Newsletter Q1/Q2 2026

ADAPT has been in the process of reviewing and reworking our distribution sections for some time now.  This content rearchitecture and reworking of the template and interview logic is being done to improve the range of options, consistency across scenarios, as well as the maintainability of the underlying code to make it easier to update and enhance going forward. In doing so, we can bring forward more Fore! Trust software options that were not originally introduced in ADAPT as well as more consistently implementing options across scenarios; well-beyond how things were initially made available in the Fore! Trust software which is what ADAPT’s templates were based on.   Our recent release zeroed in on the couple’s simple will distributions.   This included a comprehensive review of the 20 main scenarios including all per stirpes variations as well as multiple non per stirpes variations including per capita, allocating shares among multiple beneficiaries, allocating percentages among multiple beneficiaries, a single beneficiary, heirs at law and a textbox option that users can use to create an atypical distribution provision.    In doing so we also have provided for a uniform gift to minor option across all of these scenarios in case you have underage recipients but don’t wish to create a testamentary trust.   The couple’s first death gift section has also been reworked so that you can create and properly incorporate multiple separate first to die gifts in either spouse’s will – independently and/or in both wills.    We have also cleaned up the interview dialogs and made them consistent for a more predictable user experience.   Finally, all known listing and format issues have been addressed in conjunction with the simple will analysis.

This initial part of our project has taken us considerably longer than we thought but it was essential for us as we need to be as thorough as possible in working through all of these distribution scenarios and options.    It has also given us the opportunity to bring on and train additional developers and consultants so we expect that you will see a more consistent stream of improvements in the months ahead as we continue to enhance our initial offering, address gaps between ADAPT and Fore! Trust software and make sure options are being presented consistently across scenarios.     More importantly, cross-training developers and additional consultants is giving us the ability to create an “express lane” in our release process that will allow us to push out more frequent releases addressing bug fixes and updates on a timelier basis without having to get behind other major releases.    For our customers, this will translate to a return of quicker release cycles and significantly increased speed in addressing bug fixes.

In fact, we are also introducing a new feature that will allow customers to see our tracking system so they can see how items are progressing and will have a clearer sense of how issues are being handled and advanced internally.   Our new firm issue ticketing system will be introduced in late Q2.

In short, ADAPT has been busy behind the scenes but with our new development express lane and firm issue ticketing system and our customers will begin to see a much more proactive ADAPT in the months ahead all while we build an even better and more robust series of templates that will ultimately give you more options and improved output for your practice.

By Mark Hevrdejs, J.D., LL.M. and COO for ADA Platform Technology, LLC

Drafting solutions like ADAPT can really help you in being more efficient in serving your clients – but given the rise of Do-It-Yourself providers and increased public acceptance of AI, it’s become increasingly important to demonstrate your value in helping your clients come up with an estate plan that is right for them.

When meeting with clients it’s always important to remind them of the many benefits that you can assist them with in helping them craft their estate plan. You, as a professional estate planner, are capable of much more than many of these Do-It Yourself forms and software packages!

While software can often help prospective clients pull together a considerably basic will or trust, people who create documents this way miss the mark in many circumstances. Simply put, prospects don’t fully understand all the options and approaches typically used in dealing with common problems and scenarios. And, because of this lack of understanding, when the lay person does try creating a will or trust through a do-it-yourself program, they often fail to properly address their issues if at all. This is where your experience and expertise come into play and where you really want to remind prospects of your value.

Some of the ways estate planners can stand out are obvious although may require even more specialized knowledge on your part – such as helping a prospect wishing to aggressively minimize taxes (estate as well as income taxes!) or aiding those holding property overseas or where they live abroad and still retain property in the US.  It’s straightforward to communicate and impress upon your client’s tax optimization strategies as part of any estate plan and clients can grasp that additional value you can provide.

But an estate planner also can add tremendous value in helping prospects deal with potential family conflict or in making sure the right mechanisms are in place where conditional and/or deferred gifting may be appropriate. It may sound obvious, but clients don’t always understand their options in limiting or delaying gifts and making sure you help them craft a suitable disposition plan that lines up with the potential beneficiary’s maturity or ability to deal responsibly with money.

Take the time to ask your client to share with you what they think may happen if their intended beneficiaries suddenly came into a large chunk of money from the client’s estate and what the beneficiary would be likely to do versus what the client would hope they do. This can reveal a lot about potential concerns to navigate that they may not readily admit even to themselves – potential overreach by in-laws, spending problems, drug use, and a whole host of vices can come to the forefront. All of which are problems that you can help solve for them by minimizing these risks through well-crafted documents and careful planning and communication.

