Choose "Select" to open Microsoft Outlook and browse your list of contacts.

First, open up the folder in mndocs for probate forms. For this example, I’m going to create a simple Probate Case File Information form. I double-click on that form, enter basic information and, when I get to the part of the interview to add “Participants and Others Involved in the Matter” I now have a new button labeled “Select” (see screenshot). Click on that button and Microsoft Outlook should open to your contacts. Browse your contacts for the right person and double click on the listing. Basic information should then be transferred over to mndocs.

I say basic information, as we have only added basic functionality right now. It brings over the name of the person as well as the person’s address, but not much else. That functionality, however, should help speed things up and cut down on data entry errors, assuming you have the right information already entered in Outlook. You will also still need to do a bit of cleanup, such as adding the state (it doesn’t get that down correctly right now) and gender (which I don’t list in my Outlook contacts and it therefore cannot transfer information that I haven’t recorded).

But, it’s a feature we will increasingly look toward improving and rolling out to the other practice areas. We just need to hear from you how well it works and what other information you may want it to bring in to mndocs. Let us know.

Basically, it will work like this: if you want to add a different address for your law firm or company and don’t want to modify your overall preferences every time, just check off two options on the “Staffing on Matter” screen. Those options, which I’ve circled below in a screenshot from mndocs, allow you to change the law firm name and the law firm or company adddress on the fly, as in whenever you choose to do so on a specific file. It’s good not only if you want to have a different address for a pro bono case but also if you want to fine tune your contact information for a particular file.

A quick note: while it’s not yet live and published, expect it by December 3 for family law forms. We’ll roll out additional practice areas shortly afterward.

• Make sure you enter information about both the trust and the trustee in the interview section for “Parties.” For the trust, make sure you check off that it is a legal entity (see images below).
• Once you provide the name and details of the trust, you will have additional options on the same screen to add information about the date of the trust, original trustees, and the trust grantor (all of which are needed for the Certificate of Trust).
• Make sure you have information about the name and address of the individual or corporate trustee. Once you provide that information, you will be able to select the name of the trustee on subsequent screens, whether you need the name of the trustee for the Certificate of Trust, Trustee’s Deed, or Affidavit of Trustee. If you do not see the name of the trustee (or the trust), you need to go back to the last two steps above to make sure you add them.

As an added bonus, I’ve uploaded a sample answer file for the fictional Arthur Jones Trust. Download that answer file here and mess around with it. We’ve found a sample answer file is a good way to look at how to assemble various forms.

Entering Trust Information

Choosing the Trust and Trustee

Note: special thanks to Charlie Roach who pointed out a small bug in the way the Affidavit of Trustee populated the name of the trustee. We just published an updated form set with a fix for that bug.

First, I’d start with the QuickFill Final Account, which I talked about earlier here (and included a video to boot). In completing the final account, a dialogue (called “Final Account Details) asks for the specific information you are planning to include for disbursements and for increases. Choose the checkbox for “Interim Distributions to Devisees & Heirs.” When you do that, a new dialogue is added to the interview entitled “Distribution of the Estate.” (see image below).

Simply choose the dialogue for Distribution of the Estate and add a distributee and amount of distribution. But (and here’s the kicker that gets past some users), make sure you also choose “CHECK if this is an interim distribution prior to filing of the Final Account.” It should look like this when you are done (click on the image below to expand it):

That’s it. As I’ve said before, the Final Account is one of our most complicated forms. While we’ve tried to simplify it with the relatively new QuickFill form, there are still some tricks to get it to work the way you want. But if you run into any trouble, please shoot me an email.

]]> http://www.mndocs.org/2010/09/adding-an-interim-distribution-in-a-final-account/feed/ 0 http://www.mndocs.org/2010/09/a-quick-new-mndocs-release/ http://www.mndocs.org/2010/09/a-quick-new-mndocs-release/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:21:10 +0000 Greg Luce http://www.mndocs.org/?p=394 We updated the forms today but there is not a whole lot to report, other than we’ve done some often unseen background tweaking and renovating, particularly with the way you purchase and update your forms.

A tweak worth mentioning in this release is one that simplifies the completion of a probate Inventory. Previously, we got all automagical on you and allowed you to pick a personal representative (who normally completes the form) from a list of people. That really wasn’t necessary, given the form just needed a name. So, we simplified it and it now asks only for the name of the person or persons completing the form, which you would type in. We figured why complicate the form when you don’t need to? Here’s a screenshot of the new dialogue and where you would enter the name of the person completing the form (click on the image to enlarge):

My understanding is that there are codes listed [in mndocs] and one must make a choice of code which then inserts relevant language. . . . [The attorney I work for] provided me the following example:

***IF MATT FAM Hearing Final MC = “None”********IF MATT FAM Stipulation Type MC = “NONE”****** IF MATT FAM Final MC! “None”******IF MATT FAM Hearing Final MC = Contested *** Based up on all of the evidence presented the exhibits and review of the entire Court file, this Court, being fully advised makes the following:

Is there some type of cross reference so you know what the codes
language means prior to make a choice and inserting?

