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Month: May 2023

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May is Senior Citizen’s Month, a time to reflect and appreciate all the things the seniors in our lives have done for us. Whether they’re our parents, grandparents, or elderly friends, our seniors have given us so much over the years. But sometimes seeing your loved ones aging or seeing how you’ve aged yourself may remind you of how quickly time passes and how much you wish you could pause life.

When you think about a loved one who has passed away, you probably don’t give much thought to the material things they’ve left you. Maybe you have a piece of their clothing that you sometimes hold close to your heart or a favorite item of theirs displayed proudly on a shelf. But what you value most about that object likely isn’t its monetary worth but the memories it evokes of your loved one and the time you spent together. You wish you could still hear from them, learn from them, and share memories with them.

I know the value of planning for what happens to your financial assets. But I also know that there is something even more valuable to pass on to your loved ones than money – your stories, lessons, insights, and values. While we might not be able to pause time, there are things we can do to preserve the precious memories and lessons of the people we love.

That’s why I offer a unique service to my clients called a Family Wealth Legacy Interview to help preserve your unique legacy for future generations. The Family Wealth Legacy process is built into all of our plans, and it’s an opportunity to share your love with the ones you care about most, and if you have aging parents or grandparents, the Family Wealth Legacy Interview is an even more important way to preserve their stories and create a cherished memory of their legacy for years to come.

What to Expect During Your Family Wealth Legacy Interview

Family Wealth Legacy Interviews are a key part of my Life & Legacy Planning process. If the idea of giving an interview sounds intimidating, don’t worry – the process is an easy conversation, and most of my clients tell me that their Family Wealth Legacy Interview was their favorite part of the estate planning process and a heart-touching experience.

During your Family Wealth Legacy Interview, we’ll ask you a series of helpful questions and prompts that we plan in advance. Or, you can talk freely about whatever you’d like to share with your loved ones. It’s your interview, so I encourage you to be your authentic self and make it your own. We’ll be there the entire time to guide you through the process.

We’ll record your interview on video, either in-person or remotely, depending on your preference. After the interview is completed, we’ll edit the footage and provide you with a digital recording that can be shared with your family members or kept with your estate planning materials as a special memento of your story and your love for your family.

We’ve built this into all of our plans because we find that while everyone says they intend to document stories and write letters to their loved ones, very few people ever actually get around to it.

Starting the Conversation with Your Loved Ones

Talking to your aging loved ones about estate planning and the legacy that they’ll leave behind can be difficult or uncomfortable for a lot of people. We all deal with the concept of aging and dying differently. Some of us avoid the topic altogether, and others will make light of it and even joke about “kicking the bucket.” But it’s important to have a conversation about your elder’s wishes and how much it would mean to you for them to plan ahead.

If you aren’t sure how your loved one will respond to the topic, try to come from a vulnerable place, and not from a place of any sort of judgment if they joke about death. Instead, remember that they’re joking because they might be afraid.

Try saying something like, “I know this might be hard to talk about, but it’s something that’s really important to me. If something does happen to you, I want to make sure that we’re able to take care of you, and I know that you wouldn’t want to leave us with a big mess.”

You could also let your loved one know how much you value them, and how much it would mean to you for them to create a Family Wealth Interview so that you have a recording of them as they are right now before illness or incapacity are even a part of the picture.

By approaching the conversation in a vulnerable way, they’ll likely be more receptive to the idea of planning for their assets and more intentional in how they leave their legacy behind for the ones they care about.

Bringing Families Closer Together

Besides preserving a message for your loved ones, the Family Wealth Legacy Interview is a great time to reconnect with the moments and memories from your life that you might have otherwise forgotten.

In today’s hectic world, it can be hard to live in the moment, but by taking a little time to reflect on where your life has taken you, you’ll remember all that you’ve accomplished and all that you want to share with your loved ones, not just in your Family Wealth Legacy Interview, but every day.

Even after the interview is finished, you’ll likely live your life with more intention and awareness of how you want to pass on your values, insights, stories, and experiences in your day-to-day life. And if a senior member of your family is completing their Family Wealth Legacy Interview, you can feel at ease knowing that no matter what the future holds, you’ll always have a video of your loved one sharing their stories, their hopes, their jokes, and their love with you.

