Wills Walkthrough - Early Adopter

We’re excited to have you as an early user of our ground breaking will software. As an early user, we fully expect the software tools will immediately benefit your practice, but are also realists. New software can be hard to learn and this is a beta product, so it’s likely you’ll come across areas in the software that need improvement.   

Please reach out to us when you have questions or hit a spot for improvement. Click the “We Are Here” button and talk to us. 

What will follow is a general overview of the Wills product.

You can use the will product to create either single or mirror wills.  

To create mirror wills, simply add two testators to the wills matter. You can do this by either adding two clients, or by adding a 2nd testator in the Testator Action.   

After you’ve logged into Prolegis, you’ll access the Wills menu by clicking on the “Wills” tab on the left-hand side of your screen. 

To see your existing matters, click “Matters”. Here, by clicking on +Filters you can search for your will by Matter Number, Lawyer Name and Assistant Name.

To access the matter, click on the Actions menu to the right of the matter and select where you would like to go.

The Actions menu lives on every page of the matter. You will always find it on the top right-hand side. It is your navigation menu. It will take you to all of the data entry pages, process management tools and document storage that relate to the matter. 

For ease of reference, a brief definition of each of the Actions follows: 

“Progress Dashboard” - this is your checklist for the will. You can also assign tasks and create documents from this page.

“Questionnaire” - this is your firm’s questionnaire. You can fill this out as a part of your interview with your client or you can send questions to your client to complete.

“Testators” this is where you enter the information about the testator(s).

“Children & People” here you add all people that are a part of the estate documents. You’ll enter children, testators, friends. As you enter people here, you can assign them in the Gifts, Representatives, Guardians, Power of Attorney and Personal Directive sections. The more information that’s added into this section, the more intelligent the system becomes in producing first drafts of the estate documents. This can be completed by the client through the portal.

“Assets” here the relevant estate assets can be added to the matter. This can be completed by the client through the portal.

“Appointment” you can set two appointments – instruction and will signing. By including this information, the date information in the estate documents is completed.

“Gifts” this is where you will build the logic for the gifts in your will. Whether it’s a straight forward distribution or complicated, the tools here will allow you to build a robust first pass at the language for the distribution section.

“Representatives” you can assign the personal representatives of the will here.

“Guardians” this menu will only show if there is a minor beneficiary associated with the estate. You can assign guardians and set the age(s) for distribution of funds held in trust for minor beneficiaries.

“Funeral Arrangements” here you can add the funeral arrangements that will be included in the will.

“Witnesses” you can assign staff members as witnesses to the estate documents from this page.

“Power of Attorney” assign the key people and record the instructions for the Power of Attorney.

“Personal Directive” assign the key people and record the instructions for the Personal Directive.

“Documents” is your online document folder. Documents you create will automatically be stored here. You and your client can also upload documents to this folder.

“Communication” is a record of all communications created in the software, whether a text message, email or some other correspondence that has been recorded.

“Follow Up Tasks” allows you to create matter specific tasks or reminders that are visible both within the matter and any time you are in the software.

“Preview Portal” is a preview of what your clients will see when you send them the portal

“Generate Backup” creates a PDF version of the instructions that you’ve received through the software.

“Close File” closes the matter. 

To Create a new matter click on the Wills menu on the left-hand side of the screen and click on Quick Add, the Click +Matter.

To add the client for the matter, simply begin typing the name of the individual. As you type, Prolegis searches through your existing client database for matches. If the client is already in the database, click on the name of the client to add the client to the matter. If the client is not already in the database, the last item on the list will be “Add new client”. Click on “Add new client” and complete the form. 

NOTE: if you decide to use the online form for your client, at a minimum we recommend you add the first and last name and the email address for the client. Through the portal the client will be able to complete the rest of the information. You can also complete this information.

To add another client, simply begin typing the name of the client and repeat the process. 

Population of the matter number is driven by the firm settings. You can manually insert the matter number or have the system generate it for you here.

Select the responsible lawyer and assistant and you are ready to go. 

Data Entry – to create the estate documents you will need to include information about the matter. You can have your client complete this information via the portal or you can complete that information as a part of an interview or in response to information sent to you by your client. The following actions in the Action menu are for data entry:

• Questionnaire 
• Testators
• Children & People
• Assets
• Appointment
• Funeral Arrangements 

To Build the Estate Documents, you will need to use the following Actions:

• Gifts
• Representatives
• Guardians (if applicable)
• Power of Attorney
• Personal Directive

In the Gifts action in the Actions Menu you can build the logic for the gifts. Once this logic is built, Prolegis will build a first draft of the distribution section of the will.

