artificial intelligence

Should I Use AI to Navigate My Divorce?

Published on
Emma Alfieri - Co-Parenting
Emma Alfieri
Legal Director
Greene & Greene Solicitors

Why AI Feels like the obvious answer

Artificial intelligence has, in a remarkably short space of time, become the first place many people turn when they need answers. Whether it is planning a holiday, drafting an email or understanding a complex topic, AI tools promise quick, confident responses at a click of a button, wherever you are.

It is therefore unsurprising that people facing separation or divorce are increasingly using AI to seek legal guidance. When emotions are high and costs are a concern, instant answers can appear to be an attractive alternative to seeking professional advice. However, when it comes to divorce and family law, relying on AI can quietly expose you to significant risk.

Why AI struggles with UK family law

One of the greatest dangers of AI is how convincing it can sound. Responses are often detailed, well-structured and expressed with confidence. However, confidence does not equal accuracy. AI responses are known to consistently contain inaccurate information.

Crucially, AI tools are not designed with the English legal system in mind. Most widely used platforms are developed in the United States and trained largely on American legal data. Although English and US family law both deal with issues such as divorce, finances and children, they differ significantly in structure, legal principles and outcomes.

Divorce law in England and Wales is highly discretionary and fact specific. AI guidance shaped by US assumptions can therefore be fundamentally unsuited – and potentially misleading – for English divorcing couples.

Increased cost and delay

Many people turn to AI in the hope of saving money. In reality, relying on incorrect or generic guidance can have the opposite effect. It can lead to:

  • Issuing the wrong type of application.
  • Failing to take appropriate steps before going to court.
  • Submitting poorly prepared documentation.

All of which a Judge is unlikely to look favourably upon. Ultimately when a solicitor is later instructed to correct these issues, the result is often increased costs, avoidable delay and added emotional strain. Early professional advice can prevent these problems arising, rather than having to repair the damage further down the line.

Where AI can be relied on

AI can be and is, an extremely helpful tool when used within appropriate limits. It can assist with explaining legal terminology, providing a general overview of the process and helping individuals frame questions before seeking advice.

However, it should be used as an information aid only. AI cannot access your individual circumstances, manage risk, or guide decisions that will shape your future.  It is important to be aware of AI’s inherent limitations – including its tendency to agree rather than challenge. AI is designed to be helpful and affirmative; it will not tell you your expectations are unrealistic or when a proposed course of action carries risk. In family law, that lack of challenge carries substantial risk.

Why a human approach matters for your family’s future

Divorce is not just a legal process; it could shape your future and that of your family. No two cases are the same and each requires careful consideration in context with the circumstances.

Divorce requires judgement, strategy and empathy – not just access to information. The human understanding and empathy are qualities AI simply cannot replicate.

A family solicitor provides personalised advice, based on the individual circumstances, practical support and the benefit of dealing with this area of law every day, all within a confidential and regulated framework.

If you are navigating a divorce or family law issues, whilst AI can be useful to gather information, it should not solely be relied on.

Seeking tailored guidance can help protect your position and ensure you are navigating the process in the appropriate way.

This is only intended to be a summary and not specific legal advice.

About Emma Alfieri

Emma Alfieri is a Legal Director at Suffolk firm Greene & Greene Solicitors.

Emma advises on all aspects of family law, including divorce and associated financial matters, disputes between cohabitants and child related disputes.

A member of Resolution, Emma is committed to resolving disputes as positively and agreeably as possible whilst also being motivated to obtain the best possible outcome for her clients.

Since 2012 Emma has been consistently recommended by the Legal 500 on an annual basis and in the most recent 2024 edition Emma is ranked as a “rising star”.

As an advocate of fault free divorce, Emma lobbied at Parliament with other members of Resolution in 2016 to bring about the recent changes to divorce law.

You might be interested in

4 Reasons You Shouldn’t Use AI to Get Divorced

Published on
Amanda Mason
CEO and Founder of SOLAGREEⓇ

After I graduated from law school, I spent years as a litigator fighting in the traditional family court system. I spent the early part of my career doing exactly what I was trained to do: fighting hard, pushing forward, and winning cases. But even when my clients “won,” I saw the immense collateral damage left behind. Once I personally experienced the trauma of taking the stand in my own custody trial, the reality became undeniable. The traditional, adversarial court system is a failing model that leaves families financially and emotionally drained. Fundamentally, it is an environment where someone is pitted versus someone, breeding an atmosphere of hostility and paranoia.

Today, clients are increasingly rejecting that adversarial approach. Nobody wants to pay a huge retainer with an open-ended billing structure, wait months for a meaningful update from their counsel, or spend years waiting to get into a backlogged courtroom. In a desperate attempt to avoid what I call the “divorce industrial complex,” many people are turning to artificial intelligence and LLM platforms to streamline the legal process, hoping for a faster, cheaper out.

