Your Estate Plan Doesn’t Belong in a Free AI Chatbot

By: Nicole D. Warmerdam, Esq.

Last month, a client came to me to finish her estate plan. She had been working hard to get organized. Along the way, she uploaded her trust, her will, a list of her accounts, and her family’s details into a free AI chatbot so it could “summarize everything.”

She meant well, and she was trying to be prepared. But when she told me, my stomach dropped.

Free, public AI tools are not private vaults. Depending on the platform and your settings, what you type may be stored, reviewed by people, or used to train future models. Those conversations also aren’t protected by attorney-client privilege, and you can’t reliably take them back once they’ve left your hands. Her most sensitive documents now sit on someone else’s servers, under terms of service she never read.

AI can be a helpful tool. But convenience shouldn’t cost you your security. Here is what you should never enter into a public AI tool:

Personal identity

• Social Security numbers

• Driver’s license, passport, or other government ID numbers

• Full date of birth combined with your full name and address

• Immigration or citizenship documents

  
  

Financial information

• Bank, brokerage, retirement, or credit card account numbers

• Passwords, PINs, security answers, or login credentials

• Tax returns and Social Security statements

• Loan or mortgage documents with account details

  
  

Legal and estate documents

• Wills, trusts, and powers of attorney

• Beneficiary designations

• Asset lists and net worth statements

• Anything marked confidential by your attorney

  
  

Health and family information

• Medical records, diagnoses, and insurance ID numbers

• Details about minor children or vulnerable family members

A simple rule: if you wouldn’t post it on a public bulletin board, don’t type it into a free chatbot. If you want help understanding a document, remove names, numbers, and identifying details first

If you’ve already shared something sensitive, don’t panic. Check the tool’s privacy settings, delete the chat history, opt out of training where you can, and talk to your advisor about whether any accounts or credentials should be updated.

Your estate plan protects your family. Make sure the way you prepare it does too.