ChatGPT Can’t Save Your Marriage (Or Handle Your Divorce): Why AI Isn’t Your Attorney

“I asked ChatGPT to write my divorce papers, and it said…” Stop right there! As much as I love tech, using AI as your divorce attorney is like asking a GPS to perform open-heart surgery: impressive in theory, terrifying in practice. (Hey, I used Chat to write this blog, but I proofread it and edited for accuracy and tone to give it that WOLF special touch)! 

AI is fantastic at processing text, spotting patterns, and drafting boilerplate. But family law lives in the messy details: state statutes, local court rules, the particular way a judge interprets custody language, or the way a certain courthouse clerk treats filing deadlines. ChatGPT doesn’t live in New Jersey. It didn’t grow up watching Judge Smith’s courtroom habits. It can’t read the underlying motivations that make one negotiation strategy succeed and another fail.

The problem isn’t malice; it has limits. AI returns information and templates. Legal advice requires application. Advice threads together your facts, applicable law, and strategy. It anticipates consequences. It notices what a generic template missed, like a retirement clause that creates a tax trap, or a property division that leaves one spouse with an impossible mortgage.

I’ve watched well-meaning people bring AI-generated agreements to settlement talks only to discover the documents referenced the wrong state law, omitted enforceable language, or left loopholes that cost real money. One client signed what they thought was a fair split, until they realized the wording waived rights they hadn’t intended to surrender. That mistake cost tens of thousands to unwind.

That said, AI can be useful when used properly. Use it to learn basic concepts, generate questions for your attorney, or organize documents before your consult. Use it to draft a very rough outline of goals. But don’t treat a chatbot as a licensed counselor who can weigh evidence, cross-examine credibility, or file pleadings that satisfy local court rules.

There’s also an emotional intelligence piece. Divorce is not just paperwork: it’s negotiating a life, not a dataset. A human lawyer reads tone, counsels through setbacks, and pivots strategy when a negotiation stalls. They protect you from your own worst impulses, and sometimes from the other party’s games.

And then there’s cost. Sure, AI feels free. But the cheap route often becomes the expensive one when errors surface. The smart approach is hybrid: use technology to do the legwork, then hire a lawyer to turn that legwork into legal protection.

If you and your spouse are on the same page and want a low-conflict, paperwork-only divorce, you don’t need AI to fake what only a lawyer can do. What you need is someone who knows New Jersey divorce law, can prepare enforceable agreements, and will file the right documents so the court accepts them, quickly and affordably.

👉 If you’re divorcing amicably and just need the paperwork done right (flat-fee, no drama), we can draft, review, and file your agreement so you both move forward cleanly. Let’s get it finished the smart way.