ADAPT Newsletter Q2 2023
ADAPT has been busy working on improving our solutions and our users’ experiences by updating our document templates, addressing formatting in the assembled document, and continuing to enhance and improve the platform. Since our last newsletter ADAPT has introduced EP Professional and added Irrevocable Trust Documents. Spring has sprung and we hope that you are all enjoying this time of year! In this edition of our Newsletter, you will find information about our platform, helpful tips from our developers, and guidance on distributions from our legal team!
ADAPT PLATFORM
The ADAPT Platform was built on the FORE! Trust Software (4TS) templates. This means the documents created on our system have the same legal language you are accustomed to seeing in the documents generated through 4TS. There are some differences with the ADAPT cloud-based version of the system. This was inevitable as designing ADAPT’s cloud-based version to gain all the benefits of delivery through the cloud required some modifications. And despite extensive testing, because of the complexity of 4TS and the sheer number of possible permutations, you may see some format issues or preferences that have changed. Our goal, however, has been to keep these issues to a minimum and to make sure we are helping our users in being as efficient as possible. That said we know some 4TS customers had specific ways that they had used and incorporated into their firms over time in ways that may not be supported by the current version of our product. We are, however, working with a number of customers in enhancing our product to better accommodate many of these variations.
ADAPT is excited about what will be coming out this year with our editing tool. This will allow our clients to customize their solution similarly to the way that was previously done in 4TS, but now in the cloud with an updated look and more functionality. Stay tuned for more information towards this coming Summer.
Message from our developers
What does a browser do?
The first and foremost thing a browser does is read the code that was used to develop web pages within a website using its Rendering Engine. And this is where the differences in browsers begin.
The rendering engine is how a web page is drawn. It reads the code to display every aspect of that web page which can be more difficult as there are many different coding languages used to create web pages. A browser needs to interpret those different languages to display any given web page correctly.
So, why should I use one browser over another?
Browsers are developed by different companies trying to either grab market share or simply provide functions that others do not. Because there are many browsers out there and so many different features, they lose focus on what’s most important about what a browser does.
Without a browser, computers would display websites as simple text, without graphics, font styles, colors, animation, and all the things we’ve become accustomed to while surfing the web.
Why don’t all browsers display a web page the same?
That is the question of all questions. Each browser’s rendering engine interprets code in a different way thus displaying web pages differently interpreting security incorrectly making the users experience inconsistent.
Which browser is best?
For many years Microsoft, Apple, and Google have fought for browser market share forgetting the important thing about browsing; creating a rendering engine that uses standardized methods, so all browsers render the same. Because Microsoft and Apple lost sight of this, Google built Chrome that by design would standardize the industry. Since then, many companies like Mozilla (Firefox) and Opera have adopted the same rendering engine Google uses thus further strengthening industry standards.
Currently, Google enjoys a 77% market share with Microsoft at less than 6% and Apple at less than 9%.
Because Chrome is widely used, and has become the standard, and Microsoft Edge and Apple’s Safari are not using standardized rendering engines, ADAPT recommends the Chrome browser as a first choice. Firefox and Opera are also acceptable.
What has ADAPT done to ensure its software code is standardized?
Google has produced many documents on how their engine works so that developers can use best practices not only for rendering the style of a website but its security.
ADAPT has adopted these standards to ensure our customers’ experience is the very best, especially when assembled documents are downloaded from the cloud.
From our Support Team
The ADAPT Support Team is here to assist you with any questions about the ADAPT Platform, features and functions within a solution, or “How To’s”. The team can be reached via phone, email, or chat on our website. Our team is available Monday -Friday 8am to 5 pm CST.
(800) 212-2642 Ext. 800
Chat with a team member online @ adaptdocs.com
From Our Legal Team
Getting the Distributions You Want in ADAPT
When it comes to creating an estate plan perhaps the most complicated part is when faced with drafting your client’s distribution scheme. Regardless of whether you are creating a will or a trust, making sure your documents have distributions set up to meet your clients’ needs can run from simple outright gifts to multi-generational dynasty trusts with multiple and varied bequests.
