Nov. 13, 2024

This paid piece is sponsored by Woods, Fuller, Shultz & Smith PC.

By Ryan Fargen, Woods Fuller attorney

Estate planning is a complex and sensitive process, requiring the expertise of attorneys, accountants and financial advisers to ensure that assets are properly distributed, beneficiaries are protected and tax implications are minimized. This typically involves wills, trusts and powers of attorney. Ensuring that the documents interact with your loved ones and assets correctly is easier said than done. Now, with advances in technology, artificial intelligence is becoming more widely used, and some are wondering where it will impact estate planning. As of now, it is best to combine technology with legal expertise for the best outcomes.

What is AI?

AI is a quickly growing area of technology wherein a computer is able to automate tasks that previously were performed by humans. This technology is seen as a great way to save time, which in the legal field will help reduce costs. There are many ways AI is being used; one of the more common uses you may have heard of is the large language model, aka LLM, which includes ChatGPT, and allows users to type in questions or requests and the computer will output a response. Other uses are summarizing information, drafting communications and documents, and analyzing data.

Can AI replace the attorney?

Certainly at this time, relying on AI to replace an attorney is a risky proposition. To test this, I asked ChatGPT to draft documents for a fictional person. It got me something, but it would not be something I would have approved as an attorney. I do want to give them credit — the output did state that it should not be relied upon and is not intended to replace an attorney.

There are a few key risks that need to be discussed.

Confidentiality: AI is trying to learn, and it is doing this by compiling information made available to it. If you give it your sensitive personal information, it is going to take it and use it, adding it to the collection, and it does not have the same confidentiality obligations of your attorney. We would not recommend putting any sensitive information into an AI program without confirming its use policy.

Accuracy: AI wants to help, and if it doesn’t have the right supporting information, it might make it up with what is known as a “hallucination.” Additionally, the legal rules, tax code and family situations change, and some AI is not updated to real time, and even if it is, it may not see how changes impact your specific situation. Estate planning is a practice where words matter. Any ambiguity can create complex challenges in the future, and AI is not going to be there to help in that situation. There are a lot of unintended consequences that can arise if your plan isn’t properly designed and implemented, and an attorney is going to be the best to know what works in your state and in your situation.

Personal relationships: Estate planning is a relationship-based practice. The attorney and client have discussions about goals, risks and the strategies of an accountant and financial adviser to find a solution. Most estate plans are established to make it easier for your loved ones, and at your death, an attorney can be a great resource for your family to understand how and why things were done and how to wrap things up. If there is a probate, AI is not going to be able to go to the courts to represent the estate. An attorney likely would be hired at this point, and they may require additional time to review documents that are unfamiliar to them, and if they find errors, it may be too late to fix them easily.

Where AI fits in estate planning

AI can quickly summarize large amounts of data such as financial records and old estate planning documents. These have confidentiality concerns, so the secure AI programs allowing for this often will be from reputable companies and require financial investment. Most likely, AI will be a part of your estate plan that you never see because the useful and secure programs will be used by your attorney to support their services. AI will allow the attorney to be more efficient and therefore save time and money but still be under the control of the attorney. This is preferred because AI is a useful tool, but it is more powerful in the hands of a knowledgeable user and may be dangerous if overly relied upon and if the output is not reviewed and verified.

What does all this mean?

Estate planning is usually a group effort with accountants and financial advisers providing guidance worked into the legal plan by the attorney. AI is a powerful tool and might be used by accountants, financial advisers and attorneys to help them provide you efficient service, but the value is in their interpretation and skilled use and not in AI replacing them.

The value of an attorney is their ongoing advice and guidance, and an estate plan is more than the documents. When it is time to implement an estate plan, human interaction usually is required to do real estate transfers, vehicle transfers and financial asset management. AI is a long way from being able to coach you through the specifics but can be a great tool used by your attorney and team to improve efficiency with the goal of reducing time and costs without increasing risks. It is probably a good plan to keep a person working on your personal planning at this time.