What generic intake looks like

  • Name, email, phone, “Tell us about your case”
  • Every practice area gets the same fields
  • Staff re-asks everything the form missed
  • No structure, no validation, no intelligence

What a MatterReady intake pack collects

  • Practice-area-specific sections — trust preferences, opposing party, heirs, incapacity basis
  • Conditional fields that appear based on client answers
  • Complexity detection that flags matters before attorney review
  • Structured, validated, normalized data — ready for your practice management system

Four practice area packs

Estate Planning

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, healthcare directives

  • 3 profiles: Basic (will-focused), With Trust, Elder Law
  • Sections: Trust, Assets, Priorities & Healthcare, Gifts, Professional Advisors
  • Complexity auto-detection flags special needs, disinheritance, business interests, blended families, and non-US citizens for attorney review

Family Law

Divorce, custody, child support, adoption

  • 4 profiles: Basic, Divorce Only, Custody Focused, Comprehensive
  • Sections: Opposing Party, Marriage, Children, Case Details
  • Case scope classification — Standard, Complex, or Highly Complex

Probate

Informal probate, formal, trust administration, small estate

  • 4 profiles: Basic (Informal), Formal, Trust Administration, Small Estate
  • Sections: Heirs & Beneficiaries, Estate Assets & Debts, Additional Documents

Guardianship

Adult guardianship, conservatorship, emergency petitions

  • 4 profiles: Guardianship Only, Conservatorship, Combined, Emergency
  • Sections: Basis & Incapacity, Financial, Interested Persons

Works out of the box

Strong defaults from experience

  • Every pack is pre-configured with the sections, fields, and validation settings that matter for that practice area
  • Profiles encode common patterns — a custody-focused family law firm and a divorce-focused firm get different defaults with one selection
  • Most firms select a profile and start collecting structured intake the same day
  • No form builder. No drag-and-drop. No blank canvas.

Configurable when you need it

  • Toggle sections on or off — hide trust section for will-only practices
  • Adjust depth — max children, backup nominees, detailed asset fields
  • Choose tone — plain English, formal legal, or attorney-branded language
  • Set validation strictness — soft warnings or strict blocking per pack
  • Every override is validated. Your settings merge cleanly with pack defaults.

Most firms never override a setting. The defaults handle it.

Intelligence, not just collection

Complexity detection

Estate planning

  • Each intake is scored against 12 complexity factors
  • Special needs beneficiaries, disinheritance, business interests, blended families, non-US citizens, staged distributions, charitable provisions
  • Matters above the threshold are flagged as complex before the attorney opens the file
  • Simple matters move faster. Complex ones get the review they need.

Scope classification

Family law

  • Intakes are classified as Standard, Complex, or Highly Complex
  • Triggers: multiple case types, contested custody, high income, business assets, kinship guardianship
  • Staff see the scope alongside the intake summary — no manual triage

Complexity flags are informational. Your attorneys make every determination.

Intake packs vs. generic form builders

How MatterReady intake packs compare to generic form builders
CapabilityGeneric FormsMatterReady Intake Packs
Practice area coverageOne form for all matter typesDedicated pack per practice area
StructureFlat list of text fieldsPractice-aware sections with conditional logic
Profiles / presetsNone — build from scratch3–4 per pack, one click to apply
Complexity detectionNoneAutomated scoring with attorney flags
ConfigurabilityDrag-and-drop builderSensible defaults + granular overrides
Tone / languageFixedPlain English, Formal, or Attorney Branded
ValidationOn or offSoft (warnings) or Strict (blocks) per pack
Data outputFreeform textStructured, normalized, ready for PMS sync

See the packs in action

The demo includes sample estate planning and family law intake data. See how structured intake, complexity detection, and readiness scoring work together.