S
ummer has a way of making us think about the things we have been putting off. For teachers, it may be the first real breathing room after a long school year. For parents, it may be a pause between camps, vacations, and back-to-school planning. For many families, it becomes the season of getting organized.
Cleaning out the closet. Reviewing finances. Scheduling appointments. Updating old paperwork. Finally looking into estate planning. And these days, many people start by asking ChatGPT, Claude, or another AI tool:
“Do I need a trust?”
“What happens to my house when I die?”
“My estate is simple. Do I really need a plan?”
“How do I avoid probate?”
“Can I just make a will online?”
“What documents do my parents need?”
Honestly, I understand why.
Many people think, “I just have a house, a bank account, and a few beneficiaries. How complicated could it be?” But most estate planning problems do not come from complicated families. They come from people assuming their situation is too simple to need planning.
AI can be a helpful starting point. It can explain basic terms like revocable trust, durable power of attorney, health care surrogate, or Lady Bird deed in plain English. It can also help you think of questions to ask an attorney, like whether your home needs special planning, how beneficiary designations affect your estate plan, who should make decisions for you if you become incapacitated, or how to fund a trust. That preparation can make a consultation more productive.
But AI does not know your family. It does not know whether you have minor children, a blended family, an irresponsible child, a child with special needs, a difficult marriage, aging parents, or health concerns. It does not know that you own a home, have retirement accounts, life insurance, out-of-state property, or concerns about family conflict.
And even a “simple” estate can become complicated quickly.
A home may still need to avoid probate. A bank account may have the wrong beneficiary or no beneficiary at all. A child may not be ready to inherit outright. A power of attorney may be too generic to work in a real emergency. Digital accounts, passwords, insurance policies, retirement accounts, and family dynamics can all create problems without a clear plan.
Estate planning in Florida is state-specific. Florida has its own rules that must be followed for your plan to work. AI may sound confident, but that does not mean its answer is current, complete, or correct for Florida. And “official-looking” documents may create more problems for your family down the road. Sadly, families often do not discover these problems until someone has become incapacitated or passed away.
There is also privacy to consider. Estate planning involves deeply personal information: family relationships, finances, health concerns, children, marriages, property, beneficiaries, conflict, and worries.
An AI tool is not your lawyer. Attorney-client privilege does not apply. Please do not type sensitive personal information into an AI tool If you are using part of your summer to finally get organized, estate planning is a wonderful gift to give yourself and your family.
AI can help you ask better questions. A real attorney can help you get the right answers.
