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Estate Planning & Vault Manager 11

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Estate Administration 11

USER GUIDE

Estate Planning & Vault Manager User Guide

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Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 4

Introduction to Estate Planning & Vault Manager ..................................................................... 5

CHAPTER 2: THE CONTACT CARD ............................................................................................. 5

Contact Data .............................................................................................................................. 6 Opening Contacts ............................................................................................................................ 6 Entering New Contacts ..................................................................................................................... 7 Salutation Field ................................................................................................................................ 9 File As ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Contact Type ................................................................................................................................. 10 Signing Lines ................................................................................................................................. 10 Default Address ............................................................................................................................. 11 Find Address ................................................................................................................................. 12 Firm’s Registered Office Address ..................................................................................................... 12 Entering Additional Addresses ........................................................................................................ 12 Unlinking an Address ..................................................................................................................... 13 Name Changes .............................................................................................................................. 13 Contact Links ................................................................................................................................. 15 Change Contact Links .................................................................................................................... 16 Copy a Contact .............................................................................................................................. 16 Deleting Contacts .......................................................................................................................... 17 Retrieving a Deleted Contact or Matter............................................................................................ 17 Copy a Contact’s Information ......................................................................................................... 18 Digital signatures ........................................................................................................................... 18 Social Networking .......................................................................................................................... 18 Correspondence to Contacts ........................................................................................................... 18

CHAPTER 3: ESTATE PLANNING .............................................................................................. 19

Estate Planning and Will Matters .............................................................................................20

Creating a New Estate Planning Matter ...................................................................................20

Administration Tab ...................................................................................................................21 Internal Staff/Timekeepers ............................................................................................................. 23 Details .......................................................................................................................................... 23

Overview Tab ...........................................................................................................................24

Workflow Tab ...........................................................................................................................24 Documents Out for Signing ............................................................................................................ 24 Email ............................................................................................................................................ 26 Phone Log ..................................................................................................................................... 26 Tasks ............................................................................................................................................ 26 Notes ............................................................................................................................................ 27


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Marketing and Activities ................................................................................................................. 27 Marketing .................................................................................................................................. 27 Activities .................................................................................................................................... 28 Add an Activity ........................................................................................................................... 28

Documents Tab ........................................................................................................................28 Add a Document Link ..................................................................................................................... 29 Deleting a Document Link .............................................................................................................. 30

Assets Tab ................................................................................................................................31

Testator Tab .............................................................................................................................32 Representatives ............................................................................................................................. 32 Beneficiaries .................................................................................................................................. 34 Safekeeping .................................................................................................................................. 35 Clauses ......................................................................................................................................... 35 Distribution ................................................................................................................................... 36

Spouse Tab ...............................................................................................................................36

CHAPTER 4: ESTATE ADMINISTRATION ................................................................................ 37

Estate Administration Matters .................................................................................................38

Commencing a New Matter ......................................................................................................38 Step 1 – Entering the Deceased’s Information ................................................................................. 39 Step 2 – Entering the Deceased’s Family Information ....................................................................... 41 Step 3 – Entering the Deceased’s Original Assets and/or Liabilities ................................................... 42

Administration Tab ...................................................................................................................43 Government Offices ....................................................................................................................... 43 Banks ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Relations ....................................................................................................................................... 44 Other Parties ................................................................................................................................. 44

Will File Tab ..............................................................................................................................44

Inventory & Distribution Tab ...................................................................................................45 Distribution ................................................................................................................................... 45

Details Tab ...............................................................................................................................46 Beneficiaries .................................................................................................................................. 46 Trustees ........................................................................................................................................ 48 Safekeeping .................................................................................................................................. 48 Other Contact (Relations) ............................................................................................................... 48

Tabs Shared with Estate Planning & Vault Manager ................................................................48

CHAPTER 5: DOCUMENTS ....................................................................................................... 49


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Generating Documents ............................................................................................................50 Documents .................................................................................................................................... 50 Clause Selector (Estate Planning).................................................................................................... 50 Editing a Document in Word (Estate Planning) ................................................................................ 51 Options ......................................................................................................................................... 52 Saving a Document ........................................................................................................................ 52 Creating Mirror Documents (Estate Planning) .................................................................................. 53

CHAPTER 6: NAVIGATING THE PROGRAM .............................................................................. 54

Navigating the Program ...........................................................................................................55 Opening Last Matter ...................................................................................................................... 55 Searching for Files using Lists ......................................................................................................... 55 Finding Matters using Search .......................................................................................................... 56 Finding Contacts or Matters in Lists................................................................................................. 56 Matters List ................................................................................................................................... 57 Sorting Lists by Columns ................................................................................................................ 57 Add/Remove/Reorder List Columns ................................................................................................. 57 Resetting a List .............................................................................................................................. 57 Advanced Searches – Creating a Customized Search ........................................................................ 58 Printing List Reports ....................................................................................................................... 60 Saving List Reports ........................................................................................................................ 60

CHAPTER 7: ADVANCED OPTIONS .......................................................................................... 61 Options ......................................................................................................................................... 62 Closing Matters/ Viewing Closed Matters ......................................................................................... 62 Deleted Matters ............................................................................................................................. 63 Multiple Jurisdictions ...................................................................................................................... 63 Mail Merge with a List .................................................................................................................... 63


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Chapter 1: Introduction


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Introduction to Estate Planning & Vault Manager

Emergent Corporate and Estate Manager is a fully integrated software solution designed to handle the data

storage, reporting and document assembly requirements of law firms and corporate legal departments.

Estate Planning & Vault Manager employs an MS SQL database to store the particular profiles of both Contacts and Matters and the relationships in play between each.

Matters are the actual profiles of the Testators under administration by the department. Some examples of

Matters could be:

A Testator and Spouse

Vault Management

Estate Probate

Contacts, on the other hand, are individuals, companies, government offices, courts, municipalities, joint shareholders, estate shareholders, family trust shareholders and trustee shareholders. Essentially, the

system considers any entity that holds an address or requires a specially formatted signature line to be a Contact.

Within the program, a relationship exists between Contacts and Matters such that once a Contact has been

entered into the system; it can be used repeatedly for any Matter.

This guide has been designed as a reference for data entry and document and report generation.

Chapter 2: The Contact Card


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Contact Data

Information entered on the Contact Card drives every feature, function and task performed by Corporate Manager ET. It is important that you complete the Contact Card with as much available information as

possible to minimize revisions of your documents.

This section will cover how to open existing Contacts, enter new Contacts, delete unwanted Contacts, and

how to fill in the information required for different types of Contacts, i.e. individuals, companies, joint shareholders, estate shareholders, family trust shareholders and trustee shareholders.

Opening Contacts

Opening Contacts to view information can be done in three ways. Depending on where you are within Corporate Manager ET, you may use whichever is most convenient:

1. Double-click on the Contact’s Name. Double-click on any Contact name wherever it appears

within a Matter to open the Contact Card.

2. Right-click on the Contact Name and Select Open Contact. From within the Matter, right-click and select Open Contact to open the Contact Card.

