Estate Planning

The estate planning package is intended for those who do estate planning as a regular part of their practice, not for those who produce a few wills and trusts a year. The program relies heavily on a detailed worksheet and checklist process intended to elicit clients’ planning desires while permitting the attorney to direct document product. You begin with client completion of an eight-page planning worksheet, which you should review before your actual meeting with the client. Then, during the meeting, you complete a master task checklist, specifically geared toward production of a will, revocable trust or irrevocable trust. The master checklist is an integral part of the Cowles system. It guides the interview process while making sure all necessary information is obtained to completely and accurately prepare the requisite legal documents. Properly completed, well-trained staff can be trained to use the checklist to produce the requisite documents for client execution.

The document production process is thorough and accurate. Like most substantial software products, your investment in learning the Cowles’ practice management system will permit your practice to smoothly integrate the document production system. It’s clear the program is designed to support the practitioner, and every effort is made to help you integrate this system into your practice. The program is replete with substantive legal information throughout the document production process, so the practitioner can understand and explain to the client the purpose of various phrase selections. Cowles is designed to minimize post-production finishing of the work product, so the finished product is complete and polished.

The most significant enhancement to this product is the “Customizer” feature. This feature allows you to customize every phrase in the Cowles library. More significantly, it allows you to add your preferred phrases and even your preferred documents. This feature reflects the maturity of the product as well as the intended audience.

Recognizing the sophisticated nature of estate planning, Cowles doesn’t simply want to sell you pre-packaged document production software. Instead, it wants to integrate its system into your practice becoming as much a part of your practice as your telephone. It wants to take your form letters, your most commonly used documents, and make them a part of the Cowles’ System. What is even better about the Customizer is the phrases or documents you add are not overwritten by program upgrades or changes. Furthermore, if you decide you want to go back to the original Cowles’ phrases, a simple act within Customizer will bring you back to the original. I tested the program by integrating specialized language from my durable power of attorney form, and found the Customizer to be surprisingly painless.

One of the things that pleased me about this product was the end product. The documents are high-quality in content and are attractive and essentially in execution form. Once you have completed a session and entered your merge information from the worksheets and checklists, you then proceed to phrase and document selection. After completing this important task, the program asks if you want to generate documents. You can generate all or just some of the documents available in the session. Once you select your documents, the pre-selected word processor opens with the chosen text fully completed, including your bill. One of the most tedious and important tasks when working with trust agreements is the funding of the trust. The system automatically will create the necessary documents to assist the client with funding the trust, and there are letters generated to the client affirming the process even after it’s completed.

Cowles Legal Systems’ Trust Plus, Version 11.0 is more than a document generation package. Complete with audiotapes, online tutorials and substantive customer and technical support, Cowles seeks to become a silent and productive partner in your practice. If you are an estate planner, investing in this product is worth the real investment in your practice’s future.

Price: $3,990

Windows 95/98/Me/2000/NT/XP

Reviewed by Denise P. Ward, Esq., Grean & Ward, Port Chester, N.Y.

Aug/Sept '02 Issue

PROS
Total estate planning system to completely integrate your office.

CONS
Prohibitively expensive for the occasional practitioner.

VERDICT
A well-groomed, mature product that is stable and thorough; if you are an estate planner, investing in this product is worth it.

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Updated 08/16/02
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