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ProDoc Updates

2010 Updates
We will provide our usual legislative update shipments in September and December for new legislation effective October 1, 2010 and January 1, 2011 respectively. We will also provide 2010 FLSSI¹ updates in the December update.

Special Note about HB 907
This bill makes several important changes in alimony and child support issues. In June, we shipped updated forms that were affected by the alimony changes effective July 1. A number of customers have asked if we will update our forms early for child support changes effective October 1 and January 1, 2011. We queried a number of clerks about this issue and most of them told us that their courts will wait until the effective date to implement the changes. So, we are waiting to publish our updated forms until just before the effective date of the legislation they address.

September Update
This update will primarily contain updates pursuant to new legislation effective October 1, 2010, including:

• Family Law- We will make significant changes to child support calculations pursuant to HB 907.
• Litigation- We will update the amount of the garnishment exemption pursuant to SB 492.
• FLSSI¹ Probate- The volume will contain changes pursuant to HB 1237.

June WebUpdate
Our WebUpdate provided additional changes that were not ready in time to include on the June update CD. Many were due to new legislation recently signed by the governor:

• Family Law – We updated a total of 65 forms, including (a) significant revisions to numerous forms for alimony pursuant to HB 907; (b) revisions to the child support provisions in various forms pursuant to SB 694; (c) changes to the Disability Notice pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion, and (d) revisions to some forms in the Sixth and Fifteenth Circuits pursuant to local rule updates.
• Litigation – We updated 19 forms, including significant revisions to the Affidavit of Diligent Search - Service by Publication pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion, and changed the Disability Notice, pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion, in 18 forms.
• Mortgage Foreclosures – We updated the Affidavit for Service of Process by Publication pursuant to the recent Supreme Court opinion.
• Criminal Defense - We updated three forms, including the Motion to Find Defendant Indigent for Costs pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion, and we removed one form from the volume that is now obsolete.
• FLSSI¹ Guardianships – We added the new Disability Notice, pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion, in two forms.
• FLSSI¹ Probate – We revised two forms to reflect the new Disability Notice, pursuant to a recent Supreme Court opinion.
• FLSSI¹ Real Estate – We added a new form pursuant to HB 7179, Addendum for Disclosure of Assessment for Qualifying Improvement, and revising the existing Addendum for Condominium Association pursuant to SB 1196.
• Business Organizations – We updated statutory cites in two forms and an updated the Limited Liability Company Reinstatement.
• Landlord-Tenant - We made minor fixes to this volume.
• Small Estate Wills - We made minor fixes to this volume.

Be sure to install the June CD update prior to installing the June WebUpdate.

June Update
Our June CD update featured the following enhancements:

• Criminal Defense – We added one new form based on a customer request: Motion for Transportation of Defendant with Order.
• Family Law – We created eight new forms and revised three existing forms pursuant to HB 25, which added new provisions (a) regarding temporary and concurrent custody by an extended family member, and (b) for the designation by a military service member of persons to exercise time-sharing while he or she is deployed. Additionally, we added the following new forms based on customer requests: Letter to Client Prior to Mediation, and an Objection to Appointment of a Magistrate. We also added an option to the Marital Settlement Agreement (MSA) that a parenting plan will be attached, which causes all questions relating to parenting plans to be skipped in the MSA. Finally, we added an order to change the child’s birth certificate to the Judgment of Paternity.
• Litigation - We added four new forms based on customer requests: a Motion, Response, and Order to Dismiss for Failure to State a Cause of Action, and the 11th Circuit Civil Cover Sheet.
• Lipman's Wills & Trusts – The revisions to this volume include:
  • Modified and improved the tax clauses found in most wills and revocable trusts.
  • Enabled trustee to make an election regarding S stock.
  • Modified the Assignment of Property section in the Revocable Trust forms.
  • Modified Life Insurance Trusts to include two new questions addressing the new FS 736.0902.
• FLSSI¹ Probate - We added six new forms based on customer requests: Petition to Determine Homestead when the property is left to a non-heir, Disclaimer of Interest in Property of Estate, Petition and Order to Sell Real Property, and Petition and Order to Determine Beneficiaries. We also added a question to the Petition to Determine Exempt Property that asks which property from the Inventory is exempt.
• FLSSI¹ Real Estate - We added back a signature line for the Settlement Agent as an addendum on the HUD-1 forms.
• Support for Corel WordPerfect® X5 - We updated ProDoc and SOS to support this word processor version.

For more details about this update, click here.

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This update includes a one-time-only database enhancement. As a result, the installation process has special requirements and will take longer. Please read this and the next article carefully before initiating the installation from the CD.

The database enhancement in this update has minimum system requirements that include the most current Microsoft Windows Service Pack for your operating system. If that is not installed on your computer/server, you will not be able to complete the installation of the update.

However, you should have the most current Service Pack installed for your peace of mind. Microsoft Service Packs contain bug fixes and even more importantly, they contain patches to known vulnerabilities in the Operating System. You should have automatic updating turned on but, if not, here is your opportunity to get current.

