though a formal wedding occasion was held where human guests were invited, Rings were made for it and vows taken, it still didn’t get any legal backing.
• Germany, China, and others: Per information available, all these countries only permit marriage between two humans. Ai chabot marriage has been in the public place for discussions but not formally institutionalized or legally binding.  
• International law: No jurisdiction recognizes marriage to Ai chatbots.

3. Can You Leave an Inheritance to an AI?

The basic answer to this question is No. You can not leave inheritance to artificial intelligence as of now. 

A. What Is Required to Inherit?

Requirements of inheritance vary based on jurisdiction, country or even states. In this post, we will focus on the United States.  

If the deceased failed to leave a will, intestate succession laws may solely be used for the process. Other requirements include but are not limited to probate proceedings, the identification and assets evaluations, and the distribution of those assets to heirs according to the deceased’s will, that’s, if the deceased left a will behind. 

Another requirement of inheritance is that the beneficiary’s persons or trusts, that’s business or corporations which are legally recognized.  

B. Why AI Can’t Inherit

• AI lacks legal personhood or rights; As mentioned above, Ai has no legal backing as far as marriage and human coexisting is concerned. So basically you can get will your assets to a robot.
  
• No capacity to own property or sue/be sued; And again artificial intelligences do not have the means to own, use, enter contracts, sue or be sued and therefore do not qualify to own a property.

Faqs

Conclusion Ai Marriage and Inheritance! 

A fast paced world with tech being the sole facilitator, the law makers are finding it difficult to catch with reality. 

More than before, philosophers have more jobs to do and more ethical concerns are rising. Urgent attention is needed in these areas.

Even though conversations in the social domain suggest that assets should be left to foundations that see to the day-t0-day operations of Ai, this will still need human operators in charge. 

Not the answer you expected but sorry, as of now, your AI partner can’t be your legal spouse or heir, or inherit your properties. We can only hope for someday!!

Your comments will be appreciated!