Managing Deceased Client Records

Learning Team

Overview

This article outlines practices to manage deceased client records based on various scenarios your firm may encounter. This is not an exhaustive list of every scenario that may occur for your clients, and custom workflows may need to be established for specific cases. Additionally, your firm may have a specific workflow that differs from the workflow options outlined in this article. If you have any questions regarding your firm's best practices around managing deceased client records, please reach out to your CSM.

Individual

This scenario handles if an Individual, meaning a client with no spouse or household members, passes away. Their individual record will be closed and marked not to receive communications through these steps but will remain available for searching and access within your organization.

On the Individual record, select the Actions menu on the record's side panel.
Select Mark as Lost Client under Client Actions in the drop-down options.
Select Deceased from the drop-down options for the "What reason did the client provide for leaving/not proceeding with the firm?" question in the pop-up.
Select how you were informed of the client's death for the "How were you informed of the decision to leave/not proceed?" question in the pop-up.
Once both questions are completed, select Next to close the record.
On the Individual record, Select the Basics subtab under the Overview section.
Under the Contact Details & Preferences section, select the pencil icon beside the Do Not Call checkbox.
Check both the Do Not Call and Email Opt Out checkboxes.
Under the Personal Information section, enter the date the client passed away in the Date of Death field if you have this information.
Press Save to finalize these changes.

Primary Contact in Household

This scenario handles the record management when the primary contact in the Client's Household passes away, and you would like to change the existing spouse to the record's primary contact.

On the Client Overview page, select the primary contact's name under the Household Members section.
On the Contact record for the primary contact, select the pencil icon beside the Do Not Call checkbox under the Contact Details & Preferences section.
Check the Do Not Call and Email Opt Out checkboxes.
Under the Personal Information section, enter the date the primary contact passed away in the Date of Death field if you have this information.
Press Save to finalize these changes.
Navigate to the People & Relationships section on the client record by selecting the People & Relationships button in the navigation sidebar.
Click the caret button to the right-hand side of the primary contact's name and select Edit.
In the Relationship Type field, select the X to remove the relationship type of Spouse.
If the relationship type is already created, search for "Deceased Spouse" in the Relationship Type field and select this option from the drop-down menu. To create this relationship type, please consult our Creating Relationships Types article.
Select Save to finalize this relationship change.
Click the caret button located on the right-hand side of the spouse's name and select Edit.
In the Relationship Type field, select the X to remove the relationship type of Spouse.
Search for "Primary" in the Relationship Type field and select this option from the drop-down menu.
Press Save to finalize this primary contact change.
Navigate to the Overview section on the Client record and select the new primary contact's name.
Select the pencil icon next to Martial Status under the Personal Information section.
From the drop-down menu, select Widowed.
Press Save to finalize this marital status change.
If desired, the Client record name can be changed to remove the deceased's name. To change the record name, navigate to the Basics tab under the Overview section.
Select the pencil icon next to the Entity Name field and make the desired changes.
Press Save to finalize the Entity Name change.

Spouse

This scenario handles the record management when a client's spouse has passed away, but the primary contact for the record remains the same.

Select the spouse's name on the Client Overview page under the Household Members section.
On the Contact record for the spouse, select the pencil icon beside the Do Not Call checkbox under the Contact Details & Preferences section.
Check the Do Not Call and Email Opt Out checkboxes.
Under the Personal Information section, enter the date the spouse passed away in the Date of Death field if you have this information.
Press Save to finalize these changes.
Navigate to the People & Relationships section on the client record by selecting the People & Relationships button in the navigation sidebar.
Click the caret button located on the right-hand side of the spouse's name and select Edit.
In the Relationship Type field, select the X to remove the relationship type of Spouse.
If the relationship type is already created, search for "Deceased Spouse" in the Relationship Type field and select this option from the drop-down menu. To create this relationship type, please consult our Creating Relationships Types article.
Select Save to finalize this relationship change.
Navigate to the Overview section on the Client record and select the primary contact's name.
Select the pencil icon next to Martial Status under the Personal Information section.
From the drop-down menu, select Widowed.
Press Save to finalize this marital status change.
If desired, the Client record name can be changed to remove the deceased spouse's name. To change the record name, navigate to the Basics tab under the Overview section.
Select the pencil icon next to the Entity Name field and make the desired changes.
Press Save to finalize this change.

Dependent or Member

This scenario outlines the record management if a Dependent or Member of a Client Household passes away.

