As a paralegal at Viner Law in Montrose, Colorado, Jennifer Hemond spends her days handling estate planning and administration. “We just inherited a lot of clients from a retiring attorney,” she said. “We have a small staff, so it’s hard to keep up. There always seems to be some emergency getting in the way.”
Problem: Public Notices
Hemond’s estate administration cases require her to publish Notices to Creditors for her clients. This legal process appoints the executor of an estate after the owner dies. These notices legally establish when creditors can come forward with claims, typically giving them four months from the time they’re posted.
“If a notice doesn’t get filed on time, it negatively impacts our clients and benefits the creditors,” Hemond explained. “Delays in starting the process give creditors more time to file claims, which could be detrimental to my client and the estate.”
3 Key Inefficiencies
Filing a Notice to Creditors used to be time-consuming. Hemond highlighted three inefficiencies in the process:
1. Manually Typing Notices
Hemond had to type complicated notices word by word. “We had to write the whole thing up ourselves, using a template, but the estate name changed every time,” she said. “The submission method also changed based on the newspaper.”
2. Different Newspaper Requirements
Working with multiple newspapers, each with different requirements, made the process clunky. Hemond mostly dealt with the Montrose Daily Press, but sometimes her clients operated in different counties. She had to call each county to find out their format. “Each county had different requirements. I knew the local ones, but other counties were different,” she said.
3. Lag Time with Affidavits
“Our newspaper used to do affidavits at the end of the month, not necessarily on the last publication date,” Hemond said. This delay could cause issues. “I usually got the affidavit when the newspaper billed at the end of the month, but sometimes we were on deadline with the court and needed it sooner. Sometimes the affidavit wasn’t in the best shape when it arrived.”
Hemond admitted that the inefficiencies didn’t seem like a huge problem at the time because they didn’t know any other way. “We accepted the time-consuming aspects of the process.”
The Solution: Column Software
Last year, the Montrose Daily Press informed Hemond’s firm that they were now using Column, a software that simplifies publishing and placing public notices. Everyone needing to file a public notice with the Montrose Daily Press would now use a Column account.
3 Key Features
1. User-Friendly and Efficient
Hemond found the system easy to learn. “The system walks you through every step, so it was simple. The first time I used it, I didn’t have any issues or concerns. It’s much simpler and more convenient.”
2. Templated Notices
“Instead of writing up the whole notice ourselves, the new system lets us use a standard form. I like that it gives you a pre-filled form, so you can just plug in the information,” Hemond explained.
3. On-Time Affidavits
Getting affidavits on time is now easy. The newspaper uses the software to send the affidavit on the day of the last publication. “On the last day of the notice run, I get an email right away that says the affidavit is ready. I click on it, download it, and save it in the file. Then we can file with the court, and I’m done with that task.”
The Impact: Time-Savings and Happier Clients
“Column’s been a great thing,” Hemond said. “It’s easier for the newspaper and easier for us.”
Column not only simplifies Hemond’s work but also saves her clients money. “I used to bill clients for all the time it took to post notices. Now, the software cuts our time in half. It used to take me 24 minutes to do notices. Now, I can do it all in 12 minutes.”
Hemond recommends Column to other paralegals, emphasizing how easy it is to get set up and process notices. “It’s a great product. It makes public notices really easy. Billing and getting affidavits on time are a massive plus.”