When you add a trust bank or investment account to a trust file, you can now specify an Opening Cash Balance directly in the account fields. This reflects cash that existed in the account before you began managing the trust; not a new deposit, but the true starting cash position of the account.

Estateably will automatically generate a system transaction to record it, keeping your ledgers consistent and your reports accurate from day one.

What to know:

• When adding a trust account, you can include an optional Opening Balance and the date the account was added to the trust
• Estateably generates a linked system transaction automatically when the account details are saved
• Only one Opening Balance transaction is allowed per account, and negative values are not permitted
• The opening balance can be adjusted at any time from either the account or the linked transaction, and both will remain in sync
• If the account is added on the same date as the trust start date, the Opening Balance appears in the ledger as existing cash at the trust start date, not as a receipt
• If the account is added after the trust start date, it will appear as a receipt in the reporting period

Opening Balance vs. Funding Deposit

These two transaction categories serve different purposes and should not be used interchangeably.

• A Funding Deposit records new money being deposited into a trust account. Use it when setting up a new trust with initial contributions
• An Opening Balance records cash that already existed in the account before management began. Use it when onboarding an existing or irrevocable trust mid lifecycle

This update ensures that every trust account starts with an accurate, auditable opening position, reducing manual workarounds, supporting cleaner reporting, and giving practitioners and their clients confidence in the numbers from the first day of management.

For any questions or concerns, please contact support@estateably.com.

Creating estate files just got easier. We've updated the file creation experience with a full-screen, step-by-step flow that requires fewer inputs, surfaces file type and pricing upfront, and automatically redirects you to the file Overview once you're done.

What's New

GICs added to the inventory are now treated as value-based assets. Users no longer need to enter a quantity, only the dollar amount invested is required.

This applies to GICs entered both at the asset level and as a holding (where class = Fixed-Income and sub-class = GIC), across Estate, Trust, and POA cases.

Logging Transactions at Maturity or Partial Liquidation

When recording a transaction against a new GIC, users can now select "Include Interest Payment" to capture interest earned. When selected, the system will automatically generate two separate transactions:

1. Redeemed Amount - the return of the principal invested
2. Interest Payment - the interest earned on the GIC

Reporting

Accounting reports have been updated to group both past and new GIC types together where applicable to the report schedule, ensuring consistent reporting output across all cases.

Important: Backward Compatibility

This new flow applies only to GICs created after this release. GICs created prior to this release will remain as quantity-based assets and will continue to be fully supported. Going forward, all newly created GICs will follow the new value-based flow.

For any questions or concerns, please contact support@estateably.com.

The Trust Statement of Accounts report has been rebuilt to improve accuracy, reliability, and confidence in trust reporting.

This update includes a comprehensive verification of all accounting calculations used within the statement, including income, capital, receipts, disbursements, allocations, and closing balances. All values are now calculated consistently and reflect the most up-to-date data in your file at the time of generation.

The Edit modal for Transfer Cash transactions now includes the Money Type field.

Users can change the selection between:

• Principal / Income / Other (US)
• Capital / Revenue / Other (Canada)

The transaction can be saved without deleting and recreating it.

If “Other” is selected, a warning message will display indicating that the transaction will be excluded from reports and may result in unbalanced accounts.

Reporting will reflect the updated Money Type selection.

You can now select “Other” as a Money Type when using Bulk Edit on multiple transactions.

Previously, “Other” was available when editing transactions individually, but not when editing multiple transactions at once.

This update ensures bulk editing supports the same money type options as single transaction editing.

What This Means for You

• You can update multiple transactions to Other in one step
• Your workflow is more consistent across single and bulk edits
• No need to update transactions one by one
• If “Other” is selected, a warning message will display indicating that the transaction will be excluded from reports and may result in unbalanced accounts.
• Reporting reflects the updated Money Type selection.

Hi there,

You can now create and manage custom categories for transactions, giving your organization more flexibility while keeping accounting compliant and consistent.

Who Has Access

• The Transaction Categories dashboard is available only to Organization Admins.
• Only Org Admins can create, edit, activate, disable, or delete transaction categories.

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Accessing Transaction Categories

To access Transaction Categories:

1. Open the Settings gear in the top navigation.
2. Navigate to the Organization section.
3. Select Transaction Categories.

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Transaction Categories Dashboard

Org Admins can now access a centralized Transaction Categories dashboard to manage how transactions are categorized across files.

What You’ll See

• A complete list of Estateably System Categories, available for reference.
• Any Custom Categories created by your organization.

Dashboard Details

Each category displays:

• Category Type: System or Custom
• Category Name
• File Type: Estates, Trusts, and or POA (multi-select)
• Cashflow Type: Deposit and or Withdraw (multi-select)
• Money Type:

• Canada: Capital or Revenue
• United States: Principal or Income

1. Active Toggle: Enable or disable use of the category
2. Edit and Delete Actions: Available for Custom Categories only

Additional tools include:

• Filters for File Type, Cashflow Type, Category Type, Account Type, and Status
• Search for quick category lookup

Note: System Categories are read-only and cannot be edited or deleted.

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Adding a Custom Category

Click + Add Category to open the creation modal.

Required Fields

• Category Name
• File Type: Estates, Trusts, POA (multi-select)
• Cashflow Type: Deposit and or Withdraw (multi-select)
• Money Type:

• Capital or Revenue (Canada)
• Principal or Income (United States)

Once saved, the category:

• Appears in the Transaction Categories dashboard
• Becomes immediately available for use in files that match its configuration

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Editing Categories

• Editing the Category Name

• Updates the name everywhere, including existing transactions

1. Editing File Type, Cashflow Type, or Money Type

• Applies only to new transactions
• Existing transactions are not modified to prevent accounting imbalances
• You may manually edit individual transactions in a file if needed

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Deleting and Disabling Categories

• A custom category can be deleted only if it has not been used in any transactions
• If a category has already been used:

• The delete action is disabled
• The category can still be disabled using the Active toggle

1. Disabling a category:

• Prevents it from being assigned to new transactions
• Does not affect existing transactions or historical accounting

This ensures accounting records remain accurate and balanced.

