by DONALD H. KELLEY
DONALD H. KELLEY practices law in Denver, and is of counsel to the law firm of Kelley, Scritsmier & Byrne, P.C., in North Platte, Nebraska. Mr. Kelley is a past Chair of the Technology in Practice Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Cowles Trust Plus® is software for drafting documents related to an estates and trusts practice. The documents it produces include:

• Individual and joint living trusts, irrevocable trusts, and wills.
  
• State specific supporting documents, such as durable powers of attorney, health care powers and directives, community property agreements, and pour-over wills.
  
• Documents related to the dispositive document, including routine client correspondence, Crummey letters, SS4 applications, itemized invoices, customized document covers, and correspondence to trustees, insurance companies and the IRS.

• Videos, ads, and letters designed to motivate prospective clients.
  
• Client seminar materials with slides and client handouts.
  
• A binder for organizing client documents you prepare.
  
• Forms for gathering client information.
  
• Estate planning checklists (available to Cowles members by download from the publisher's website).
  
• Document covers and envelopes.

The Cowles' companion product TrusTerminator®, Version 10.1, is a system for automating the documents related to the closing and distribution of trusts and estates. (For a prior column on TrusTerminator, see 26 ETPL 333 (Aug./Sept. 1999).) The concept of the program is to gather in a single database the information needed for the inventory, the final account, and the various types of documents required to accomplish the distribution of property during or after administration. TrusTerminator shares data with the Trust Plus software to avoid duplication of entries for persons using the publisher's complete system. Based on detailed data regarding the trust or estate assets of a decedent, the TrusTerminator system has the ability to generate appropriate correspondence, transfer documents, Inventories, and Trust Accounts. The program is state specific and must be ordered for the state where you will be using it.

Program capabilities
Trust Plus is designed for use on IBM PCs or compatible hardware with a Pentium 90mh or higher processor and at least 24 MB of RAM. It requires Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0 (with service pack 3). You need a CD-ROM drive for installation. The program requires at least 30 MB of free space on your hard disk to install. An uninstall program is included. Operation of the program requires that you have installed either WordPerfect 6.1 or higher, or Word 6.0 or higher. An Instant Update feature allows you to keep the program current by downloading updates from the publisher's Internet website. An Interactive Tutorial with audio guidance is also installed; the tutorial has the same system requirements and also requires a sound card.

The program creates the planning instruments themselves, such as the wills and the trusts, both revocable and irrevocable. Included, among other documents, are state specific powers of attorney and living wills. The program includes alerts in the substantive help areas for items to watch out for, such as gifts by an attorney-in-fact. The program prepares--in addition to the basic documents--the asset transfer documents; instruction letters to banks, brokers, insurance agents, and other third parties; client invoices; and a reference notice for the client regarding additional later funding of a trust, if desired.

The program is licensed state-by-state. The documents are intended to be generated in accordance with the appropriate local standard. State specific features in this, or other like programs, may not be totally comprehensive, or completely up-to-date, in all instances. You should, of course, check the documents produced against your local law.

The program includes a comprehensive Help System, with instructions on the operation of the various components of the program. Technical support is available by telephone, e-mail, or postal mail.

Program operation
The Trust Plus kit includes Confidential Client profiles, detailed question-and-answer booklets designed to be prepared manually while you are meeting with the client to collect data in a form consistent with document preparation by the program, and checklists for document drafting. The checklists are designed to allow data entry by either the lawyer or staff. Substantive drafting decisions are made by the attorney during the initial appointment via completion of a revocable trust, irrevocable trust, or will checklist.

You begin operation of the program by entering your law firm information at a Preferences dialog available from the drop-down System menu. The Preferences dialog enables you to enter information concerning yourself and your law firm, designate the formatting of the client name where it appears in documents, identify your word processor, and enter the nomenclature for trust and estate fiduciaries. The program selects your word processor when installed or you may select another through the Preferences dialog. Documents will be generated in Rich Text Format (RTF), which is readily convertible to most word processors. The program may be set to automatically bring documents up in your word processor when they are generated. Thus, editing of the complete finished document may be done in the word processing program you are accustomed to using.

