Why AI (and ChatGPT) Can’t Handle All Your Family Law and Estate-Planning Needs

You can ask ChatGPT to write your grocery list, your emails, even your wedding vows. So why not your divorce petition, parenting plan, or will? AI has quickly become a powerful everyday tool. It can analyze complex laws, draft documents, and even offer detailed explanations about court procedures.

But when it comes to family law and estate planning, experience still matters. AI can be surprisingly capable, but only when it’s guided by someone who knows what information actually matters and how to apply it in the real world. Without that foundation, the results can be incomplete, misleading, or even harmful.

AI Is a Tool That’s Only as Good as the User

It’s true that AI can give surprisingly good, even personalized, legal advice if the user provides the right information. The challenge is that most people don’t know which facts are relevant, what the court will consider important, or how the law operates in practice. 

AI doesn’t know what to ask you. If key details are missing, such as whether a spouse recently received a year-end bonus, whether a parent plans to relocate, or whether a family business has fluctuating income, AI will fill in gaps with general assumptions. The result may sound correct but still miss critical nuances that affect your outcome.

That’s where experience makes the difference. A good attorney doesn’t just know the law, they know what questions to ask. They know which details change everything and which don’t. While AI can assist with analysis, it can’t decide what matters most without human direction.

Strategy Requires Real-Time Judgment and Human Communication

Legal issues don’t unfold in chat windows. They’re resolved in human conversations, hearings, and negotiations, where timing, tone, and judgment matter just as much as the law itself. You could, in theory, bring a laptop to mediation or court and ask ChatGPT how to respond to each proposal or question. But that would be impractical and counterproductive.

Advocacy is about connection, not scripted dialogue. You could ask AI how to sound more empathetic or sincere, and it might even give good advice, but it can’t help you deliver that empathy or sincerity in real time. A good attorney understands that words are only part of advocacy. Tone, pacing, and body language often matter more than the words themselves. That’s why even the most advanced AI can only prepare you for the conversation, it can’t have the conversation for you. 

The Bigger Risk: Incomplete or Inaccurate Information

Here’s the bigger risk: if the preparation is built on incomplete or outdated law, the conversation can go sideways fast. Even the best AI systems can “hallucinate,” confidently citing laws or cases that don’t exist. They can also mix outdated statutes or local rules into answers without signaling that anything is wrong. 

A good attorney knows when something doesn’t sound right, when to check the statute directly, and when to push back. A self-represented party may not. That’s the danger. When people trust AI’s output without verification, they risk making decisions based on half-truths or completely off-base information.

In family law and estate planning, that can have serious consequences, e.g., a flawed parenting plan, unenforceable agreement, or will that doesn’t comply with execution formalities. 

Where AI Excels (and How We Use It) 

Still, that doesn’t mean AI has no place in the practice of law. It can be incredibly useful when used collaboratively. It can help organize financial data, draft documents, summarize statutes, and even spot issues that deserve a closer look.

Like many firms, we use AI to help us work more efficiently. For example, we might use AI to check language consistency in a parenting plan, summarize disclosure documents, or generate checklists for an estate-planning file. But every decision, interpretation, recommendation, and strategic choice still comes from an attorney who knows you and your situation personally. Ultimately, we believe AI should empower your attorney, not be your attorney.

Final Thoughts 

We embrace innovation, but we never lose sight of what makes the practice of law human: judgment, empathy, and advocacy. Whether you’re facing a divorce, custody dispute, or planning for your future, technology can support the process, but it can’t replace the skill and perspective that comes from experience. And that’s precisely what we deliver.