The uncomfortable truth is that AI is actually not doing a half-bad job with the basic administrative aspects of divorce. Tools currently in development are designed to bypass our involvement entirely, allowing clients to simply push a button and file away. But while I fully advocate for bypassing the toxic, broken court system, turning your family’s future over to a robot is a dangerous gamble.

Here are four reasons why you shouldn’t use AI to get divorced, and why a human-centric alternative is still the only way to truly protect your peace and your wallet.

1. AI Cannot Read a Room or Understand Emotional Complexity

At our core, we are mammals. We crave and need a human touch, especially during our most vulnerable and terrifying moments. When one spouse decides to leave a marriage, both spouses’ fight-or-flight modes instantly engage, and trust—which is already battered—completely erodes. Divorce triggers profound emotional trauma, transforming the smartest, most accomplished people into individuals ruled by anxiety and fear.

Algorithms, no matter how advanced they may be, cannot read a room or understand emotional complexity. An AI cannot see the anxiety in a spouse’s face during a mediation session, nor can it validate a parent’s unique values and goals. When you are existing in a heightened state of distrust where every word feels like a trap, you need an objective human professional to guide you back to a rational headspace. Human professionals can dial down the anxiety at the outset and get people thinking more positively, something a computer prompt simply cannot do.

2. The Margin of Error is Terrifying

While AI might get the broad strokes right, the 5-40 percent that it gets wrong should be absolutely terrifying to anyone relying on it for a legal resolution. Divorce isn’t just paperwork; it dictates the division of your hard-earned assets, your future financial stability, and most importantly, the custody and support of your children.

A hallucination by an AI platform or a misunderstanding of nuanced state law could result in a disastrous final document. If your automated AI divorce makes a critical error, you will likely end up right back in the same expensive, backlogged court system you were trying to avoid, paying an attorney tens of thousands of dollars to try and untangle the mess. I went to law school to protect people’s rights, and prioritizing flesh-and-blood clients over data sets requires real human diligence.

3. Algorithms Cannot Craft Creative Compromises

AI platforms assume that you and your spouse can already agree on everything. But what happens when you don’t? Even the most “amicable” couples usually have complex financial or parenting issues to resolve.

Artificial intelligence cannot craft creative compromises that fit a family’s specific needs and goals. Only humans can do that. In a properly structured human process, you start by working with a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA) who helps you deeply understand what’s actually in play financially, giving you the power to design your own outcomes. Likewise, a custody intake specialist can help validate each parent’s styles, often revealing that parents have more commonalities than differences. A skilled human mediator can then bridge the gap on difficult issues. An AI simply outputs standard templates based on algorithms; it cannot brainstorm an outside-the-box solution that saves your family’s specific business or protects a unique retirement plan.

4. AI Lacks the Binding “Safety Net” Needed for True Peace of Mind

The biggest vulnerability of any purely automated or unguided negotiation is that there is no safety net. With traditional “naked” mediation, collaborative law, or DIY AI tools, either spouse can walk away at any time. As long as that threat exists, neither party can truly relax or operate outside of a defensive posture.

A human-centric, phased approach—specifically mediated arbitration—solves this. In this method, couples commit to a binding process from the start. If you cannot resolve a specific issue through mediation, a vetted, private human arbitrator steps in to make a legally binding decision based on your state’s laws. This ensures that no single person can blow the whole thing up and drag it out for years. Knowing that this human safety net is in place organically lowers anxiety and pulls clients out of their defensive fight-or-flight mentality, allowing them to engage in dignified, rational compromise. An AI program cannot guarantee that your high-conflict spouse won’t suddenly abandon the software and hire a pitbull attorney.

Future-Proofing Your Divorce

I entirely understand the desire to escape the nightmare of traditional litigation. As a seasoned practitioner who has spent years watching the adversarial system rip everyone apart, I know exactly why couples are searching for a faster, flat-fee alternative.

But the answer is not to hand your family’s future over to an algorithm. To truly future-proof the profession and protect families, we must pivot toward human-centric, highly efficient alternative resolution frameworks. By utilizing a structured model that integrates CDFAs, skilled mediators, and private arbitrators, you can achieve the virtual, streamlined, and cost-predictable divorce you want—without sacrificing the vital emotional support and legal integrity you need.

At the end of the day, divorcing strong means maintaining who you are at the core of your soul all the way through to the end of the process. You deserve a divorce framework that prioritizes your dignity, neutrality, and humanity. Robots may be fast, but when it comes to your family, your finances, and your peace of mind, there is simply no substitute for the right humans.

About Amanda Mason

Amanda Mason is CEO and founder of SOLAGREEⓇ, a new divorce framework that blends mediation, arbitration, and financial planning professionals into one streamlined process. In addition to her role with SOLAGREEⓇ, Amanda is a partner at Mason, Mason, & Smith in Wilmington, NC and a certified mediator who provides assertive, effective representation in divorce, custody, and complex civil matters.

You might be interested in