This allows an immediate transfer of ownership so the vehicle doesn’t get stuck in probate court for months. Insurance is cancelled when the owner passes, and you can’t buy insurance if you don’t own the vehicle, so you have to park it until the title is transferred.

There is a filing fee, but it will save your family a lot of trouble.

When you think the person that died (decedent) left a will and you think someone else has it but has not submitted it for probate, reach out to them. Be helpful and friendly. Dealing with a death is hard. Help if you can. Start with a call, then email, then a written letter. Your lawyer can write to them but after you escalate like that it’s hard to return to a normal relationship.

Once you are talking, try to find out whether a will exists and get a copy. They aren’t secret. A will only has any effect if it is submitted for probate within 4 years of the maker’s death. Probate court records are public so anyone that pays for a copy can get one.

When there is no will, any interested party can apply to be the administrator of the estate. If all of the statutory heirs agree, then the administrator can use one of the less expensive processes.

Family members have 2 practical choices. They can do the hard work of discussing and agreeing with the rest of the family about the estate, or they can each spend tens of thousands of dollars hiring attorneys to discuss and agree for them. How much do you want to spend?

In 2017, the home suffered hurricane damage. Daughter filed an insurance claim, and the insurance company issued checks payable to Mother. A “friend” got a small-estate affidavit approved naming herself as an heir and cashed the insurance checks.

The Texas appeals court ruled that the bank that cashed the checks could rely on the probate court’s small-estate order.

Lessons learned:

1. Get the estate settled. Don’t let it drag on for years. It will only cost more later.
2. We can rely on the Texas small-estate process.
3. We can file a small-estate affidavit many years after the decedent passes.

Redus v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 5170

The Clio Payments setup was easy. I already had my bank accounts configured in Clio Manage. The Settings, Payments page redirected me to the menu, and there wasn’t much to do. You will need to enter your EIN. It was active in a few minutes.

My clients were able to follow the links on their invoices and pay them online without additional effort from me. One older client said it took a minute, but he figured it out. Another was happy that all types of cards were accepted, even Discover.

When I set up the merchant account it took a week. I got instructions on how to enter the payment information on a web page, and a caution about handling the credit card numbers to comply with the privacy regulations. I could get a device to accept cards in person but chose not to bother. The extra work to process the payment and the risk of handling the card number make the merchant account a poor option.

This was far from my first experience with PCI standards and online purchases. In 1999 I implemented the Netscape merchant system, the only shopping cart software available at the time, and have kept up with the regulations and implemented other online payment systems since then.

Clio Payments processes the charge without allowing the firm to see the card number in order to protect them from liability. It’s integration with billing from Clio Manage makes it easy to match the payment to the invoice and deposit the money to the correct bank account. The card processing fees are similar to other vendors. Overall, it’s a great choice.

To learn more, make an appointment at Todd Marsh Law PLLC.

Some data entry errors in Clio Manage didn’t matter until you connected Accounting. For example, I entered a client expense in Manage but mistakenly didn’t mark it as a hard cost. I had to make a journal entry in Accounting to reclassify the amount from Service Income to Client Advanced Costs.

Accounting synchronizes bank data often, and assumes that you will use the bank data to enter your non-client expenses. If I pay my Clio monthly service fee with a debit card, it appears in the reconciliation data. I can add the “Software” expense category in the bank account reconciliation screen.

Accounting does not include Accounts Payable or check writing today. I’m told that is planned but Clio has not announced a date yet.

To learn more about what Clio can do for your firm, use my referral link to sign up for a free demo at Clio | The #1 Legal Practice Management Software

It includes all of the features I listed that case management had to have:

• Completely cloud based
• Client Portal for document sharing
• Document management
• Time entry and Billing
• Bill payment with credit card acceptance
• Trust accounting
• SMS and email communication
• Reporting
• Reasonable cost

Clio includes these things I’d like a case management system to do for me:

• Client phone app
• Employee phone app
• Electronic signatures

These “wish list” features are not included in the package. I’m using Xero for accounting and the interface built into Clio:

• General Ledger and financial statements
• Accounts Payable

So far I’m using the signature feature of Nitro PDF. I plan to switch to Clio signatures to simplify the tech stack. I’ll write about that after I try it.

Now that I’m using Clio, I got certified as a consultant. You can get a free demo at Clio | The #1 Legal Practice Management Software.

I started with the features that it had to have, and features I’d like. The “must have” list is:

• Completely cloud based
• Client Portal for document sharing
• Document management
• Time entry and Billing
• Bill payment with credit card acceptance
• Trust accounting
• SMS and email communication
• Reporting
• Reasonable cost

After that there are several things I’d like a case management system to do for me. These features could be handled by other apps if necessary:

• General Ledger and financial statements
• Accounts Payable
• Client phone app
• Employee phone app
• Electronic signatures

So far Clio is looking the best. I’m testing it now and will write more about it as I learn more. Learn more at Clio | The #1 Legal Practice Management Software