Charitable Calculation Programs

As your clients contemplate charitable transfers, you will need to compute the effects of such transfers on the clients’ income taxes and estate taxes.  Such computations may also be needed as exhibits to tax returns.  The comprehensive estate-planning programs and the standalone hand tool programs all include calculations relating to charitable trusts.  An excellent standalone tool that is confined to GRATs, GRUTs and charitable trusts is Charitable Financial Planner.  It handles charitable gift and trust calculations, GRATs and GRUTs, charitable trusts, charitable gift annuities and deferred gift annuities.  It calculates both the estate tax and related income-tax effects.  Brentmark Software (demo available) and Leimberg Associates (30-day trial period).  Your comfort level with charitable calculations will be enhanced by having more than one program that does them.

Client Reports and Presentations

For client and group communication, you will want to have PowerPoint available.   Working with PowerPoint is discussed in the Trusts & Estates Technology Newsletter of September 2006.

Flowcharts and diagrams are indispensable for effective client communication and display of estate-planning concepts, techniques and the flow of planning activities.  For routine estate plans the major commercial flowchart programs may be both expensive and overkill.  A slick, basic and easy-to-use program with attractive diagram generation is Micrografx ABC SnapGraphics.  It is free on the Internet with only resale restricted.

Screen capture programs are also helpful in preparing client reports and group presentations.  An inexpensive, easy to use and full-featured program is Fullshot.  It provides screen capture by full screen or region, with many other useful features.  Available from Inbit Incorporated.  Screen capture programs are also discussed in the Trusts & Estates Technology Newsletter of September 2006.

Desktop Folders

As you install these programs and others, your desktop becomes increasing cluttered to the point where you can’t see the nice desktop graphic that came with Windows or the portrait of your family or family pet.  Decluttering is easy.  Just do this:

Create a folder on your PC by placing your cursor anywhere on the Windows desktop and clicking on the right mouse button.  On the menu that pops up click on “New” and then on “Folder.”  Name the folder something like “Estate Practice.”  Next, place your mouse cursor on any icon, hold down the left mouse button and drag the icon to the new folder.  The icon will disappear from your desktop and be placed in the new folder.  Repeat this process for all the icons you want in the folder.  Then drag the new folder to the top or right side of your desktop screen to have it become a toolbar.  Be sure that you have toolbars set to autohide so that the new toolbar appears and disappears as you move your mouse cursor to that area of the desktop.  A similar process may be used on a Mac. To create a new folder, click on “File” on the toolbar on your desktop, then “New Folder.”  After you have named the folder, you may also use the left mouse button to drag and drop items into the folder.

Bottom Line

An appropriate mix of software can go a long way toward leveraging your time and effort as you serve your trusts-and-estates clients.  The efficiencies that T&E software brings to data organization, tax calculation, planning and analysis will go far to enhance the accuracy and organization of your practice.

For general information on selecting trusts-and-estates software and for a helpful checklist, see the Trusts & Estates Technology Newsletter of April 2005. For the full text of any of the referenced newsletters, just email the author at dhkelley@qwest.net).

Trusts & Estates magazine is pleased to present the monthly Technology Review by Donald H. Kelley -- a respected connoisseur of software and Internet resources wealth management advisors use to further their practices.

Kelley is a lawyer living in Highlands Ranch, Colo. and is of counsel to the law firm of Kelley, Scritsmier & Byrne, P.C. of North Platte, Neb. He is the co-author of Intuitive Estate Planner Software (Thomson - West 2004). He has served on the governing boards of the American Bar Association Real Property, Probate and Trust Section and the American College of Tax Counsel.  He is a past regent and past chair of the Committee on Technology in the Practice of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Trusts & Estates has asked Kelley to provide his unvarnished opinions on the tech resources available in the practice today.  His columns are edited for readability only.  Send feedback and suggestions for articles directly to him at dhkelley@qwest.net

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