The quick and dirty answer is yes. But the user’s question underscores a bit of confusion about what happens behind the scenes. As a document assembly system, mndocs takes the client data you enter, runs through any necessary calculations and manipulations, and places that data into various forms, plus cleans it up so that the final document is close to a finished product.

We do the coding on our end to make it work. What that means is that, as you answer questions in the mndocs interview process, we have already created the programming code that takes those answers, does some fancy calculations if necessary, and puts the answers in the right place. If you don’t provide a necessary answer, however, you likely will see the “code” or variable name that we use to place the answer in the form. Thus, all the junk and asterisks you may occasionally see in an incomplete or blank form.

But, no worries. That’s just part of the process of collecting all your data, and there are a couple of things you can do to determine what information you need to finish a form. The first is one of my top mndocs tips: use the “Document Preview” tab to get a preview of the document before you send it to your word processor. Thus, in the user’s example above, she is missing answers to questions about the final hearing or disposition in a family law matter. If you click on the Document Preview tab in mndocs, it will look like this (click on the image to expand it):

In most cases, if you see something in red, you can simply double click on it and it will take you to the part of the interview that requests that information. Thus, if I double click on ***PARTY DOB DA*** in the above example, another window opens up and asks me to provide the information, like so:

This doesn’t always work, as sometimes we have complex things going on in background, such as determining a judicial district based on a county or determining how many children are involved in a matter. If you click on a variable name in those situations, you may get a pop up box telling you it’s a calculated field and cannot be changed. For that, you’ll need to make sure you answer the necessary questions so that the program can make those calculations (like indicating the matter is in Hennepin County to calculate that it is the Fourth Judicial District).

Finally, don’t like asterisks peppering your draft document? You can change it to brackets, underscores, or nothing at all. In the main HotDocs menu, choose “Tools” then “Options.” Then choose “Document Assembly” and change the way you want unanswered variables displayed, as in (click on image):

• ECB-1081 Transfer on Death Deed (TODD)
• ECB-1082 Transfer on Death Deed by Married Grantor Owner Who Is Sole Spouse in Title
• ECB-1083 Transfer on Death Deed by Married Grantor Owners Owning Property as Joint Tenants
• ECB-10810 Revocation of Transfer on Death Deed

July’s release continues our work to get as many editable conveyancing forms into mndocs. Unlike the uniform conveyancing blanks, which are on practicelaw and are also known as UCBs, the editable forms allow the user to edit any text. Nevertheless, we’ve stripped out any indication that the form is considered “uniform,” ostensibly to avoid the risk of an attorney makes changes to a uniform form and inadvertently submitting it as a uniform form. We take care of any forgetfulness by removing the indication of the form as “uniform.” For more information on the ECBs, check out our Practice Blawg post on the subject. You can also find a larger number of ECBs in Microsoft Word format on practicelaw

We were close to releasing two additional TODD-related forms, one dealing with clearance certificates and the other being the applicable affidavit of identity and survivorship. Those two forms need some additional tweaking before releasing them into the wild, but expect an interim release in early August that will include those two forms and possibly a few more.

Here’s the deal. Our mndocs forms are published using a HotDocs file extension known as “.hdi.” I’ve had no problems downloading those files with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome, two far superior browsers when compared to Internet Explorer. But when I or most everyone else tries to download the mndocs.hdi file from our server using Internet Explorer, it automatically changes “mndocs.hdi” to “mndocs.zip.” Not a problem for me, as I’m savvy enough to know what to do. But what about the member or subscriber out there who is not tech savvy and doesn’t even know what an extension is, let alone the differences between .hdi and .zip. That’s when I curse Internet Explorer and vow to lobby against its use by anyone.

QuickNote: Your Microsoft Windows settings may be “hiding” your file extensions. You need to be able to see the file extension in order to change the extension for the mndocs file. Microsoft provides these instructions on how to show/hide file extensions. If this is an issue for you, follow these instructions first before changing the name of the file.So, if you don’t heed my advice and dump Internet Explorer in favor of Firefox or Chrome, there is still hope for you. First, expect that Internet Explorer will change the name of the mndocs.hdi file to mndocs.zip. I take that now as a given and just sigh when it does. The solution, however, is extremely easy. Just take back the file name by renaming the file with the correct “.hdi” extension. So, if it downloads as “mndocs.zip” in Internet Explorer, right click on the downloaded file and select “rename.” Then make sure you rename it mndocs.hdi. That’s it. Consider it a small victory over the dark forces of Internet Explorer. And if you want step by step illustrated instructions, check out the screen shots below (if an image looks too small, just click on it):

Go to the download page (whether a trial or the actual download page) and click on the "Download" link.

