I'm hoping someone can give me a little heads up here. I am trying to revise a series of Estate Planning Hot Docs templates to give an option for "No Children". A dialog can usually accommodate that request, but in this instance, all 65+ templates use the same component file and they have a master "Start.dot" file that decides which of the templates should be assembled. There are also SET instructions and Computation variables all over the place, which makes this even more difficult. There is one SET instruction that references a TempNum1 variable (number variable) that I can't locate in any of the templates but it seems key to what I'm trying to accomplish as it seems to have the template reference a certain lettered paragraph according to what the number is.
So my questions are 1) is there any way to tell in what templates a particular variable is used? 2) could this TempNum1 variable be used in a computation or dialog that is not visible in an actual template?
The actual language of the computation variable is:
Family Trust Reference
Type: Computation
Script:
SET TempNum1 TO 1
IF Clients = "Client(s) are married" OR (Clients != "Client(s) are married" AND Division of Family Trust for Unmarried Client
!= "Divide at death of testator/settlor")
SET TempNum1 TO TempNum1 + 2
END IF
IF Clients = "Client(s) are married" AND Special Power of Appointment over Family Trust
SET TempNum1 TO TempNum1 + 1
IF Separate trusts for Children
IF Separate trusts for Issue
IF TempNum1 = 1
"(B), (D) and (E)"
ELSE IF TempNum1 = 2
"(C), (E) and (F)"
ELSE IF TempNum1 = 3
"(D), (F) and (G)"
ELSE IF TempNum1 = 4
"(E), (G) and (H)"
ELSE IF TempNum1 = 5
"(F), (H) and (I)"
ELSE IF TempNum1 = 6
"(G), (I) and (J)"
Sorry for the long winded post. I've been spinning on this for days. :-)
Susi Schuele Lexis Nexis Time Matters/Billing Matters/Practice Advantage CIC My Virtual Project W265 N6569 Beacon Hills Circle Lisbon, WI 53089 262-510-1236
One way to find out if a variable is used in a template is to use the Template Manager. Sounds like these templates use a share component file they all point to, so you need to expand the tree in the left pane of Template Manager to make sure the variable is used in the template vs. the component file they all share. Then, if you click on the variable in the list of components, the left pane should show which templates it's used in.
Some variables can indeed appear in a dialog or in a computation without actually be used in a template. Judging from how TempNum1 is being used in the computation you quote, I'd wager that such is the case here. You can click on the "Used in" tab while editing a variable, then click "List all components" to see all the places a variable is used in dialogs and computations.
The "Family Trust Reference" may not be directly impacted by whether or not there are children, depending on how the lawyers concerned want it to work. I've automated some trusts where separate trusts for children/issue may be included even when the client has no children, accomodating the young client who may have children in the future.
Thank you very much - the template manager tip is very useful. These templates are created in Hot Docs V2005. I don't see the tab in the variable editor called "used in", which I would love to see. My guess is that this was added in later versions of Hot Docs - is that correct?
Yes. Added in 2006. Worth upgrading (to 2008 now) if you're involved in HotDocs template development.