For estate planning and elder law
Know the family before the first meeting
Send new clients your Tellbrief link before the first meeting. They answer about 20 to 25 questions, most of them one tap, about their family, what they own and what they already have. You check the names for conflicts first. Then you get the issues to raise, quoting their answers, with what to ask and which documents settle each one.
$40 a brief, never more than $99 a month per lawyer. Your first three briefs are free. No briefs that month, no charge.
The trial sends nothing. Download the brief at the end to see what you’d get.
What you’d read first
Made-up example · Dana and Chris Reyes · the top of the brief
1. Minor children, and no guardian chosen yet
“We have two kids, one still in high school.”
If no guardian is named, a court may choose who raises minor children. What they inherit may also need someone to manage it until they’re older.
Ask on the call
- Who would they want to raise the children, and who is the backup?
- Who should manage money left to the children, and until what age?
- Should the guardian and the person managing the money be the same?
What settles it
- Any existing will that names a guardian
Also raised
2. There’s an earlier marriage, or children from an earlier relationship · 3. Beneficiary forms may not match the plan
Before the meeting, ask them for
- Any existing will that names a guardian
- Any prenuptial or postnuptial agreement
- Any divorce decree or settlement agreement
- Current beneficiary forms for each retirement account, annuity and life insurance policy
Drafted from the client’s answers for you to check, not legal advice.
What the questions cover
- Who the plan is for, and whether that person is taking part. When a family member is arranging it for someone else, the brief raises who the client is as an issue.
- Family: marriage, an earlier marriage or children from one, children under 18 and whether a guardian is chosen, anyone on needs-based benefits, and whether anyone may object.
- What they own, in rough terms: real estate and in how many states, a range for the total, a business, retirement accounts and when the beneficiaries were last checked, joint ownership, and anything outside the US.
- What they already have: a will, a trust, powers of attorney, a health care directive or a prenuptial agreement, and when and where it was signed.
- No questions about anyone’s health. Clients are asked to leave out health details and account numbers, and the timing question takes a yes or no.
How it works for you
- Names first. Your client gives their name, who the plan is for and others in the family to check. You clear them before the brief opens. If you decline, it’s deleted unread.
- Then a summary. What prompted it, who it’s for, the timing and the issues to raise, without the client’s own words. You open the full brief when you choose.
- Before the meeting, print the one-page call sheet and send the client the document request.
- After it, note the minutes it saved and whether they hired you. After your third brief, print your pilot report and decide.
What it doesn’t do
- Probate and trust administration. The questions are for planning, not for handling an estate after a death.
- AI. Fixed rules pick the questions and build the brief. No answers are sent to an AI model.
- Practice-management software. Nothing connects to it yet. You copy the names and a summary, and save the PDF, into whatever you use.
Questions lawyers ask · How firms set it up · Confidentiality and security