After signing in, you'll land on your portal dashboard. This is your home base for sharing information with your attorney, and for viewing documents your attorney shares with you.
š Dashboard Overview
Your dashboard shows your attorney's firm name at the top and a visual progress tracker with your completion status. The progress bar shows how many of your portal steps you have completed out of the total in your portal.
š Your Portal Steps
The portal is organized into steps, each one a clickable button.
The steps in your portal depend on the type of matter and on what your attorney has asked you for, so your portal may not look exactly like someone else's, even on the same estate. Your portal may include:
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Get Started
An introduction to the portal. It explains what to expect and how the information gathering process works. Click Next to mark this step as complete and move on.
Your attorney may also include a message for you here, such as instructions on what to do first.
Family and Loved Ones
For estate planning. Review your own details and add your family and anyone else you would like to provide for. See How to Add Your Family and Loved Ones in the Client Portal.
Questionnaire
A set of questions from your attorney about the estate or your situation. Work through them and click Submit answers when you are done.
You will only see this step if your attorney has sent you a questionnaire. For the full detail, see How to Complete Your Questionnaire in the Client Portal.
Estate Files
This is where you view documents your attorney shares with you and upload documents your attorney asks you for.
Open each document row to see what is there. If you do not have a document your attorney has asked for, do not worry, they will let you know what to do next.
For the full detail, see How to View Files Your Attorney Has Shared With You.
People
Add people you know are related to the estate or plan, such as beneficiaries, heirs, or other family members. You can also update your own details.
For the full detail, see How to Add People to the Estate in the Client Portal.
Newer estate planning portals use the Family and Loved Ones step instead.
Assets
List the assets the decedent owned, such as property, accounts, and vehicles.
For estate planning, list your own assets and your spouse's if relevant. Choose from 21 asset categories and fill in the relevant details. If you and your spouse are both clients, choose who owns each asset under Owned by.
Debts
List the debts the decedent owed, such as mortgages, credit cards, and loans.
For estate planning, list your own debts and your spouse's if relevant. Choose from 11 debt categories and fill in the relevant details. If you and your spouse are both clients, choose who owes each debt under Owed by.
Expenses
Record administrative expenses related to managing the estate, such as funeral costs, legal fees, or court filing fees. This step is not relevant for estate planning.
Decision-Makers
For estate planning. List who you have in mind for each role, such as your executor, in order of preference, and add their details. See How to Add Your Decision Makers in the Client Portal.
Surety Bond
Complete a bond application and purchase the bond the court requires you to have as personal representative.
You will only see this step if your attorney has sent you a bond request. It is marked complete automatically once your bond is purchased. For the full detail, see How to Purchase Your Surety Bond in the Client Portal.
Each step opens with a short introduction explaining what to do. Your attorney may have written their own introductions, so read these first.
š·ļø What the Statuses Mean
Everything you add or change is sent to your attorney for review. A status next to each item shows where it is:
Submitted: you added this item and your attorney has not reviewed it yet.
Pending Review: you changed an item that was already on file and your attorney has not reviewed the change yet.
Added: your attorney has accepted the item you added.
Updated: your attorney has accepted your change.
āļø Updating Items Your Attorney Has Added
Your attorney may have already added some people, assets, debts, or expenses for you. For example, they might add a bank account with just the bank name so you can fill in the rest.
Items your attorney has added or accepted appear in the Already on file section of the step (Current estate on some portals). The list above it, such as Assets added by you, only shows items you have added yourself. Please don't add items that are already on file again.
To add more information to one of these items:
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Open the step, such as Assets.
In the Already on file section, click the item.
Update the details, or click Attach File to add a document such as a statement.
Click Save.
Your update goes to your attorney for review. What is on file stays the same until your attorney accepts the update. You cannot delete an item your attorney has added. If something about it looks wrong, let your attorney know.
š Navigating Between Steps
You can click any step button to jump directly to that section. You can return to any step at any time, even after marking it complete.
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A step you have completed shows a green checkmark.
When you click Complete Step and confirm, you return to the dashboard.
Inside the Estate Files step, a document your attorney has just shared moves to the top of the list with an orange dot and the status Needs review. That is your sign to open it.
Your attorney can add a Questionnaire or Surety Bond step after you have started, or even after you have completed everything else. If that happens you will receive an email letting you know, and the new step appears the next time you sign in.
If you started your portal from a firm's intake link, a Submit button sits below your steps. Press it when you are ready to send everything to the firm. See How to Start and Submit Your Intake Portal.
š¬ Need Help?
Use the chat bubble in the lower-right corner of EstateMin or email [email protected] for support.