Estate Manager — Build Plan

Date: April 14, 2026 Source roadmap: estate-manager-roadmap-2026-04.md Total features: 33 across 4 tiers Estimated duration: ~47 days (Phases 0–2)

Phase 0: Foundation

Duration estimate: 2 days Goal: Consolidate on Tauri 2 as the sole desktop platform and resolve dual-platform technical debt.

Tasks

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
0.1	Archive Electron track — move Electron codebase to archive/electron-v1.0.0/; update project documentation to reference Tauri 2 as sole desktop platform; remove Electron from build scripts and CI	S	—	Electron code archived; no Electron references in active build scripts; README updated; Tauri 2 confirmed as single desktop target
0.2	Spike: audit existing 17-table schema against Tier 1 requirements — identify schema gaps for financial transactions, debt/creditor management, jurisdiction data, and task templates; produce migration plan	S	—	Gap analysis document listing: tables to add, columns to extend, indexes needed; migration SQL drafted; no data loss for existing tables

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Phase 1: Critical Path (Tier 1)

Duration estimate: 27 days Goal: Achieve functional parity with EstateExec’s core — automated task generation, AI will analysis, financial tracking, debt management, jurisdiction compliance, guided onboarding, and estate-aware chatbot. Transform Estate Manager “from tracker to advisor.”

Epic 1.1: Jurisdiction Compliance Foundation

Roadmap rationale: P0 — state-specific probate rules, thresholds, deadlines, and forms are required by EstateExec, SwiftProbate, and Estateably. Every downstream feature (task generation, reports, compliance) depends on jurisdiction data. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.1.1	Design jurisdiction data model — schema for probate thresholds, deadlines, filing requirements, terminology mapping, small estate determination rules per state/province	S	0.2	Schema supports US states and Canadian provinces; accommodates threshold variations, deadline calculation rules, and jurisdiction-specific terminology
1.1.2	Populate jurisdiction data for 5 states + Ontario — research and enter probate rules for CA, NY, TX, FL, IL, and Ontario; validate against official court resources	M	1.1.1	6 jurisdictions fully populated; probate thresholds accurate; deadline calculation rules verified; small estate determination functional
1.1.3	Build probate threshold calculator and small estate determination — user enters estate value and jurisdiction; system determines probate requirement and available simplified procedures	S	1.1.2	Calculator returns correct determination for all 6 jurisdictions; handles edge cases (community property states, non-probate assets); results explain reasoning
1.1.4	Implement deadline calculation engine — calculate jurisdiction-specific filing deadlines from date of death; handle business day rules, court holidays, and extensions	M	1.1.2	Deadlines calculated correctly for all 6 jurisdictions; handles weekends/holidays; supports deadline extensions; integrates with task system
1.1.5	Build terminology mapping — map jurisdiction-specific terms (executor/personal representative, Letters Testamentary/Letters of Administration) to display correct terminology per estate’s jurisdiction	S	1.1.2	UI displays jurisdiction-correct terminology throughout; mapping covers all common term variations; updates when estate jurisdiction changes

Epic 1.2: Automated Task Generation Engine

Roadmap rationale: P0 — EstateExec, SwiftProbate, and Atticus all auto-generate jurisdiction-specific task lists. Without this, users must manually determine and enter every step. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.2.1	Design task template system — schema for jurisdiction-specific task templates with dependencies, deadlines (relative to date of death), priority, and category; support 100-150 tasks per template	S	1.1.2	Template schema supports task dependencies, relative deadlines, conditional tasks (if trust exists, if real estate exists), and category grouping
1.2.2	Build 6 jurisdiction task templates — create comprehensive task templates for CA, NY, TX, FL, IL, and Ontario covering full estate administration lifecycle	M	1.2.1	Each template has 100-150 tasks; tasks include dependencies; deadlines relative to date of death; conditional tasks based on estate characteristics
1.2.3	Implement task generation engine — auto-generate tasks from template based on estate jurisdiction, characteristics (trust/no trust, real estate, business interests), and date of death; calculate absolute deadlines	M	1.2.2, 1.1.4	Tasks auto-generated on estate creation; conditional tasks correctly included/excluded; deadlines calculated from date of death; dependencies respected in task ordering
1.2.4	Build task management UI enhancements — dependency visualization, deadline warnings, completion tracking, bulk actions; integrate generated tasks with existing task page	S	1.2.3	Generated tasks appear in existing task UI; dependency chains visible; overdue tasks highlighted; bulk complete/reassign supported