Here is how to check how current you are with your operating system: On your desktop click Start > click My Computer > click System. On the System window, look for the Service Pack information. If the most current Service Pack version does not display as shown below, be sure to download and install the most current Service Pack before installing the June update.

¹Unlike service packs for other Microsoft Operating Systems, SP2 for Vista is not a standalone service pack. It requires SP1 to be installed. If neither service pack is installed on your Vista Operating System, first install the Windows Vista SP1 and then the Windows Vista SP2.

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If you did not install your April update you absolutely need to install your June update. The reason is that that the installation process performs a one-time update to the underlying ProDoc database. If you installed the April update you can ignore the following since your update will proceed in the normal fashion.

But, if you did not install the April update, please read the following before proceeding with your installation of the June update:

Time Your Installation for the Last Task of the Day
This time only, you will need to reboot/restart your computer during the installation process. So, and particularly if your installation is on a network server, we strongly advise that you wait to run the installation until everyone else is off the network.

Lengthier Installation
This installation will take longer than a typical ProDoc update. This is a one-time occurrence and we ask that you be patient with this process.

Your Computer Server Will Restart - Leave the CD in the Computer
The installation process will continue after the restart so do not remove the CD until you click the Finish button.

Installation Messages
You may encounter system messages during your installation process. Most commonly they are triggered because you have not installed all the Microsoft Windows service packs or you do not have administrative rights on the computer.

If you encounter any messages, please go to www.prodoc.com/install-2010/ to view our list of potential system messages you may encounter, what they mean, what to do about them, and who to call if you encounter problems with the installation.

Potential Issue After You Open ProDoc
The registration code you entered when you installed ProDoc governs how many users in your firm can simultaneously access ProDoc. If your firm received a network license and individual computer licenses (to install ProDoc on a laptop, for instance), it is possible that the registration codes were misapplied during the original installation. For example, if your firm registered a network server with an individual computer license (if your firm requested any), after this installation only one person will be able to access ProDoc at a time. If this issue should arise, call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3.

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Q: Why can't another user from my firm find and edit documents that are specific to my attorneys, and that I've prepared in ProDoc? Can't this program be networked to encompass all our clients and documents?

A: It sounds like ProDoc is not properly installed on your network. Call our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3) for free assistance with your network installation.

Q: I recently purchased a new laptop with Windows 7 as its operating system. What must I do to stop using the old laptop and use its license (one of two) to use ProDoc on the new laptop which has no ProDoc program on it presently?
A: Go ahead and install ProDoc on the new laptop. You have 15 days in which to license that installation. Contact our Tech Support team at 800-759-5418, option 3) for assistance in transferring the license to your new laptop and transferring over the appropriate ProDoc files.

Q: Does ProDoc support Microsoft Office® 2010?
A: We're working on support for Microsoft Windows Office 2010 - watch for details about a near term release of this enhancement. We recently added support for Corel WordPerfect Office X5.

Q: I use the Lipman's estate planning volume every day. In the volume, there is a form for the drafting attorney to complete and give to an assistant to prepare the documents. The form contains a series of questions that need to be answered to draft the document. I don't like the design of the form provided in the volume. I would love for the volume to contain a form the attorney could print out and complete that would be easy for the assistant to use.
A: We passed your comments on to Mr. Lipman for his consideration of your suggestion. Meanwhile, it is quite simple to create a customized intake form using ProDoc volume questions for your use. You'll find instructions here for creating your customized intake form(s).

Q: Is there an Appellate module for Florida ProDoc? If so, I'd like to order it.
A: No, at the present time we do not provide an Appellate volume in ProDoc.

Q: In our probate package there does not appear to be a Petition to Determine Heirs and accompanying order.  Am I missing something?
A: We released these forms in the June update. They are called a Petition to Determine Beneficiaries, and Order to Determine Beneficiaries, to match the term in F.S. 733.105 and Fla. Prob. R. 5.385.

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Your legal assistant/paralegal can quickly and easily print a Case Data Sheet after generating a document. The Case Data Sheet shows all of the document assembly and client matter choices your legal assistant/paralegal made during the assembly process. If some of the choices are incorrect, it is much easier to spot those issues on the Case Data Sheet with all of the boilerplate stripped out. This process also makes it very easy for your assistant to identify the data to be corrected and then make those revisions.

After such a review of the Case Data Sheet, when your legal assistant/paralegal presents the document(s) for your review, you can feel more confident that the major legal issues are already resolved. This provides you more time to focus on the finer legal issues.

Learn how to use case data sheets >>

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Read Exit, Stage Left! A Succession Planning Checklist for Lawyers >>
Read Keys to the Succession Process: A Success Story >>

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Read the ABA Smart phone buying guide >>

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Read Collaboration Through Wikis at Hicks Morley >>

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Read The Inbox Ninjas: Helping You Chop Through Your E-Mail Inbox >>

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