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Coming Updates

December

• Judicial Council Forms - Our final major update of 2009 will be our end-of-year legislative and 2010 Judicial Council Forms release in December. We'll tell you more details about this next month when we know the extent of the changes.
• Local forms - We will also add any new mandatory local forms at this time.
• Federal Criminal Defense - We will update the Administrative Office of the Court (AO) form.
• Lipman's Wills & Trusts - The four major areas of this update are:
  1. We're adding an option to six Irrevocable Trust forms allowing you to initially create a single, pooled trust rather than having the trusts held in individual trusts from the outset. You have the option, if you want, to create separate trusts from the outset, as creating a single initial trust is not required. In addition, we're also modifying each Memorandum Regarding Funding of Trust and each Withdrawal Letter associated with these irrevocable trusts to account for the possibility that the trust will be drafted as a single initial trust.
  2. We're adding new questions in the Advance Health Care Directives so that you can choose to leave out the check boxes that appear in three different parts of the forms. Some attorneys do not like for their clients to have to check a box on the form, and they prefer to discuss the matter beforehand and then modify the text in the form so that the language includes only the choice the client is making. You will now have the option to leave the form as it appears in the statute with the check boxes, or you can draft it so that the appropriate language is inserted depending on the option chosen.
  3. You now will have the option of adding a Supplemental Needs Trust (SNT) for the benefit of a spouse to the pourover wills rather than to the client’s Revocable Trust. If you choose to add this trust, the Will forms will provide that the decedent’s entire probate estate (other than specific bequests) will pass to the SNT for the spouse. In addition, provisions can be added to the Husband and Wife’s simple Revocable Trust forms which provide that the deceased spouse’s property will be distributed to the testamentary SNT. Importantly, this new testamentary SNT feature is NOT designed to work within the Husband and Wife jointly created Revocable Trust forms (primarily because these forms could not be adapted to transfer assets to a testamentary trust without considerable modifications). Instead, the feature works only with the Husband and Wife individually created Revocable Trust forms.
  4. We're renaming all of the Domestic Partner forms to Same-sex Spouse / Domestic Partner forms. With more states allowing same-sex marriages, it is necessary to rename and modify the domestic partner forms to make it clear how the forms can be used in a variety of circumstances. These forms are designed to be used for the following types of clients: (a) same-sex marriages; (b) registered domestic partners; and (c) any other situation where two people are providing for each other (and the two people can be two men, two women, or a man and a woman). These forms will work when they are drafted for a set of clients who are not a married couple or who are not registered domestic partners. Your clients will be able to refer to each other as my spouse, my husband, my wife, my partner, etc.

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Q: I wish that in Lipman's Wills and Trusts/ProDoc that there was an option when choosing the layout for the date, which was the ___ date of _____________, 2009.  The last update seemed to have removed that (logical) option.       
A: Ronald Lipman, the volume author, reports "In 99% of the places where a date is required, there are 7 options available." (He later asked the questioner to direct him to the form in question so he could investigate the matter.)

Q: Under the "withdrawal rights" section of Article II of the Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust -- spouse as Primary Beneficiary (Husband Insured and Grantor), your Lipman's Wills & Trusts refers to 2512(b) of the Internal Revenue Code.  Is that a misprint?  2512(b) is a section that discusses transfers for less than adequate consideration.  Is that instead supposed to read "2503(b) or 2513(b)"?  Those sections are also referenced in the ProDoc form under that section, but there is clearly a reference to 2512(b) in a document that your software delivers to my desktop.
A: That section reference is correct, and it simply means "when a gift of money or other property is made to the trust" ... as that is what that code section deals with. (Read more questions and answers about estate planning on our web site.)

Q: When are you going to have a Mac version of ProDoc available?
A: A version of ProDoc that runs natively on a Mac is at least two years away. However, we have recently completed testing of using ProDoc on a Microsoft® Windows® operating system running on Parallels Desktop® for Mac and we recommend that as an interim option for Mac users.

Q: First - I love working with ProDoc. Second, with the use of the new HUD Settlement Statements drawing near, I was wondering if ProDoc had any thoughts on putting together a Settlement Statement (similar to the old HUD's we are using) for cash and/or Seller finance transaction.  It would certainly be nice.  Perhaps you could remove all "HUD" references in the old form and continue its use?
A: Thank you for your suggestion.  We will be keeping the old HUD-1 until the end of the year.  After that point, we can’t say for certain. We placed your suggestion to keep the old HUD-1 as a non-RESPA settlement statement on our Enhancement list for discussion, and it will be thoroughly discussed before we take action.  Had you not e-mailed us about this, it probably would have just passed from the scene without discussion, so it is important to send us your ideas, suggestions, comments, etc.

Q: Can you please send us a new hard copy of the Form Lists for ProDoc?  The last one we got is dated January -05.  Thanks.  Mail to me at the address below. 
A: Unfortunately, we no longer provide hard copies of the forms lists. These are no longer printed so we don’t have anything to send. But, it's easy to print them and you can find out how to do so here.

Q: Will the new Windows® 7® operating system require anything different or additional from ProDoc?  And, do you recommend that those of us still using Windows XP® switch over? 
A: No, if you switch to Windows 7 you don’t need to switch anything. Windows XP is a good, stable product so the decision to upgrade is at your discretion. But, if you need to upgrade your computer(s), go ahead and get Windows 7. Many computer users that upgraded computers in the last few years requested Windows XP to avoid Windows Vista®. The word on the street is that you don’t need to do that with Windows 7.

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Your ProDoc Account Information Is Available Online
You can now go online and review your ProDoc subscription information and find your Installation KeyCode and Registration Code(s). All this and more is available through MyAccount on the Thomson West web site.

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Learn to use the ProDoc forms search feature>>
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If you've considered adding a web site to your firm but have been paralyzed by indecision, why not take advantage of the expertise of one of our sister companies - FindLaw®. You've heard about them for years and you know of their reputation for quality work and service. And, they make it easy to create and maintain a firm web site.

Kevin Mullikin, a FindLaw rep in Colorado, has a worthwhile blog and one article in particular stands out - 10 Questions You Need to Ask. We think you will find the questions and answers helpful when deciding whether a web site is the right decision for your firm. Be sure to look around and read some of the other articles at the other end of the links you will find on this page.

Read 10 Questions You Need to Ask >>

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Read 2009 Faxing Services Review Comparisons by Top 10 Reviews™ >>

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Read more about the great free features and benefits of Google voice >>

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Read more about the diNovo Mini >>

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