---
title: "HIPAA authorization for estate planning (United States)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/wills-estates-probate-and-succession/us-hipaa-authorization"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a17-us-hipaa-authorization"
area_id: "A17"
kind: "letter"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
task_ids: ["A17-T1-R1", "A17-T1-R9"]
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-22"
---

# HIPAA authorization for estate planning (United States)

> An authorization that tracks the core elements and required statements in 45 CFR 164.508, kept as its own document, with psychotherapy notes excluded and state privacy law left open.

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

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

## Key facts

- Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- 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 when a covered entity must disclose a client's protected health information for an estate-planning matter. Do not staple it to an engagement letter. Use a separate authorization for psychotherapy notes.

## 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)

## How AI may be used

A tool may copy the client's name and the provider's name from the intake into the matching blanks.

**AI may:**

- Insert the client's name, the provider, and the recipient the lawyer has already written
- Leave the description of the information blank until the lawyer writes it in specific words
- Remind the lawyer when the expiration line says "none" on a non-research authorization

**AI must not:**

- Must not combine this authorization with the engagement letter or the intake
- Must not include psychotherapy notes in this document
- Must not decide that a personal representative has authority
- Must not name a state privacy statute that is not in the file
- Must not tell the client the authorization has been accepted by the provider

**The lawyer checks:**

- All six core elements in 45 CFR 164.508(c)(1) are completed
- The three required statements in 164.508(c)(2) are present, in plain language
- The conditioning sentence matches 164.508(b)(4) for this request
- A more stringent state privacy law has been looked up or recorded as still to be looked up
- The client receives a copy of the signed authorization

## 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-hipaa-authorization 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.*