The problem
In a custody dispute, clients bring hundreds of screenshots of texts with their ex to show missed exchanges, late pickups or hostility, out of order and easy for the other side to challenge. If a firm has 10 custody matters a month where communication is an issue and a paralegal spends 3 hours on each sorting screenshots into a timeline, that's 30 hours a month.
What the AI does
OurFamilyWizard is a co-parenting app where each parent has their own subscription. On Essentials, messages carry first-viewed timestamps, schedule changes go through change requests, shared expenses are logged and records can be downloaded as PDFs without limit. OurFamilyWizard says messages are unalterable and that a parent can give their attorney free access to view account activity and download records. Its Writing Assistant suggests calmer rewording before a parent sends a message, which the parent can use, edit or skip. When the case calls for it, the client (or a court order) moves co-parenting communication to the app, gives the attorney access, and the paralegal works from the downloaded record. The attorney decides what is offered as evidence; whether a record is admitted is for the judge under the state's rules of evidence.
A worked example
An illustrative example built from typical figures, not a named business.
A family law firm in Nashville, Tennessee, with three attorneys and two paralegals has about 10 custody matters a month where communication is disputed. Attorneys suggest OurFamilyWizard Essentials at the first meeting, or ask for it in the parenting plan, and clients add the firm as their professional.
Before
3 hours a matter sorting screenshots into a timeline: 30 hours a month
After
About 1 hour a matter reviewing the downloaded record: 10 hours a month
What it's worth
About $700£526€626A$1,011C$989 a month of paralegal time, at no cost to the firm. Saving 2 hours on each of 10 matters is 20 hours, at an assumed $35£26€31A$51C$49 an hour. Each parent pays for their own account: Essentials is $149.99£112.77€134.20A$216.53C$212.02 a year, about $12.50£9.40€11.18A$18.05C$17.67 a month, so $25£19€22A$36C$35 a month for both; OurFamilyWizard offers fee waivers for parents in financial need.
How to set it up
- Explain at the first meeting why moving co-parenting messages to one app helps, and that every message the client writes may be read by a judge.
- If the other parent won't join, ask whether to request OurFamilyWizard in a temporary order or the parenting plan.
- Have the client add the firm as their professional, so the attorney can view activity and download records without the client's login.
- Download the PDF records for the period that matters and build the timeline from them, citing dates and timestamps.
- Keep earlier screenshots too, saved with their original dates, since the app only covers what was sent after both parents joined.
What goes wrong
- Each parent needs their own subscription, and the app only helps if the other parent uses it. If they refuse, a court order may be the only way.
- The Writing Assistant suggests rewording; it doesn't make a hostile message acceptable, and the client is responsible for what they send. Coach clients to stay factual.
- Whether a record is admitted is the judge's call under state evidence rules; OurFamilyWizard's own claims about court acceptance are no guarantee. Certified, notarized records need Premium at $216£162€193A$312C$305 a year.
- Don't advise a client to use the app to provoke or bait the other parent. The state bar's rules on fairness to the opposing party and the client's own credibility are both at stake.