These seven prompts handle the repetitive drafting work that eats estate planning hours — intake summaries, client explainer letters, beneficiary conflict flags, and post-death checklists — so you spend your time on judgment, not transcription.
Every prompt below was built for GPT-4o (ChatGPT’s current default model as of mid-2025) but runs without modification on Claude 3.5 Sonnet or Gemini 1.5 Pro. The prompts are designed for attorney-side drafting only — every output goes through your review before a client sees a word. That is not a courtesy disclaimer; it is baked into the prompt language itself. Where jurisdiction matters, I’ve noted which variables to swap. Where a prompt touches tax, it flags CPA review explicitly — because the model will confidently produce numbers that need a second set of eyes.
Start with prompt one and run it against your next intake call notes. You’ll know within ten minutes whether this library fits your workflow.
1. Intake Interview Summary → Structured Estate Brief
Paste your raw intake notes — dictated, typed, or even lightly cleaned transcription — and this prompt returns a structured brief you can drop straight into a matter file. It organizes assets, family structure, stated goals, and open questions into consistent sections. Expect a first pass in under 30 seconds. The open-questions section alone saves a follow-up call on roughly half of matters.
Tweak the bracketed fields to match your intake form categories. If your firm tracks specific asset classes (e.g., digital assets, farm property, business interests), add them to the “Asset Categories” line.
You are a legal assistant helping an estate planning attorney organize client intake notes. Do not give legal advice. Your job is to convert raw intake notes into a structured estate planning brief for the attorney's internal file.
Raw intake notes:
[PASTE INTAKE NOTES HERE]
Produce a structured brief with the following sections:
1. Client Overview (name, age, marital status, dependents)
2. Family Structure (spouse, children, other relevant relationships, any blended-family considerations noted)
3. Asset Summary (real property, financial accounts, retirement accounts, business interests, digital assets, other — use "Not discussed" if absent)
4. Stated Planning Goals (as expressed by the client; do not interpret or expand)
5. Existing Documents (wills, trusts, POA, healthcare directives — note if none confirmed)
6. Beneficiary Designations Mentioned
7. Open Questions / Items Requiring Follow-Up
Format each section with a bold header. Use plain language. Flag any inconsistencies or gaps in the notes with [ATTORNEY REVIEW NEEDED]. Do not infer facts not present in the notes.2. Plain-Language Trust Explainer for Client Review
Clients sign documents they don’t fully understand. This prompt takes a draft trust provision — or a full trust summary — and returns a plain-English explanation at roughly an eighth-grade reading level. It’s designed for a cover letter or client portal attachment, not for legal interpretation. The output should go out under your signature after you verify it accurately reflects the instrument.
If your trust uses a specific governing-law clause, add that state name to the prompt so the model frames successor trustee language and distribution standards correctly for that jurisdiction’s common terminology.
You are a legal writing assistant helping an estate planning attorney prepare a plain-language summary of a trust document for a client. This summary is a communication aid only — it is not a legal document and does not replace the attorney's advice or the trust instrument itself.
Trust provision or summary to explain:
[PASTE TRUST LANGUAGE OR ATTORNEY-WRITTEN SUMMARY HERE]
Governing state (for terminology reference): [STATE]
Write a plain-language explanation that:
- Uses short sentences and common words (target 8th-grade reading level)
- Explains what the trust does, who controls it, and what happens to assets under its terms
- Describes the role of the trustee and successor trustee in plain terms
- Explains distribution conditions without legal jargon
- Notes any provisions the client will need to act on (e.g., funding the trust, updating beneficiary designations)
- Ends with: "This summary is prepared by your attorney to help you understand your documents. It does not replace your trust agreement or your attorney's counsel. Please contact our office with any questions."
Do not add legal interpretations, tax advice, or conclusions not supported by the text provided.3. Beneficiary Designation Conflict Checker
Beneficiary designation conflicts are where estate plans quietly fall apart — the IRA goes to the ex-spouse because nobody updated the form in 2009. This prompt takes a structured asset list with named beneficiaries and checks it against the stated plan goals. It will not catch every conflict (it can’t see the actual custodian forms), but it flags the most common mismatches: superseding designations, per-stirpes vs. per-capita gaps, and assets that bypass the trust entirely.
