Checking Your Draft With AI: Read This First

Your draft will, trust or power of attorney has arrived, and you want to be sure it's right. More and more of our clients upload their drafts to ChatGPT, Copilot or another AI tool to check them. We understand why. But our honest advice is: please don't, or at least don't do it first.

Why we advise against it

• It can't see the plan behind the words. Your consultant listened to what you wanted and recommended a strategy. Our team then drafted the document to put that strategy into effect. The AI only sees the legal wording, not the reasons for it, so a clause that does exactly what you asked for can look like a mistake.
• It can't see the rest of your plan. Your letter of wishes, our meeting notes, and what you told us about your family all shape the draft. The AI sees none of it.
• It can be confidently wrong. AI tools often mix in American law or out-of-date figures, and sound sure of themselves while doing it. See When AI Gets It Wrong.
• Your privacy. A draft will is full of personal and family details. Before uploading anything, read Should You Upload Your Will or Trust Deed to ChatGPT?
• It's a draft. It's meant to be checked and changed. We offer unlimited amendments until you're happy, so nothing is set in stone.

The better option: a draft review call

We offer draft review calls. One of our team goes through your draft with you line by line, explains in plain English what each part does and why it's there, and makes a note of anything you'd like changed. You come away understanding your document, and with the changes on their way.

To book one, reply to the email your draft came with, speak to your consultant, or call us on 01233 659 796.

If you're going to use AI anyway

If you'd still like a second look from an AI tool, this is how to get the most useful answer from it.

1. Remove sensitive details first. Take out bank account numbers, National Insurance numbers and passport details.
2. Check your privacy settings. Many AI tools let you stop your conversations being used for training. Turn that off before you upload.
3. Copy the prompt below into your AI tool and fill in the parts in [square brackets].
4. Upload your draft in the same message.
5. Bring the questions to us. Treat the answer as a list of things to ask, not a verdict.

The prompt to copy

I'm a client of Squiggle Consult, an estate planning firm in England. I've been sent a DRAFT document to review before it's finalised. Please help me understand it and prepare questions for my adviser.

ABOUT THE DOCUMENT
- Document type: [e.g. will / lasting power of attorney / trust deed]
- Country whose law applies: [England and Wales / Scotland / Northern Ireland]
- Who it's for: [e.g. me and my husband, mirror wills]
- Other documents I'm uploading: [e.g. my recommendation letter / meeting summary / none]

ABOUT ME (keep it brief)
- Family: [e.g. married, second marriage, two children from my first marriage]
- What I wanted to achieve, in my own words: [e.g. my wife can stay in the house for life, but my children must get it in the end]
- Any worries I mentioned: [e.g. care fees, inheritance tax, a child's divorce, a vulnerable family member]

HOW THE DRAFT WAS PREPARED
- My adviser listened to my goals and recommended a strategy. Their team then drafted the document to put that strategy into effect.
- The document may not simply repeat what I said. Legal documents often achieve a simple goal in a technical way, so it may use words like "trustees", "life interest" or "discretionary" even though I never used them.
- Some parts of my plan may sit outside this document, for example a letter of wishes, which you won't be able to see.
- It's a draft. Squiggle offers unlimited amendments, so anything genuinely wrong can be corrected.

USE SQUIGGLE'S KNOWLEDGE BASE, NOT YOUR MEMORY
Squiggle publishes plain English guides here: https://www.squiggleconsult.co.uk/knowledge-base
Before explaining any strategy or legal term, open the knowledge base, find the guide that matches, and base your explanation on it. Tell me which guide you used and give me its link.
If you can't open the website, tell me plainly and don't pretend you've read it. I can paste the article in instead.
If my document uses something the knowledge base doesn't cover, say so rather than guessing.
The guides are general information. My draft is based on my personal circumstances, so if the two seem to differ, don't assume the draft is wrong. Add it to my questions instead.

WHAT I'D LIKE YOU TO DO
1. Identify the strategy. Tell me what overall approach the document appears to use and explain how it works.
2. Link the strategy to my goals in a simple table: My goal / Where it's dealt with / How it works.
3. Explain the unexpected. If a clause looks different from what I asked for, explain what job it might be doing before suggesting it's a mistake.
4. Check the basics: names, spellings, dates, addresses and relationships.
5. Explain any legal words in plain English.
6. List what you can't see or can't be sure about.
7. Give me a short list of polite questions for my adviser, split into "Please explain" and "Please change".

PLEASE
- Use the law of the country I named only. No US law or US terms like "estate tax".
- Say "this looks like..." rather than "this is..." when you're interpreting.
- Give a date or source for any figure, such as tax allowances.
- Don't rewrite the document or give me your own version.
- Don't tell me something is wrong unless you can explain exactly why. If unsure, make it a question for my adviser.

Use headings, short bullet points and plain English. Explain things as you would to a friend, but don't leave anything out to make it simpler.

What to do with the answer

Don't worry if the AI flags things. That's what the questions list is for. Send us your "Please explain" and "Please change" lists, or better still, book a draft review call and we'll go through them with you. If the AI couldn't open our knowledge base, copy the relevant guide from our knowledge base and paste it in.

Please don't make decisions, or tell family members what they will or won't inherit, based on what an AI tool has said. Ask us first.

Questions about your draft? Let's go through it together

A draft review call is the quickest way to understand your document and get it exactly right. No pressure, just a friendly chat. Reply to your draft email, speak to your consultant, or call 01233 659 796.

Talk to Squiggle: 01233 659 796 | hello@squiggleconsult.co.uk | www.squiggleconsult.co.uk

This factsheet is general information for England and Wales, not legal or financial advice, and the rules can change. Please seek personal advice about your own circumstances. Last reviewed: October 2026.