3. Open the Contact List to search for the Contact. Click on the Contacts button on the

Toolbar.

When changes to a Contact need to be made, but the Matter is not open or known, search for the Contact

in the Contact List (as shown in the Finding Contacts or Matters in Lists) and right or double-click the correct match to open the Contact.


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Entering New Contacts

The details collected for Contacts vary depending on the Type of Contact. For example, you may want to

collect information such as Date of Birth and Social Insurance Number for an individual, whereas this data for a Company Contact would not apply. For this reason, it is very important to select the correct value for the Type field in each Contact Card.

There are two ways to enter Contacts in Corporate Manager ET.

1. Choose File > New > New Contact

This will display a new Contact Card to enter information.

Click the Full Name button and the Name Details window will appear. Enter as much as of the Contact’s

Name information as possible.

When all Name fields are complete, click OK to return to the Contact Card.

If this Contact is a Type other than Individual, such as a corporation, change it now by selecting the

dropdown menu at Contact Type and selecting the appropriate Type.

Select the File As dropdown menu and set the File As name, which should be identical to the name already entered. (File As is covered in more detail later in the File As section.)

2. Quick Add a Contact from Within a Matter


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Estate Planning & Vault Manager allows you to enter Contacts from within a Matter itself. Throughout the Matter screens, you will see areas that require Contacts. These fields define Contacts such as willmaker,

spouse, guardians, trustees, bankers, accountants, etc.

Click on one of these blank lines to display the New Contact Wizard.

Enter all or part of the name of the Contact you are adding and click the Find Contact button. If the name appears in the matching Contacts List, select the Contact and click OK to have it inserted into this

Matter.

If the Contact does not exist, click the Add as New Contact button and the Quick Add New Contact

window will appear. Enter as much as possible of the Contact’s Name information as outlined in Step 1.

If this is a new Contact at an existing address, click on the Search Address button. Enter the street name

to search for, and then select the proper address from the list. Entering the address this way will link the address and in future, changes in address will only have to be made to the main Company Contact Card.

Once the address fields are complete, click OK to return to the Contact Card.

Select the File As dropdown menu and set the File As name, which should be identical to the name already

entered. (File As is covered in more detail later in the File As section.)

Note: The contact detail of Gender is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents.


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Salutation Field

Certain individuals may be known by a name that is not their legal name. For example, a person whose

legal name is Henry Jonathon Smith may be known as Jack Smith. Mail will be addressed to Jack Smith, but signature lines for legal documents will contain the formal legal name.

In this example, the Salutation field has been manually changed to Jack. Documents generated will contain

the full legal name, but correspondence will be addressed to “Dear Jack”.

The Contact Card will look like this:

You will note that the Salutation does not appear on the Contact Card itself and is only visible when you

click the Full Name button. However, the Salutation column can easily be added in the Contacts List where all your Contacts are displayed.

NOTE: When the Full Name feature is used with legal name and salutation, changes that may have to be made to documents where different names are required are minimized.

File As

On every Contact Card you will notice a File As field. This field has particular significance for Contacts of an “Individual” Type.

Corporate Manager ET automatically populates the File As field with the name entered in the Full Name

field. Users can manually enter or select a different File As name if the Contact generally uses a name other than their Full Name. Bear in mind that the File As name will be the name that appears on all signature lines and documents. Please refer to the Salutation Section for further discussion on this procedure.


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Contact Type

When Quick Adding a Contact from the Matter screen, it is important to pay attention to the Contact Type.

Most often, the default Type will be Individual and if necessary, should be changed to ensure documents are populated correctly.

The Available Contact Types are:

There are also Types for Government, Municipal or Court Contacts. These should not be used when setting up a Contact Card for an Individual, Company or Estate, but may be necessary elsewhere in the Matter.

Signing Lines

Corporate Manager ET provides flexibility for many different Types of Contact entities. This is particularly

useful in corporate Matters where shares are held by other corporations. Select the Signing Line tab on the corporation’s Contact Card and complete the name and title.

If the shareholders are holding as trusts or jointly and requires a uniquely formatted signature line, then, follow these steps:

Individuals Any person playing a role in a Matter (e.g. shareholder, officer, client).

Company Any Company involved in a Matter (e.g. the corporation, shareholder).

Companies cannot normally be directors or officers.

Employee Employees are Timekeepers, or people at the firm working on a Matter.

One Timekeeper must be checked as Primary.

Our Law Firm This Contact should be set up by the administrator. There should only be one “Our Law Firm” Contact.

Joint

Shareholders

Used when two or more individuals jointly hold shares.

Family Trust When a Family Trust holds shares.

Trustee

Shareholder

When a trustee holds shares.

Estate The Estate involved in a Matter or when an Estate holds shares.


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1. Create the new Contact as a Principal in a Matter or as a New Contact. In this case, the Contact would be “Dianne E. Smith and Elizabeth A. Blackburn as Joint Shareholders” and the Contact Type

set to Joint Shareholders. When the name, address and phone details are complete, Save and

Close the Contact Card.

NOTE: the name of the Joint Shareholder as it should appear in the documents is entered in the Company Name field and the Type of Contact is set to Joint Shareholders.

2. Reopen the Contact Card and select the Signing Line tab and enter Dianne E. Smith and Elizabeth A. Blackburn on the appropriate signing fields.

The same process is used for all other multiple Types that would require unique signature lines in documents. The Signing Line Tab is not necessary for Individuals.

Default Address

The Default Address displayed on the General tab of the Contact Card is the address generally used and

immediately available to users. If a different address should be used, click on the Other Addresses tab, choose the address that you want to make the new Default Address by clicking the Default button and

this will move the previous default address from the General Tab to the Additional Addresses Tab. Note: Only one address type can be assigned at a time. You cannot have two principal addresses.


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Find Address

Addresses can be linked to multiple Contacts. Once an address is linked, changes to one address will be

reflected in all linked Contacts. This is useful when setting the Registered Office Address where the Law Firm acts as the Registered Office or many employees of the same Accountant firm.

Select the Find button and then enter a value, such as the address and click Search. Select the desired

address from the Matching Addresses grid. As you type address suggestions will appear and more will be available in the dropdown menu. Select the desired address and click OK.

The address selected will be added to the Additional Addresses tab. Simply select the address Type on the dropdown menu to complete the entry.

Firm’s Registered Office Address

When your Firm will act as the Registered Office for the company, select the Use Firm as Registered Address option and Corporate Manager ET will set the address Type to Registered Office. If there multiple

offices, a dropdown menu will appear to choose the proper office location. This is only available if the Type

has been set to Company.

This can also be done from the Common Tasks Menu > Organize this company then check Use Firm

Address during Step 1 on the Incorporation Assistant.

In addition, this address will be linked so that if there is a need to change the Firm’s Address, all related addresses will automatically be updated.

Entering Additional Addresses

Corporate Manager ET allows you to store an unlimited number of addresses for Contacts. To enter an

additional address, follow these steps:

1. Open the Contact.

2. Select the Other Addresses Tab.


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3. Select New Address and enter the address details.