On the Client Overview page, select the Dependent or Member's name under the Household Members section.
On the Contact record for the Dependent or Member, select the pencil icon beside the Do Not Call checkbox under the Contact Details & Preferences section.
Check the Do Not Call and Email Opt Out checkboxes.
Under the Personal Information section, enter the date the Dependent or Member passed away in the Date of Death field if you have this information.
Press Save to finalize these changes.
Navigate to the People & Relationships section on the client record by selecting the People & Relationships button in the navigation sidebar.
Click the caret button on the right side of the Dependent or Member's name and select Edit.
In the Relationship Type field, select the X to remove the relationship type of Dependent or Member.
If the relationship type is already created, search for "Deceased Dependent" or "Deceased Member" in the Relationship Type field and select this option from the drop-down menu. To create this relationship type, please consult our Creating Relationships Types article.
Select Save to finalize this relationship change.

Prospect

On the prospect's Individual record, select the Actions menu on the record's side panel.
Select Mark as Lost Prospect under Prospect Actions in the drop-down options.
Select Deceased from the drop-down options for the "What reason did the prospect provide for leaving/not proceeding with the firm?" question in the pop-up.
Select how you were informed of the prospect's death for the "How were you informed of the decision to leave/not proceed?" question in the pop-up.
Once completed, select Finish to proceed with closing the prospect record.
Select the Basics subtab under Overview on the individual record.
Under the Contact Details & Preferences section, select the pencil icon beside the Do Not Call checkbox.
Check the Do Not Call and Email Opt Out checkboxes.
Under the Personal Information section, enter the date the prospect passed away in the Date of Death field if you have this information.
Press Save to finalize these changes.

Automated Noticeboard Posts for Deceased Members

Within your organization's Practifi Settings, automation exists to create a Noticeboard post on a record's Overview page when a member's Date of Death field is populated. Upon saving the Date of Death field information, the automation creates an Important level Noticeboard post on their parent Household record. This post will alert any of your firm's users accessing the record that a death has occurred.

To ensure this automation is enabled in your organization, a System Administrator should complete the following steps:

Select the settings cog in the upper right-hand corner of Practifi and select Setup from the drop-down menu.
In the Quick Find search bar on the left-hand side, search for Custom Settings and select this option from the search results under the Custom Code menu.
Locate the Practifi Settings option on the list of Custom Settings and select Manage beside its name.
Select the New button if no values exist in the Default Organization Level Value section.
If values exist, ensure the Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member checkbox is selected. If this is not selected, click the Edit button and select the Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member checkbox.
Optionally, you may replace the body of the Noticeboard post created when a member is marked as deceased by entering a value in the Noticeboard Post For Deceased HH Members field. TO replace the body, specify the API name of a formula field on the Contact object that contains the value you wish to use instead. By default, the message will display their relation to the primary member, name, age and date of death. For example, "Stan's spouse Tanya Smith, 49 years old, passed away on 2024-04-08."
Click Save to finalize your changes.

We introduced the Rulebook feature as part of the Petit Verdot release deployed in September 2023. A pre-configured rule in the Rulebook is the Client Death rule, which automatically creates a critical Noticeboard post on the Client record and launches a task to manage how to give condolences to the client. This rule is set to Inactive status by default in your organization. It can be enabled by a System Administrator if your firm is looking for a higher-intensity Noticeboard post and automatic task generation for a deceased Household member.

Before using this rule, you must ensure the following:

The Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member checkbox is unchecked in Practifi Custom Settings. Failure to uncheck this box will result in duplicate Noticeboard posts in your organization upon entry of a Death Date value.
A Task Template has been selected to launch when using this rule. To select a Task Template, complete the following steps:
1. Select the App Launcher in the upper left-hand corner of Practifi and click the Settings app from the drop-down menu.
2. Once in the Settings app, use the navigation menu to locate and select the Rulebook page.
3. Select the list view to change the view from Recently Viewed to Other Rules.
4. Locate the Client Death rule on this list and select its hyperlinked name. The rule will open in a new tab.
5. Under the Rule Actions section on the right-hand side, click on the Client Death - Create a Task action.
6. Select the pencil icon on the Task Template field to edit the field's value, then search for and select the template you would like to use when this rule is triggered.
7. Once your Task Template is selected, click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to finalize this change.
The rule must be set to Active to use. This should occur after ensuring the Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member checkbox is unchecked in Practifi Custom Settings and after assigning the Task Template to the rule. Failure to ensure these two settings before activating the rule will cause duplicate Noticeboard posts in your organization and incomplete rule actions. To set the Client Death rule to active:
1. On the Client Death rule's settings page, select the pencil icon in the Status field.
2. Change the drop-down option from Inactive to Active.
3. Click the Save button at the bottom of the screen to finalize the change.

It is essential to only have either the custom settings Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member or the Client Death rule active at any given time if your firm wishes to see Noticeboard posts generated when a member of the Household is marked deceased. If your firm does not wish to see any Noticeboard posts for deceased members, the Show NoticeboardPost for Deceased Member checkbox must be unchecked in Practifi Custom Settings, and the Client Death rule in the Rulebook must be inactive.