The Internet has provided many new opportunities for lawyers to deliver services to clients. At Hooey Remus, we have tried to maximize the use of the Internet to maintain excellence while providing cost-effective solutions for our clients' needs.
If you wish Hooey Remus can prepare a power of attorney for personal care at a modest cost over the Internet. You can complete a power of attorney for personal care on line by clicking here.
In looking at our personal and estate planning services, we have decided against making a will available on the Internet. However, you can request a copy of our EstateQuest software which will guide you, step by step, through the information gathering process required to prepare a will and powers of attorney. EstateQuest contains detailed descriptions of every step so that you can understand this process. See the system requirements below.
Once you have completed the program, you can email it to us and we can prepare a will for you, as well as powers of attorney, if you wish. The EstateQuest software is available by email or on CD by calling Bruce Drake at (416) 362-4000 Ext. 226 or email Bruce (bdrake@hooeyremus.com). We will mail the CD or email the program to you on the next business day after receiving your request.
EstateQuest Technical Information
Overview
EstateQuest is an estate planning questionnaire which runs on the FileMaker 5.0 database Runtime engine from FileMaker Inc. Once installed, it prompts you to answer a series of questions which gather information about your wishes for the distribution plan for your will and powers of attorney. This includes personal information about your family and dependants as well as your assets and liabilities. These matters may require special treatment to save taxes or to ensure your wishes can be carried out most effectively. If you have a spouse or life partner for whom you also wish to have a will in exactly the same form as yours, there is a simple checkbox to indicate this and a separate questionnaire is not required. However, if some variations are required, there is a second questionnaire available which your spouse or life partner can complete. Once the questionnaire(s) are completed, simply send the Answers.usr file back to us by email. Unfortunately, the Answers.usr file is too large to fit on a disk so that we suggest you return it to us by email. We will then review your questionnaire, discuss it with you and prepare the documents for signature in our offices.
System Requirements
To use EstateQuest, you will need :
EstateQuest requires two Windows files: shfolder.dll and comctl32.dll. These files are available to you already on your computer if you have Windows NT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or later) or Internet Explorer 4.0 (or later) installed on your computer. If you have neither, you can download these two files free from the Microsoft website. Sorry, while Microsoft will allow you to download them for free, we are not licensed to distribute them.
Note: EstateQuest will not run over a network (i.e. it must be installed on the hard drive of the computer from which it will be used) and it will support only one user at a time.
Installation Instructions
1. Insert the EstateQuest CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. Check the drive letter for your CD-ROM drive (usually D or later in the alphabet, depending on your system configuration).
2. Choose Run from the Windows Start button. Type or select [Your CD Drive letter]:\setup.exe. For instance, if your CD Drive letter is E, you would type or select: E:\setup.exe
3. Follow the on-screen installation instructions. The default directory is Hooey Remus Lawyers in the Program files directory of your local hard drive, but you are given an opportunity to place it elsewhere. EstateQuest will not run over a network (i.e. it must be installed on the hard drive of the computer from which it will be used). EstateQuest will support only one user at a time.
4. The EstateQuest program will start automatically at the completion of the installation. You may press the Exit icon button at any time from any screen to end the program. If you are ready to begin the program, press the Next button and work away.
User Instructions
1. To start the EstateQuest program, choose EstateQuest from the Windows Start button.
2. Each screen contains an information panel at the left of the screen. Where the information will not all fit on the screen at once, you will see the words: "Scroll down for more...". Click in the panel to activate the scroll bar and use it to move down to the bottom of the text.
3. To move to the next screen, press the Next button. Press the Back button to move to the immediately previous screen.
4. Yellow field backgrounds indicate areas where you must fill in some information since it is required to prepare a will or power of attorney. If you try to skip a yellow field, you will see a dialog box reminding you to complete the yellow fields. A red arrow will also point to the missing information. If you want to live dangerously and will return to the screen later, press the Continue button. Otherwise, press the Cancel button and you will remain on the screen to allow you to enter the information immediately.
5. Further information may be required when you click on certain red Yes/No buttons and additional data entry fields may appear as you do so.
6. Where there is a downward pointing arrow beside an entry field, click on the arrow to select an entry from the dropdown list.
7. The Main button will take you to the Main screen which shows the status of completion of the various screens in the program. A green light indicates that you have completed the information required, you have not reached that screen yet or it doesn't apply to you. A red light indicates a screen to which you should return to provide missing information. We suggest you go to the Main screen after completing the questionnaire to check for missing information.
8. If you are married or have a life partner for whom you want a will and powers of attorney in exactly the same form, there is no need to complete a second questionnaire. When you get to the Marital Information or Partner Information screen, be sure the pink checkmark is selected.
9. If you want a will and powers of attorney for your spouse or partner but with different provisions, click on the selected text until the correct choice appears and complete the second questionnaire. To access the second questionnaire, click on the To Other button which will appear after you have entered a name of a spouse or partner.
10. If you do not want a will for your spouse or partner click on the selected text until the correct choice appears.
11. If you get stuck, call us at (416) 362-2051. If you forget that number, you can access it by pressing the Hooey Remus button on any screen.
Return Instructions
1. After completing the questionnaire(s), go to the Main screen and check to see that there are no red lights indicating incomplete information.
2. Close the EstateQuest program.
3. Open you email program and prepare an email addressed to: bdrake@hooeyremus.com
4. Attach or Insert only the Answers.usr file from the EstateQuest directory or folder (the default installation path is: c:\Program files\Hooey Remus Lawyers\EstateQuest - you may have installed it elsewhere).
5. Be sure to include your full name and telephone number in the body of your email.
Troubleshooting
1. At the present time, we are not aware on any Windows 9x, 2000 or NT installation or use problems.
2. A sudden power loss is a particular problem for all databases, including EstateQuest. Sometimes a sudden crash or power loss while EstateQuest is open can cause a problem opening the file later. To minimize the possibility of such problems, exit EstateQuest when you are not using it.
3. If you encounter difficulty starting EstateQuest after such circumstances, you can use the Recover utility to repair most data damage. To access the Recover feature, use Windows Explorer or navigate through the folders to locate the EstateQuest.exe file. Hold the Control and Shift keys down simultaneously while double-clicking on the file name or icon. You will be asked to indicate which files that you wish to recover; they are: Answers.usr and EQText.usr. The Recover utility should be able to repair most damage. If it does not, we can probably recover the data at Hooey Remus. Just follow the Return Instructions above to send us the Answers.usr file and indicate in the body of your email that the Recover command failed. We will get in touch with you if there is any missing information.
4. If you do not have email, one way to get the information to us is to open the Answers.usr file with Microsoft Word. Delete any characters and letter groupings that do not form words (there will be very many of these - what language does that computer speak anyway?). Save the edited file as a text (.txt) document. You should be able to get the file size down small enough to fit on a 1.44 MB diskette.
Questions?
Call us any time at (416) 362-2051. Our switchboard is open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.) Eastern Time. Voicemail is available at all times.
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