When finished entering the address, select OK and then set the address Type. You can have an unlimited number of addresses, but use a specific Type, such as mailing or head office address, only once per Contact.

Effective Dates are a useful reference for individuals who spend time throughout the year at different addresses. The Effective Date tab is found in the Address Details window that appears whenever an address

is opened.

Unlinking an Address

As previously mentioned, changing an address on one Contact Card will change the address on ALL Contact Cards that are linked to that address. However, it may be that a corporation decides to use its own address

instead of your firms. Changing the address on that corporation’s Contact Card would change the address on all the corporations that are using your firm as their registered address, or an accountant’s employee

moves to another firm, but will still be connected to some of your Clients. Clicking on Yes will make the

global change, clicking on No will change the address for only that Contact.

In this case, enter the new address as above, and then change the default address by clicking on the Other Addresses tab, choose the address that you want to make the new Default Address and click the Default

button. Once the new Default Address is chosen, you can then delete the unwanted address by highlighting

its row and using the Delete button on your keyboard without affecting the other Contact Cards the address is linked to.

Name Changes

For corporate records management in particular, it is critical to track the historical names of corporations

and the dates of name changes.

NOTE: Do not use this procedure to fix typos! To change a typo, simply change the name in the Contact Card and Save/Close.


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Corporate Name Change:

1. Use Common Tasks>Corporate Name Change

2. A new window will appear with all shareholdings for this Contact displayed. Change the name of the corporation to the new name.

3. Click Done. A prompt will appear asking if you wish to reissue the share certificates in the new

corporate name.

4. Click No for the change to take effect without reissuing new share certificates.

5. Click Yes and the name will be updated and all existing shareholdings will be cancelled and new

certificates issued.

By clicking on the corporate name, the Contact Card will appear. The Details Tab in the Contact Card contains any Former Names of the corporation. The Name Change will be also be recorded in the Overview

Tab in the Notes section.

The new name is automatically entered on the General Tab. Be sure to confirm the File As section is correct for future documents.

Individual Name Change:

1. Open the Contact Card and expand until the Name Change button is available.

2. A new window will appear with all shareholdings for this Contact displayed. Change the name of

the corporation to the new name.


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6. Click Done and the name will be updated and all existing shareholdings in all companies will be

cancelled and new certificates issued.

Note: If you do not want the shares to be reissued for the individual after the name change, delete the share transaction using the keyboard delete method explained in Delete Share Transactions.

The Details Tab in the Contact Card contains any Former Names of the individual.

Be sure to confirm the File As section is correct for future documents.

Contact Links

Contact Links allows you to find out how any given Contact is involved with different Matters.

From the Contact form, select the Show Links button.

If it is not available on the Contact form, then you may need to click and drag the edge of the Contact Card

to enlarge it and see all available buttons.

Corporate Manager ET will display the relationships of this Contact to all related Matters and specify the

roles the Contact is playing in each.


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To open any one of these Matters, simply click/select the Matter and choose Open.

Change Contact Links

This allows you to change the links this Contact is associated with.

To Change a Contact Link, open the Contact that you want the links removed from.

Select the Change Links button. You may need to click and drag the edge of the Contact Card to enlarge it for all available buttons. You will see the following screen:

In the Change the Links field, enter the name or partial name of the Contact the links will be transferred

to. Hit the Tab key to trigger the search function, then click on the dropdown arrow to see the results of the Name Search and select the intended recipient. Select the Links that you want to move. You can

select one, all or any combination, and then click OK.

NOTE: You must select one link to change, even if there is only one.

Copy a Contact

This feature is useful to add a new contact with the same address and other contact details, such as a new

contact at an existing accounting firm. Click on Copy Contact, and a Copy of Contact will open. Edit the name fields in the usual manner and Save and Close.


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Deleting Contacts

There may be occasions when Contacts have been entered more than once. Both Regis Smith and Reginald

Smith may be in the database, but are in fact the same person. Or a Timekeeper leaves the firm, and all of their Matters are to be transferred to another Timekeeper.

When you are ready to delete a Contact, simply click the Delete button on the Contact Card or open the

Contacts List, find the Contact you want to delete, highlight the Contact, then click the Delete icon on the List Toolbar.

NOTE: Corporate Manager ET will not allow you delete a Contact that is related either to other Contacts or to Matters.

If you try to delete a Contact and Corporate Manager ET will not allow this, you will be prompted to view

the Links for the Contact for existing relationships.

If you click Yes you will be taken back to the Contact Links view where you can see all the Matters to which the Contact is linked. Proceed to change the links as outlined in Change Contact Links.

Retrieving a Deleted Contact or Matter

Although we talk about “deleting” a Contact Card or a Matter, it’s never really deleted. It’s just hidden

from sight so it doesn’t clutter up your Lists. To get your deleted item back, click on the List and change the dropdown menu to show Inactive Contacts. Open the Contact Card, go to the Details Tab and

uncheck the Inactive box. To retrieve a corporation, click View/Matters to open the Matters List, change the dropdown menu to Deleted Corporate Files and double click on the name of the corporation. This

opens the corporation’s main screen. Click on the Administration/Annuals Tab and change the

corporation’s status from Closed to Open.


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Copy a Contact’s Information

Clicking the Copy button will copy the contact information to your clipboard to be pasted into a word

document or email.

Digital signatures

Digital Signatures are administered in the Details tab. Use the Link button to find the digital signature file

on your network and link it to the Contact Card.

NOTE: You may need to adjust the image file size to have it fit properly on the document signing line.

Social Networking

Social networking links for Facebook, Linked In and Twitter can be entered in the Social Networking tab of the Contact Card.

Correspondence to Contacts

The Correspond dropdown menu located on the Contact Card gives you the option to create

letters, envelopes, faxes and labels for the Contact directly from the Contact Card. This feature is convenient when correspondence is being sent to the Client that is not part of the Packages or on a topic

unrelated to the Matter, such as an invitation to a firm event or a congratulatory greeting. A Letter Shell with the current date and the Client’s address is generated, and you can continue with the subject line and

the body of the letter.


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Chapter 3: Estate Planning


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Estate Planning and Will Matters

This section focuses on the particular data entry requirements for the Estate Planning & Vault Manager Matter screens.

The information required to define an Estate Matter is logically sorted into various data entry tabs, as shown

in the screenshots below.

Following each screenshot you will find a summary of the type of information required for each of the data entry tabs along with tips for data entry.

NOTE: Estate Planning & Vault Manager does not require that all, or even any, of the data entry fields be completed. However, it is beneficial to enter as much information as possible and keep it updated so that documents reflect accurate Estate records. For many “Estate” documents it is important to complete as much information as possible in the Details Tab of the Contact record so that the program is able to determine the correct gender for wording within documents.

Creating a New Estate Planning Matter

You can create a New Estate Planning Matter by selecting the Add new File button:

You will see the following window after you click the + to the left of Estate Planning;

Select OK.

The new Estate Planning Matter will then open on the Overview Tab.


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Administration Tab

The primary purpose of the Administration Tab is to provide details about the Testator for your law firm.

