Estate planning matters follow a repeatable client workflow
An estate planning law firm connected client intake, retainer agreements, matter tasks, document sharing, and billing through SuiteDash. A branching online questionnaire produces a custom-formatted PDF for the firm's planning process.
Clients have one portal for their engagement. The firm has a repeatable process for collecting information, assigning work, sending agreements, and arranging follow-up.
An estate planning law firm that needed to delegate work to staff while giving clients a consistent way to complete intake, arrange meetings, and access their estate planning documents.
- Onboarding depended on multiple emails and manual steps. Standard client communications were sent by hand.
- The firm wanted reusable project and task templates covering steps such as the initial meeting and estate plan design, with responsibilities assigned to the appropriate staff.
- Its index questionnaire needed an electronic version with conditional questions and a custom PDF output. Client access to documents and recurring three-year check-ins also needed to fit the workflow.
What we did
- 1Map the matter workflow and staff responsibilities
Three 60-minute process sessions covered the firm's forms, emails, and documents. We mapped the estate planning workflow, defined staff roles and access levels, and checked the proposed capabilities and integrations against SuiteDash before implementation.
- 2Connect the questionnaire to the client workflow
We built the electronic index questionnaire in Cognito Forms with conditional questions and a custom PDF template. Zapier connects the form to SuiteDash. The portal, custom client fields, electronic documents, and reusable project templates support the rest of the engagement. Existing folder generators, which create a standard set of client folders, were integrated into the automations.
- 3Set up agreements and ongoing client contact
Reusable retainer agreements support online signatures and payment. Invoice templates and Stripe handle billing. Meeting types and automated communications support initial meetings, reviews, and three-year check-ins. The handoff included video documentation, Zoom training, a staff learning module, and 5 business days of support.
More from this engagement
Clients complete an online form that branches according to their answers. A custom-formatted PDF gives the firm an output designed for its estate planning process.
Project templates define the tasks and responsibilities for an engagement. Delegated steps have a place in the workflow instead of depending on a separate instruction each time.
Retainer agreements are reusable electronic documents. Clients can sign online and pay through Stripe, with invoice templates supporting consistent billing.
Clients retain portal access to their estate planning documents. Recurring three-year check-ins have a defined scheduling process rather than relying solely on someone remembering to follow up.
Under the hood
The firm already had an estate planning process and folder generators in SuiteDash. The work connected those existing pieces to an automated onboarding flow, reusable matter tasks, and standardized client messages.
Cognito Forms handles the questionnaire's conditional questions and custom PDF output. Zapier provides the connection to SuiteDash so the questionnaire fits the broader client workflow. SuiteDash remains the place for the engagement's tasks, documents, communications, and billing.
The client portal presents engagement progress, meeting scheduling, messages, and estate planning documents in one branded view. It also brings access to external systems into that view so clients have one starting point. Staff roles define who can carry out each delegated step.
The handoff provided video-based system documentation and live training. A learning module was configured for staff instruction, with course-content creation excluded from scope. Five business days of after-care covered questions following handoff; a monthly support plan was offered as an option.
What changed
The firm has a repeatable structure around its legal work. Intake produces a usable planning document, matter templates organize delegated tasks, and clients can handle signatures, payments, meetings, and document access through the portal. The workflow also makes room for the next review of the estate plan.
Let's talk about what you're trying to change.
Tell us where your client work gets stuck. In a short call we'll map it to a SuiteDash build and tell you honestly whether it's a fit.
- Where clients and documents get stuck today
- What a first version of your portal would include
- A realistic timeline and price