AI in family law: risks and responsibilities

The rapid advancement of AI in 2025 led to significant transformations, making change unavoidable and altering not only how lawyers and law firms operate but also shifting client expectations. It is now a regular occurrence for family law clients to use AI not only for help with tasks such as writing emails, but even using it as a supplement to, or indeed a replacement for, legal advice or to draft evidence that will be submitted to court.

Key risks with AI in family law

Most, if not all of us, will have used AI in some capacity. However, there are some notable risks with using AI tools, particularly in the legal sector. 

• ‘Hallucinations’ – AI tends to hallucinate, meaning it makes things up. It can produce entirely convincing, but completely false, legal information, often quoting laws or cases that are not real.
• Out-of-date information – The law in the UK changes regularly, whether through Government Bills or case law. It is not guaranteed that AI keeps up with these changes, or its nuances, and can therefore provide outdated information.
• Lack of context – family law matters are deeply personal. AI can only offer solutions based on its integrated patterns, rather than knowledge of the best outcomes for you and your children. AI can also fail to overlook the wide discretion of the court in family law matters and seek to provide black and white responses to nuanced and complex areas.
• Bias - because AI is trained on real-world data, there will be in-built biases that can result in insensitive or unfair suggestions for difficult cases, for example those involving domestic abuse.

There are any number of ways that clients have been utilising AI tools in their legal cases. When going through divorce proceedings, it is very normal for clients to feel stressed, overwhelmed, and in need of support from various quarters, not solely legal. 

However, professional support, while essential, costs money. The ongoing impact of rising costs is continuing to have a significant impact on couples going through separation and divorce. It is possibly inevitable, then, that the use of AI, which in many cases, is free and accessible 24/7, has become an attractive option.

AI tools are being used across the board to support with various aspects of the divorce process, including:

• Drafting witness statements
• Compiling documentation and evidence
• Form filling
• Creating parenting plans
• Writing emails to solicitors, the other party, or third parties

When documents are prepared for court, the previously mentioned limitations of AI tools may harm a party’s credibility, disrupt the proceedings and lead to higher overall costs.

Some clients are utilising AI to prepare draft statements that will include numerous citations of case law. This is rarely necessary in a witness statement given its purpose is to be an account of a personal experience rather than a summary or application of case law. In documents where case law is appropriate, there is no guarantee that the law produced is relevant or even real. This in turn creates extra work for the lawyer in referencing and ensuring that the case law is all real and accurate, as well as dealing with procedural matters where clients have sought to include case law references in inappropriate documents

AI is also never 100% accurate, and disclaimers will always state that information generated should be fact-checked. This recommendation is not always followed, however, and mistakes are very easy to make and be glossed over.

In practice, relying on AI material can increase costs, precisely the opposite intention of many individuals choosing to go down this route. Lawyers will need to review, verify, correct or even completely redraft content before it can be safely submitted to the court. The additional work undermines any perceived efficiencies and ultimately means higher costs and often more delays.

We have also seen circumstances where AI has been used by clients to draft their correspondence with the other party. This has often removed the human emotion element from the tones of messages and has resulted in an inflammation of tensions, creating further and greater disputes. This not only increases the costs but also the stress caused to parties.

Finally, there is the issue of confidentiality. Divorce and separation, and the accompanying legal processes, involve detailed and extremely personal information. Uploading this data into an AI tool, particularly a free one, often means it is stored, processed, or retained online, posing a threat to clients and potentially a breach of their duties to ensure confidentiality of private proceedings. 

AI as legal advice

AI has, in some cases, been used for legal advice. Questions have been posed to AI that should only go through a lawyer. In some cases, clients will use AI to simplify or translate a lawyer’s advice. However, AI may change the meaning of the information and this can cause problems. It not only impacts the trust between a lawyer and their client, but again can cause delays to proceedings, adding extra stress as well as cost. 

In 2025, ChatGPT has announced new ‘rules’ that mean the tool can no longer give specific legal, financial or medical advice. It will be officially an educational tool rather than offering professional insight. That this has changed relatively swiftly after its ascension to fame is very telling. 

Even though ChatGPT will no longer be able to offer advice, this does not prevent clients using alternative tools, or relying on false or exaggerated information. Caution and discretion must still be applied.  

AI and family lawyers

AI-generated documents are not only a risk to clients, but also to lawyers. Legal professionals will likely be seeing this across the sector, but it is more important than ever to be vigilant. It is worryingly easy for information to be doctored, for a transaction to never have taken place, or the amount or date changed to suit. This is where the importance of exchanging financial disclosure between parties becomes even more important. Questionnaires should be raised, and any red flags should be investigated by a forensic accountant. 

Many law firms are developing their own ways of integrating AI into day-to-day activities both legal and administrative. In general practice, AI can be used to drive efficiency – through transcribing meetings, collating notes and other organisational tasks. It can also streamline a client’s experience with the firm and encourage better interactions based on the unique needs of the client. However, it should be used with caution especially around personal information.

Benefits of AI for divorcing clients

AI is creating a more fair and accessible Family Justice System through language translation, virtual assistance and online dispute resolution platforms. Provided it is used carefully, and legal advice is sought alongside, AI tools can streamline some processes.

For clients, the benefits of AI are primarily for support with the practicalities of divorce and separation, for example creating schedules and timelines to ensure that lawyer and court deadlines are kept to or assisting with gathering their financial disclosure. AI will happily draw up a plan for individuals around submission dates, meetings, and court hearings.

Although it cannot understand the nuances of a separating couple’s relationship, AI can help draft email or text responses that stick to the practicalities and only answer what is necessary. For high-conflict divorces, this can be an invaluable tool in easing tensions around negotiations, particularly where there are children involved. Though, caution should be taken if AI is to be used for regular drafting of correspondence as it can sometimes have the opposite effect to what was intended as set out above.

Ultimately, the rapidly changing world of technology and AI is certainly keeping family lawyers on their toes. How we use AI in our practice going forward, and how we advise clients around using it in their own cases, will evolve. Change is already advancing with ChatGPT’s new restrictions. We might see a very different situation by the end of 2026.

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