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Oct 28, 2026

Law Firm Future Strategy – AI’s Impact Upon Estate Planning Practices

Question:

I am the founding partner and sole owner in our firm located in Miami, Florida. We have a total of four lawyers, four paralegals, and four support staff in our firm.  We are an estate planning firm that handles estate planning, estate administration, and elder law matters for our clients. Estate planning matters are charged a flat fee and estate administration are billed based on time spent on the matter. At a recent attorney meeting the subject of AI and the impact upon estate planning came up and our discussion led us to the question as to the impact that AI will have upon future estate planning work for our practice. Will estate planning dry up with clients using AI tools and doing their own estate planning documents? Your comments and thoughts are most welcomed.

Response: 

I believe that AI will have an impact upon estate planning, especially for wills and trusts in that it will change how wills and trusts are drafted. You will be forced to use AI assisted drafting tools if you are not using them already and the use of these tools will substantially reduce drafting time. More firms will be forced to move from hourly billing to flat fee billing for estate planning work. As efficiency improves and firms that are presently charging flat fees will see competitors charging less, reducing average revenue per matter and required a larger volume of client business to remain competitive. AI will impact how:

  1. Estate planning documents are prepared.
  2. Client relationships are managed.
  3. Legal research is conducted.
  4. Estate planning firms price their services.
  5. Estate planning firms compete for business.

In order to remain competitive and profitable in the next three to five years estate planning law firms are going to have to:

  1. Implement AI in areas that will make routine estate planning work faster and less expensive.
  2. Develop separate client intake approaches for mom and pop (lower net worth) clients and higher net worth clients. Consider maximum use of AI for lower net worth clients.
  3. Increase the overall volume of estate planning work and charge less, especially mom and pop (lower net worth) work.
  4. Increase the firm’s estate planning expertise and sophistication and obtain more higher end net worth clientele.
  5. Increase the firm’s higher net worth new client business obtained through professional referral sources such as attorneys, CPAs, financial planners, bank trust departments. Build and enhance relationships in these areas to increase referrals of high-net-worth clients. Build relationships with geriatric care managers, health care professionals, and senior living communities. This can develop into a continuing advisory practice rather than a one-shot estate planning document preparation. 
  6. Consider other practice areas that related to your practice that are relationship driven and allow the attorney to serve more as a trust advisor to clients rather than an information provider. Your specific goal should be to shift the emphasis of your practice on interpretation, judgment, and the client’s broader objectives. You might want to consider:
    1. Higher net worth estate planning.
    2. Special needs planning.
    3. Estate litigation.
    4. Life care planning.

Your goal should be to graduate from lawyer technician to a trusted advisor to your clients. A trusted advisor is a lawyer or other professional service provider whom a client relies on not merely for knowledge or technical expertise, but for sound judgment, honest counsel, and guidance in making important decisions. Trust is earned over time through competence, integrity, discretion, consistency, and a genuine commitment to the client’s interests.

As a trusted advisor estate planning attorney your primary role should be to understand the family’s complete circumstances, identify the questions the client has not considered, and develop a coordinated plan that reflects the client’s wishes. Your role should not be to primarily prepare estate planning documents. Your role should be to help clients make decisions about family, responsibility, control, and legacy. This is the difference between a technician whose work will be replaced by AI and a trusted advisor whose work will be focused on client relationships. 

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John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D., CMC

Posted at 06:30 AM in AI, Strategy, Trends

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