The Importance of Life & Legacy Planning

The Family Wealth Legacy Interview is a wonderful tool for seniors and their families, and I offer it as a complementary service to all of my estate planning clients, young and old. It’s part of my comprehensive Life & Legacy Planning process, which goes beyond creating documents and takes a holistic approach to planning for a life you love and a legacy your loved ones will cherish forever.

At the core of Life & Legacy Planning is the understanding that your family’s most precious wealth is not money, but the memories you make, the values you instill, and the lessons you pass down. By planning for your life and legacy, you can ensure that your family’s wealth is preserved and protected for generations to come.

I believe that Life & Legacy Planning is not a one-time event but an ongoing process because it mirrors the ongoing process of your life. By working with an attorney who knows you and has a relationship with you, you make your Life & Legacy Planning as effective as possible and have the opportunity to continue to record your values and wisdom in additional Family Wealth Legacy Interviews as life goes on.

Whether you’re growing your family or well into retirement, I work with you to create a plan that evolves over time and adapts to changes in your life and family circumstances.

If you want to pass on more than money to the ones you love and leave them with an even greater gift that they’ll treasure for generations, give me a call at (858) 427-0539. And if you have a senior loved one, contact me today to see how I can help them not only make a plan for their assets, but capture the love and memories they share with you

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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If you’re going to take investment and estate planning advice from anyone, Warren Buffett is likely one you want to consider. As one of the most successful investors in history, his track record speaks for itself. However, his wisdom goes beyond picking stocks and making money.

At this year’s Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, Buffett shared several pieces of financial advice but also provided insights on the importance of personal growth and estate planning when seeking to grow wealth. While many of us may feel overwhelmed by the thought of estate planning or building our wealth, Buffett’s advice reminds us of two key but simple steps we can take to create financial and generational wealth.

Focus on Your Human Assets to Build Your Wealth and Your Legacy

In almost every interview Buffett provides, he stresses the importance of investing in yourself. “The best thing you can do is to be exceptionally good at something,” said Buffett. “Whatever abilities you have can’t be taken away from you. They can’t actually be inflated away from you. So the best investment by far is anything that develops yourself, and it’s not taxed at all.”

Your earning power is the greatest determiner of your financial well-being, and the one thing you can count on no matter what’s happening in the external economic environment. If you have a highly valuable skill, and you know how to get paid well for that skill, market your services, and sell your services to those who need them, you’ll never have to worry about money. That doesn’t mean you won’t worry about money; but it does mean you don’t have to worry about money.

If you don’t have a highly valuable skill or if you have a skill that will soon be replaced by AI, that’s the first place for you to invest. You may need to get retrained, or uplevel your skills to be more human or relational so you can use AI, but not compete with it, and all that may take investment. Don’t shy away from investing in additional training to get even better at your service, or even get the additional support to learn to market and sell your services. Those investments will always pay off, whereas the stock market is out of your control.

Investing in yourself not only leads to financial success, but also personal fulfillment and a clear sense of purpose that will organically become your legacy. At the end of the day, you likely won’t be remembered for your financial success (though it’s a nice bonus if you are!). Even Warren Buffett, who is renowned for his wealth and investment skill, is even more often acclaimed for his wisdom, humility, and generosity than for his money.

Raising Kids Well is Key in Effective Wealth Planning

During a Q&A session with an estate planning attorney, Buffett stressed the importance of talking to your children about your estate planning well before your death. Buffett stated, “If the children are grown when the will is read to them and it’s the first they’ve heard about what the deceased thought about things, the parents have made a terrible mistake.”

Leaving your family in the dark about your personal and financial wishes until you die or become incapacitated due to an accident or illness can lead to large amounts of confusion and conflict among family members. If you don’t want to leave a mess, don’t wait to talk to the people you love.

As we recommend and build into our Life & Legacy Planning Process, Buffett recommends involving your heirs in the planning process. By doing so, you can ensure that everyone is on the same page and that your wishes are understood and respected far in advance. Additionally, this provides an opportunity to discuss your values and beliefs with your heirs, which can have a lasting impact on their lives. Buffett expressed that if you really want your heirs to act responsibly with their inheritance, you must live out your values and instill them in your heirs.

How to Start the Conversation About Estate Planning With Your Heirs

So how do you start the conversation about estate planning with your heirs? We recommend you do it directly and with an invitation to meet with you and your lawyer together. This is something we love to do with our clients, and we’d love to support your family in this way too. You might say something like: “I want to make sure that we’re all taken care of, both now and in the future. That’s why I’d like to talk to you about my wishes for our family resources, and how we can ensure that everything is handled smoothly when I can’t be here.”

