WorkflowTrusts, Estates & Probate

Probate Administration

Probate administration software that takes each date from the clerk’s record, moves the whole estate plan when the court acts, and leaves each signature to people.

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The problem

Letters issue a week early, and the estate calendar has to be counted again

A paralegal reads the will and the court papers and writes each statutory deadline into the calendar: publication, the beneficiary notices, the secured creditor, the inventory, the claims window. Each runs from its own court date, and a weekend can push one to the Monday.

Then the clerk issues letters on a day nobody planned, and every date tied to qualification is off. The inventory gets rebuilt from date-of-death statements in the last weeks before it is due. A missed creditor notice lands on the executor personally, and on a flat-fee estate each recount comes out of the firm’s margin.

Built forProbate attorneysProbate paralegalsLegal assistantsIndependent executors

The Problem Today

Each estate’s deadlines run from the court’s own dates, and a paralegal recounts them each time one moves.

3.07M: deaths in a single year, each an estate to settle published
$1,000: fine, and removal, for an executor’s late inventory published

Counted and drafted manually today

Deadlines
Notices
Court forms
Claims

A slipped date means a recountEach court date that moves sets the calendar again
The executor carries the riskA skipped creditor notice makes the executor personally liable

The Solution

Court papers readThe will, the order and the clerk’s notice, each fact cited
Deadlines from court datesStatutory deadlines computed, weekends rolled, the plan re-dated
Notices and forms draftedBeneficiaries, creditors and the inventory, ready to approve
Claims checked; people signCharges after the death set aside; the executor decides

Built-in controls

Nothing filed or mailed without a person
Each deadline shows its rule and the court’s date
Each read and change kept in an audit trail

What You Get

Each deadline comes from the court’s record, so the paralegal’s hours go to the estate, not the calendar.

10 min: to re-date the plan when the court acts, from about 3 hours our estimate

One date in, the plan movesDeadlines and tied tasks re-dated when the clerk records a date
Each task has an ownerTasks tied to their phase and the deadline they serve
Executors who know what is nextWhat to sign, and when, in plain words

On the estate’s own screens

Probate administration software that runs one estate on nine screens

The screens follow the case as it runs: the record, the plan, the notices, the claims, the inventory and the close.

01The estate record
An estate record with each fact linked to its clause or page
How it works
- The will, the codicil and the death certificate read into one record
- The residue split as the codicil sets it: 30, 30, 30 and 10 percent
- 12 assets at date-of-death value, with probate and non-probate apart
- An IRA of $221,540.00 marked as passing outside the will
Probate paralegalStarts each estate from a record that can be checked against the will clause by clause, with no parties or assets retyped from the papers.
02Estate plan before letters
A phase plan that shades dates the court has not yet set
How it works
- Eight phases as dated bars, from petition and hearing to discharge
- Nine statutory deadlines pinned on the bars as diamonds
- Dates counted from a planned letters date stay shaded in amber
- A ribbon of court dates: died, application, order, oath and letters, each cited
Probate attorneySees at a glance which deadlines rest on the court’s record and which on the clerk’s office estimate, with the rule beside each one.
03Plan from the court’s date
Letters read from the clerk’s e-filing notice, and every deadline reset
How it works
- The deadline agent reads the clerk’s notice for envelope 88214431
- It takes the date letters actually issued, a week before the planned one
- Recomputes the nine deadlines and rolls any that land on a weekend
- Proposes owners for the 5 new tasks due in the next 9 days
Probate paralegalRecords one date and gets a re-dated plan, so letters that issue on a day nobody guessed no longer mean a recount.
04What moved
A table showing which deadlines moved, which stayed, and why
How it works
- Each moved deadline shows its planned date struck through beside the new one
- Deadlines 3 and 5 count from the order, so they stay put
- A Saturday deadline rolls to the Monday, with the rule cited
- 4 deadlines moved a week earlier and 21 open tasks re-dated
Trusts and estates practice leaderSees what a slipped court date changed on an estate, with no paralegal recounting the calendar to find out.
05Notices before approval
Creditor and beneficiary notices drafted from court dates, held for approval
How it works
- Publication, 4 beneficiary notices, the secured creditor and 5 permissive notices
- Each group shows its deadline and the rule behind it
- The agent checks dates, names and addresses against the record
- Nothing is mailed or published until the paralegal approves
Probate paralegalApproves 10 certified mailings and 1 publication in one review, with each recipient and deadline on one screen.
06Creditor claims
A claims window drawn from green cards, and each claim checked
How it works
- The 120-day window drawn from the date the permissive notices arrive
- Each claim checked for timing, a sworn account and the date of death
- Card charges of $1,312.40 made after the death flagged against the statement
- Recommends allowing $9,923.78 of the $11,236.18 claimed
Probate attorneyRecommends each claim decision from evidence already laid out, and leaves the executor a written reason to sign.
07Inventory draft
An inventory, appraisement and list of claims, each line cited
How it works
- Values at date of death from statements, the appraisal and the brokerage valuation
- Each line cites its source; 5 wait on date-of-death letters
- Property subject to administration totals $1,690,271.76
- Drafted by day 30, then reviewed, sworn and signed, each step by a different person
Independent executorSwears an inventory that can be checked line by line against the statements, weeks before it falls due.
08Tasks by owner
A task board by owner, each task tied to its deadline
How it works
- Columns for the paralegal, the legal assistant, the attorney and the executor
- Each card shows its due date, its phase and the deadline it serves
- Filters for open tasks, the next 30 days and statutory work
- 48 tasks, 12 done and 36 open, over 11 months
Legal assistantSees which certified mailings, green cards and proofs fall to them this week, each dated from the court’s record.
09Closing and distribution
A closing checklist beside the projected distribution to each beneficiary
How it works
- 14 items, each done, pending or locked, with its date or task
- Residue projected at $1,416,533.87 after the mortgage, claims, funeral and administration
- $424,960.16 to each child and $141,653.39 to the land trust
- Marked a projection until the claims are decided
Probate attorneyKnows what still stands between the executor and discharge, and can tell each beneficiary what to expect.

