Probate intake starts on one of the worst weeks of someone's life. The caller just lost a parent or a spouse, they're holding a stack of papers they don't understand, and they're trying to do the right thing for the family.
Then, two days later, their brother calls your firm about the same estate. And their stepmother calls the week after. A CRM built for one-caller-one-case gets confused fast. Here's what a probate firm should look for instead.
What probate intake asks of a CRM
One estate, many callers
This is the problem that sets probate apart. Heirs, the named executor, a surviving spouse and sometimes a creditor can all reach out about the same person's estate. If each one becomes a separate lead with no connection, your team ends up calling the same family three times, or worse, giving the attorney an incomplete picture.
Look for a CRM where you can:
- Record the name of the person who died as its own field, so new callers can be matched to an existing estate.
- Link several contacts to one estate lead, each with a role (named executor, heir, spouse, other).
- See at a glance whether someone at your firm has already spoken with the family.
Who the firm actually represents is the attorney's call, not intake's. Intake's job is to record who called and how they're connected. Our guide to intake when multiple heirs call about one estate has scripts for keeping those calls clean.
Tone matters in every automated message
A consult reminder for a divorce client can be brisk. A probate caller's reminder shouldn't be. Read every template your CRM will send through the eyes of someone who buried their mother last Tuesday.
Things that help:
- Plain, warm wording. "We're looking forward to speaking with you" lands better than "Don't miss your appointment."
- Fewer, more useful messages. Each one should tell the person something they need, like what to bring.
- A person following up when someone goes quiet, not just another automated nudge.
More in handling grieving callers at a probate firm.
Probate vs. trust administration
Callers usually don't know if the estate needs to go through probate at all. Was there a trust? A will? Jointly owned property? A good intake gathers the basics so the attorney can sort it out. Your CRM should let you tag the likely matter type and change it after the consult.
Basic questions that help the attorney prepare:
"Did your mother leave a will or a trust that you know of?" "Do you know who she named to handle her estate?" "Was she living in this state when she passed?"
Deadlines vary, so capture dates
Probate has time-sensitive pieces, and the rules differ from state to state. Intake shouldn't tell a caller what their deadline is. It should capture the facts that matter: date of death, county, whether anything has been filed yet, and whether the caller has received any court papers. Those go in date and text fields an attorney can scan quickly. Our post on triaging urgent probate deadlines at intake goes further.
Documents arrive over weeks
Death certificates, the will, account statements, deeds. Families gather these slowly. Your CRM should make it easy to see what's been received and what's still outstanding, and text messaging helps a lot here because it's how many people prefer to send a quick update.
Leads come back months later
Some families call, then decide to wait until after the funeral, or after the holidays, or until a sibling stops arguing. A probate CRM needs patient follow-up that doesn't pressure a grieving family and doesn't let the lead disappear either.
The kinds of options
General legal CRMs. Clio Grow and Lawmatics are well-known law firm intake CRMs. They're configurable, which matters for probate's "many callers, one estate" setup. Someone on your team will need to build those relationships and fields and keep them in shape.
Practice management suites with intake. MyCase, Clio and Smokeball handle the matter side and include intake features. If you run your probate matters there already, keeping leads in the same place is appealing. Test whether it can link several family members to one prospective estate before you commit.
Done-for-you intake systems. These answer calls, run intake, book consults and handle reminders and follow-up, with the vendor doing the setup. They help most when calls come in while you're in court or meeting with families, which in probate is a lot of the day.
Plenty of firms combine categories. A done-for-you front end feeding a practice management system they already like is a common setup.
A demo scenario worth bringing
A man calls late on a Wednesday. His father died three weeks ago. He thinks there's a will but his sister has it. He's not sure he's the executor. His sister called another firm last week, and he wants to know if he should "get his own lawyer."
Ask the vendor to show you:
- Where the father's name goes, and how a later call from the sister would match to it.
- Where "possibly named executor, unconfirmed" gets recorded.
- What the reminder messages say, word for word.
- How intake answers "should I get my own lawyer" without giving advice. (The right answer is that the attorney will discuss it at the consult.)
- What follow-up runs if he doesn't book.
Where IntakeGenius fits
IntakeGenius answers your probate calls 24/7, runs a gentle intake interview and books the consult, so a grieving family isn't stuck in voicemail. IntakeCRM tracks each lead through to the signed retainer, with SMS built in and unlimited users on every plan. We write and set up the messages with you, so the tone fits your practice. Read more on our probate page.
If you want to hear what a probate intake call sounds like, request a demo. It's 15 minutes, with no slide deck.