Artificial intelligence (AI) is arguably the most transformative innovation today, so much so that even estate planners are taking notice. The estate planning industry is transforming digitally, so it’s more open to AI disruption than ever. However, some roadblocks to embracing this emerging tech may slow adoption.
Ways AI Will Likely Disrupt Estate Planning
Financial and legal pundits predict AI would change the landscape of estate planning in these five ways.
1. AI-Driven Document Generation
AI would supercharge document drafting, review and summarization. Generative AI can be useful for producing estate planning papers, including wills, trusts, pleadings, briefs and client communications. It can analyze people’s financial situations, family structures and wishes to tailor documents accordingly.
Aside from speed and efficiency, this technology can ensure accuracy. Generative AI tools would serve as more than super-proofreaders. Their macro-editing skills should dramatically improve over time, allowing them to provide sense and clarity in content by nailing style, brevity, tone, paragraph order and other factors standard spelling and grammar checkers fail to cover.
2. Automated Asset Valuation
AI systems would suggest updates to estate plans based on net worth changes. They can keep tabs on people’s digital assets, prompting relevant parties to incorporate them into wills and provide clear disposition instructions.
This technology would also be instrumental in proactive estate plan optimization. AI could work behind the scenes to assist estate planners in regularly evaluating clients’ assets and liabilities to identify areas for improvement.
Predictive analytics enables AI to notice problematic patterns in estate plans. This ability would help testators avert messy disputes their chosen executors might deal with down the line — like securing a signed lawyer statement to refute possible claims of undue influence during will drafting.
3. Constant Legal Landscape Monitoring
AI algorithms would keep an eye on changes in relevant laws, making navigating complex regulatory environments easier.
More banks are exploring this use case for compliance, allowing them to manage risk and reduce liability more effectively. Other estate planning service providers will most likely follow suit.
Once AI matures as a law monitoring tool, it could help estate planners and minimize estate tax liability for clients.
4. Personalized Customer Support
Intelligent chatbots would be able to converse with clients more deeply. They could contextually answer complex questions directly and guide clients through estate planning.
Real people still have the edge over AI regarding interpersonal communication, but tomorrow’s chatbots could be capable of abstract thinking. They could apply learned information to unfamiliar situations and provide empathetic experiences, covering the technical and emotional dimensions of estate planning.
5. Reduced Estate Planning Cost
AI would streamline the estate planning process, driving down operating expenses and reducing service fees.
Cost is the reason some people hesitate to use a professional. Minimizing process inefficiencies with AI to charge less should help law offices, accounting firms and financial institutions offer estate planning services more confidently.
Vendors could still observe best practices, like holding the initial consultation in the client’s space to create a judgment-free atmosphere and submitting a written fee proposal in the second meeting.
AI’s speed, efficiency and accuracy could inspire estate planning professionals to have more faith in the process. In turn, it should lower the risk of collecting fees only upon process completion instead of upfront — an elegant strategy to help prospects feel more at ease.
Ethical Considerations and Challenges Ahead
AI’s merits are promising, but it may take some time before most of the estate planning industry goes all in for these reasons:
- Legacy thinking: Finance and legal interests tend to react slowly to technological changes to avoid rocking the boat, making them laggards. These companies must overcome their legacy thinking to leverage AI and acquire the 26% of Americans who don’t have an estate plan.
- Confidentiality: AI can remember information fed to it, which raises privacy concerns when dealing with clients’ sensitive data. A specific law may be in order to guide estate planning professionals on how to maximize the tech’s prowess without compromising client information confidentiality.
- Disclosure: Transparency matters to establish trust between estate planning service vendors and the public. Legislation can clarify when and how firms can disclose their use of AI to clients.
The Future of Estate Planning Is AI-Driven
AI’s potential to lower costs and generate more client acquisition is too enticing to ignore. Although the estate planning industry has to tread carefully before committing, these predictions might become reality sooner rather than later.