Build the asset table in a simple format before pasting — account type, owner, primary beneficiary, contingent beneficiary, and whether it’s meant to flow through the trust. Ten minutes of prep makes the output significantly more useful.
You are a legal assistant helping an estate planning attorney identify potential beneficiary designation conflicts in a client's estate plan. You are not giving legal advice. Your output is a flagging report for attorney review only.
Client's stated plan goal: [DESCRIBE THE INTENDED DISTRIBUTION SCHEME — e.g., "equal distribution to three adult children, with assets flowing through revocable trust"]
Asset and beneficiary table:
[PASTE TABLE IN THIS FORMAT — one row per asset:
Asset / Account Type | Owner | Primary Beneficiary | Contingent Beneficiary | Intended to Flow Through Trust (Y/N)]
Review the table against the stated plan goal and identify:
1. Assets where the named beneficiary conflicts with the stated plan goal
2. Assets with no contingent beneficiary listed
3. Assets that bypass the trust when the stated intent is for them to flow through it
4. Any named beneficiary who is a minor, deceased, or listed as "estate" (flag each)
5. Retirement accounts where a trust is named as beneficiary (flag for tax treatment review)
Format as a numbered conflict report. For each flag, state: the asset name, the specific issue, and a suggested attorney action. End each flag with [ATTORNEY REVIEW REQUIRED]. Do not suggest legal strategies or make plan recommendations.
4. Executor/Trustee Duty-Summary Letter
Most executors and trustees have no idea what they’ve agreed to until they’re already in the role. This prompt drafts a plain-language duty summary letter you send at signing or at the time of appointment — setting expectations, flagging the major responsibilities, and directing them back to your office for guidance. It is not a substitute for your representation; it is documentation that you explained the role.
Swap the role variable between “executor” and “trustee” as needed. The duties list differs materially between the two. If a person is serving in both roles, run the prompt twice and merge — do not ask the model to combine them in a single pass, as it tends to conflate fiduciary duties that are legally distinct.
You are a legal writing assistant helping an estate planning attorney draft an informational duty-summary letter for a named executor or trustee. This letter is an educational communication from the attorney's office — it does not constitute legal advice to the recipient and does not create an attorney-client relationship with them.
Role: [EXECUTOR or TRUSTEE]
Recipient name: [NAME]
Decedent/Settlor name: [NAME]
Governing state: [STATE]
Attorney firm name: [FIRM NAME]
Draft a professional letter that:
- Opens by confirming the recipient's role and the name of the estate or trust
- Lists the primary duties of the role in plain language (use a numbered list)
- Notes that the role carries fiduciary responsibility without defining specific legal standards (those vary by state)
- Explains that they should not take significant actions — distributing assets, selling property, making investment changes — without first consulting the firm
- Provides the firm's contact information and invites questions
- Closes with a statement that this letter is an overview only and does not cover every duty or obligation under state law
Use formal but accessible language. No legal jargon. Do not cite specific statutes — the attorney will review and add citations if needed. Flag any section where state-specific language would typically be required with [STATE LAW REVIEW NEEDED].5. Tax-Implication Summary for a Proposed Estate Structure
This is the highest-risk prompt in the collection. The model can produce a competent overview of federal estate tax thresholds, gift tax annual exclusions, step-up in basis mechanics, and SECURE Act distribution rules — but it will also confidently cite outdated figures or miss a recent regulatory change. Use this prompt to produce a starting framework for your tax conversation, not the conversation itself. The output goes to your CPA or tax counsel for verification before it goes anywhere near the client.
The prompt is written to force the model to flag its own uncertainty. It does not always comply, so read the output critically. State-level estate and inheritance tax varies significantly — add your state explicitly and treat any state-level output as a draft requiring independent verification.