If your loved ones aren’t immediately open to having a conversation about estate planning with you or are resistant to how you want your assets managed after your death, don’t worry. Talking about estate planning can be uncomfortable at first, but as you normalize the topic, the conversation will become easier and more open.

Or, if you’re worried that filling your heirs in on what they’ll receive will cause harm, please call us at (858) 427-0539. This is a place we can really help by supporting you to get prepared to have a conversation with your heirs and also supporting them to be ready to receive their inheritance.

When you talk money and inheritance with your heirs during your lifetime, you have the opportunity to truly pass on not just the money, but your values too. If you wait until you’re incapacitated or have died, it’s simply too late.

Finally, if you’re the future heir of a parent who hasn’t yet talked with you about estate planning, you can jumpstart the conversation by getting your own planning done, and then talking with your parents about the choices you made, why you made them, and letting them know you’d like to help them feel comfortable talking to you about the choices they’re making. If you aren’t sure how to handle any of this, please reach out to us at (858) 427-0539.

Thoughtful Guidance to Build Your Personal and Financial Life and Legacy

Warren Buffett’s advice on building and preserving wealth is timeless and valuable no matter the size of your family or your estate. By involving your heirs in your estate planning and investing in yourself, you can set yourself and your loved ones up for long-term financial success and create a legacy that spans not only through your life but through the generations that follow you.

If you aren’t sure where to start or how to talk about your wishes with your family, reach out to me. I’d be happy to guide you and your loved ones through the process of creating an estate plan that focuses on the needs and hearts of everyone it involves, so you can build a life you love today knowing that your loved ones and your community will be impacted by your legacy for years to come.

To learn more about my heart-centered approach to estate planning, reach out to me to learn about my Family Wealth Planning Session process.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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When you think of estate planning, a will is usually the first thing that comes to mind. In fact, most people who contact me tell me they don’t need anything complicated for their estate- just a will. Indeed, wills have a reputation as the number one estate planning tool and can be seen all over TV shows and movies, from the dramatic “reading of the will” (which rarely happens in real life) to characters plotting how best to defraud their billionaire uncle’s will in order to inherit his lavish estate.

But although wills are a key part of your estate plan – and a big part of the movies – relying on a will alone won’t solve your estate planning needs – no matter what Hollywood says. Instead, using just a will to plan your final wishes is likely to leave your loved ones with an expensive mess that won’t distribute your assets in the way you intended.

What’s more, a will alone won’t ensure that you’re taken care of in the event of incapacity, and contrary to what you might think, relying on only a will actually guarantees that your family will need to go to court when you die.

If you don’t want to leave your family with a mess if something happens to you, it’s important to know how a will works and when it can be used to benefit you and your family.

What Exactly Is a Will and How Does it Work?

A will is a written document that directs how the creator of the will wants their possessions disposed of after their death. The creator of the will is called the testator or testatrix. In your will you can name someone you trust to manage the distribution of your assets, called your personal representative or executor. You can also write out what you want to have happen to your property, what charitable gifts you want to make, and who will receive them.

A will can be a complex document or a very simple document. You can even write your will on a napkin if you really want to!

With that said, a will isn’t a legally binding document unless it’s executed according to the laws of the state where you reside. In general, you need to sign your will in front of a witness, and sometimes a notary.

Some states have laws that allow you to create a will that isn’t witnessed at all so long as it is handwritten by the testator themselves. But because every state has different laws for the creation of a will, it’s important to consult with an experienced estate planning attorney (like me) to create your will rather than trying to write your own.

A Will Requires Probate Court

One of the biggest estate planning myths I hear from clients is the belief that by having a will, their loved ones won’t need to go to court after they die.

This is sadly the opposite of the truth.

If you use only a will as your main method of estate planning, you are actually guaranteeing that your loved ones will go to court after you die because a will is required by law to go through the court system called probate before any of your assets can be distributed. In fact, a will is only effective within the probate court.

Once your will is admitted to the court after your death, your personal representative or executor will be given official authority to move your assets under the court’s supervision. This ensures your property is distributed according to your wishes and that the court can intervene if there are any disputes over who gets what.

While court oversight can be helpful if there is any confusion or disagreement about your estate, the probate process is long and expensive. For very small estates, the process may take about 6 months, but for most estates, the process can take 12 – 18 months or sometimes even more.

