Divorce is no walk in the park at any age. But when you confront one before your frontal lobe is fully developed, a legal split demands an extra amount of mental fortitude and self-reliance. Ask Britta, a 28-year-old art director who separated from her husband of two and a half years when she was 24. “Getting married young, you’re very aware that people expect you to fail,” she says. “Once you realize divorce is at your door, it’s tough, feeling like you’re fulfilling that failure.” What made the experience a little less daunting for her: artificial intelligence.
“I used Divorce.com to get the initial documents started and ChatGPT to help draft one of the final papers,” Britta explains. “I was able to handle the process on my own without having to invest thousands in legal representation. No lawyers, just online resources and assistance from our county clerk’s office.”
Britta’s AI-reliant approach to divorce isn’t rare—it’s a rising trend among Gen Z divorcées. (Gen Z tends to marry later than previous generations, giving it a relatively low divorce rate. Still, there are around 27 divorces per every 1,000 people in Gen Z, according to Divorce.com data, equating to more than 1 million current young divorcées and counting.)
Jackie Combs is an attorney who’s been finalizing high-profile splits (her clients include Emily Ratajkowski and Chris Appleton) for almost a decade. She represents plenty of younger clients and has been fascinated by AI’s presence in their process. “I’m seeing them turn to ChatGPT for help drafting agreements that they’ll then want me to look at,” she explains. “I’m like, Maybe we should do this the proper way....But it’s just a whole new world we’re living in.”
From what professionals like Combs and Kirk Stange, another domestic relations lawyer with Gen Z clientele, say, young divorcées tend to approach the separation process with more autonomy and self-taught legal expertise than previous generations—the outcome of growing up with a constantly expanding supply of digital resources.“There’s more information readily available for couples to define their rights and end things amicably,” says Combs. “And what I’m seeing in younger generations is greater financial transparency earlier in relationships. There’s a rise in couples getting cohabitation, prenuptial, and postnuptial agreements. And information about those is much more accessible than it used to be.”
Like Combs, Stange says his younger clients often have bots draft agreements and help them grasp complicated legal terms. Somewhat surprisingly, both legal experts agree these clients are not misguided and that it’s not a bad idea to use AI tools during a split.“It can be helpful when drafting basic documents like parenting schedules or communication logs, organizing financial information or timelines, and helping people emotionally prepare for what’s ahead,” explains Stange. “When it comes to understanding complex procedures, forms, and terminology, these tools can be empowering long before you’ve hired an attorney.”
More surprisingly, the most vocal resistance to this process so far seems to be coming from AI providers themselves. Last October, OpenAI rolled out restrictions to limit ChatGPT’s ability to provide specific legal advice. Anyone typing in prompts about divorce now receives a suggestion to seek out a licensed attorney. (This was likely intended to protect the company from being held liable for any blowback its guidance might cause.)
Still, it’s relatively simple for people to circumvent such warnings—and still get tailored divorce insights—with cleverly worded prompts. Because (as, ironically, AI companies know best) for a digital generation, this is what you might call use-case inevitability. Especially since AI technology already has a strong footing in the love and relationships space: Nearly half of Gen Z has admitted to leaning on AI for dating advice, and 41 percent of Gen Z daters have already used an AI tool to help them break up with someone. Divorce assistance feels like a natural evolution.
But as convenient and helpful as it may be, people should still seriously consider AI’s limitations. “There’s always room for technology,” says Combs. “But my recommendation would be to consult with an attorney to make sure any AI-generated information you are receiving is accurate and in line with the law.”
Stange concurs that “no AI tool, no matter how well trained or designed, can replace the judgment, strategy, or empathy of an experienced divorce attorney. Divorce isn’t just about forms and filings—it’s about navigating human dynamics, advocating for a client’s unique interests, and making strategic decisions that affect the rest of your life.”
Even now-divorced Britta admits her strategy was an imperfect one. “From a logistical perspective, even with digital resources, the process of filing for divorce on your own is still tedious. And while reviewing one of our documents, the judge said, ‘I hope a lawyer didn’t draft this,’ so I presume she immediately clocked that it was ChatGPT,” Britta says. “You should hire a lawyer if you have the financial means.”
Bottom line: If you’re wading through the murky waters of a legal separation, you can use AI as a free tool that might make the process less overwhelming. But take its advice with a grain of salt. “Gen Z’s embrace of these tools is changing how we approach client education and communication, but it should be seen as a starting point, not a substitute,” says Stange. “The need for skilled, ethical, human legal counsel remains just as essential as ever.”
This article was originally published in September 2025.
