Divorce and other related family law matters can be complex, time-consuming, and stressful. In 2026, generative AI (“Artificial Intelligence”) models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot are rapidly becoming part of everyday life, both in personal and professional settings. As this technology grows and becomes more accessible, individuals going through divorce or other family law matters are turning to AI for guidance and answers.
While AI can offer convenience and efficiency, it is important as a lay person to understand its limitations and understand the risks if you rely on it to make decisions in your legal matter. Here are a few key considerations for those utilizing AI in their divorce:
Clear Access to Generalized Information
AI can provide a user with immediate access to general information about the divorce process, procedures, and can break down complex legal terminology into understandable language. If you are at the beginning of your process, and have not yet consulted with an attorney, turning to AI, just like reading articles, or blogs like this one, can help set expectations, identify potential issues, and prepare for what ahead.
Organizational and Drafting Support
Throughout a divorce or family law dispute, it can be difficult to stay organized and know what information is relevant, both to your attorney and the court. AI can help you organize documents, identify key issues, and create useful summaries of key facts. It can assist in drafting communications to your spouse or attorney, removing charged language and unnecessary details. An example of this is OurFamilyWizard™ (“OFW”), an app that is designed to support co-parent communications. OFW has an AI add-on called ToneMeter™ AI, which reviews and edits parent’s messages, providing feedback and suggestions to ensure communications between co-parents remains productive and respectful.
Privacy Concerns
While AI can serve as a useful tool for staying organized and prioritizing relevant information, users should be cautious about the information they input or upload into AI models. While it may be tempting to upload personal or financial information into an AI model for a quick answer, it is critical to understand the potential risks. By nature, divorce and other family law disputes involve sensitive and private information. You should know whether the AI you are using is “open source” or “closed source.” “Open Source” AI is freely available to anyone to use, study, modify, and distribute, including any private or privileged information you put into it. While most platforms have privacy policies and security measures, no system is entirely secure, particularly when dealing with financial records, personal identifiers such as birth dates or social security numbers, or information related to healthcare and children. Whenever possible, consider keeping this information private between you and your attorney, or anonymizing prompts before utilizing AI.
Additionally, your AI history, including prompts, uploads, and generated answers, could be discoverable in litigation. Before quickly typing something into an AI platform, consider whether you would be comfortable with that information becoming part of the public record in your case.
Accuracy Concerns
Despite their constant evolution and improvement, AI models are by no means perfect. They may generate a response to your legal inquiry that looks correct on its face, and that even includes citations to a statute or case law. However, these answers and citations can be outdated, inapplicable to your state or county’s local rules, fictional, or just plain wrong. Legal issues, especially the heavily fact-based realities of divorce and other family law matters are complex, and the convenient “yes” or “no” answer often generated by AI could be incorrect.
AI can be a powerful resource during divorce and family law matters when used thoughtfully and with caution. It can help you prepare for the process, stay organized, and communicate more effectively with your spouse or attorney. The reality of using the internet in 2026 is that AI is heavily integrated into the platforms we use daily. Understanding its limitations, taking care to anonymize or avoid uploading sensitive information, and independently verifying its answers and responses with an experienced attorney will help ensure that you remain a careful and informed user while navigating your case.
