A Hybrid System For Decision-Making About Assets In English Divorce Cases

A hybrid knowledge-based (combining rule-based and casebased material) system for settling the disposition of the matrimonial home after divorce, according to relevant English law, is described. Development of such a hybrid system is significant because on their own neither rules nor past cases are sufficient for problem-solving even in such a supposedly simple legal area. A multi-layered representation is used for the case material. In responding to a new case, the system can produce initial advice using its rule-base, which may be full-fledged or partial advice, or indicate similar past cases and their decisions. The system is also designed to produce a similarity assessment to explore the best precedents to reach a final solution, taking into account the most relevant knowledge from either representation.