Today, people use AI to help with many important matters, like planning a wedding, getting an education or a job, or writing a business plan. Why not ask AI to create a trust or will? It’s easy to type a question or prompt into an AI engine and watch it generate a will within minutes. Instead of spending the time and money on finding and hiring an attorney, it seems like you can just use AI to write a will, which is just as good. However, while the result may look like a document a lawyer would write, it is also likely to suffer from several issues that can cause you or your heirs problems in the future.
Lack of Privacy
In order to generate a will, you must provide relevant personal information to the AI tool you’re using. Before inputting that data into an AI data processing system, consider that AI cannot guarantee your privacy. Since ChatGPT entered the public consciousness three years ago, data privacy has consistently been a top concern. ChatGPT and other AI tools collect, use and store data, often without adequate safeguards or user consent. In fact, most of these platforms reserve the right to share your information with a third party. If you think twice about sharing your location on TikTok, Instagram, or other websites, then you should be really concerned about providing AI with sensitive data, such as your healthcare and financial information.
Missing or Unknown Information
A significant part of the estate planning process with a lawyer involves uncovering issues that you didn’t fully realize or understand that you had. A well-trained attorney can get a lot of information out of you by raising questions you didn’t think to ask ChatGPT.
AI doesn’t ask comprehensive questions. It simply compares the information you disclosed to the information it collects from the web and presents it back to you. The answers you get are limited by your own understanding and the AI program’s pool of data.
For example, do you know what a “cliff tax” is and how it can impact you? Or when is a 5-year look back important in estate planning?
Accuracy
AI often provides false or misleading results. You may tell it to write a will valid under New York law, but if you don’t know the law in New York, how can you verify that it’s accurate? You could be left with an unenforceable document.
Execution of Legal Documents
A perfectly drafted will is useless if it is executed incorrectly. In New York, you must comply with specific witnessing procedures, legal binding documents must be notarized, and sometimes legal warnings must be read aloud. If you have a trust, it’s not enough to execute it properly. You may also need to transfer or retitle assets to ensure the assets belong to the trust. AI cannot walk you through these requirements in real time.
Conclusion
No algorithm can analyze your assets, family circumstances, health risks and legal options with the nuance required for estate planning. If you need help creating or updating a will or other estate planning documents, contact one of our attorneys to discuss your needs.