Due to the length and complexity of the process, going through probate can easily cost your family tens of thousands of dollars. Some states even require that probate cost a certain percentage of your estate’s value.

In addition, because probate is a public court proceeding, your will becomes part of the public record upon your death, allowing everyone to see the contents of your estate, who your beneficiaries are, and what they’ll receive. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon for scammers to use this information to try to take advantage of young or vulnerable beneficiaries who just inherited money from you.

A Will Does Not Apply to All of Your Assets or All of Your Needs

Although movies make it seem like you can and should leave all your property to your loved ones through your will, a will actually only covers certain items of your property, including any property owned solely in your name and any property that doesn’t have a beneficiary designation.

A will doesn’t cover property co-owned by you with others listed as joint tenants or owned as marital property, meaning you can only give away your share of any property you own with others, not the entire property.

Any assets that have a beneficiary designation, like retirement accounts or life insurance, aren’t controlled by your will at all but will instead be paid out to the person listed as your beneficiary on each account. Because of this, it’s especially important to make sure your account beneficiaries are up to date.

In addition, a will has no power until you die, so you can’t use it to give someone you trust the power to make decisions for you if you’re incapacitated due to illness or injury. Even if you named someone in your will to manage your estate or watch over your children, that person will have no authority to do so while you’re alive.

Don’t Just Get a Will, Get an Estate Plan

With all the issues that using a will for estate planning can create, you might be wondering why a will is even used at all. The thing is, a will isn’t the one-and-done solution that most people are led to believe by TV shows and even some lawyers.

Instead, a will should be used as a piece of your overall estate plan, not as the entire plan itself.  And ideally, your will shouldn’t even need to be used at all.

How can that be? Well, an estate plan isn’t just one or two documents – it’s a range of tools and coordinated planning that makes sure everything and everyone you love is taken care of.

And by using better tools like a trust instead of a will as your main tool for estate planning, you can direct what happens to your property while avoiding probate court entirely and ensuring the people you trust can step in and manage your assets immediately if you become incapacitated because of an illness or injury.

In addition, any assets you put in the name of your trust are entirely private, meaning the court and the public will never know what you own or who will inherit it after you’re gone.

When using a trust-based estate plan, you’ll still have a will, but your will should only need to serve as a backup and safety net to make sure that any assets that are accidentally left out of your trust at your death are added back into your trust.

And, even more important than both a will and a trust, is an inventory of your assets so your family knows what you have, where it is, and how to find it when you become incapacitated or die. Without an inventory of your assets, your family will be literally lost when something happens to you. A comprehensive inventory updated throughout your lifetime is a critical, and often overlooked, piece of an estate plan that is not “just a will.”

If you’re ready to see how having an estate plan for your family is different than having “just a will,” schedule your Family Wealth Planning Session today. During the session, we’ll review an inventory of everything you have and everyone you love, and together look at what would happen to your possessions and loved ones when something does happen. Then I’ll help you develop a plan to make sure your loved ones are taken care of when you can’t be there and that your plan works for you, and for them, exactly as you want it – at your budget and within your desires.

Most importantly, I don’t just create documents. I guide you and your family through every step of the process, now and at the time of your passing. I even help all of my clients pass on something more valuable than their money – their values, stories, and wisdom – through a Family Legacy Interview.

To get clear on what you really do need for yourself and the people you love, schedule a call with us so you can get on the road to your Family Wealth Planning Session today.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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Blended families were once considered “non-traditional” families, but today, blended families are becoming just as common as non-blended families. Currently, 52% of married couples (or unmarried couples who live together) have a step-kin relationship of some kind, and 4 in 10 new marriages involve remarriage.

If you’re part of a blended family, you’ve probably recognized the extra layer of complexity that comes with planning for your family’s needs and accommodating the many relationships that exist between step-parents, step-kids, and step-siblings. Topics that might be straightforward for a “traditional” family – such as where to spend the holidays or who gets the old family car  – are more complex.

Feelings tend to be more sensitive, as the person in a “step” role may feel self-conscious about their place as the “outsider” of the family, whereas on the other hand, one parent’s children may feel put out by the addition of a new step-parent, step-sibling, or half-sibling when their mother or father remarries.

In a blended family, you work hard to navigate these complexities to keep the family unified and happy. But what you might not know is that our laws for what happens if you become incapacitated or die are still very much based on the traditional family model, which means that your blended family will likely end up in court and conflict without planning for them in advance.