We are currently testing the Gifts section. We recommend that you do not use the “Residue” section.

To create a gift, click on +Gift. This will create a new area where you can enter the information about that gift.

If the gift is a specific gift, and that gift was included as an asset in the Assets action, begin typing the name of the asset in the field next to the image of the gift and then select the gift. If not, scroll to the top of the page and click +Asset to add the asset. If the gift is a residue gift, begin typing residue and click residue.

To add the recipient(s) of the gift, click +Beneficiary Group. If the person has already been included in the Children & People Action, begin typing and then select the relevant person. If not, click +Create to add a new person. There are also preset groups of persons in the system. You can add my children, my grandchildren, my closest-relative, my siblings, my spouse’s children, my spouse’s grandchildren, my spouse’s closest-relative, my spouse’s siblings, our children, our grandchildren, our closest relative and our siblings as beneficiaries of the gift.

To add an alternate recipient of the gift, click +Beneficiary Group on the gift and a second person’s section will appear. Add the persons you would like to alternatively receive the gift.

If there is more than one individual and they will not be sharing the gift equally, click “Unequal Responsibility” and insert the percentages that each person will receive.

If there is more than one person and they are to receive as survivors, click “Gift passes to survivors”.

If the gift will flow from the beneficiary to their children, etc. if that beneficiary dies before the testator, click “Stirpes?”.

Advanced features. For more advanced gift scenarios, or to ensure that gifts appear in the desired order in the will, to add a gift that is contingent on someone else dying before the testator, click “Individual to predecease beneficiary group” and enter the name of the individual.

It is also possible by inserting a percentage in the % field to indicate that only a percentage of a gift will be going to a particular individual.

To save gifts, click “Save” at the bottom of the page. 

Once saved, if you are drafting a mirror will, click the copy icon for the person you’d like the gifts copied to and the gifts will be transferred. You will need to update any place where the testator is named as a beneficiary. 

Pet Guardians. Pet Guardians can be added in the Gifts action. To add the guardian, click +Add Guardian in the Pet Guardians section. 

You can automatically insert additional provisions into the will with the click of a button. The following can be inserted by clicking at the bottom of the Gifts action.

“Incentive not to sue” - inserts a paragraph to dissuade lawsuits by beneficiaries or others against the estate

“Ignore intervivos gifts” - can insert a paragraph that explains that gifts given during lifetime of the testator should not impact the gifts given in the estate

“Spouse not receiving a gift” - inserts a paragraph about why the spouse is not receiving a gift.

“Life insurance designation required” - inserts a paragraph that appoints the personal representatives as insurance trustees.

“Registered education designation required” - inserts a paragraph that appoints the personal representative as an alternate subscriber on a RESP.

The other two fields in the section are for note taking / instructions purposes and do not alter the will.

At the top of the Gifts page, you can see the People & Assets by clicking on the right-side of the “People and Assets” menu bar. You can also access the Questionnaire. 

To add a personal representative, navigate to the Representatives menu and click +Group.

Type the name of the person(s) to be added as a personal representative into the field that is in the new section that was created when you clicked +Group.

To create an alternate personal representative, click +Group and repeat the process.

Click Save. 

To add a Guardian, click “Guardian Set. In Prolegis you are able to assign different guardians for different minor beneficiaries. To do this you will use the “Children” section. Where all children will have the same guardian, the “Children” section will be left blank.

In the section, click +Guardian Group and type the name of the guardian(s) in the field and select or add the relevant person(s).

To add an alternate, click +Guardian Group and repeat.

To set the age at which a minor beneficiary can choose where they live, scroll to the bottom and adjust the age in the “Guardian home age” field.

To add the age at which the minor beneficiary can receive the entire gift under the will, enter than age in the “Minor gift age” field.

You will need to add at least one disbursement of the trust funds. To do so, click +Disbursement, enter the age and the percentage of the gift that will be disbursed at that age. 

Click “Save”.

In this section you will be able to add the witnesses and others to the will and designate which estate document they will be responsible for signing.