Notice that Internet Explorer changes the file name from mndocs.hdi to mndocs.zip. Go ahead and download the file as a .zip file.

Right click on the downloaded "mndocs.zip" file and then choose "Rename."

After renaming the file, it should then appear as a HotDocs file, with the HotDocs icon.

What It Offers

The Default “End of Interview” Screen

By default, the “End of Interview” screen does a couple of things. It reminds you how many questions are unanswered and also gives you a few form or document assembly options. The default options allow you to send the assembled document to Microsoft Word (or WordPerfect), paste it into an open Microsoft Word document, or add some more options. Typically, you’ll send your data to your word processor, where you may do final editing. But, you also have the choice not to “close” the assembly window. What’s this mean? It means that can keep your HotDocs session going, usually so you can change or review your answers, even after your finished document is sitting there on your screen. That’s handy for making corrections without having to reinitiate the entire interview process.

Going Beyond the Defaults

The “End of Interview” Screen with All Options Available

As you can see from the “End of Interview” screen, there is an option to “Choose which buttons are displayed on this dialog.” That’s the real nuts and bolts of this screen, as there are a bunch of handy options to choose from:

• Send the assembled form document to Adobe Acrobat. This actually appearsas a default for form documents– those that produce a PDF. It’s the same as sending a document to your word processor, except the end result is a PDF. No earth-shaking cool stuff here.
• Copy the assembled document to the Clipboard. Not sure why you would want to do this, but, hey, it lets you copy the content of your document to your clipboard, where you can access it later to paste it into something else.
• Save the assembled document in a file. This one is pretty handy, especially for WordPerfect users who have issues with the formatting of forms (we talked about this here). By saving the assembled document to a file, usually a Rich Text Format (.rtf), you can then view that document in WordPad or Microsoft WordViewer, without having a copy of Microsoft Word on your computer. With the about-to-be released Microsoft Office “Web Apps,” it may even allow you to upload the .rtf file to web apps and edit it online as if it were (and really is) a Microsoft Word file. Pretty nifty.
• Save the assembled document as a PDF. This is a pretty nifty feature if you don’t need to edit a document and just want it available as a PDF. With the built-in PDF driver in HotDocs, you can simply produce some of your forms in PDF for viewing by clients and others.
• Close this window without saving the assembled document. We just got a question from a user about how simply to input data without producing a form. This is how. Choose this option and you’ll be prompted to save your answer file but otherwise no form will be produced. This is handy if you just want to complete the information you need for your form but are not quite ready to edit or produce it.

As you can see, HotDocs has plenty of options for those who are not always in a rush like me. Let us know if you have questions about how these work and I may also produce a quick video demonstrating how they operate.

• Erasing an Answer. Let’s say you answer a multiple choice question in mndocs but realize you don’t want to answer it at all because you do not have the information you need. Clicking on another choice doesn’t fix anything; it just picks another answer. Erasing an answer, though, is easy. Either 1) right click on the question and choose “Erase Answer” or choose “Edit” from the menu and pick “Erase Answer.” Voila. Either one does the same thing.
• Document Preview. This may seem obvious and you may already know this, but it’s still worth mentioning. If you want to see the document as you are completing the mndocs interview, look up toward the top for a tab labeled “Document Preview.” Click on that and you’ll see an approximation of how the document is coming together. It’s not exactly how it will look, but you’ll see generally how your answers are being used and assembled. Plus, if you see any items in red (which indicate missing information), you can usually double click on the red text to go to the part of the interview where you would provide the missing information.
• Personalize Your Options. In HotDocs, which runs our system, you have the ability to personalize how you want the system to look and operate. This means you can turn on spell checking, turn off the somewhat annoying reminder that you have unanswered questions (you almost always have unanswered questions), tell the system how you want to see any unanswered questions in the final document, and even change file locations (not recommended except to network your answer files). Go to “Tools” in the menu and pick “Options,” then browse through the options you have to make the system work more to your liking.
• Know the Roles. One really cool thing about mndocs is the use of multiple “roles” to define a party or person involved in a case. This allows for a lot more flexibility across different areas of law and does not require you to enter the same person multiple times in the database. For instance, in a real property matter, a person may have the roles of buyer, grantee, and borrower. In a family law matter, the same person may have the role of petitioner or client’s spouse. Depending on the role you pick, different forms will behave differently. So, make sure you determine what role is used in the form and that you choose someone who is defined by that role. A classic example is the HUD-1. It uses the role of “borrower” for who is often thought of as the buyer. To get the right person in the HUD-1, make sure you have someone (preferably the right person) chosen as a “borrower.”

We’ll add some more tips later, but these are probably four basic but very useful ones to know. Drop us a comment below or contact us if you have any questions.