Around the estate

Behind each date and figure: the codicil, a counted deadline and the card bill

What the paralegal, the attorney and the executor open when they need the proof behind a date or a figure.

The first codicil’s passage opened from its citation over the estate record, moving ten percent of the residue to a land trust — **The codicil, at its page**A citation opens the passage it was read from. Here, the codicil that moves a tenth of the residue to a land trust.

Deadline detail for the notice to beneficiaries: the rule, the order it counts from, order plus 60 days, and the weekend roll to Monday — **How one deadline was counted**The beneficiary notice counts 60 days from the order. That lands on a Saturday, so it rolls to the Monday, with the rule cited.

Dialog assigning the first five tasks after letters, each with its due date, the deadline it serves and a proposed owner from the firm’s roles — **The first 5 tasks, given owners**The deadline agent proposes owners from the firm’s roles; the paralegal changes any, then assigns. Each owner is notified with the task and its deadline.

Notices after approval: certified mail numbers on each beneficiary and creditor notice, the publication booked, and the approval recorded — **Approved and queued**Once the paralegal approves, each certified mailing gets its number and goes to the legal assistant. The publication is booked.

Card statement passage opened from a claim check: the balance on the date of death, recurring charges after it and the balance claimed — **The card statement behind a claim**The card balance on the date of death was $9,923.78. Recurring charges of $1,312.40 came after it, so that part is recommended for rejection.

Audit trail of the estate: the clerk’s acceptance of the oath, the deadline agent’s recomputation, the paralegal’s approvals and the logged claims — **Who did what, people and agents**Drafts, approvals, signatures, mailings and the clerk’s filings in one list that cannot be edited.

What one estate’s claims and deadlines held that a recount would miss

Found on one estate while its plan was being set, each with its evidence.

Subscriptions that kept billing after the death

The card issuer claimed $11,236.18. The balance on the date of death was $9,923.78; the other $1,312.40 was recurring charges that ran on after it.

A clinic bill already mostly paid

The heart clinic claimed $8,420.00, but the payer’s summary notice shows $5,455.89 paid. Only the patient’s share, $2,964.11, is recommended for allowance.

A deadline that falls on a Saturday

Sixty days from the order lands on a Saturday. The beneficiary notice rolls to the Monday, and the plan shows the rule that moves it.

A claim with no sworn account

The card issuer’s claim arrived without a sworn statement of account. The check flags it, so the firm asks for one before the claim is decided.

Agents draft and count; the attorney signs and the executor decides

The calls in the court case that stay with people, set in the firm’s roles.

Filing with the courtOnly the attorney signs and files. The person who drafted a form cannot sign it.

Mailing a noticeNothing goes in the mail or the newspaper until the paralegal approves the batch.

Deciding a creditor claimThe attorney recommends, with a reason, and the executor signs the decision.

Swearing the inventoryThe executor swears it before a notary; the agent only drafts and cites.

Changing a court dateA date changes only to match the clerk’s record, and the change is logged.

The six agents behind the estate plan, and the line each one keeps

They read the papers, count the dates and draft the forms; signing, mailing and filing wait for a person.

Intake reader

Reads the will, codicils, death certificate and court documents into the estate, with a clause or page on each fact.

Never decides that a will is valid or who inherits

Deadline agent

Takes the court’s actual dates from the clerk’s notices and computes each deadline under the code and the county’s rules.

Never counts from a date the court has not recorded
Keeps a planned date shaded until it is actual

Forms drafter

Drafts the application, the oath, the affidavit of notice, the inventory and the closing report from cited facts.

Never signs or files

Notice agent

Drafts the publication, beneficiary and creditor notices, and tracks certified mail and green cards.

Never mails without the paralegal’s approval

Claims agent

Logs each creditor claim and checks it against the window, the statements and the date of death.

Never allows or rejects a claim

Inventory agent

Builds the inventory at date-of-death values from statements, the appraisal and the brokerage valuation.

Never values real estate itself: it uses the appraisal

Probate administration software: letters, deadlines and creditor claims

What is probate administration software?

Probate administration software runs an estate’s court case: the plan, the deadlines, the notices, the claims, the inventory and the close. This solution reads the will and the court papers, takes each date from the clerk’s record, computes the statutory deadlines from it and drafts the documents for people to approve, sign and file.

What happens when letters issue on a different day than planned?

The deadline agent reads the clerk’s e-filing notice and records the actual date. Each deadline that counts from qualification moves, along with the open tasks tied to it, and a table shows what moved. Deadlines that count from the order stay where they were.

How does it handle weekends and court holidays?

Each deadline rule in the settings carries its anchor, its offset, its section and the weekend rule. When a computed date lands on a weekend or a county holiday, it rolls to the next working day, and the deadline’s detail shows the roll.

Can it tell when a creditor’s claim window closes?

Yes. Permissive notices start each creditor’s window from the day it receives the notice, as the green cards come back. The claims screen draws the window, and a claim that arrives after it from a notified creditor is marked as barred.

Does an agent sign, file or mail anything?

No. The forms drafter cannot sign, only the attorney files, the paralegal approves each batch of notices before mailing, and claim decisions are recommended by the attorney and signed by the executor. Each action sits in an audit trail that cannot be edited.

How are the client’s records kept?

Estate documents stay in the firm’s workspace and are never used to train models. Records are kept for the retention period the firm sets after discharge, then deleted with a log.

Trusts, Estates & Probate