Bookkeeping and Accounting for Estate Planning and Probate Law Firms

Estate planning and probate attorneys are trusted with some of their clients’ most important financial matters. Probate administrations, trust funding, and guardianships can involve estate bank accounts, creditor claims, asset sales, and court-required accountings, all on top of running your own firm. A&W Associates provides bookkeeping that supports both your practice’s finances and the detailed records estate matters demand.

Estate and Fiduciary Recordkeeping

When your firm assists a personal representative or trustee, every receipt and disbursement needs a clear paper trail. We help organize estate transactions, including asset inventories, creditor payments, administration expenses, and distributions to beneficiaries, so the records are ready when it is time to prepare a court accounting or final report.

Trust Account Management

Funds held for estates and beneficiaries must be kept separate and accounted for by client. We maintain detailed client ledgers and perform monthly three-way reconciliation of your IOLTA and trust accounts so client fund balances are documented and reviewed every month.

Flat-Fee Planning Work and Hourly Probate Billing

Many estate planning firms charge flat fees for wills and trusts while billing probate administration hourly or by statute. We set up your books to track both revenue streams, so you can see which services drive profit and where unbilled time is accumulating.

Coordinating With CPAs on Estate and Fiduciary Returns

Estates and trusts often need fiduciary income tax returns, and some need estate tax filings. We keep transaction records organized and tax-ready, making it easier for your clients’ CPA to prepare accurate returns on schedule.

What We Handle for Estate Planning and Probate Firms

Estate receipts, disbursements, and distribution records
Support for court accountings and final reports
IOLTA and trust account reconciliation
Flat-fee and hourly revenue tracking
Accounts payable and receivable
Payroll coordination
Monthly financial statements and tax-ready books

Why Estate Planning Attorneys Choose A&W Associates

Our team brings over 25 years of financial and accounting experience and specialized training in legal bookkeeping. We bring the precision estate work requires so you can focus on guiding families through planning and administration. Contact us today to learn more.

Probate Practice in Florida, New York, Texas, and Illinois

How probate is supervised, and who reviews the lawyer’s fees, varies a great deal from state to state. Those differences shape how much fiduciary recordkeeping an estate planning firm handles and how closely its billing will be examined. We work with probate firms in each of these states remotely.

Florida: Miami, Palm Beach, Sarasota, and Tampa

Florida Probate Rule 5.030 generally requires a personal representative to be represented by a Florida attorney, with narrow exceptions. As a result, Florida probate firms handle a steady volume of formal administrations, each with its own receipts, disbursements, and distributions to document. We keep estate transactions organized by matter so inventories and accountings are easier to assemble.

New York: Manhattan, Nassau County, and Westchester

In New York, the Surrogate’s Court has authority to fix and determine attorney’s fees in estate matters. Contemporaneous time records and clear invoices matter when a fee is reviewed, so we keep billing and payment histories tied to each estate.

Texas: Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio

Texas is known for independent administration, which reduces ongoing court supervision of an estate. Beneficiaries still expect a clear accounting, and the firm still needs organized fiduciary records, so we track estate activity with the same care whether or not a court is watching.

Illinois: Chicago and Cook County

Illinois also offers independent administration, and Cook County’s Probate Division handles a large volume of estates and guardianships. Funds held for Illinois estates are subject to Rule 1.15 trust requirements, including seven years of records and three-way reconciliation at least quarterly.

Estate Planning and Probate Law Firm Bookkeeping Near You

A&W Associates supports estate planning and probate firms throughout Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and New Mexico, and works remotely with firms in California, Texas, Illinois, and New York, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, and New York City. See our service area for the cities where we work with law firms, or contact us to ask about your location.

About A&W Associates

A&W Associates was founded by Angela Weicht, who brings over 25 years of financial and accounting experience, beginning in banking as a risk control specialist and fraud control analyst and continuing as an office manager and accounting manager for private businesses. The firm holds Certified Public Bookkeeper and QuickBooks ProAdvisor credentials and specializes in bookkeeping for law firms and nonprofits.