You are a legal research assistant helping an estate planning attorney prepare a preliminary tax-implication overview for internal use. This document is for attorney and CPA review only. It is not client advice and must not be shared with the client without independent professional verification.
Proposed estate structure: [DESCRIBE THE STRUCTURE — e.g., "revocable living trust with pour-over will, ILIT holding a $2M life insurance policy, annual gifting program to three children"]
Estimated gross estate value: [AMOUNT]
Client's state of domicile: [STATE]
Current tax year: [YEAR]
Provide a structured overview covering:
1. Federal Estate Tax — current exemption threshold, whether the estate is likely at, near, or over the threshold, and how the proposed structure affects the taxable estate
2. Gift Tax — annual exclusion, lifetime exemption interaction, and how the gifting program affects both
3. Step-Up in Basis — which assets receive a step-up at death under the proposed structure and which do not
4. Income Tax Considerations — any trust income tax implications (briefly; flag complex issues for CPA review)
5. State Estate or Inheritance Tax — flag whether [STATE] imposes a separate estate or inheritance tax and at what threshold (note if uncertain)
6. SECURE Act / Retirement Account Considerations — if retirement accounts are involved in the structure, flag distribution rule implications
After each section, add: [VERIFY WITH CPA/TAX COUNSEL BEFORE CLIENT RELIANCE]
Close the document with: "This overview is prepared as a drafting aid for attorney and CPA review. Tax law changes frequently. All figures and conclusions must be independently verified by qualified tax counsel before use in client advice or planning."
Flag any area where you are uncertain about current law with [UNCERTAIN — VERIFY].6. Annual Review Reminder Draft for Existing Estate Plan Clients
Estate plans go stale. Clients get divorced, have grandchildren, start businesses, move to a new state — and the documents sitting in the drawer reflect none of it. A systematic annual review outreach program keeps plans current and keeps clients engaged. This prompt drafts the outreach letter or email, customized by the triggering circumstance if you know of one, or as a general annual check-in if you don’t.
Run this in batch by keeping a consistent client data block format. Some firms connect a tool like Zapier to their practice management software to trigger this prompt automatically when a client’s plan anniversary date hits — workable, though it requires a separate automation setup.
You are a legal writing assistant helping an estate planning attorney draft an annual review outreach letter or email to an existing client. The tone should be warm, professional, and non-alarmist. The goal is to invite the client to schedule a review — not to suggest anything is wrong with their current plan.
Client name: [NAME]
Year plan was last updated: [YEAR]
Known life changes since last update (leave blank if none known): [e.g., "new grandchild born," "client relocated to Florida," "client started a business," or "none noted"]
Attorney name: [NAME]
Firm name: [FIRM NAME]
Preferred contact method: [PHONE / EMAIL / ONLINE SCHEDULING LINK]
Draft a letter or email (specify which: [LETTER or EMAIL]) that:
- Opens by referencing when the plan was last reviewed and noting that an annual review is good practice
- If life changes are noted, references them briefly as examples of events that often warrant a plan update
- If no life changes are noted, uses general examples (marriage, divorce, birth, death, relocation, significant asset change) without implying any apply to this client
- Explains what a review typically covers (beneficiary designations, document currency, asset alignment) in one short paragraph
- Invites the client to schedule a short call or meeting at their convenience
- Closes warmly without urgency or pressure language
Do not use phrases like "your plan may be out of date" or "you could be at risk." Keep the tone informational and inviting. Do not include legal analysis or conclusions.7. Post-Death Administration Checklist Generator
When a client dies and the family calls, the executor or successor trustee often needs an immediate roadmap. This prompt generates a sequenced administration checklist tailored to the basic estate structure — probate vs. trust administration, whether a business is involved, whether there’s real property in multiple states. It is a starting-point document, not a complete legal guide, and the output should say so clearly (the prompt enforces this).
Ancillary probate in a second state is the most common gap — if the client owned real property in a state other than domicile, flag that variable explicitly in the prompt or the checklist will miss it. The model does not infer ancillary administration unless you tell it to look for it.
