ChatGPT, LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Rocket Lawyer, and similar services are increasingly used to draft wills, form LLCs, prepare deeds, and handle estate planning. Some of these tools produce decent templates for simple situations in simple states. Pennsylvania is not a simple state. Its inheritance tax system, its Orphans' Court procedures, its POA acceptance requirements, and its real estate transfer tax calculations are materially different from the majority of U.S. jurisdictions — and AI tools trained on national data routinely get Pennsylvania-specific requirements wrong.
Here are the specific errors we see most frequently:
Self-proving affidavit failures. A valid Pennsylvania will requires two witnesses (20 Pa.C.S. § 2502). A self-proving will — which lets probate proceed without tracking down those witnesses later — requires a specific affidavit under 20 Pa.C.S. § 3132.1. The Bucks County Register of Wills uses the statewide form prescribed by the Supreme Court. AI-generated wills frequently omit the self-proving affidavit entirely, include one in the wrong format, or merge the attestation clause and affidavit into a single paragraph that may not be accepted. The result: your executor has to locate the original witnesses and bring them to Doylestown to testify — or file a petition with sworn affidavits of witnesses, which adds cost and delay.
Inheritance tax blind spots. Most AI tools are trained primarily on federal estate tax rules (the $13.61 million exemption, the unlimited marital deduction). Pennsylvania's inheritance tax is a completely separate system — it applies to every estate regardless of size, at rates of 0% (spouse), 4.5% (lineal descendants), 12% (siblings), and 15% (everyone else). When ChatGPT drafts an estate plan, it typically ignores PA inheritance tax entirely or incorrectly states that small estates are exempt. There is no small-estate exemption from PA inheritance tax. A $50,000 estate passing to a sibling owes $6,000 in state tax — something a nationally-trained AI won't flag.
Common-law marriage misinformation. AI chatbots regularly tell Pennsylvania users that common-law marriage exists in the state. It does not. Pennsylvania abolished common-law marriage effective January 1, 2005 (23 Pa.C.S. § 1103). Only common-law marriages established before that date are recognized. We have seen AI-generated estate plans that assume a long-term partner will inherit as a spouse. Under current PA law, an unmarried partner inherits nothing through intestacy — regardless of how long the relationship has lasted.
Trust templates that miss PA taxation. Most states don't tax trust assets at the state level. Pennsylvania does. Transfers to irrevocable trusts trigger inheritance tax at the time of transfer (or at death, depending on the trust type). Revocable trusts are included in the taxable estate. AI-generated trust documents almost never address PA inheritance tax implications, often creating structures that trigger unnecessary tax liability or fail to take advantage of the spousal exemption and charitable deduction.
Generic "durable" language that banks reject. Under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5601.2, a third party (bank, brokerage, title company) is required to accept a valid POA — but in practice, institutions routinely reject POAs that don't specifically enumerate the powers the agent is trying to exercise. AI-generated POAs typically use broad, generic language ("all financial matters") instead of the specific enumerated powers under 20 Pa.C.S. § 5602. The result: your agent arrives at the bank with a perfectly "valid" POA and is turned away because the document doesn't specifically authorize the transaction. Our POAs include all 21 enumerated powers under § 5602, the hot powers under § 5601.4 (gifting, beneficiary changes, self-dealing), and institution-specific language we know Bucks County banks accept.
LLC formation that skips Pennsylvania requirements. AI tools and online formation services will file your Articles of Organization with the PA Department of State for $125. What they typically don't tell you: Pennsylvania requires a decennial filing — a report confirming your entity still exists, due every 10 years in the year your entity was formed. Miss it and your LLC can be involuntarily dissolved. They also don't register you with the PA Department of Revenue for tax filing purposes, don't advise on the annual Corporate Net Income Tax return requirement, don't address the Capital Stock/Franchise Tax (now repealed but relevant for older entities), and don't prepare an operating agreement — the single most important document for a multi-member LLC.
Transfer tax calculations that ignore CLR factors. Pennsylvania's realty transfer tax is calculated on the higher of the sale price or the computed fair market value — which is the assessed value multiplied by the Common Level Ratio factor. In Bucks County, the current CLR factor is 17.06 (2025–2026). AI tools calculating transfer tax invariably use only the sale price, potentially understating or miscalculating the tax. For property transfers between family members at below-market prices, this is a particularly expensive error.
Deed forms missing required certifications. Every deed recorded in Bucks County must include a Uniform Parcel Identifier (UPI), the complete legal description, a certification of residence under 72 P.S. § 8101-C, and a Statement of Value (REV-183) for transfer tax purposes. AI-generated deeds routinely omit one or more of these requirements. The Recorder of Deeds will reject the deed — and you've paid the recording fee and prepaid the transfer tax on a document that can't be filed.
AI legal tools have legitimate uses: initial research, understanding basic concepts, generating first drafts that a lawyer then reviews and revises. The problem isn't that they exist — it's that people use them as final products instead of starting points. A ChatGPT-generated will isn't reviewed by anyone who knows that Bucks County ROW requires a specific affidavit format. A LegalZoom LLC isn't set up by anyone who knows about the decennial filing. An AI-drafted deed isn't reviewed by anyone who checks the CLR factor.
⚠ The Real Cost of "Free" Legal Documents
The most expensive legal document is the one you have to fix after something goes wrong. A rejected will means a full intestacy proceeding ($3,000–$8,000+). A rejected deed means re-filing, re-paying transfer tax, and potentially losing a closing date. A POA that banks won't accept means an emergency guardianship petition ($5,000–$10,000+) when your parent is already incapacitated. The attorney fee to do it right the first time is almost always less than the cost of fixing it later.
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