Family Law matters often involve many parties. It can be difficult to keep track of all important parties and potential change of addresses.
Smokeball makes keeping all important parties and details in one place easy. This article focuses on some best practices for entering contacts into Family Law matters.
Client prefers to be called by another name and/or maiden name
Multiple children and date of birth
Additional parties not available in Smokeball
Different mailing address
- It is common in pre-decree cases that a client may have one permanent address but also needs to be contacted at a temporary mailing address.
- Utilize the advanced view of a contact card to enter in a different mailing address for letters, etc.
- Note: You need to at least enter in a contact name before accessing the advanced view.
- You can access the advanced view while entering a new contact so long as you have first entered a name.
Client prefers to be called by another name and/or has a maiden name
- Smokeball contact cards have an Other Names field to keep track of maiden names.
- If you want to refer to your client by their first name or nickname, utilize the Informal or Custom fields below.
Multiple children and dates of birth
- Right-click the Child field to add additional children
- The Additional Details tab on the advanced view of the contact card allows you to keep track of dates of birth. These dates can be used when automating Petitions for Dissolution, Parenting Plans, and other documents where you need to refer to the date of birth.
Additional parties not listed
- There are a variety of additional fields available in Smokeball's Family Law matter types.
- If you don't see a particular party listed in the matter details, select the gear in the upper right of the matter to access the matter settings.
- Add or remove parties as needed.
Additional parties not available in Smokeball
- If Smokeball does not have a field already created for use and there is a unique party to keep track of on a matter, use the Authorized Contact field.
- You can select Edit Role & Legal Description to put in additional details.
- If there is no option available in settings, and you think that it would be a good option for Smokeball to add, you can also put in a feature suggestion.