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California Form Builder now features Guardianship and Conservatorship Accounting calculators that allow you to easily create a list of all assets and liabilities in a guardianship or conservatorship matter. The tools also eliminate the need for you to manually calculate totals in a Standard or Simplified Accounting form.
Separate calculators are available for Guardianship matters and Conservatorship matters. Both function the same way by simplifying the entry of transactions, dramatically reducing the time necessary to handle your guardianship and conservatorship matters.
For California practitioners, these calculators are another way Form Builder helps streamline document assembly.
First, sign in to Form Builder at forms.westlaw.com. The California Conservatorship and Guardianship Accounting tools are located on the homepage on the right-hand side of your screen under the Tools box.
Before you can make entries, you must first select a current client and matter, or use the green plus (+) signs to create a new client and matter. Once you’ve made your selection, click Continue to proceed into the tool.
Once you enter the tool, you’ll notice two tabs: one for entering information for Conservatees (in Conservatorship tool) or Minors (in Guardianship tool), and a Summary tab that will show total charges and total credits. Click the green plus (+) sign to enter a new conservatee or minor. A pop-up box will prompt you to enter information into nine categories.
Enter the General Information for the matter, including name, alias, case number, and accounting information.
Proceed to the Beginning Community Property section and click the gray plus (+) sign on the right-hand side to expand the section. When clicking Cash or Cash Quasi-Community Property, a pop-up box will appear for you to enter in the amount of cash, a comment, name of inventory, and date of inventory. Enter the data and click OK to save and continue. Totals will populate in the right-hand column.
Continue entering any Beginning Community Property by clicking the green plus (+) signs and entering the appropriate information under the various sections.
For example, to enter a bank account, click on the green plus (+) sign then enter a description, comment, inventory name, date of inventory, balance, and any accrued interest. Don’t forget to check the box if it is “Quasi-Community Property.”
To enter a Single Family Residence, click the green plus (+) sign and enter the property address, property description, comment, name of inventory, date of inventory, estimated market value, and any carry value. Click OK to save.
Continue making applicable entries for the remaining sections: Beginning Separate Property, Charges, Credits, Ending Community Property, Ending Separate Property, Changes in Assets, and Liabilities.
Note: To edit any prior entry, click on the entry from the list. To delete any entry, click the red X on the left-hand side.
Proceed to the Summary tab to view the total charges and total credits. Notice that each schedule is broken out as a separate line item. You can also edit the schedules that are not defined by the Judicial Council. You can alternate between conservatees or minors in a matter by using the drop-down list at the top.
The buttons at the top-left of your screen allow you to Save and Continue (save your data and continue entering information), Save and Exit (save and come back later) or Exit (leave the tool without saving). All saved data will be saved under the client and matter you selected when entering the tool.
Once you’ve entered all necessary data and you are ready to download a Standard or Simplified Accounting Form, click the Download Reports button on the upper right-hand side of your screen.
Select the conservatee or minor for whom you want to download the form, then click Continue.
Select Standard Account or Simplified Account, then click Download.
You can open the form as either a Microsoft Word doc or a pdf, depending on what your download preferences are set to. Notice all of the data entered into the tool auto-populates onto the form. You can save the form locally if you wish; however, all of the data is saved online on Form Builder and can be accessed and downloaded at any time.
Quick-Start Video: Using the California Guardianship and Conservatorship Accounting Calculators
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