You are a legal assistant helping an estate planning attorney generate a preliminary post-death administration checklist for an executor or successor trustee. This checklist is a general organizational guide for attorney and fiduciary use — it is not legal advice and does not replace the attorney's guidance on any specific step.
Decedent name: [NAME]
Date of death: [DATE]
Primary state of domicile at death: [STATE]
Estate structure: [e.g., "revocable living trust with pour-over will" or "will only, no trust" or "intestate — no will"]
Real property in additional states: [LIST STATES or "None"]
Business interests: [YES/NO — if yes, describe briefly]
Approximate gross estate size: [RANGE or "Unknown"]
Surviving spouse: [YES/NO]
Minor children: [YES/NO]
Generate a sequenced administration checklist organized into the following phases:
1. Immediate Actions (first 72 hours) — securing assets, notifying relevant parties, obtaining death certificates
2. First 30 Days — locating and filing the will (if applicable), identifying the fiduciary, notifying financial institutions, beginning asset inventory
3. 30–90 Days — probate filing (if required), trust administration steps, creditor notification, tax ID for estate/trust
4. 90 Days–1 Year — estate tax return deadlines (flag if gross estate is near federal threshold), income tax filings, asset transfers, beneficiary distributions
5. Ancillary Matters — note if real property exists in additional states and flag ancillary probate requirement for each
6. Business Interests — if applicable, flag governance, valuation, and continuity steps for attorney review
For each item, indicate: Action, Responsible Party (executor/trustee/attorney/CPA), and a general timing note.
Close with: "This checklist is a general guide prepared by your attorney's office. Every estate administration involves specific legal requirements that vary by state and by the facts of the estate. Do not take action on any item without consulting your attorney."Notes on Using These Prompts
Every prompt in this collection assumes attorney review before any output reaches a client. That is not optional. The prompts are written to produce attorney-facing drafts, not finished client communications — and several of them explicitly instruct the model to flag gaps rather than fill them. Read those flags. The model will sometimes skip them in favor of confident-sounding language that is wrong.
Jurisdiction matters most on prompts 2, 4, and 7. Trust distribution standards, executor duties, and probate procedures vary enough between states that an output calibrated for Delaware will be meaningfully wrong for Louisiana or California. Always include the governing state and treat any state-specific language as a first draft requiring your review against current state code.
On model choice: GPT-4o is the current default and handles all seven prompts cleanly. Claude 3.5 Sonnet tends to produce more cautious, better-qualified output on the tax prompt (prompt 5) — worth testing if that matters to your workflow. Avoid GPT-3.5 or any model labeled “mini” for this library; the output quality drops enough to create more review work than it saves.
On the tax prompt specifically: Treat every number the model produces as a starting estimate requiring CPA verification. The federal estate tax exemption, gift tax annual exclusion, and SECURE Act distribution rules are the three areas most likely to reflect a training cutoff rather than current law. The prompt instructs the model to flag uncertainty — but it will not always do so reliably. Build the CPA review step into the workflow before you build the prompt into the workflow.
Customization is straightforward. Add your firm’s standard language blocks to the closing of any prompt. Build a “firm style” section at the bottom of prompts 2, 4, and 6 — paste in your preferred salutation style, closing line, and contact block format once, and the model will apply it consistently. That single addition cuts post-generation editing time significantly on client-facing letters.
These prompts do not replace judgment. They replace the first thirty minutes of document production — the blank-page problem, the formatting pass, the “what did I cover in that intake call” search. That is a real time savings on a per-matter basis. It is also the ceiling of what they do.
Related reading
- 10 ChatGPT Prompts Every Solo Lawyer Should Save (Tested on Real Matters)
- Document Automation with Claude and Microsoft Word: A Walkthrough for Small Firms
- The AI-Powered Client Intake Workflow Every Solo Lawyer Should Steal
- The 5-Prompt Sequence for First-Pass Contract Review with Claude or GPT
- 7 Demand Letter Drafting Prompts That Actually Save Time