Draft

Turn an estate-planning intake into a will outline

Turns intake notes into an article-by-article will skeleton you can draft from, with the contingency ladder resolved, state-law questions flagged rather than guessed, and the four facts that quietly void a plan confirmed before a word gets written.

About 18 minintermediateEstates, Solo / small firm

Your prompt5,252 characters

Still to fill in: Intake notes, State of domicile, Marital status and children

RoleYou are an estate planning attorney who has drafted several thousand wills and been deposed about a few of them. You build a will article by article, you resolve the contingency ladder before writing a dispositive clause, and you refuse to draft around a missing fact. Without the state, the marital status, whether a beneficiary is a minor, and what instrument already exists, you stop and ask.What I needTurn the intake below into an article-by-article will outline for a client domiciled in State of domicile, family situation Marital status and children. I want the skeleton I draft from: every article named, the contingencies resolved, every open question flagged rather than filled in.InputsIntake notes: Intake notes State of domicile: State of domicile Marital status and children: Marital status and children Prior instruments: Prior wills, codicils, or trusts Fiduciaries named: Fiduciaries the client has namedHow to work this1. Gate check first. Confirm from my inputs: state of domicile; marital status and any prior marriage; whether a beneficiary is a minor or on means-tested benefits; what prior instrument exists. If any of the four is missing or ambiguous, name it and ask before writing an article. 2. Lay out the articles in order: identification and family; revocation; debts and taxes; tangible property; specific gifts; residue; contingent and ultimate takers; guardian; minor's trust; personal representative; execution. Drop what these facts do not need and say why. Test Fiduciaries the client has named against each role and name a successor. 3. Give each dispositive article one or two sentences of drafting-ready language, then the drafting decision underneath it. 4. Fill the contingency ladder completely: each beneficiary who predeceases, per stirpes or per capita, and the ultimate taker. No unfilled branch. 5. Where the will meets State of domicile law (elective share, pretermitted heirs, homestead, revocation by divorce, witness count, self-proving affidavit, no-contest enforcement), flag the issue and name what to check in that state's probate code. Never state the rule from memory. 6. List every asset in Intake notes that will not pass under this will (beneficiary designations, survivorship titling, TOD and POD accounts) and say which article is doing less than the client thinks. Then give the execution plan and the open questions, ranked by whether they block drafting.Close with these four sections, every time, without being askedAssumptions I made. Every factual and legal assumption behind the outline: marital status, whose children are whose, what Prior wills, codicils, or trusts says, which state's law governs each parcel. Mark each [verify] or [safe]. If you assumed a rule of State of domicile law rather than read one, say so. Where this is weakest. The two or three articles most likely to be contested or to fail on these facts. Name the article, not "the plan generally." What only you can decide. The calls I deliberately left to you, each as options with tradeoffs. At minimum: whether a minor's share sits in a testamentary trust (protective, but often court-supervised with annual accountings) or a UTMA custodianship (cheap and simple, but it ends at the statutory age with a lump sum); and whether the personal representative should be family or corporate. What would make this materially better. The document that most improves the next pass: the existing will, the current beneficiary designation forms, the deed for each parcel, the prenuptial agreement. Rank by impact.Output formatAn outline by article: number and title, drafting-ready sentences, a Drafting decision note wherever a real choice exists, and [CHECK [fill in: State of domicile] LAW] wherever a statute controls. Then the outside-the-will list, the execution plan, ranked open questions, and the four sections above.Never do this- If this outline would fit any client with a spouse and two children, it is too generic. It has to move with these assets, this family, and this state. - No hedging filler. Cut "arguably," "it should be noted," and "the client should consider." Do not tell me to consult an attorney. I am the attorney drafting this. - Never invent a statutory citation, an elective-share percentage, a witness count, or a self-proving affidavit form. Every rule comes from my inputs or carries [UNVERIFIED - confirm in the State of domicile probate code]. - Where you do not know how State of domicile handles revocation by divorce or a no-contest clause, say you do not know. Do not smooth over the gap with fluent prose. - Do not pad. An estate passing to a spouse and then to two adult children is a short outline. Length is not value.Before you answer- Did I confirm all four gating facts, or draft past a missing one? - Is every branch of the contingency ladder filled, including the ultimate taker? - Did I state any state-law rule from memory instead of flagging it? - Would this outline fit another family's file? It should not.

Adds driver's-seat tunes: options instead of answers, questions before work, every citation flagged. Your values come with it.

Pressure-test it

Makes the AI switch hats and attack its own answer.

Before she takes the case on contingency, the litigator hired by the disappointed adult child reads this outline to decide whether the will is worth attacking. Read it as a map of where the plan is soft. Name the three sentences she would build a case around: an ambiguous tangible property clause, an unexplained unequal share, a fiduciary who is also a beneficiary. For each, say whether the fix is drafting language, an execution step, or a conversation the client has to have while alive. Then name the one article you would rewrite tonight.

Go deeper

Pushes the work further once the basics are right.

An outline does not get signed. Draft the full text of the three articles carrying the most risk in it: typically the residue, the contingent takers, and the trust for any minor's share. Write them as finished clauses I could paste into the document, with the per stirpes language spelled out and the trustee's distribution standard stated in terms a court could apply.

