WE DO NOT USE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, CHAT GPT OR LANGUAGE MODELS IN OUR WORK
Estate planning - things to think about
Thinking Through Choices
Settling an estate plan requires careful consideration of the several things: Whether you have minor children or dependents; who will be in charge of your minor children or dependents should you become incapacitated and/or when you pass away; and, who will be in charge of administering your estate. When we settle an estate plan, we carefu
Settling an estate plan requires careful consideration of the several things: Whether you have minor children or dependents; who will be in charge of your minor children or dependents should you become incapacitated and/or when you pass away; and, who will be in charge of administering your estate. When we settle an estate plan, we carefully go over these issues with our clients and role play the possible conflicts
Since our estate plans include Guardianship Directives, Powers of Attorney and Advanced Health Care Directives, it is critical to make those choices compatible with the "successor trustee" (or executor) of the estate. In deciding who should be in charge of certain crucial decisions, it is imperative to consider whether there will be competing concerns of family members.
Blended Families: These concerns are even more crucial with blended families and marriages that occur later in life.
We tell our clients that, in estate planning, you must constantly revisit the main goals of planning: security of minor children and dependents, avoidance of conflict, and the ultimate distribution (or preservation) of the estate. It is not difficult, but these matters require careful reflection.
We enjoy this part of our work because it is truly the unique aspect to every estate plan that we write. We enjoy educating clients and prospective clients and getting you thinking about how to develop the plan that gives you peace of mind.
We Do Not Use AI or ChatGPT
While technology can be useful, it is our belief that artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and "Large Language Models" have no place in the drafting of estate plans (or any other legal work). This is not out of concern for a competing resource. It is simply irresponsible to use these methods when the well-being of a family is at stake. The po
While technology can be useful, it is our belief that artificial intelligence, ChatGPT and "Large Language Models" have no place in the drafting of estate plans (or any other legal work). This is not out of concern for a competing resource. It is simply irresponsible to use these methods when the well-being of a family is at stake. The possibility for serious error is very real.
We are a small firm. We know our clients. We do things "the old fashion" way. We write our clients' estate plans, we communicate with you, and we assure that we have gone over all potential problems that may arise when the estate plan is ready for execution.
Why is AI so dangerous in estate planning? Because the mistakes that get made will not be known for years, if not decades later. At that point, depending on who is living, the errors may or may not be fixable. Whether an error in an estate plan is fixable is largely dependent on the initial drafting choices.
Mr. Zinnanti had been in court on at least two occasions, over the course of 2025, where other lawyers have been sanctioned for using AI and the court discovered that the law that AI cited simply did not exist. While the monetary sanctions are an inconvenience to the lawyer, the result could be fatal to the client's interests.
Whatever you choose to do, we always welcome people to have a free consultation to go over estate planning concerns.
Blended Families & Late Life Marriage
Blended Families & Late Life Marriage
The biggest challenges in settling an estate plan come when there are blended families, late life marriages and absentee parents and children. While most of the time, things can work out in these situations, it is critical to plan to avoid conflict. Conflict leads to litigation and the whole point of planning is to avoid the courts. In th
The biggest challenges in settling an estate plan come when there are blended families, late life marriages and absentee parents and children. While most of the time, things can work out in these situations, it is critical to plan to avoid conflict. Conflict leads to litigation and the whole point of planning is to avoid the courts. In these situations, all of the uncomfortable questions need to be fully addressed and carefully thought through.
Mr. Zinnanti's estate planning practice evolved out of 20 years of family law litigation. There is no delicate way to put it. Mr. Zinnanti has seen every rotten, dirty trick in "the book" and is still surprised from time to time. This ranges from a spouse using children as a proxy to steal from their new spouse; concealment of significant assets from a spouse; and, the indiscretion of publishing genetic testing online. (In a single year, we had two cases where people published their "23 & Me" results online only to find out that a parent had an affair decades earlier and the missing "half-sibling" was now challenging the estate distribution.)
It is very important to consider the emotional impact and potential reaction where new spouses leave their in-laws as the agents for health care or proposed guardians to the exclusion of parents. It is critical to consider the distribution of the estate in the case of blended families and generational bequests. Each situation is unique.
These are merely a few of the myriad of concerns that arise in these unique circumstances. We are always available to talk about it.