I hear a lot in the news about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and how AI is going to replace most jobs.  I am not entirely sure if that is the case, but I am sure AI will change many things about the current jobs we work, including mine.  I suppose that AI will change things for the better and for the worse, but I am not sure that AI is quite ready to replace me, or any other estate planning attorneys right now.  Perhaps that will be different in the future, but for right now, estate planning attorneys are here to stay.  I do know that AI will likely change how estate planning, and law in general, is practiced in the future, but estate planning attorneys are not yet obsolete.

I have had many potential clients tell me that they want to do a certain type of trust, or setup an estate plan in a certain way, citing ChatGPT as the source of why they wanted to do something.  I often get to tell these potential clients that while I appreciate what they are saying, ChatGPT may not be the best source of legal advice or research.  ChapGPT has its limitations and is evolving, but it’s not yet fully trustworthy.  Other similar AI services are out there, but as the first generation of AI programs have come out, there are definitely drawbacks to each AI service and the AI needs to evolve to become more trustworthy.  Estate planning attorneys have years of legal education and legal experience that are useful and helpful to clients, and AI just doesn’t have that yet.

 

AI as a Legal Research Tool is Just Getting Started

Using an AI program as a legal research tool is an interesting endeavor.  AI programs are good at scouring the internet for legal research resources, but aren’t all that good at distinguishing between such resources.  Some sources on the Internet are trustworthy and verifiable, while others are less reliable.  This can lead to AI legal research giving conflicting information and even incorrect information.

 

2026 Estate Tax Limits in Colorado

As an example, I had a potential client ask me about the estate tax limit last week.  The potential client insisted that the estate tax limit was only $1 Million and that we needed to set up separate trusts to protect his family’s assets from being subject to estate taxes.  I explained that the $1 Million limit was now several years old and that the current estate tax limit for 2026 is $15 Million per person.  I also explained how the $15 Million per person could be transferred between spouses, so the estate tax limit for a married couple is $30 Million for all practical purposes.  The potential client had apparently had the AI legal research consider non-updated sources as being official and reliable as to what the estate tax limits currently are.  The potential client had relied upon the AI service to give him current, correct, and verifiable information.  Unfortunately, the AI legal research did not give him the latest, most correct information.  I was able to do that for the potential client, and help the potential client see how separate trusts did not really need to be done for the current financial and life situation that would dictate how to set up the estate plan.

I have had many potential clients contact me asking me if the AI legal research they did was correct.  I usually point out that if someone needs to call an attorney to ask if legal research is correct, it might just be that going straight to an attorney would be simpler and easier.  Certainly legal research will improve on AI platforms, and as the technology improves, I am sure that AI will get better at verifying sources, or at finding more credible sources, but the current generation of AI doesn’t distinguish up to date and correct sources from outdated sources.

AI Is Also A Bit Too Eager to Please At This Point

Although it has not happened to me at this point, I have read several accounts of attorneys who have submitted documents like pleadings or briefs to courts that cite fanciful cases or non-existent legal authority.  Since courts will verify the legal foundations of an argument or a pleading and check sources, this can be a bad thing.  Attorneys have been fined, reprimanded, and cases have turned out badly for clients represented in such cases.  As an attorney who respects courts and the law itself, I can tell you that making up a case or statute to support your position on a matter or law is just not a good idea.  When you are making a point and relying upon a law, the law needs to actually exist to be helpful.

I recently read a story from an attorney I know who asked his AI program to summarize the legal authority for the case he was going to present to his state’s supreme court.  The AI service researched the legal authorities and gave the attorney a summary of the legal authority involved.  The attorney then went and verified the sources, and sure enough, one of the cases did not exist in any of the published cases from the jurisdiction where the attorney asked for legal research.  As as experiment, the attorney asked the AI program where the case came from, and the AI program explained that many other jurisdictions had cases that were similar to the one he had inquired concerning, so the AI program simply assembled the rulings from different jurisdictions and synthesized the other cases into one that would support what the attorney wanted to say.  The attorney asked the AI program why it had made up a case, and the AI program responded that it would be helpful to the attorney because it showed what the attorney wanted.

Well, we can’t just make up the rules and the law to show what we want to have happen.  If I could do that as an attorney, I would become ridiculously rich and powerful, as I could just make the law say whatever I want it to say.  Sadly, or more correctly, happily, I am not powerful enough to just make up the law as I want.  Instead, my role and responsibility is to take what my client wants to do and find a way to carry out the client’s wishes within the law as it is written and as it exists, not to make it up!

 

AI Does Many Things Well, but Correct Analysis Isn’t One Of Them, Yet

As far as I can tell, AI programs are not yet programmed with a fully developed moral or ethical code, so an AI program isn’t quite ready to distinguish between right and wrong.  If AI cannot fully distinguish between a correct source of information and an erroneous source, then I don’t really find the conclusions and AI program draws to be fully reliable either.  AI programs are great at summarizing and conveying information, but the AI programs I have seen don’t quite seem to be able to give fully correct and fully reliable conclusions.  I am sure AI will improve in the future, and I have no doubt that AI will become more reliable, but we are not there quite yet.

AI also is quite good at performing repeatable or repetitive tasks, but I don’t see critical reasoning skills in AI programs just yet.  I have yet to see an AI program that can tell a client if a certain type of trust or other estate planning method will work to accomplish the goals the client has.  While I am sure the people who are developing AI programs will integrate analysis and reasoning abilities into future AI programs and future variation of AI, I haven’t yet seen an AI program that properly applies the law to a particular person’s life situation and life circumstances just yet.

AI can gather information from an individual and I envision a day when an AI program could even populate basic estate planning forms for people who only need the basics, like a relatively simple will or power of attorney.  When AI can do that reliably, and in accordance with the most current rules of law, then such and AI program will be an amazing addition to the legal world and the work of estate planning.  However, we aren’t even there yet.  And, I am not sure when we will get there.  I also am not entirely sure if AI will ever replace the ability of an estate planning attorney to analyze an individual situation and fit that situation into the law in such a way that requires creativity or ingenuity.

 

An Attorney Is Still Your Best Option to Get the Best Estate Plan for You

Perhaps AI will advance to that level of reasoning and sophistication over time, and if it does, I will be happy that it has, but at this point, it is still better to have an attorney who can analyze your situation and prepare an estate plan for you.  The attorney may use AI tools, but I don’t think you want AI to replace the attorney’s role to evaluate your situation and do what is best for you.  If you would like to schedule an appointment to talk to an estate planning attorney who can evaluate your situation and set up an estate plan that is best for you, click the button below.