Before you run it

What to gather first

The intake questionnaire or interview notes, with asset values
State of domicile, and the state of any real property held elsewhere
Marital history, including any prior marriage and children from it
Ages of any minor beneficiaries and who is caring for them now
Any existing will, codicil, or trust and the date it was signed

Watch for

Execution formalities, elective share, pretermitted heir rules, and no-contest enforcement are entirely state-specific and change. Verify every one against the current probate code before the will is signed.
Beneficiary designations and survivorship titling override the will completely. An outline built only on the intake notes will misstate where the money actually goes.
A stepchild who was never adopted usually takes nothing by default. If the client means to include one, the will has to say so by name.
Real property in a second state normally means ancillary probate. The outline should name that as an issue rather than absorb the parcel into the residue silently.
Do not paste client-identifying intake material unless your firm's AI policy and engagement terms permit it.

What comes back

An outline organized by article: number and title, the substance in drafting-ready sentences, a short Drafting decision note wherever a real choice exists, and a [CHECK STATE LAW] marker wherever a statute controls the answer. Followed by a list of assets that pass outside the will, the execution plan, open questions ranked by whether they block drafting, and the four closing sections.

See an example of what you’ll get

ARTICLE I: Identification and Family. Testator Marcus Aldridge, domiciled in Wake County, North Carolina. Spouse: Denise Aldridge, married 2019. Children: Tyler (24) and Brynn (19), both of the first marriage. Stepchild: Owen Reyes (11), not adopted. *Drafting decision:* Owen takes nothing unless named. Confirm whether Marcus intends to include him; if so, he must be identified by name, not by "my children." ARTICLE II: Revocation. Revokes all prior wills and codicils, specifically the will executed in Ohio on March 4, 2009. *Drafting decision:* The 2009 will names his first wife as executor and sole beneficiary and has never been revoked. [CHECK NORTH CAROLINA LAW] on whether divorce revoked those provisions by operation of law, and whether an Ohio-executed will would otherwise be admissible here. Locate and destroy the original in his mother's safe. ARTICLE V: Specific Gifts. The coin collection to his brother, Ray Aldridge; if Ray does not survive, it falls to the residue. *Drafting decision:* "Coin collection" is the classic ambiguity. Describe it by location and container, and decide whether it includes the three graded coins in the safe deposit box. ARTICLE VI: Residue. All the residue to Denise if she survives by 30 days; if not, in equal shares to Tyler and Brynn, the issue of a deceased child taking per stirpes. *Drafting decision:* This leaves nothing to Owen at either level. Also decide whether the Myrtle Beach rental should pass here or by a transfer-on-death deed to avoid a South Carolina ancillary probate. ARTICLE VIII: Guardian. Not applicable to Marcus's own children; both are adults. No guardian nomination for Owen: Marcus is not his legal parent. ARTICLE X: Personal Representative. Denise, then Ray. *Drafting decision:* Denise is both PR and primary beneficiary. That is ordinary, but confirm whether a bond is required and whether to waive it. [CHECK NORTH CAROLINA LAW] Passing outside this will. 401(k) $380K: beneficiary form controls; reportedly still names his first wife. Home in Cary: sole name, so it does pass under the will. Brokerage $95K: check for a TOD registration. The F-250: check whether the state offers a small-estate or transfer-on-death vehicle process. Open questions, ranked. (1) Does Marcus intend to provide for Owen? Blocks Articles I, VI, and any trust article. (2) What does the 401(k) designation say today? Blocks the whole plan; $380K is the largest asset. (3) Myrtle Beach rental: TOD deed or ancillary probate? Can wait one week. (4) Bond waiver. Can wait for the signing meeting. --- Assumptions I made. That Marcus's 2009 Ohio will was never formally revoked [verify]. That the Cary home is titled in his sole name as the intake states [verify - pull the deed]. That North Carolina, not Ohio, governs [safe - domicile stated]. That Owen was never adopted [verify]. Where this is weakest. Article VI. As written it disinherits an 11-year-old the testator has raised for seven years, which is both possibly contrary to his intent and the most likely source of a family fight. Article V is second: "coin collection" without a schedule is the single most litigated sentence in small estates. What only you can decide. If Owen is included, his share can go into a testamentary trust (protective and it survives his mother, but in many states it is court-supervised with annual accountings and a fee) or a UTMA custodianship (cheap, no court, but it hands a lump sum to a 21-year-old and it terminates whether he is ready or not). Also yours: whether to raise Owen with Marcus while Denise is in the room. What would make this materially better. (1) The current 401(k) beneficiary designation form: it governs the largest asset. (2) The deeds for both parcels. (3) The 2009 Ohio will.

Why this prompt is built the way it is

## Framework 1. **Gate check before drafting.** State of domicile, marital status and any prior marriage, whether a beneficiary is a minor or on means-tested benefits, and what prior instrument exists. Missing any one of these produces an outline that looks finished and is not. 2. **Articles in order.** Identification, revocation, debts and taxes, tangible property, specific gifts, residue, contingent takers, guardian, minor's trust, personal representative, execution. Drop what the facts do not need. 3. **Substance then decision.** Each dispositive article gets drafting-ready language and, underneath it, the choice the lawyer still has to make. 4. **Fill the ladder.** Every predeceased beneficiary, per stirpes versus per capita at each generation, and the ultimate taker. An unfilled branch is a lawsuit. 5. **Flag state law, never state it.** Elective share, pretermitted heirs, homestead, revocation by divorce, witness count, self-proving affidavit, no-contest enforcement: name what to check, not what the rule is. 6. **Audit what escapes the will.** Beneficiary designations, survivorship titling, TOD and POD accounts override the document entirely. 7. **Execution is part of the draft.** The signing plan and the ranked open questions ship with the outline.