Note: When filling out the Contact details > Full Name details - ensure that the Salutation field is complete. This will be used as the Alias name in the Will, if desired.

The key data entry fields on this tab are:

Testator Clicking on this field generates the contact search window. Enter the Testator’s name here as discussed in the Entering New Contacts.


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Spouse Clicking on this field generates the contact search window. Enter the Spouse’s name here as discussed in the Entering New Contacts section.

Pertinent Dates

Grid

The Dates grid is extremely useful for tracking significant dates relating to the

Testator such as marriage or divorce. For example, let’s assume your Testator

is divorced. The date of their divorce will have some significance to this Matter and should be noted in this grid.

File Type This defines the type of file, being Will, Trust or both. Additional file types can

be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Estate Planning Type.

Office This field defines which office is administering the file, if you have multiple office

locations.

Testator Municipality

Where the Testator resides. This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents. For example, Town of Cobourg or City of Vaughan.

Testator Region This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents.

For example, County of Northumberland or Regional Municipality of York.

Testator Province Some firms may want additional Testator information. However, this field does not always need to be used.

Default Date This is the date that will be used to pre or postdate the document. For example,

if you know the date the document will be signed, that date can be entered here. If the field is left blank, the document will use the current date.

Jurat Municipality This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents.

This field is the municipality in which the Testator will be swearing any affidavits, such as the law office. For example, Town of Cobourg or City of Vaughan.

Jurat Region This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents.

This field is the region in which the Testator will be swearing any affidavits. For

example, County of Northumberland or Regional Municipality of York.

Jurat Province This is only needed if additional tracking is required.

Client No. This field is used as a reference from your Accounting application. It is

recommended that this number be completed so that specific search functions

can be done.

File No. This field is used as a reference from your Accounting application. It is

recommended that this number be completed so that specific search functions

can be done.

Matter No. This field is used as a reference from your Accounting application. It is recommended that this number be completed so that specific search functions

can be done.

Vault No. Is used to locate the number of the location in the Vault.


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Document Dir This is the path of the location of the folder containing the documents. You can elect to have all documentation saved to a specified location, such as the client’s

sub-directory in the Estate Services Directory. Click the Location button in order

to assign a directory.

Template This check-box is used to replicate these particular details. In order for it to show up in the Add New File templates, you will need to check and then give it a name

in the Reference textbox. This feature is useful if you are drafting a number of documents with the same structures.

Internal Staff/Timekeepers

The purpose of the Timekeepers section is to enter the Employee Contacts that are responsible for the

Matter within your firm.

This includes Lawyers, Law Clerks, Secretaries, Billing Lawyers, Originating Lawyers, etc.

NOTE: This Tab is very important as it contains the names used for the signing lines on letters and can help drive other documents. It is important that at least one Timekeeper be entered with a Primary check-mark for each Matter.

Details

Details track additional information about the Testator. This may or may not be crucial information for the production of the Will Document. Only custom created Wills would use this information.


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Overview Tab

The primary purpose of the Overview Tab is to provide a summary of the Estate file and to act as a

navigation link to complete tasks for the Matter.

Contact Information can be edited from this screen by clicking on the appropriate link, while clicking on an Individual’s name will open their Contact Card.

Navigational links are available for the Family, Contents of Vault, Notes and Clauses sections of the

Overview.

The Estate Summary Sheet can be viewed and printed by selecting the View Summary button.

Workflow Tab Tasks and events that occur in the processing of the Matter are recorded here. If utilized to its full potential, the result is Tasks, client instructions and the history and location of documents are created in a single

location within Estate Planning & Vault Manager for the Matter.

Documents Out for Signing

Estate Planning & Vault Manager can track documents sent to client for signing, providing the ability to create a follow up letter and confirmation when the signed document has been returned.


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NOTE: Many firms have the Client sign the Will in their office. If this is the case, there would be no documents out for signing, simply checkmark the Completed box so that any follow-up letter will not refer to that document.

When a document is created which requires a signature, it automatically populates the Documents out for Signing section. When the document is returned, a check mark in the completed column removes it from

the list. A letter can be sent to the Client at any time with details of what documents still need to be returned by clicking on Create follow up letter.

The default setting in Emergent Estate Planning & Vault Manager is to automatically populate the Document

Out for Signing. To disable this feature, Click on the create documents button and then select the options button.

Remove the checkmark in the Add follow up task and place a checkmark in Make Default to make this

selection permanent.


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Email

If Outlook Integration is enabled, Estate Planning & Vault Manager can store emails to/from your Client

under their appropriate Matter, making it easier to see all communication to/from your Client regarding

that Matter instantly. Even historical emails that were removed from your mailbox will continue to be available.

Phone Log

Track all phone calls associated with this Matter, including the date, start time and duration of the call. The

Add a Phone Call button will begin the timer. Press Save when the call finishes and update the subject and details. Press OK to save the information to the log.

Remove or edit a phone call by selecting the beside the date.

Tasks

Users are assigned Tasks that populate Reminder Reports to manage the processing of Records.

See the Workflow Section for more details about this feature.


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Notes

The Notes Tab allows users to enter special notes relating to the Client. Simply click on the next blank line

and start typing the information to be contained in your Note.

NOTE: If you want to call urgent attention to a specific note, check the Popup box. Once checked, this note will pop up like a yellow “sticky note” each time the file is opened until this box is unchecked. You can change the colour of your notes by clicking on the push pin and selecting Background Colour. There is no limitation on the length or number of notes that can be created.

Marketing and Activities

Marketing

This distinct information area is not necessarily related to any specific task. It is used to better communicate

with your client by tracking how the file came to the firm and for future follow-up with the client. You can

keep track of which firm informational letters that your client is interested in receiving, when they have been sent, or any other client relation-building initiatives.


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Activities

Events in the management of a matter can be processed through Activities. From file creation to Document

production, each activity can be tracked.

Once an activity has been entered, it can be tracked by activity type, clerk or any other item in the Activities Button List.

Add an Activity

Activities are added by selecting the dropdown menu under the Transaction Type column. Activities can be edited or removed from this list depending on the selection from the dropdown menu.

Activity Types can be edited or removed from this list by Tools > Data Maintenance > Corporate >

Activity Transaction Type.

Documents Tab

Estate Planning & Vault Manager acts as its own document management system. The Documents Tab displays the hyperlinks to any document created with Estate Planning & Vault Manager and makes them

immediately available to all Users of the system.

It is important to note that Estate Planning & Vault Manager does not create a copy of the document. It

creates a link to the original document. It is advisable to set the desired location for saving these documents, such as a specific client folder. To set this location, select the Administration Tab and place


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the path to this location in the Document Directory location. Thereafter, the document can be acessed either through Estate Planning & Vault Manager or by navigating directly to the client sub-directory folder.

Add a Document Link

The Add Executed Document button allows you to add documents (Word, Excel, or PDF only) to the Documents Tab and have it available to all users. Selecting the Add a New Document button will bring

up a form to collect information needed to add this document to the tab. Thereafter, by clicking on the document name in blue, the document will be retrieved and opened in Word. Note: Documents saved to your local C: drive will not be available to other Users.

