Checklist · Wills, Estates, Probate & Succession
Capacity and family questions for a will meeting (United States)
Meeting questions that record who was present, how the client described the gifts, and who prompted an answer, without stating a legal test for capacity.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- United States
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 2 authorities it cites, for United States.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use during a US will-instructions meeting when the lawyer needs a record of the conversation. Do not use the completed list as a medical opinion, a capacity affidavit, or a finding that the client has capacity.
Used for these tasks
- Prepare the will-instructions pack: capacity, undue-influence and family notes
- Build a will-validity issues list: execution, capacity and suspicious circumstances
- Prepare questions for a will-instructions meeting
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
A tool may arrange the lawyer's notes under the question headings after the meeting.
AI may
- Place each note under the question it answers
- List questions the notes do not answer
- Point to the HIPAA authorization if the notes say a provider's records are needed
AI must not
- Must not write that the client has capacity or lacks it
- Must not write a diagnosis
- Must not turn the notes into an affidavit or a statement for the client to sign
- Must not state the state's capacity standard
The lawyer checks
- The notes distinguish the client's words from the lawyer's observations
- The legal test remains blank unless the lawyer has opened the state's statute and written the citation
- A request for provider records is routed to the separate HIPAA authorization
- The list is unsigned
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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All precedents for Wills, Estates, Probate & Succession · Tasks and AI use in this area