Trust Plus and TrusTerminator allow you to customize phrases and correspondence, and add your own phrases within the software. As new releases become available, your global changes carry over to new versions and maintain your customization. From the Systems menu, you then select Clients to enter basic name and contact information for one or more clients. The next step is to select Contacts, and enter name and contact information for those persons and offices that you will communicate with regarding trust and will documents, including asset transfers.

Movement through the program screens is done by selections from a top menu entitled Generation. You may select the client session you wish to work on, enter Merge Information, open a screen where you will select the document to be generated and the phrases to be used in it, edit phrases used in a completed document, and generate a document. From the Generation menu, you select Merge Information to enter detailed information regarding the decedent and the trust being terminated. From the Merge Information screen, you enter the trust beneficiaries and the details of the distribution of trust assets.

The software contains an editor function that allows you to override the language of phrases used in the documents so that you may substitute your own language as you desire. You may also edit phrases and paragraphs of the document you have prepared.

A screen for entry of basic client and fiduciary information (referred to in the software as "Merge Information"), including identification of the document to be for one person or for two persons (spouses), appears as the starting point for document preparation. The document, such as a will, that you choose is then prepared by moving through a series of phrase or paragraph designations, selecting which you choose to include and filling in information where prompted. The program displays only the phrases relevant to the choices you have made in setting up the client's information. This process takes place from the Phrase/Document Selection screen, which appears in Exhibit 1.

Exhibit 1

At each phrase, you may display detailed legal assistance by clicking on the "Substantive Legal Help" button, which brings up the screen shown in Exhibit 2.

The Substantive Legal Help screen displays context-sensitive substantive help for the phrase you have chosen in the upper pane, and help for the individual selection you make within that phrase on the lower screen. The Help text appears to be both extensive and detailed in explaining the law related to the phrase selection and the logic of its inclusion in the document. The publisher states that the Substantive Legal Help in Version 10.1 has been updated to include an analysis of how drafting is affected by the 2001 Tax Act where appropriate to a given phrase.

Exhibit 2

At any time during the phrase selection process you may click on Map on the toolbar to view a complete list of all phrases that you have selected. You may then click on any phrase to revisit it. The Map of phrases is illustrated in Exhibit 3.

At the conclusion of data entry and phrase selection you may select Merge Phrases/Documents from the Generation menu to choose the documents you wish to generate, and then merge your data and phrase selections into a finished document. Following the merge, you may have the program launch to your word processor where the finished document will be displayed. The merge process works seamlessly, and the document appears ready for further editing or printing.

Exhibit 3

The Trust Plus and TrusTerminator packages include a website Forum feature, accessible from the Merge Phrases/Documents area of the program, or directly through the publisher's website, that gives the purchaser access to a "members only" area. This area includes:

• An extensive online treatise, in the form of a Help file with Table of Contents, on the substantive law pertaining to the specific estate planning issue.
  
• Sample documents and language, displayed through a Help file, that may be copied by the subscriber.
  
• Links to other sites for substantive research.
  
• Practice-building information on establishing a fee structure, increasing cash flow, developing an effective marketing plan, and preparing for initial and execution appointments.
  
• Seminar slides (in PowerPoint) and related Script (in PDF format), including provisions of the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001.
  
• Client letter regarding the 2001 Tax Act.
  
• State specific checklists for various estate planning documents and procedures, as well as fee agreements.
  
• Estate planning Worksheet to collect client data for the initial consultation.

Subscription to the publisher's products includes access to the Cowles List Service and regular e-mails devoted to substantive and practice-building topics.

Conclusion
Trust Plus and TrusTerminator are comprehensive programs for drafting estate planning documents. They also include a wide assortment of other useful features.

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