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Bulk Import Transaction Categories

Org Admins can now bulk import custom transaction categories using an XLSX file, making it faster to onboard large or standardized category sets.

Accessing Bulk Import

• Navigate to Settings → Organization → Transaction Categories
• Click Bulk Import next to + Add Category

Uploading a File

• Upload is XLSX files only
• Drag and drop or select a file to upload
• A link to a support article is available directly from the upload screen for formatting guidance

Validation

• The file is automatically validated after upload
• If validation fails:

• The import is rejected
• You will be prompted to review the XLSX file and try again

1. If validation passes:

• You may proceed to review the imported categories

Review Imported Categories

After a successful upload, you will see a review screen displaying all imported categories.

Review Screen Details

Each imported category includes the same fields as the dashboard:

• Category Name
• File Type (Estates, Trusts, POA)
• Cashflow Type (Deposit and or Withdraw)
• Money Type

• Canada: Capital or Revenue
• United States: Principal or Income

All fields are editable at this stage before finalizing the import.

Handling Duplicate Categories

• If a duplicate Category Name is detected:

• Within the uploaded file, or
• Against an existing category in your organization

1. The category will be highlighted in red with a warning
2. You cannot complete the import until the duplicate is:

• Renamed, or
• Removed from the import

This ensures category naming remains unique across your organization.

Finalizing the Import

Once all categories pass validation:

• Click Add Categories
• The new categories will:

• Appear immediately on the Transaction Categories dashboard
• Be available for use in files according to their configuration

XLSX File Formatting Requirements

To successfully import categories, your XLSX file must follow the formatting rules below.

Required Columns

Each category field must be its own column in the spreadsheet:

• Category Name
• File Type
• Cashflow Type
• Money Type

Field Rules

• Category Name

• Text field
• Must be unique across your organization

1. Money Type

• Single value only
• Canada: Capital or Revenue
• United States: Principal or Income

1. File Type

• Multi-value field
• Use a comma-separated list for multiple values
• Example: Estates, Trusts, POA

1. Cashflow Type

• Multi-value field
• Use a comma-separated list for multiple values
• Example: Withdrawal, Deposit

Delimiter Rules

• Use a comma ( , ) to separate multiple values in a single cell
• Do not use line breaks or additional spacing beyond the comma

Files that do not follow this structure will fail validation and must be corrected before importing.
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We’re excited to announce that Estate Intake is now available for New York estate files.

Send secure, password-protected intake forms to an executor, administrator, or trusted individual, and digitally collect key estate information directly from them.

What the Intake Covers

The intake form allows the recipient to provide:

• Deceased information
• Beneficiaries and heirs
• Executors or administrators
• Assets
• Liabilities

How It Works

1. Send a password-protected intake link from your New York estate file.
2. The recipient completes and submits the intake form.
3. You receive notification when the intake is ready.
4. Click Import to review the submitted information.
5. Then import the intake to automatically populate the data into your file.

Once imported, all intake information appears directly within your estate file, saving time and reducing manual data entry.
​

For any questions or concerns, please contact support@estateably.com.

We made enhancements to the Interim Acknowledgment, Release and Indemnity report to improve accuracy, reliability, and confidence in interim distribution reporting.

The report now includes improved verification of distribution calculations, ensuring consistency and alignment with the most up-to-date data in your file. This supports clear outputs for interim distributions and related approvals.

For any questions or concerns, please contact support@estateably.com.

FLSSI has just released updated Probate forms now reflecting the new revision date of January 1, 2026.

Updated Forms

The following forms were updated with minor wording changes only, including statute corrections, grammar updates, and small additions to paragraph text.

No functionality or workflow changes were made.

• P-1.0400 - Request For Notice And Copies
• P-1.0507 - Proof Of Service Of Formal Notice By First Class Mail
• P-1.0900 - Notice Of Designation Of Email Addresses For Service Of Documents
• P-2.0355 - Notice To Creditors (summary Administration)
• P-3.0600 - Oath Of Personal Representative And Designation And Acceptance Of Resident Agent
• P-3.0740 - Notice To Creditors
• P-3.0802 - Notice Of Administration (testate)
• P-3.0804 - Notice Of Administration (intestate)
• P-3.0806 - Notice Of Administration (curator)
• P-3.1021 - Objection To Personal Representatives Proof Of Claim (items Listed As - to Be Paid)
• P-4.0200 - Petition To Determine Exempt Property
• P-4.0410 - Petition To Determine Protected Homestead Status Of Real Property (intestate - Spouse And/or Descendants)
• P-4.0420 - Petition To Determine Protected Homestead Status Of Real Property (testate)
• P-4.0600 - Declaration That Proceeding Is Adversary
• P-4.0610 - Order That Proceeding Is Adversary
• P-5.0300 - Notice Of Interim Accounting
• P-5.0340 - Accounting Of Personal Representative(s)
• P-5.0600 - Personal Representative's Release And Certificate Of Distribution Of Real Property (single Individual Personal Representative)
• P-5.0610 - Personal Representative's Release And Certificate Of Distribution Of Real Property (corporate Personal Representative)

New Form Added

The following new form has been built and is now available:

• P-3.0060 – Oath of Personal Representative (trust company, corporation, association, or other entity)

Footer Updates

All updated forms now include the correct revision date in the footer:

“January 1, 2026”

As always for any questions or concerns, please contact support@estateably.com.