Do Not Write Your Own Trust

19 Jan 2023 · 1 min

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In this brief but urgent monologue, the speaker—presumably a legal professional—urges viewers never to draft their own estate‑planning trust, especially using generic online forms or AI tools like ChatGPT. He recounts a real‑world case where a Florida family used a trust form that applied Nevada community‑property law, a mismatch that would have created a nightmare for their heirs. The speaker emphasizes that without knowing the correct legal questions, any DIY effort is likely to backfire, and that AI cannot substitute for qualified legal counsel. The core message is a warning: seek professional assistance to ensure the trust aligns with the correct jurisdiction and family goals.

Chapters

If you've listened to anything I've ever told you, please listen to this. Do not write your own trust. Someone asked me if they could do that. I told them, you can try, but your family will wish you had done nothing at all. Here's a story to convince you. A family brought me a trust they had written. They were residents of Florida, but the form they got for the trust indicated that Nevada law would be applied. Nevada is a community property state. Florida is a separate property state. If they had died with that trust in place and funded, it would have been a nightmare for their family. Good Lord, don't try to get ChatGPT to write your trust. One of the most important things I do is to ask the right questions. If you don't know the right questions, I promise you ChatGPT is not going to help you.