AI Strategy for Estate Planning Lawyers

Estate planning requires empathy and strategy. Certain procedural aspects of practice, such as letters of intent motivate the use of automation. Below, we outline a number of strategies, and explain how to save time whilst minimising the potential for errors.

A large amount of information has to be captured for each client matter, such as the scope of work, signing fees, assets, etc. A cohesive automation strategy must incorporate multiple approaches.

Firstly, using optical character recognition to transcribe printed documents. This allows you to process your documents in a machine-readable format.

Secondly, organising these documents. You can organise them manually, or semi-manually. Semi-manual use includes using an LLM to rename each file with a descriptive name, or sort them into a set of folders that you have provided.

Separately, it's important to track deadlines. A structured intake can be used to automatically create notifications in advance of key dates, and draft invoices by automatically incorporating rates and fee structures.

Simple, connective applications are often the best use of artificial intelligence. When automating anything with respect to billing, ensure there is a manual verification layer.

Firms can provide clients with tools that allow them to steer their experience with a guided self-service. This is a procedural approach, where you can let a client book their own drafting review (once the intake is signed-off) or request a signing date (after the review is signed-off).

For in-person signing, it's important that all key information has been verified. This can be semi-automated by bringing details up in a tabular format for review, or by generating summaries, though key details should still be checked by hand.

Ultimately, the gains for estate planning come from low-stakes automation that is naturally checked, compounding into tighter workflows and smoother processes. Technology won't replace lawyers, but it will improve the experience for firms and clients alike.