ChatGPT Can Tell You What the Law Says. Your Attorney Helps You Decide What to Do.

Artificial intelligence can be remarkably useful. You can ask a question in plain English and receive an explanation in seconds. You can research unfamiliar legal terminology, generate questions to ask your attorney, and learn about general estate planning concepts without ever leaving your kitchen table.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with doing your homework before meeting with an attorney. The more informed you are, the better your conversation with your lawyer can be. But there is an important distinction between learning about estate planning and actually planning your estate.

Suppose you ask an AI tool: “Do I need a trust?”

You may receive a very good answer. You may even receive an answer that is technically correct. This is where we see the distinction: Trusts may be a very good tool, but do you need one based on your goals, assets, family dynamics, and so much more. That requires knowing much more than the general rule.

What assets do you own? Where are they located? Are you married? Do you have children from a prior relationship? Does anyone in your family have a disability? Are there creditor concerns? Do you own a business? What happens if you become incapacitated? What are your wishes for your beneficiaries? What happens if one of them gets divorced, files bankruptcy, is sued, or needs long-term care?

And perhaps most importantly: What are you actually trying to accomplish?

An AI tool can give you information about trusts. Your attorney can help determine whether a trust is appropriate for your particular circumstances and how it should be designed. 

Another reason estate planning can be difficult is that there is rarely one universally “correct” answer. Consider a married couple with two adult children. They might decide that everything should go outright to the surviving spouse, and then to the children. Or they might decide that the children’s inheritances should remain in trust for asset protection.

Or perhaps one child is financially independent while the other has a disability. Maybe one child lives nearby and provides substantial support to the parents. Maybe the other lives across the country. Perhaps there is a family business, a vacation property, a significant retirement account, or a concern about long-term care.

The law provides the framework. The attorney helps turn that framework into a plan that fits the family. That is where the value of professional advice really appears.

Perhaps the greatest difference between researching your estate plan online and sitting down with an experienced estate planning attorney is that you can search for answers to the questions you already know you have but an attorney can help identify the questions you didn’t realize you needed to ask.

For example, you might walk into an attorney’s office thinking you simply need a Will. During the conversation, the attorney may discover that your beneficiary designations don’t match your intended estate plan; a child could benefit from receiving an inheritance in trust rather than outright; your aging parents’ circumstances create an issue you hadn’t considered; your business ownership requires additional planning; or your plan works if you die, but falls apart if you become incapacitated first.

None of those issues necessarily appears in the question, “Do I need a Will?”

There is another important consideration. Generative AI tools are designed to produce useful responses, but they can sometimes provide outdated, incomplete, overly broad, or simply incorrect information. Plus, estate planning law is not one giant set of rules that applies identically everywhere. State law matters. 

A beautifully written explanation of estate planning law on the internet can still be the wrong answer for you. The value of an attorney isn’t simply having access to information. The value is knowing which information matters, which doesn’t, what questions to ask next, how different pieces of the law interact, and how to turn all of that into a plan designed for your family.

Use AI to learn. Use an attorney to plan.