And while it would be impractical to design software that could draft every possible permutation you may face, ADAPT does a good job at anticipating and addressing a wide range of distribution scenarios. Here are a few tips to make sure you understand how ADAPT approaches distributions and how to enter them in the drafter’s interview.
ADAPT’s Interviews Are Created Dynamically
Your selections at the early stages of the interview can affect what options you will see as well as the templates that are used in creating your documents. This means that by the time you get to the distribution section of the interview it can often look very different depending on the information and selections you have already entered. Key items which will affect the distribution dialogs you will see include marital status (as it relates to client status), joint children, the number of children, children from previous marriages, use of special needs. So, when you find yourself with a different fact pattern than you usually handle, there is a good chance some of your choices may be slightly different. That said, the ordering of the types of questions you need to address in the interview should generally remain the same.
Navigating the Different Distributions
The distribution sections of the documents (Article 3 in the Will and Article 6 in the RLT) are derived from the input you enter on just a couple of interview screens. These break down to three or four areas.
The first area, “DISTRIBUTION AT THE FIRST DEATH” is a section you’ll only find in couple’s scenarios and is devoted to entering in any gifts that are to be made irrespective of the order in which a couple dies. Here you can enter as many specific gifts as you need either at one or the other spouse’s death, you can also structure gifts so that they can be given regardless of who dies first.
The next series of screens relates to the various options relating to how tangible personal property of your client should be disposed of. There are options and screens for specific gifts of tangible personal property, ability to generate extrinsic instructions (AKA a personal property memorandum) as well as various options for the how the remainder of tangible personal property should be dealt with (the default option is to distribute as part of the remainder of the estate).
Next you will find an interview screen entitled “SPECIFIC DISTRIBUTIONS…. OTHER THAN TANGIBLE PERSONAL PROPERTY.” This is where you can select common situations that will require specific language in the document. Currently, there are 15 different distributions supported in the product with many of them being available for multiple use in the document. These range from everything such as a gift of money to a class of beneficiaries (such as grandchildren) to gifts of lifetime interests in trust, pet trusts, and much more. These are all built off common scenarios our drafters have experienced directly or from input from customers over the years and our designed to give you the language to deal with the normal variations an estate planner will typically run across in dealing with various gifts.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you have selected a special needs trust for a disabled beneficiary, you have the option to fund that sub trust with the entire estate, a specific dollar amount or a percentage of the estate. You will see a series of screens related to the special needs trust options that you will need to address before you can input your answers in the residue section.
The final section related to distributions relates to the residue. When children are involved and a per stirpes distribution applies, you’ll see a series of screens relating to how your client would want their children to receive their inheritance and you’re able to use a family pot trust, ages and stages, lifetime trusts as well as dynasty trusts if you do not want to make the gift outright. A different series of screens is presented when there are no children or only some of the children are joint so that named beneficiaries and allocations can be entered to properly designate the share a particular beneficiary should be receiving. You also will have inputs for contingent beneficiaries as well as any disinheritance as part of these screens.
Reviewing Your Document
Because there are so many factors that need to be taken into consideration in creating the distribution text in Article 6 of a trust(s) (or Article 3 in the case of wills), it is important to review your document carefully – particularly the distribution section. In particularly complex or unusual situations, the software may not be able to directly create the assembled document your client needs. If that should happen, you may be able to generate variations of the document and cut and paste provisions you may need to create. For example, you may generate language using one scenario to help you create additional sub trusts you may need to add in or provide your language for more detailed contingent distributions you may need to create.
While our assembled documents are thorough and cover many use cases, the situations estate planners and document professionals face and need to plan for continue to evolve. If there are unusual situations you encounter in your practice that are not covered by our distribution scenarios, ADAPT would like to hear about them to make sure our products continue to evolve to meet your needs. Please let us know.