---
title: "Capacity and family questions for a will meeting (United States)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/us-capacity-and-family-questions"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a17-us-capacity-and-family-questions"
area_id: "A17"
kind: "checklist"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A17-T1-R1", "A17-T1-R9", "A17-P20260916-2"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# 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.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/us-capacity-and-family-questions  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-22

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Practice area: [Wills, Estates, Probate & Succession](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/wills-estates-probate-and-succession.md)
- Jurisdictions: United States
- AI level: Yellow. You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-22
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-22 against the 2 authorities it cites, for United States.

## 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](https://ailawframework.com/practice/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/prepare-the-will-instructions-pack-capacity-undue-influence-and-family-n.md)
- [Build a will-validity issues list: execution, capacity and suspicious circumstances](https://ailawframework.com/practice/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/build-a-will-validity-issues-list-execution-capacity-and-suspicious-circ.md)
- [Prepare questions for a will-instructions meeting](https://ailawframework.com/practice/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/prepare-questions-for-a-will-instructions-meeting.md)

## 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

## Authorities

- [45 CFR 164.508 (Uses and disclosures for which an authorization is required), core elements, required statements, compounding, conditioning, and revocation](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.508)
- [45 CFR 160.203 (General rule and exceptions on preemption of State law), including paragraph (b) on a more stringent State privacy law](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-160/subpart-B/section-160.203)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/us-capacity-and-family-questions and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*