This guide walks you through the complete client setup workflow in the Family Office Suite as a single, ordered sequence. Each step builds the data the next one depends on, so work through them in order.
The work splits into two phases: first you collect the client's data, then you structure and verify it.
Phase 1: Collect the client data
Step 1: Create or import clients
You have two options for creating client profiles:
Import from an integration: Bulk-create client profiles from an available integration. This is the fastest way to set up many clients at once when your data source is supported.
Build from scratch: Use this when the integration you use isn't available. Enter the client's name, location, marital status, and assign the relationship to a team.
Step 2: Upload documents to the Vault and run Ester
The Vault is the foundation of the platform. Once you upload a client's documents, the system categorizes, extracts, and analyzes them automatically. As a best practice, start with the client's estate planning documents. Ester reviews and summarizes them and creates contact cards for any individuals or entities it identifies.
How to upload
From the client profile, select the Vault and click Upload Documents.
Select your documents. You can upload multiple files at once.
Documents are categorized automatically.
Turn on Analyze with Ester to start the AI-powered analysis automatically on upload.
Document types Ester analyzes
Revocable trusts
Wills, including pour-over wills
Health care directives
Powers of attorney
Irrevocable trusts (GRATs, SLATs, and others)
LLC operating agreements
You can store any document in the Vault for safekeeping. The types above are the ones Ester extracts key details from.
Document upload best practices
How you bundle documents at upload affects how cleanly Ester reads them. Handle these common situations as follows:
Amendments and codicils: Upload the original trust agreement and all amendments combined as a single document (do the same for a will and its codicils). Ester reads the amendments and identifies the most recent decisions.
Multi-document PDFs: You can upload one PDF that contains several documents, such as a revocable trust, pour-over will, and health care directive. Ester recognizes each document, splits them apart, and analyzes them separately.
Trust restatements: Upload only the restatement. Do not include the original trust. Ester can process a standalone restatement on its own.
Mirrored documents: For spouses with consistent (mirrored) plans, select both documents and prompt Ester to run the analysis recognizing that they are mirrored.
Step 3: Build the balance sheet
The balance sheet captures the client's full financial picture, including their assets and how those assets are owned, and it powers the reporting slides. Select Balance Sheet from the left navigation to begin. You can populate it in three ways, alone or in combination:
Connect via integration: Pull balance sheet data, including ownership details, from available integrations such as Addepar, eMoney, and Black Diamond.
Upload statements: Upload a PDF, Excel, or other file. Ester extracts the accounts and shows a confidence score (High or Medium) so you know what to double-check before confirming.
Create manually: Add asset cards individually for anything not covered by an integration or a statement.
Phase 2: Structure and verify the data
Step 4: Review Ester's outputs
Ester analyzes each uploaded document with a model tuned to that document type. Open a document from the Vault to see its outputs:
Executive Summary: Every point includes a citation; hover over it to jump to the exact source. The summary identifies distributions, powers of appointment, withdrawal rights, and decision makers.
Advanced Summary: Toggle this on for a technical, attribute-by-attribute analysis. It checks for every attribute even when it's absent (for example, it states explicitly when there are no co-trustees), which makes it dependable for systematic review by technical practitioners and trust companies.
Insights: A critical evaluation of the document, not just a description. It flags issues such as a succession gap, or outright distributions to young children rather than assets being held in trust.
Q&A across multiple LLMs: Ask a question and compare answers from several models side by side before you rely on one.
The Document Data Card
For each document Ester analyzes, it produces a corresponding Data Card that structures the document's details. The Data Card drives the downstream calculations for EstateFlow and other reporting slides that include estate tax calculations. It traces how assets flow among the estate planning arrangements and dispositive vehicles, and tracks tax attributes in the hands of beneficiaries and owners.
A Data Card includes:
Trust Info: Establishment details, including the legal name of the trust, situs, and date of creation.
Key Roles: Trustees, decision makers, and powers.
Beneficiaries: Who receives what, and how, including specific gifts and residuary distributions.
Verify AI-filled fields: Fields filled in by AI are shown in purple. Confirm each one as part of your review, using Find Source to check the value against the document before you rely on it in reports.
Step 5: Merge duplicate contacts and Data Cards
Importing from an integration and running Ester's extraction can occasionally create duplicate contacts or document Data Cards. Clean these up before you build reports so every slide draws from a single source of truth.
Use the Merge Contact option to combine duplicates.
Contacts imported from an integration (for example, eMoney) must be kept as the primary card when merging.
You're ready
Once these steps are complete, your client's data is in place and you're ready to build client-ready reports.