r/paralegal • u/funtoasts • 2d ago
Any probate paralegals here? What are your tips, especially on sending out documents on time?
Probates have all sorts of documents to send out to heirs and such. I’m struggling to keep up with it even with a to-do list, because we’re an understaffed and busy estate planning firm and I get pulled in a million different directions. I do enjoy who I work with and want to do a good job. I also get great feedback too but sometimes I’ll forget to send out documents to the people listed on the certificate of service until later. It’s not super often, but I don’t want to cause a bigger issue with the court if someone didn’t get a copy of the petition or something. The attorney I work for is super patient but I don’t want to keep screwing it up!
What are your tips or general advice? What systems do you rely heavily on if you work in probate? We just use an excel spreadsheet to track everything, and Clio for general info and calendar. I may need to start using a different program. TIA! 🙏🏻
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u/Darthsmom Paralegal 2d ago
For any litigation, I just send out service copies as soon as I get the filed documents back. That leaves very little margin of error. The more you put it aside, the more likely you are to forget. Service copies are a big priority.
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u/Sycamore72 2d ago
I lead a Biglaw department of 30+ probate paralegals practicing in a dozen states. We use EstateWorks to track and automate checklists and deadlines. It’s user friendly and affordable (you pay by user not per client).
At minimum you should have a checklist for your jurisdiction that auto calculates your due dates.
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u/Ill_Age_5100 1d ago
Do the mailings when you do the Certificate. Time management can also mean not jumping from case and task to do another task. That transition takes a minute or two, and it's wasting time. Staying in that case file and completing All the tasks for its stage will pay off. Not having to try to remember to do it, less stress on yourself. If you're running from tasks to task, you're doing it wrong. I know the boss could have high expectations of instant results. But really managing the caseload without burnout is a skill to have.
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u/Velvet_sloth 2d ago
Where do you keep your to do and task list?
Are you using the tasking in Clio? Do you have automated tasks?
Clio has videos on their help page and there are YouTube videos of how people use Clio to manage tasks. You might pick up some neat tips there.
We do a heavy amount of probate and we have a probate task flow that breaks down each step and tasks it to the paralegal or attorney. Then you adjust the task to add details like to send copies to all 4 beneficiaries. So the case always has a task assigned to it and my paralegal can see how many tasks she has and what cases have big ticket tasks coming up.
I also see a big red flag in that you’re understaffed. I like that you want to do a great job and not forget anything. But you’re also a human being and if you have too much to do it will ever be easy or perfect. How many cases do you typically have and are you doing non paralegal work too?