Is Adultery a Crime in the US? State Laws, Penalties, and Divorce Impact

Yes, adultery is still a crime in the US, but only in about 16 states and Puerto Rico, and actual prosecutions are vanishingly rare. Three states classify it as a felony; the rest treat it as a misdemeanor. The real consequences of cheating on a spouse almost always come through divorce court, military discipline, or, in a handful of states, a civil lawsuit filed against the third party.

States Where Adultery Is Still Illegal

Three states treat adultery as a felony:

The remaining states classify it as a misdemeanor: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Several states have cleaned these laws off their books in recent years. Minnesota repealed its statute in 2022.3Minnesota House of Representatives. Bill Calls for Repeal of Discriminatory and Outdated Fornication Statute Idaho followed around the same time, and New York repealed its law in April 2024. The direction is clearly toward decriminalization, but a sizable number of states show no signs of following.

What the Penalties Look Like on Paper

Misdemeanor penalties generally run from token fines to short jail stints. Florida, for example, treats adultery as a second-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.4The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 798.01 – Living in Open Adultery5Illinois General Assembly. 720 ILCS 5/11-35 – Adultery6Rhode Island General Assembly. Rhode Island General Laws 11-6-2 – Adultery7FindLaw. Mississippi Code 97-29-1 – Unlawful Cohabitation North Carolina folds adultery into its broader fornication and cohabitation statute and treats it as a Class 2 misdemeanor.8North Carolina General Assembly. North Carolina General Statutes 14-184 – Fornication and Adultery

The felony states are the outliers. Michigan and Oklahoma both top out at five years in prison, with Oklahoma adding a maximum $500 fine.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 750.30 – Adultery2New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Oklahoma Statutes – Adultery Wisconsin’s felony classification brings up to three and a half years and a $10,000 fine. On paper, these rival the penalties for some property and drug offenses.

Why Prosecutions Almost Never Happen

Prosecutors in every state have discretion over which cases to bring, and adultery cases rarely clear that bar. These cases consume public resources to resolve what is fundamentally a private dispute. Juries are unsympathetic to criminal charges over infidelity. The evidence-gathering is invasive. Most prosecutors treat adultery statutes as relics that stayed on the books through inertia rather than any deliberate choice to keep them live.

There is also a constitutional cloud. The Supreme Court’s 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas held that the government cannot criminalize private, consensual sexual conduct between adults, though the majority said the case did not address adultery.9Justia U.S. Supreme Court. Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 (2003) No federal court has squarely ruled that Lawrence invalidates adultery statutes, but the uncertainty gives prosecutors another reason to avoid testing them.

Adultery in the Military

The military is the one place where adultery charges carry real weight. Under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, adultery is a chargeable offense when extramarital sexual conduct harms good order and discipline or brings discredit on the armed forces.10U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces. Core Criminal Law Subjects – Crimes – Article 134 – Adultery This one gets used. Courts-martial weigh factors like the service member’s rank, whether the other person was also in the military or a subordinate’s spouse, and how publicly the relationship was conducted. Officers face additional exposure under Article 133, which covers conduct unbecoming an officer.

The maximum punishment is a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and confinement for up to one year. That combination effectively ends a military career and strips retirement benefits. Even lesser outcomes like a letter of reprimand or nonjudicial punishment under Article 15 can derail promotions and push a service member out.

How Adultery Affects a Divorce

For most people, infidelity’s real cost shows up in divorce court. Every state offers no-fault divorce, but many still allow a spouse to file on fault-based grounds including adultery, and in the right jurisdiction proving fault shifts the financial outcome.

Alimony

Several states let judges consider adultery when setting spousal support. In some, a spouse whose infidelity caused the separation can be barred from receiving alimony entirely. Georgia is a notable example: if a court finds that adultery led to the breakdown of the marriage, the unfaithful spouse loses any claim to spousal support. Other states treat adultery as one factor among many that can reduce an award rather than eliminate it. The same set of facts can produce very different results depending on where you file.

Property and Dissipation of Assets

Adultery alone rarely changes how courts divide property, especially in states that aim for equitable distribution regardless of fault. Spending marital money on an affair is a different matter. Courts call this “dissipation of marital assets,” and it covers expensive gifts, hotel stays, trips, and other costs tied to the extramarital relationship. When a judge finds dissipation, the court adjusts the property split to compensate the other spouse for the wasted funds, valued at what they were worth when they were spent. Credit card statements and detailed financial records become central evidence.

Child Custody

Adultery alone almost never changes a custody outcome. Courts decide custody on the child’s best interests, and a parent’s sexual conduct outside the marriage is generally irrelevant. The exception is narrow: if the affair exposed the children to harmful situations, disrupted their living arrangements, or showed a pattern of judgment poor enough to raise parenting concerns, a judge can factor it in. A parent who had an affair but otherwise remained a capable caregiver should not expect to lose custody over it.

Can the Wronged Spouse Sue the Other Person

In a small number of states, yes. These lawsuits go by two names. “Alienation of affection” targets someone who deliberately interfered with the marriage. “Criminal conversation” is the civil equivalent of adultery and simply requires proof that sexual intercourse occurred. Despite the name, criminal conversation is a civil claim for money damages, not a criminal charge.

As of early 2026, roughly six states still recognize these claims. North Carolina and South Dakota are among the most active. Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, and Utah also appear on various lists of states that still permit them, though the law is evolving. New Mexico recently abolished the tort.

Where the claims survive, damages can be substantial. Successful alienation of affection verdicts have ranged from a few thousand dollars to tens of millions. The lawsuit is filed against the outside romantic partner, not the unfaithful spouse. Proving it requires showing that the marriage had genuine love and affection before the interference, that the third party’s actions destroyed it, and that the wronged spouse suffered damages as a result.

Background Checks, Licenses, and Clearances

Even when adultery goes unprosecuted, a conviction that does land on a record creates downstream problems. Any criminal conviction shows up on background checks, and a felony adultery conviction in Michigan, Oklahoma, or Wisconsin would require disclosure on job applications asking about criminal history. For holders of professional licenses, the picture is mixed. The American Bar Association’s guidance says disciplining lawyers for “personal morality” issues like adultery is inappropriate, but a few state courts have done it anyway when the conduct raised broader fitness-for-practice concerns. Security clearances are another area where infidelity surfaces regularly, because investigators view it as relevant to trustworthiness and vulnerability to coercion.