Document For example, Will, Codicil or Power of Attorney. Additional Document categories can

be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning >

Vault Document Type.

Type For example, Private or Personal Care. Additional document types can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Vault

Document Type.

Description Details of the document.

Dated The date of the document.

Filed The date that the document was placed in the vault.


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Original A drop-down list that displays the number of originals. Additional original details can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning >

Vault Document Original.

Created By Who created this document. This field is driven by the log-in details of the User.

Status The status or location of the document, whether in the vault or with the Client, etc. Additional Status details can be added through Tools > Options > Data

Maintenance > Estate Planning > Vault Document Status.

Checked Out The date the document was removed from the vault.

Checked In The date the document was replaced in the vault.

Checked Out By

The person who has removed this document.

Documents can be further organized using the Folder selection. A newly created document will be placed

in the “Draft and not yet organized” document location. It can then be moved to any of the following locations:

Correspondence

Internal Memos

With Client

This is also where information regarding the actual executed Estate documents is contained. For example,

you can show that a Power of Attorney for Personal Care is stored in your firm’s vault simply by choosing

the pertinent information in the dropdown menus.

As a document gets moved to one of these folders by using the Folder dropdown menu, it is removed

from the Draft and Not Yet Organized location. Proper use of this feature enables the User to view, for

example, only Correspondence, or only the Internal Memos. Document tagging can be further refined by using the Ebook Tab and Ebook Group dropdown menus.

By clicking on the navigation links on the left of the screen, it is possible to see the documents contained

In the Vault, or With the Client, or All Vault Documents regardless of where they are. All documents created or added for this Matter are available by clicking the All Documents Chronologically link to the

left side.

NOTE: If a Document Management system is already in place within your office, (i.e. OpenText DM, Autonomy WorkSite, Worldox, etc.) Corporate Manager ET can be licensed for full integration with your DM system.

Deleting a Document Link

Should the need arise to delete a document from the Document Tab, simply click on and choose Delete. Click on Yes to delete the hyperlink to the document. The next prompt will give the option of deleting the

document file itself. Only choose Yes to this prompt if you want the document deleted from your system completely.


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NOTE: Choosing to delete the document file will completely remove the file. It will not go to a recycle bin. If the document is deleted in error, your IT department will have to try to recover it.

Assets Tab

Track the assets, such as life insurance or jewellery of the Testator in this tab. Enter an asset by clicking on the Add Original Asset/Liability button or on the drop-down arrow in the Number column and

choose New. After an asset has been entered, it can be Edited or Deleted by the sames drop-down arrow. It can be also linked with one or more beneficiaries.

All Original Assets or Liabilities can be entered by clicking on the Add Original Asset/Liability.


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Type Enter a type, such as Original Asset, Investment or Original Liability.

Class The class of the asset defines the type of Asset it is. Select the appropriate class, such as bonds or automobile, that best describes the asset. For Real Estate, select the class

that has the appropriate province which for the location of the property.

Units For Assets with units, such as family trusts, shares or mutual funds, enter the number of units of the field provided. For assets that do not have units, leave this field blank.

Description Enter the description or any other notes regarding this asset or liability.

Categorized

Description

By using a combination of the dropdown choice for Description Type and entering the

Description Text, more information can be recorded about the asset or liability.

Value Enter the value of the Asset or Liability at the date of death.

If entering a bank account, associate the account with the branch where it is located by making a selection from the drop down list. The list of accounts will only be available if

this asset is classified as a bank account and the bank branch is already entered in the Administration Tab.

Liabilities have the option to be defined as paid.

Testator Tab

All of the information that is specific to the Testator is tracked here. Gender, Marital Status, Date of Birth and Date of Death are all important pieces of information.

NOTE: After entering the Death date, Estate Planning & Vault Manager will offer to open a probate file. Choosing Yes will transfer all of the information from the Estate Planning File to the Probate file that can then be accessed by clicking the Probate Files button. Once the probate file is opened the Estate Planning file can be set to Closed.

Representatives

This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents. For the most part, Representatives are the non-beneficiary Contacts associated with the Matter, such as the Trustee, Guardian

or Witnesses, but it can also be noted if they are related to the Testator. Clicking in any box will trigger

the necessary action, whether creating a new Contact Card or a drop-down menu.


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Function This is a mandatory field that will be displayed in the Estate documents. The duty that they will be undertaking for this estate, such as guardian or trustee. Additional

functions can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate

Planning > Representative Type.

Joint Check-box determines if the trustees are acting jointly.

Severally Check box determines if the trustees are acting jointly and severally.

Foreign Check-box determines is this is a foreign representative.

Authority Check-box determines which Representative of the same function has signing priority over

the other.

Relation A drop-down list that displays the relationship to the Testator. Additional relations can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Rep

Relation Type.

Power A drop-down list that can attribute a specific power to a trustee whether Standard or Restricted. Additional options can be added through Tools > Options > Data

Maintenance > Estate Planning > Power.

Status A drop-down list that can set the status of a trustee. Additional statuses can be added

through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Voting Status.

Priority Check-box allows you to set priorities for trustees, witnesses, power of attorneys, and anyone else who is defined as a representative. Representatives with a priority of 1 will

have their names appear before other representatives with the same function.

Notes Used for any additional notes specific to a particular representative.

Adding a new Representative is unique within the Estate Planning application. It is important to select all of the roles which this representative plays and the representative Relation.


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NOTE: If any of this information is missed, it can be entered later.

Beneficiaries

The Beneficiary Tab is where the names of the actual beneficiaries and legatees to a Will and the relation

to the Testator are recorded. Add, Edit or Delete a beneficiary by clicking the drop-down arrow in the row.

Relation A drop-down list that displays the relationship to the Testator. Additional relations

can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Beneficiary Relation Type.

Type A drop-down list that displays whether the Beneficiary is a type of Beneficiary or

Legatee. Additional relations can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Beneficiary Type.

Residue/Gift Determines when the gift can be distributed.


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Gift Type and Gift Details

Additional tracking items used for distributions. Additional categories can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning >

Beneficiary Gift Type or Gift Details Type.

Spouse is Other

Parent

Check this box if the spouse is also the parent of the children.

Child Type Used to determine if this is a biological, step or adopted child.

Link Assets Provides for the relation between assets entered in the asset tab and the

beneficiary who will be receiving it.

Beneficiary priority

Allows you to rank beneficiaries in the order you wish them to appear in the document by entering the appropriate number.

Safekeeping

The Safekeeping section is where all Assets of the Testator held by the firm are listed. This tracks the type of item, item description and value at date of purchase or date of deposit. Location of the asset item within

the firm, the date the item was received and who deposited the item can also be listed. The Safekeeping section also supports a Checked Out Date and Removed By field if an asset was removed from the firm.

The Recipient of the Asset is also tracked.

Additional categories can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning > Estate Planning Safekeeping.

Clauses

The Clause Tab records clauses used in a Will. While it may not be necessary to list every clause used in each will, it would be relevant to detail clauses related to legislation that may change or rarely used clauses

that may need to be reviewed. Once populated, these clauses will populate a List that will make it easy to find all Matters that have a Will with a specific clause.