What Estate Law Says About Blended Families

Every state has different provisions for what happens when you become incapacitated or die, and the laws of the state where you become incapacitated or die may or may not match your wishes. What’s more, even though you may see your step-family members the same way as your blood relatives, the law does not.

For example, in Colorado, if you’re survived by a spouse, your surviving spouse would only receive a part of your estate if you have living children (or parents!), and your living children or parents would receive the rest. And the amount your spouse receives is variable based on the number and ages of your children.

In contrast, in California, all community property assets would go to your surviving spouse, and separate property assets would be distributed partially to a surviving spouse and partially to children, if living, in amounts depending on the number of surviving children.

In Texas, it can get very complex, depending on whether your assets are separate or community, and whether you have children from the marriage, no children from the marriage, or living parents or siblings.

As you can see, what’s true for what happens when you die may not result in the outcome you want for your loved ones, especially in a blended family situation. That’s why it’s so important to create an estate plan for your blended family well in advance, and I encourage you to discuss your plan with the members of your family to avoid hurt feelings, confusion, or pain in the future.

Avoid Conflict in Your Blended Family Through Open Communication

Estate planning is often seen as a highly private affair, but it doesn’t have to be, and oftentimes, shouldn’t be. In the case of a blended family, having open conversations with your loved ones about your estate plan and your goals for the family can save them from hurt feelings and even court battles in the future.

Like all families, how you plan for your blended family will depend entirely on your family dynamics, your family members’ situations, and your own personal values for how an inheritance should (or shouldn’t) be received and what kind of legacy you want to leave behind.

Maybe you have step-kids and biological kids but want all of your children to inherit an equal share from you and your spouse. Maybe there’s a large age gap between your step-kids and biological child, so you want to make sure that your youngest has the financial support they’ll need if something happens to you, whereas the older children are able to support themselves.

Maybe you have a step-parent or step-sibling that you would want to gift a special item of yours like a watch or necklace. Well, for better or worse, a person you have a step-relationship with has no right to inherit from you under the law, unless you put your plan in writing. 

You don’t need to give away every detail of your will or trust, or tell everyone who you named to make decisions for you if you’re incapacitated. Instead, start by having an open conversation about the general goal of your estate plan, such as wanting everyone to have an equal share, or that you want to provide more for your biological children because your step-children will already receive a full inheritance from their other parent.

By taking the mystery out of your estate plan goals, your stepchildren will feel included in the discussion and feel like they’re knowledgeable about your plan, rather than feeling hoodwinked or hurt if they find out later that your plan doesn’t align with the expectations they created for it in their minds.

Most importantly, let the people in your life know you value and love them, and that no matter how they’re related to you, you care about them and want them to inherit not just material things from you, but also your values, stories, and legacy.

Create More Than a Plan, Create a Family Legacy

To make sure your wishes for your blended family are followed in the event of your death or incapacity, it’s essential to have a well-crafted estate plan created by an attorney experienced in serving blended families. I know all too well the importance of planning for blended families and can help you navigate your options and desires for your family’s plan.

But what really sets me apart from other estate planning lawyers is that I know that your material possessions are only a small part of a successful estate plan. What will really matter to your family members, no matter how they became your family, is your legacy.

Instead of leaving your family a mess to be battled over in court, leave your family an example of financial wellness, of a plan filled with personal values and family history.

To do this, I include what I like to call a Family Legacy Interview with all of my estate plans. During this interview, I give you the opportunity to leave your most important assets – your values, stories, and heart – to your family in a meaningful way that they’ll cherish for years after you’re gone.

For a blended family, the Family Legacy Interview can be even more valuable, because it gives you the opportunity to really speak to your loved ones about the plan you created for them and how much you value the place they hold in your heart.

If you want to protect your blended family from a court battle and emotional conflict, give me a call today at (858) 427-0539 to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session. During the session, I take the time to really get to know you and your family’s unique situation and educate you about what exactly will happen to your family under the law if something happened to you right now, so you can make confident decisions about what’s right for your family. Even more, I welcome you to invite the members of your blended family to be a part of the conversation.

Schedule your session today.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

[email protected]

858-427-0539

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Whether you’re turning on the news or scrolling through Instagram, it’s hard not to hear about AI technology, so this week I wanted to take some time to cover what the buzz is about and how you can use this technology to make your own life easier.