Finally, it’s important to understand whether the client has other people or things that can be adversely affected when the client dies – particularly if there is a protracted administration of the estate.  It’s not just about making sure title passes from your client’s estate to a spouse or child. The client may have one or more businesses with employees and customers who rely on him or her for direction. You’ll want to explore with your client how to minimize the disruption their death may cause whether it’s for making sure a closely held business can continue on so employees aren’t suddenly without pay, or even how to take care of their pet(s) – they wouldn’t want Fido to suddenly be without food!

Good planning isn’t just about drafting documents that will result in properly transferred assets – a good estate planner makes sure that all aspects of a client’s life are considered as part of the plan.  If you have done your job correctly and really understand your client’s need you will end up creating a plan together with a set of documents that will ensure the people and things the clients care about are taken care of to the full extent possible.

As previously noted, we are continuing to focus on overhauling our distribution sections to make sure that interviews behave consistently and that options are consistently available across different scenarios even when they were not fully available in Fore! Trust software, the initial source of our templates.   Revisiting our distribution section has taken us a significant amount of time and required painstaking care to ensure that we fully review and test the 96 plus main scenarios that need to be handled across all of our revocable trust and will templates.   This is not work for the faint of heart as we need to combine the talents of lawyers and developers to work through the various issues to make sure all scenarios are properly addressed.   Major improvements for Will, Joint Trust, Reciprocal Trust and Irrevocable Trust solutions are all slated for release later this year.

In addition, we are promoting a series of catch-up releases designed to address a number of state changes that have affected some of the ancillary forms.

In addition, we will also be introducing a clause library later this year.   ADAPT has received requests for new clauses and modifications over the years.  Some are in our queue, and some are still being evaluated to see if there is enough demand to introduce.   Regardless, we will begin making all of these clauses available in a new library that will be available for users where they can find additional clause language that they may wish to incorporate into their will or trust.

Similarly, ADAPT will be introducing a separate standalone decision support tool that will assist users in selecting the best trust structure for their specific situation.   This tool will provide users with additional rationale and language in making their trust type selections and help them properly incorporate it into their client’s answer file.

And finally in the Fall, we plan to introduce an AI product support feature that will assist users in getting the most out of their ADAPT solution.

More to come about these new features later this summer.

ADAPT provides 2 user licenses with all new subscriptions.  This is to allow those firms with an attorney and a paralegal/assistant to use the same account and have separate log in credentials so that they can use the account at the same time.  As a firm grows did you know that you can add additional user licenses without purchasing a new account?  The ADAPT platform is multi-user friendly and we do discount associate user licenses for multiple users.

Firm Admins can go to the firm settings drop=-down menu and select Firm Users and from this dashboard update firm users that are already on the account or purchase additional users directly from this dashboard.

It is important that all users on an account have their own unique log in credentials for security purposes as well as to preserve the integrity of the data for each client.

Please let our support team know if you have any questions.

Customer Service has been working closely with our developers on a new tool for our customers.  This new tool will allow customers to quickly submit an issue that you are experiencing directly from your ADAPT account.  Firm issue tracker (FIT) will allow users to submit an issue as it occurs and once this issue has been received, the reporting firm will be able to track this issue as it is researched, repaired and released to our customers.  We anticipate that this will be available by the end of Q2 2026.

Customer Service fields a lot of questions from our customer base.  In newsletters to come will will provide some FAQ of the most asked questions.  This quarters FAQ is in regards to guardians for minor children.

One of the most asked questions is why do the guardians of the minor children not appear in the assembled documents.  There are a few reasons that this can occur but the most frequent reason is because the guardians have not been named in the interview.

On the dialog titled “Is a Guardian Needed?”, there are 3 specific questions that need to be answered in a joint matter for the guardians to be named and added to the documents.  Those questions are Select if a guardian is needed and then the subsequent questions are for the client and spouse.  Those questions are worded as such Select if a guardian is needed for the child of ____.  When these 3 selections are made then the interview outline will expand and the addition dialogs for the guardians will appear so that this information can be collected. We have added an image below for your reference.

Please note that there are still 2 additional questions that are optional on this particular dialog.

We hope that this information has been helpful and would like to get your suggestions on other questions in the future!

And as always thank you for your support in ADAPT!  Happy Planning!

CALDA members – ADAPT will be at the October conference.

We look forward to seeing you there!