To add a witness, click +Witness. A new window will appear. Click the arrow on the right side of the window, which will cause the window to expand. Beneath “Select Witness” click the “Select” button to see your firm’s available witnesses. Select the witness. Click the copy icon to add that witness to the new window then select the estate documents that witness will be responsible for signing.

Repeat this process for the 2nd witness and the Commissioner for Oaths / Notary Public.

Click Save. 

In this section you’ll be able to enter the instructions that will allow you to produce an enduring power of attorney.

To add an Attorney, click on “Attorney Group” and begin typing the name of the Attorney(s) into the field. If the person does not already exist in Prolegis, click on the +Create button to add a new person. You can add multiple persons as Attorneys acting at the same time. To add an alternate attorney, click +Attorney Group again and repeat the process.

If the donor would like to add restrictions to the Enduring Power of Attorney, click +Restriction. Add you restriction in the field immediately beneath +Restriction. When you have completed the statement, press Return on your keyboard or click Save.

Under the Options section you have a number of selections that will automatically add provisions to the Enduring Power of Attorney.

“POA comes into effect immediately?” by selecting this option, the Power of Attorney will be altered so that it takes immediate effect.

“Attorney can provide gifts to immediate family?” by selecting this option, the authority to the Attorney to make gifts to spouse, children and grandchildren is included in the Power of Attorney.

“Attorney can donate to charity?” by selecting this option, the authority and direction to make donations to charitable organizations is added to the Power of Attorney.

“Attorney can sell home contents? ” by selecting this option, the authority to sell the contents of the donor’s home is added to the Power of Attorney.

“Limits on attorney power to invest?” by selecting this option, a direction on investing the assets that are the subject of the Power of Attorney is included.

“Attorney can hire professionals?” by selecting this option, a specific permission to engage professionals to assist with the management of the Power of Attorney is included.

“Attorney can hire health practitioners?’ by selecting this option, a specific option to pay for nursing assistance is included.

“Attorney to modify home for benefit of the donor?” by selecting this option a direction for the donor to remain in their home as long as is possible is included along with a direction and permission to use funds to facilitate those improvements.

“Attorney can use funds to benefit spouse and children?” by selecting this option a specific direction for the Attorney to use the funds to benefit spouse and minor children is included in the Power of Attorney.

Once Complete, click “Save”. 

In this section you’ll be able to enter the instructions that will allow you to produce a personal directive.

To add an Agent, click +Agent Group and begin typing the name of the person(s) that will be added as the agent(s). If the person has not already been added to Prolegis, click +Create to add a new person. To add an alternate agent, click +Agent Group and repeat the process.

If there are specific, high level, wishes and beliefs that the donor would like to include in the Personal Directive, click +Wishes, to add those specific directions.

To add temporary guardians to the Personal Directive, click +Guardian Set. To add the first group of guardians, click +Guardian Group then type the name of the guardian(s) in the field. If the person does not already exist, click +Create to add the person. To create an alternate guardian, repeat the process. This approach assumes that all minor children will have the same guardians.

Options. By selecting the options at the bottom of the screen, additional precedent paragraphs are included in the personal directive.

“Organ Donation” by selecting this option, the donor will indicate that the agent has authority to donate internal organs for transplant and research purposes.

“Public Agent” by selecting this option, the Public Trustee is appointed as the agent.

“Specific Directions” by selecting this option, the section setting out specific directions to the agent about the manner in which health should be cared for is included.

“Natural Death” to access this option, “Specific Directions” must also be selected. This selection sets out text providing examples of situations where the donor would not want extreme measures taken to preserve their life.

“Direction on expenditures” this option allows the agent to be reimbursed for any expenses they incur under the Personal Directive.

“Direction on Compensation” this option allows the agent to be compensated for the time spent acting as an agent under the Personal Directive.

“Acknowledged by Agents” inserts a table setting out the agents named in the Personal Directive and a spot for them to acknowledge their appointment.

Click “Save”. 

Once the instructions have been received and the logic for the estate documents have been built into Prolegis, you are now ready to produce the will, enduring power of attorney and personal directive. In Prolegis, you will be able to edit the language of the estate documents in your browser window. You will also be able to compare dual wills to eachother. You will have tools that will enable you to quickly edit errors in names.

To create the estate documents, either go to the Progress Dashboard and click the Create Will (or other document) on the relevant checklist step 

OR go to the Documents Action, click +Firm Precedents and select the document you would like to produce.