AI (artificial intelligence) language models like ChatGPT and Jasper in particular are enjoying the spotlight this year. Essentially, these are online software programs that have the ability to interpret natural language and provide human-like responses. In a nutshell, that means you can type in questions or commands as if you were writing a message to a real person, and the software will produce an equally human-like response.

What has the world buzzing over these programs is their ability to understand and interpret the text you enter into them in the same way a real person would, including an ability to modify its response based on your follow-up questions or commands.

If you think AI technology seems a bit too “sci-fi” for daily use, I’m happy to share that there are a number of ways you can use an AI language model to make your family’s life easier right now, from saving you time, helping you communicate, and even helping you plan that much-needed vacation.

Here are three everyday applications for AI that you’ll want to start using today.

1. Get Help Writing a Tricky Email

I think it’s safe to say that we all have times in our lives when we have to deliver an uncomfortable message via email, text, or phone. Maybe you’re resigning from a job, critiquing someone’s work, or delivering bad news. Whatever the situation might be, it can be stressful to try and deliver a message in a way that clearly delivers your message with the right tone for that situation.

Instead of staring blankly at your email or anxiously picking up the phone, try drafting out your message in an AI language model like ChatGPT or Jasper first.

For example, I typed the following into ChatGPT to get a prompt for approaching an employee about a performance issue:

“Imagine you need to give negative feedback to an employee. This employee is friendly and hard-working but makes many spelling mistakes in the company’s meeting minutes. You want the employee to know that you value having them on your team, but that their accuracy needs to be improved. Write an email that I could send to this employee.”

ChatGPT provided the following sample email that I can use:

“Dear [Employee Name],

I hope this email finds you well. I wanted to take a moment to provide you with some feedback regarding the meeting minutes you have been responsible for drafting. First and foremost, I want to express how much we appreciate your hard work and dedication to the team. You are a valued member of our team, and we are lucky to have you.

However, I have noticed that there have been a number of spelling mistakes in the meeting minutes recently. While I understand that mistakes can happen, accuracy is critical when it comes to recording important decisions and actions taken in meetings. I wanted to bring this to your attention so that we can work together to improve the accuracy of the meeting minutes.

I would like to suggest that you take some extra time to review your work before submitting it to ensure that it is error-free. You might also consider using spell-check or grammar-check tools to assist you in catching any mistakes.

Please know that we have confidence in your ability to improve in this area, and we are committed to supporting you in any way we can. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you again for your hard work and dedication to our team.”

Not only did the software draft a natural-sounding email, but it suggested ways the employee could remedy the situation. What’s more, you can ask the AI to further modify and refine its previous responses. For instance, you could ask it to rewrite the email with a more empathetic or casual tone, or to shorten the length of the message.

Gone are the wasted hours trying to craft the perfect email for a challenging situation!

Even if you need to communicate with someone over the phone, using an AI language model can help get the conversation off on the right foot by providing you with an outline for how to start the conversation or outlining the points you want to cover.

2. Find the Best Flight Prices Faster

If you’ve ever planned a family vacation, you know how time-consuming searching for flights can be. What seems like an easy enough task on the surface can easily become a days-long marathon of comparing airlines, prices, layovers, seasons, and the difference in travel time if you fly from one city versus another.

Now, thanks to an integration with KAYAK, you can ask ChatGPT questions about your travel plans and ChatGPT will sort through your travel options for you.

For example, you could ask, “What’s the cheapest flight from Fargo to Orlando?” and the software will provide you with the best options that meet your request.

Want a direct flight? You can alter your request by adding, “Show me direct flights only” to further narrow down your options. No need to worry about manners, you can simply be direct and to-the-point with your requests.

Want to compare prices depending on what day of the week? You can ask the software, “What is the cheapest day to fly to Orlando from Fargo in June?”

The KAYAK integration is currently only available for paid ChatGPT subscribers, but plans are underway to make it available in the software’s free version. If you’re anxious to do some traveling and want to try out ChatGPTs KAYAK integration, paid subscriptions are billable based on how much you use the software and include a free five-dollar credit to get you started.

3. Create a Better Resume and Cover Letter

Whether you’re actively looking for a job or wondering how you could improve your resume to increase your chances of a promotion, having a great resume can mean the difference between getting an interview and being passed up. But it can be difficult to write a resume or cover letter that truly conveys the value of what you bring to the workplace without sounding overly self-promoting. Thankfully, using an AI language model like ChatGPT can help flesh out your resume and create a cover letter that will stand out to a company’s hiring manager.