Other categories can be added through Tools > Options > Data Maintenance > Estate Planning >

Vault Document > Other.


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Distribution

The Distribution section tracks the distribution of the Estate assets to the various beneficiaries and the

dates the distribution occurred. This section is for use during the Probate phase of the Matter.

Spouse Tab

The purpose of the Spouse section is to mirror the Testator section. However, the Spouse information can

automatically populate from the Testator’s file. Enter the following Information on the Administration Tab:

Testator

Spouse

Jurat and Municipality

Timekeeper information

Beneficiaries

Representatives

Click on the Spouse tab and choose yes to create a Spouse file. All of the information from the Testator’s

file will now appear in the Spouse’s file, with the spouse’s roles reversed.

Note: Only the spouse representative information will appear in the new file. Any other representatives will not be incorporated into the new file.

Once the two files are created, Clause document selections can be shared between the two files.


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Chapter 4: Estate Administration


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Estate Administration Matters

This section focuses on the particular data entry requirements for the Estate Administration Matter screens.

The information required for an Estate Administration Matter is sorted into various data entry sections, as shown in the screenshots below. Below each screenshot you will find a summary of the type of information required for each of the data entry tabs along with tips for data entry.

NOTE: Estate Administration ET does not require that all, or even any, of the data entry fields be completed from the beginning. However, it is beneficial to enter as much information as possible and keep it updated so that documents reflect accurate Estate records.

Commencing a New Matter

As discussed in the Estate Planning section, Estate Planning & Vault Manager will offer to open a Probate file after entering the Death date. Choosing Yes will transfer all of the information from the Estate Planning

File to the Probate file, which can then be accessed by clicking the Probate Files button to display the Probate Files List.

However, if this is a Matter that was not commenced in Estate Planning & Vault Manager, then open a new Matter by clicking on Add New File > Estate Administration > <Jurisdiction> (or Blank Probate) and OK


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This will open the Probate Wizard. There are three steps to complete the initial Estate Administration Matter:

Step 1 – Entering the Deceased’s Information

If a Contact Card has been created for the deceased person, click in the Deceased Name field and enter the name or part of the name of deceased and click Find. You can then choose from the list and the information on the Contact Card will populate in the necessary fields as shown above.


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If a Contact Card has not been created, the deceased’s name will not be in this list. Click on Add as New Contact and enter the required name and address information:

If the Deceased was known by other names, whether to distinguish from similarly-named family members or an English name taken upon immigration to Canada, it can be entered in the Also Known As section and will then be included in the necessary documents.

The place of birth and death should be entered, if known, as well as the Last Will and/or Memorandum Dates. There is also a tickbox if the Deceased was intestate. Court Jurisdiction and Court are also entered if the Blank Probate template was selected.

At this point, you can also enter internal firm details, such as Client, File and Matter Number and choose the Responsible Lawyer. The list of responsible lawyers is made up of all Contacts in the database that are already entered as employees. If the Lawyer you want is not in this list, leave the field blank and add the responsible lawyer to the Administration tab after finishing the other steps in the Probate Wizard.

You can also elect to have all documentation saved to a specified location, such as the client’s sub-directory in the Estates Services Directory.

If information is not known, it can be added later in the appropriate tabs in Estate Administration. Once all known information is entered, click Next.


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Step 2 – Entering the Deceased’s Family Information

The Spousal (if any) information is completed. Similar to adding the Deceased’s information above, either search for the name or add as new contact. Indicate whether the spouse is a Trustee and/or Beneficiary and complete the Name in Will section.

If the spouse was confirmed as Trustee and/or Beneficiary their name will automatically appear in the Trustee and/or Beneficiary grid.

To add a Trustee, click in the first blank line of the grid and the New Contact search box will appear. Add the Trustee in the usual manner. Relation Type can be chosen from the dropdown, as well as whether the Trustee is also a beneficiary. Notes can also be recorded in that section of grid.

Beneficiaries, if known, are also added at this point. Again, click in the first blank line of the grid and continue in the usual manner. Complete the dropdown choices. Relation can be sister, son, friend, etc. Reverse Relation can be, for example, Wife to Husband, Father to Daughter, Aunt to Nephew. Continue with Legacy, Public Guardian Trustee, and Guardian if necessary.

When all known information is entered, click Next.


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Step 3 – Entering the Deceased’s Original Assets and/or Liabilities

In this final step of the Probate Wizard, the original assets and/or liabilities are entered.

Click on the Add Original Asset/Liability button and the following screen appears:


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Property information has been entered in this example. Using the various dropdowns, specific information can be entered about any type of asset or liability and click OK.

Once all the assets and liabilities information has been entered, Step 3 will look like this:

Click Finish and the new Matter will open showing the Overview Tab.

If details need to be added at a later date, either click on Common Tasks>Probate Wizard to start the Wizard and complete the missing items or simply click on the necessary Tab heading to enter the information.

Administration Tab

Although much of the Administration Tab shares similar details and requirements with the Administration Tab of Estate Planning and Vault Manager, further information will be required for the Probate File:

Note: Creating Contact Cards for Government Offices, Courts and Banks will streamline the process.

Government Offices

Enter contact information for government offices in this field.


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Banks

Enter the bank name and address. This information can be associated with the bank accounts entered in

inventory. Safety deposit boxes can be tracked here as well.

Relations

Enter related contacts to the Deceased and their Relationship to the deceased. These contacts would have

not been entered as Beneficiaries, but may need to be contacted from time to time.

Other Parties

Enter other interested parties to the Estate, such as Witnesses.

Will File Tab

If this matter was created by entering the date of death in an Estate Planning Matter, the information

contained in the Estate Planning Matter will be imported to this tab to be used as a quick reference only. Although this Tab looks very similar to the Details Tab in terms of information, entries for the Will


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File Tab are the original Will details. Do not use any areas of this tab for data entry as changes made on the Will File Tab will not be reflected on either the original Estate Planning Matter or elsewhere in the Estate Administration Matter.

If the Matter was created using the Probate Wizard, this Tab will not be active.

Inventory & Distribution Tab

If this Matter had Assets or Liabilities entered in Estate Planning & Vault Manager prior to the date of death,

they will be automatically entered upon the creation of the Probate Matter.

Original Assets and Liabilities can be added to a Matter. Totals of Assets, Liabilities and a Grand total of

the estate will appear on the screen. Enter the values as of date of death.

All Original Assets or liabilities can be entered by clicking on the Add Original Asset/Liability. Please see the Assets Tab previously discussed in this manual for further instructions on adding an Asset/Liability.

Distribution

When any distribution of the Estate occurs, whether partial or final, the percentage of the Asset’s distribution can be tracked here. Further details of the Distribution, such as the date of distribution, to

whom, and any notes can be entered on the Distribution section of the Tab.

NOTE: if the distribution is not a dollar or percent amount, enter the description in Notes.


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Details Tab

The Details Tab contains many of the details

Death Date Enter the date of death. This is a required field.

