If you’re over the age of 50, you have watched firsthand as the internet made a lot of things easier. Need to research something? No need to go to the library. Want to book a vacation? With a few clicks, you can be your own travel agent. You can learn to do a lot of things from the internet, from making a soufflé to fixing your washing machine. Should you use the internet—including AI tools like ChatGPT—to create your estate plan as well?
You won’t be surprised to learn that an estate planning law firm thinks that do-it-yourself estate planning, even with the help of artificial intelligence, is a bad idea. We’ll discuss the specific reasons for that below. What you may be surprised about is that there are ways in which we think ChatGPT can actually be helpful to your estate planning.
Risks of DIY Estate Planning
Many of the risks of DIY estate planning, even with artificial intelligence, is that you don’t know what you don’t know—and you don’t know what your AI doesn’t know either.
Estate planning exists at the intersection of the law, finances, and personal relationships. That is to say, there is a lot of nuance involved. Artificial intelligence has access to a lot of information, but it can’t understand how your family dynamics and unique needs and goals should be incorporated into your plan. Estate planning is more than just writing a will. There are different planning tools for different needs, including incapacity planning, and an AI chatbot can’t give you reliable advice about the best tools for your situation.
Then there are the laws. Unless you’re an estate planning attorney who practices in this area, it can be very difficult to know whether ChatGPT or other AI is working with the most current information about estate planning laws in your state, or applicable state and federal tax law that could impact your estate plan. Artificial intelligence tools are pretty amazing, but they also make mistakes on a pretty regular basis. If you use AI to draft estate planning documents that are based on incorrect law, the results could be disastrous.
That’s another thing about DIY estate planning: if you (or your AI sources) make a mistake, you may not find out about it until it’s too late. More specifically, your heirs and beneficiaries may not find out about it until after your death or incapacity. At that point, if your planning was ineffective or had unintended consequences, they will be stuck with the outcome, no matter how unfair.
That leads to yet another problem with DIY estate planning: there is no recourse for mistakes. If you make a mistake doing your own estate planning? There’s no one else to blame, and nothing you can do about an unintended consequence. Your heirs will be stuck with your mistakes which can range from going through the court system to the incorrect distribution of money or decision makers, among other problems.
As if all of that is not enough, there are still other issues with DIY estate planning. Those include technical issues: even if your computer manages to spit out estate planning documents that are perfectly prepared and suited to your needs, it cannot ensure that you execute those documents in accordance with the law. If your documents aren’t properly signed and witnessed, they are not effective—and your assets will be distributed according to state law rather than your wishes.
Last, but certainly not least, you should not underestimate the human aspects of estate planning. There is a reason many people put off this process, often until it’s too late. It can be emotionally challenging, even without complicated family dynamics. An attorney who has guided hundreds of clients through the estate planning process can help you through it too, with sensitivity and concern for your unique needs.
Can ChatGPT Play a Role in Estate Planning?
By now, it should be obvious that you shouldn’t rely on search engines or artificial intelligence to design, draft, or complete your estate plan. There is just too much at stake: your future care, and your family’s financial security. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t use ChatGPT or other online tools to jump start the process.
To be clear: you don’t need to use these tools. But if you feel they might help you overcome any hesitation in beginning the estate planning process, they can have value. There are a lot of reasons people put off planning: lack of knowledge, lack of time, or simply not feeling prepared to sit down with an attorney. Using AI can help you over these hurdles and get you moving forward with an attorney.
For instance, you can use AI or the internet to get general background on estate planning, such as the components of an estate plan or the difference between a will and a trust. You can also make use of these tools to create a checklist of your assets and essential documents, or to brainstorm your goals and priorities. You can even use AI to organize your thoughts and questions, so that when you do meet with an attorney, your time is more productive.
Whether or not you use AI to get started on your estate planning journey, it’s important that you work with an attorney who can help you achieve your ultimate goal: ensuring that your wishes are honored and your loved ones protected. Most experienced estate planning attorneys don’t expect or require you to have done a lot of homework beforehand. They are fully prepared to ask the right questions, give you direction, and provide you with understandable information, so that you can achieve your estate planning goals.
The knowledgeable estate planning attorneys at Barron, Rosenberg, Mayoras & Mayoras work with clients who need to make or update an estate plan, wherever they are in their journey. Schedule a consultation today by calling (248) 213-9514 in Michigan or (941) 222-2199 in Florida to learn how we can assist you. You can also use our simple online contact form.