For example, let’s imagine I’m a receptionist for a medical clinic and want to apply for a similar position at another clinic. I’ve written a resume, but I don’t feel confident that it highlights my skills in the role. In this situation, I pasted my skills from my resume into ChatGPT and entered the following instruction:

“Improve this job description for my resume:

  • Take patient phone calls and respond to messages
  • Schedule appointments based on the provider’s availability
  • Help team members with questions
  • Follow-up with patients to reschedule canceled appointments”

ChatGPT provided the following improved bullet points:

  • Responding to patient inquiries via phone, email, and messages with a friendly and professional demeanor, while providing accurate and helpful information.
  • Coordinating and scheduling appointments based on the availability of healthcare providers, while ensuring that patient needs were prioritized.
  • Supporting and collaborating with team members by answering questions and providing guidance when needed.
  • Conducting timely follow-ups with patients to reschedule canceled appointments and ensure their continued care.

The output from ChatGPT conveys my responsibilities as a receptionist in a more interesting and descriptive way, while also highlighting my skills by showing my focus on patient care and teamwork.

By using an AI language model such as this, you can either start your resume or cover letter from scratch or get tips for how to improve a resume you already have. You can also use the software to customize the same cover letter for different companies, saving countless hours in your job search.

4. Get Help with Your Kids’ Homework

If you have kids, you know that helping them with their homework can sometimes feel just as tough for you as it does for them. The good news is that you can use an AI language model to walk through homework problems to make them easier for your child – and you – to understand.

All you need to do is type the math problem into the software program and ask for an explanation. For example, I entered the following into ChatGPT:

“Explain how to do this math problem to a 4th grader: 1/2 X 2/3 =”

ChatGPT responded with the following:

“Certainly! We want to find out what happens when we multiply these two fractions together. To do that, we need to multiply the numerators (which are the numbers on top) and then multiply the denominators (which are the numbers on the bottom).

So 1/2 X 2/3 would look like this:

To multiply the numerators, we just multiply the numbers on top:  1 X 2 = 2

And to multiply the denominators, we just multiply the numbers on the bottom: 2 X 3 = 6

So the answer is 2/6!

But we can simplify this fraction by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by the greatest common factor, which is 2. If we divide 2/6 by 2, we get 1/3. So the final answer is 1/3!

That means if we had one whole thing that we cut into two equal pieces, and then we shaded in one of those pieces, and then we took that one piece and cut it into three equal pieces, and then we shaded in two of those pieces, we would end up with 1/3 of the whole thing.”

Pretty helpful, right? Now that was a pretty simple example, but you can even ask more complicated math questions or questions for other subjects as well.

Not only can this help you and your child better understand their homework, but can help eliminate the frustration you two may feel over the daily homework struggle.

More Than Legal Advice – Your Trusted Advisor

By using AI technology, you can save time, communicate more effectively, and plan vacations with ease. I’ll use AI and other technology in my own practice to create more efficiencies and better service, so I can use my heart and humanity to serve you. I’m here to do the parts of lawyering that can never be replaced by a machine and be a trusted advisor for my clients and their families. I know that life can be hectic and stressful, and I’m here to provide resources that can make your life easier now and in the future.

In that vein, I love learning about new technologies and the ways they can improve our lives. But I also know that technology – no matter how good – can never replace the care and humanity that real people have to offer. To me, the best part about technology is that by saving us time, it frees us up to spend more time connecting with one another.

That’s why when it comes to your legal planning, I offer a Family Wealth Planning Session where I not only discuss how the law affects you and your loved ones, but I truly get curious with you about your life, your goals, and the legacy you want to leave behind, so you can rest assured knowing that your estate plan will work perfectly for you. By using the best technology and systems to do my work, I’m able to be more available to my clients when they need me most.

If you’re interested in learning more about how I serve my clients differently than most lawyers or have questions about estate planning, please schedule a call with me. I’m not just your family’s legal advisor. I’m a trusted advisor for life.

This article is a service of Brittany Cohen, Personal Family Lawyer. We don’t just draft documents; we ensure you make informed and empowered decisions about life and death, for yourself and the people you love. That’s why we offer a Family Wealth Planning Session, during which you’ll get more financially organized than you’ve ever been before and make all the best choices for the people you love. You can begin by calling our office today to schedule a Family Wealth Planning Session and mention this article to find out how to get this $750 session at no charge.

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