Pertinent Dates Enter the date of execution of the will and other dates here.

Jurat Municipality

and Region

Enter the Municipality and Region where documents will be signed. This is

usually the Municipality and Region of the Firm.

Place of Death Enter the City and Region the death took place.

Place of Birth Enter the Place of Birth, if known.

Court Information The court location for probate forms must be selected, and Court File Number,

if known.

NOTE: Add Courts to this list by entering them as a Contact with the Type as Court.

Document Delivery Instructions, Retainer and Advertise instructions are all additional fields of information that can be tracked.

Beneficiaries

The Beneficiary section is where the names of the actual beneficiaries and legatees to a Will and their

relation to the Testator are recorded. Edit or Delete a beneficiary by clicking the drop-down arrow in the row. Select Add Beneficiary to launch the Quick Add New Contact window. Add the Beneficiary in

the usual manner, and then further define the Relations using the drop-down menus.


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Relation to deceased This field stores the relationship between the beneficiary and the deceased.

Deceased is the Tracks the relation, such as mother or uncle, the deceased is to the beneficiary.

Class This is where you will assign a distinguishable class to a beneficiary (eg.

minor, incapable w/guardian, incapable w/out guardian, charity, other).

Guardian Select the Guardian of the beneficiary if there is one.

PGT Enter the Public Guardian Trustee information

Named in Will If the Beneficiary was referred to by a different name, enter it here.

Priority To list names on documents in the order they were entered in the Will, use the Priority feature.

Will Clause Enter the Will Clause that the Beneficiary appears.

Link Assets Associate assets entered in inventory with a Beneficiary.


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Trustees

Each Trustee will occupy one row of the Trustee tab. Right click on the name to open the Contact Card and update the Trustee’s Region, Municipality on the Details Tab to complete affidavits.

Trustees can also be defined as beneficiaries or Solicitors.

Note: To delete a trustee, select the arrow on the left of the row you want to delete. Once selected, press the delete button on the keyboard and confirm the deletion message. Deletions are permanent.

All horizontal information displays can be deleted this way throughout the program.

Safekeeping

The Safekeeping section is where all Assets of the Estate held by the firm are listed. This tracks the type

of item, item description and value at date of purchase or date of deposit. For additional information,

please refer to the Safekeeping section earlier in this Manual

Other Contact (Relations)

This section is to record Relatives of the deceased who may not necessarily be connected to the Estate as

a Beneficiary or Trustee, but will need to be contacted from time to time. Clicking on the Name field will launch the Quick Add New Contact window.

Tabs Shared with Estate Planning & Vault Manager

The Overview Tab, Workflow Tab and Documents Tab function exactly the same in Estate Administration as in Estate Planning & Vault Manager, please refer to those previous sections for information.


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Chapter 5: Documents


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Generating Documents

All documents from Estate Planning & Vault Manager are generated using MS Word.

Documents

Click on the Create Document button while in the open matter.

You will then see a window containing a list of document templates available for creation within the system.

Choose a folder from the list to display the template group and highlight the desired document(s) on the right side and double-click the name or ok to create the documents. Hold the <Ctrl> key to select multiple documents.

If you are creating letters you would like to pre or post-date, enter the date to override the current date in the Letter Date field. Leaving the Signing Date blank will populate the legal date with “the Day of <Current Month>, <Current Year>. If you prefer to pre or post-date your legal signing date, change the Signing Date.

Clause Selector (Estate Planning)

The Clause Selector is ideally designed for Estate Planning and creation of Wills. The Selector allows the

choice of specific content to be included in the final document. Simply click on the selection to choose the clause.


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Blue/White and Dark Yellow “Pages” are section or navigation headings not included in the document and

lead to the selectable clauses in yellow.

Favourites allow for the selection of predetermined clauses that can be used for any desired purpose.

Examples are “Married couple with Children” or “Single Testator, No Children”

To create a Favourite, such as Married Couple with no Children, click New, select the desired clauses,

Name it, then click Save. This new Favourite will then be available for all other Matters in Estate Planning & Vault Manager.

Individual clauses or the entire document can be viewed in the Preview window. Once the clauses have

been selected, the document can be created. If there is a spouse, click on Mirror Document at this point and both documents will be created simultaneously. Click Merge to generate the document(s) in Word.

Editing a Document in Word (Estate Planning)

Protect/unprotect Fields to Text Refresh all Fields

Documents are always in a locked or protected format. This means that access is available to only the

grey fields on the documents for changes or selection. There will be three types of grey fields in documents. Text Fields allow for the entry of standard text. Dropdown fields allow for the selection from a

predetermined list in the document where only one item is required. Checkboxes allow for checking of

certain sections and are common to government forms. Use the tab key to navigate between the grey fields to complete the necessary changes.

To make changes to the body of the created document, unlock the document by selecting the Padlock

button on the Word Toolbar. This will provide full access to the document. However, changes made to one grey field in the document may not be reflected throughout the document.

To ensure all fields have properly been updated, select the Refresh button.


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Estate Planning and Vault Manager documents have code hidden within the document that gathers the provided information directly into the document assembly. To remove hidden codes, click the Publish for

Client button. This process will remove all hidden codes from the document as well as unprotect the

document. When documents need to be sent to a client in Word Format, removing the coding prevents any accidental changes or the possibility of the client receiving a blank document with no fields completed.

Options

Select the Options button on the Create Document Window to set further options for the documents. For example, you may wish to automatically Save, Print and Close the document(s) once they are created and Add follow up task. When all choices have been made, click OK. You can also choose to make these choices your default choice so that these actions are performed for all documents. Changes to Options are specific to your computer and will not affect other workstations.

Saving a Document

As discussed in the Documents Tab section, Estate Planning & Vault Manager has document management

built into the application. Documents can be saved or linked to a Matter for easy retrieval of documents

as well as a work history for the matter.

If you selected Save in the Document Options, the document is saved automatically in the location

specified on the Administration Tab. Estate Planning & Vault Manager will also add the link to the

Documents Tab and to the Workflow Tab for tracking and follow-up.

By clicking on the blue link, the document will be retrieved and opened in Word. Any User with Estate Administration installed on their workstation will be able to retrieve documents saved this way by any other Users. In addition, the Documents Tab provides an exact history of what documents have been created for this matter.

It is important to note that Estate Planning & Vault Manager does not create a copy of the document. It

creates a link to the original document. It is advisable to set the desired location for saving these

documents, such as a specific client folder. Set this location on the Administration Tab.


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Creating Mirror Documents (Estate Planning)

Mirror Documents are essentially the same document created for each of the Testator and their Spouse.

This is convenient for Estate documents when the same document is created for the Testator and the Spouse, with the Testator and Spouse names changed appropriately, Beneficiaries included and

Representatives carrying out the same functions will be included in both documents.


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Chapter 6: Navigating the Program


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Navigating the Program

Opening Last Matter

1. From the Toolbar, select Open Last File and Estate Planning File, Probate File or Contact.

2. Select File from the top menu and list of recently opened Matters and Contacts will be available

for selection.

