Why the use of AI is NOT Recommended for Divorce Cases

By Tracy Ann Moore-Grant

Parties to divorce and family law matters are more and more turning to the emerging technology of AI for their cases. However, people should be advised that the use of AI can not only be inaccurate, but public. Most AI systems are what is called “open AI” which means the AI system is not just pulling all available public resources to provide answers to questions but is also then using your data and questions to enhance the knowledge of the AI.  The end result is that any questions you ask AI, or any result it gives you, is not private.

One of the first cases to address the use of AI in legal disputes is United States v. Heppner, which was a federal criminal case. However, the ruling in this case can be applied to matters in all states as well as civil matters like family law cases. Deceased in February of 2026, the US federal court rules that ChatGPT and other AI records are not private and are discoverable in legal proceedings. This means you may have to produce your questions to AI, the answers, and your question history.  Family lawyers using open AI should also proceed with extreme caution as any work they do on an open AI system is not protected by attorney client privilege or work product. Additionally, any information added about a client would not be private and adding personal information of a client to Open AI could violate a client’s right to privacy. 

If considering the use of AI in family law cases, both parties and lawyers should take the following into consideration:

• No Privacy/Confidentiality:  there is no reasonable expectation of privacy when using public AI tools because terms of service generally allow AI providers to store, review, and disclose user inputs/outputs.
• Waiver of Privilege: Feeding confidential information—such as legal strategies or attorney advice—into ChatGPT constitutes a waiver of privilege, making those records fair game for opposing counsel in a divorce.
• Third-Party Disclosure: The court found that sharing information with an AI platform is equivalent to sharing it with a third party, breaking the confidentiality required to protect that information. 
• Inaccuracy: ChatGPT and other open AI systems do not, and cannot, take into consideration case nuances, the trends of a particular judge or the impact of counsel selection on a case.

Legal experts are warning that any AI chat log about finances, custody strategies, or secrets shared with a chatbot can be subpoenaed and used as evidence in a divorce as well as other civil and criminal proceedings. Even if an AI chat is deleted, the data may still be retained by the AI provider, and, following a separate ruling in 2025, may be subject to production in litigation Although AI is a great and amazing new tool - proceed with caution if using for a legal dispute!