Searching for Files using Lists

Estate Planning & Vault Manager employs Lists to perform two general functions:

1) As a convenient search tool providing easy access to Matters and Contacts;

2) As an extremely powerful management tool for displaying, sorting, filtering and printing lists of

Matters or Contacts.

To open the list of Estate Planning or Probate files, select the Estate Planning Files button or the Probate Files button on the Toolbar.

All other Lists are available by selecting View > Estate Planning or View > Probate and the appropriate

List.


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Finding Matters using Search

Quickly limit a list of Matters by using the Search feature. Select the desired field to be searched and enter your search term. Choose OK and the appropriate List will open already filtered with suggested files.

Finding Contacts or Matters in Lists

Searching for Matters is easy using the Estate Planning Files or Probate Files Lists. After clicking the Estate Planning Files button or the Probate Files button on the Toolbar, a list of all open Matters and other

related information will appear. To search for a Matter, simply highlight the Contact/Testator Name or Deceased column heading and type part or the entire name that is being searched.

NOTE: There is no start or stop button for this search feature. After you finish typing, the database will be searched for all matches to the text just entered. Toggle the Search On/Off button to clear the search results.

Double Click on the name to open the Matter.


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Matters List

This List accessed by View > Matters and is driven by settings on the Administration Tab. The File

Status dropdown menu on the Administration Tab is used to specify the File Status for the purposes of

this List and you can view Matters by Open, Closed, Inactive, Draft and Pending.

Sorting Lists by Columns

Users can also sort both Contact and Matter Lists alphabetically within the various columns shown. For

example, to sort the Contact List by the city field, simply click on the City column header until it turns blue,

then click on the Sort buttons to sort alphabetically in ascending or descending order.

Add/Remove/Reorder List Columns

Estate Planning & Vault Manager Lists are completely customizable to fit your needs and retains your

preference settings. You can organize the List to provide the most important information where you want

it to be for quick viewing.

Users have full control over which columns are seen in any List. Columns can be added, moved or removed from a List to customize the information on the screen. To add or remove a column, select the Insert

Column or Remove Column buttons respectively.

To add columns, select the columns being added (use the Control key to make multiple selections) and then click the Insert Column button.

Highlight the column you want to move by clicking on its title. Click the column heading a second time and

hold your mouse button. Drag the column to the desired position and drop it in place by releasing your mouse button

Resetting a List

To reset a List so that no columns are selected, hold the shift key while opening the List. This will remove

all columns and prompt you to select new ones.


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Advanced Searches – Creating a Customized Search

Estate Planning & Vault Manager allows you to create your own customized searches and list them on a

dropdown menu for quick and easy access. Searches are extremely useful for narrowing a particular List down to items to meet specific requirements. For example, you may wish to create a list of those files that

have a January Death Date and a Home Jurisdiction of Ontario.

To create a customized Search, open the List of your choice. When selecting a List, keep in mind that different Lists have different columns from which to select. For example, if you would like to create an

advanced filter that searches for the Role of all Timekeepers you would use the Timekeepers List, as the Corporate File List does not have a Role option to select.

Let’s create a search that will sort your List for all Matters with a Death Date of January in the Toronto

office. In this case we will select the Corporate Files List from the main Toolbar.

On the open Probate File List Toolbar, press the arrow beside the Advanced Searches button and select New Advanced Filter.

Note that this menu is also where your new customized searches will eventually be listed.

The List Search window appears.

Change the Tab from SQL to Items tab selected and uncheck the Enter SQL box. Enter the name for your customized search in the Filter field. In the Field box, make your selection from the dropdown menu

for which column you would like to adjust with your search.


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In the Opr field, select the symbol for the filter you would like to create.

The meanings for the symbols available in the operator field are the following:

= - equal to

> - greater than < - less than

<> - does not equal

Like - similar to (used for text data fields)

Note: When filtering text, it is recommended you use “like” instead of “=” since in order for “=” to locate items, there must be an exact match.

Enter the value for the filter in the Value field. Values can be words, dates or numbers.

In the And/Or field, select which statement is appropriate for your filter.

For our example, your final filter would look like this:

To translate what our filter above says: Find all Estate files at the Toronto office, and with a Death Date of January.

You can sort by more than one criterion by adding the desired Fields and Values on the next lines. Once

you have entered all the criteria for the filters you would like to apply, select the Apply button to apply your changes to the List. Check the List to verify whether your filter is correct, then select OK. Your

customized filter name will now appear on the dropdown list.

The next time you want to activate this filter, simply click on the name on the dropdown list.


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Note: When applying a filter to a particular column, i.e. Jurisdiction, make sure you have added the column for Jurisdiction in your original List, if you want to actually see Jurisdiction!

To delete or edit a Filter, click the Advanced Searches button until the window appears, and select the

Filter to edit or click the red X beside the name to delete the Filter.

Printing List Reports

Customized lists can be easily printed by simply selecting the Print button from the List Toolbar. At this point the Page Setup window appears. Here you can set paper size, orientation, margins, etc. When you

are ready to print, click OK. The list will be sent to your default printer.

Saving List Reports

List reports can be saved as an HTML file, and once saved, they can be emailed as an attachment or used in a Word Mail Merge.

Attaching List reports is a quick and efficient process for distributing the results of Advanced Searches.

Once the List is populated with the desired data, select the Save To File button from the Toolbar and follow your usual file saving protocols.


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Chapter 7: Advanced Options


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Options

To access program options, from the menu select Tools > Options > Application. In this location you

can define which windows will appear at start up as well as limit the number of records returned from the database. These Options are specific to your workstation computer and will not affect the settings of other

users in the firm.

Closing Matters/ Viewing Closed Matters

As time progresses, certain Corporate Matters will become inactive, whether by Dissolution or the client

taking his files elsewhere. Although you have the option of deleting Matters, you may still want to reference them from time to time.

It is recommended that you flag these Inactive Matters as Closed. This way you can still create dissolution

documents for them or reference them if required, but they will not clutter up your Lists of current Matters.

To Close a corporate Matter, simply open the Matter and select Closed from the File Status dropdown list on the Administration Tab. This will also stop the Emergent billing process for this particular Matter.

You also have the option of entering a Closed Date and a Closed File Number if your department requires

this information.


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Deleted Matters

Delete a Matter by highlighting the desired Matter and clicking the Delete button on the Toolbar on the

Estate Planning List or Probate List. It is then placed in the Deleted Matters List section of the Matter List. Double-click on a Matter to open it and set the File Status to Open on the Administration Tab to

return it to the active Matter list..

Multiple Jurisdictions

To create Multiple Exemption Provisions for a Jurisdiction, add an identical Jurisdiction through Tools > Data Maintenance and set the value for Province for Display to distinguish provisions within the same

jurisdiction.

Mail Merge with a List

Saved List Files are ideal for mail merges and can easily produce volume mailings.

You can produce:

Letters

Envelopes

Labels

Email Messages

Save your List with all of the desired fields you want to use in your mail merge. If you plan to send a letter to your client, include the client full name and client full address.

Use your Word mail merge feature and import this file as the record set.