Epic 1.3: Liability and Debt Management

Roadmap rationale: P0 — creditor tracking, notification workflow, and debt priority classification required by EstateExec and Estateably. Critical for accurate estate administration. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.3.1	Build debt/creditor database schema and CRUD — tables for debts, creditors, claims, payments; creditor notification status; debt priority classification (secured, unsecured, priority)	S	0.2	Schema supports all debt types; CRUD operations functional; priority classification per jurisdiction rules
1.3.2	Implement creditor notification workflow — track which creditors have been notified; notice to creditors publication tracking; statute of limitations by jurisdiction	M	1.3.1, 1.1.2	Notification status tracked per creditor; publication dates recorded; statute of limitations calculated per jurisdiction; overdue notifications flagged
1.3.3	Build debt management UI — creditor list, debt details, payment tracking, priority dashboard showing payment order per jurisdiction rules	S	1.3.2	UI displays all debts with priority ranking; payment tracking functional; dashboard shows total liabilities vs. estate assets

Epic 1.4: Financial Transaction Tracking

Roadmap rationale: P0 — double-entry bookkeeping and transaction tracking required by EstateExec and Estateably. Foundation for all financial reporting. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.4.1	Design financial data model — schema for transactions, accounts, categories; income/expense/distribution classification; capital vs. income for trust accounting; running balances	M	0.2	Schema supports double-entry patterns; capital vs. income classification for trusts; running balance calculation; multi-account support
1.4.2	Build transaction entry and management UI — create/edit/delete transactions; categorization with estate-specific categories; bulk import from CSV; running balance display	M	1.4.1	Transaction CRUD fully functional; categorization with auto-suggest; CSV import handles bank statement formats; running balances accurate
1.4.3	Implement basic financial reports — income statement, cash flow report, account summary; date range filtering; PDF export	M	1.4.2	Three report types generate correctly; date filtering works; PDF export produces clean formatted output; totals reconcile with transaction data
1.4.4	Build capital vs. income allocation for trust accounting — classify receipts and disbursements per Uniform Principal and Income Act; separate capital and income ledgers	M	1.4.1	Capital and income correctly classified per UPIA rules; separate ledger views; allocation can be manually overridden; audit trail for changes

Epic 1.5: AI Will/Trust Document Analysis

Roadmap rationale: P0 — EstateExec (Lenore AI) and Trust & Will both shipped AI document analysis. Previously Phase 5, now parity gap. Gap type: Parity (elevated from future to critical)

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.5.1	Spike: evaluate Claude vision for will/trust parsing — test extraction accuracy on sample wills/trusts of varying complexity; define structured output schema for beneficiaries, executors, bequests, trust provisions	S	—	Decision document: Claude vision accuracy assessment, structured output schema, confidence scoring approach, fallback strategy for low-confidence extractions
1.5.2	Build document upload and Claude vision analysis pipeline — upload will/trust PDF; send to Claude vision API; extract beneficiaries, executors, bequests, trust provisions; return structured data with confidence scores	M	1.5.1	PDF upload works for standard will/trust formats; Claude extracts key entities; confidence score per extraction; handles multi-page documents
1.5.3	Implement auto-population from extracted data — map extracted entities to estate database fields (beneficiaries, assets, trust provisions); user review and confirmation step before committing	M	1.5.2	Extracted data mapped to correct database fields; user reviews all extractions before commit; confidence color-coding (green/yellow/red); manual correction supported
1.5.4	Build 7-step will parsing wizard as manual fallback — guided manual entry for users without uploadable documents or when AI confidence is low	S	1.5.3	Wizard covers: decedent info, executor designation, beneficiaries, specific bequests, residuary estate, trust provisions, special instructions; saves to same database fields as AI extraction

Epic 1.6: Guided Onboarding Wizard

Roadmap rationale: P1 — SwiftProbate, Atticus, and EstateExec all offer step-by-step estate setup. Reduces time-to-value for new users. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.6.1	Design onboarding flow — step-by-step estate creation covering: decedent info, jurisdiction selection, executor details, asset discovery questionnaire, document upload prompt, task generation trigger	S	1.2.3, 1.1.2	Flow defined with 6-8 steps; each step has clear completion criteria; progress indicator; can exit and resume
1.6.2	Implement onboarding wizard UI — guided wizard with progress bar, validation, auto-trigger task generation on completion; include sample estate with demo data for exploration	M	1.6.1	Wizard completes estate setup in under 10 minutes; auto-generates tasks on completion; sample estate available for new users; skip option for experienced users

Epic 1.7: Enhanced AI Chatbot — Estate-Aware

Roadmap rationale: P1 — EstateExec’s Lenore and SwiftProbate’s AI chat both answer questions about the user’s specific estate. Current chatbot provides general guidance only. Gap type: Parity (eroded differentiator)

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
1.7.1	Refactor chatbot context assembly — build structured prompts that inject user’s estate data (assets, tasks, deadlines, beneficiaries, jurisdiction) into Claude context	M	1.1.2, 1.4.1	Chatbot answers “How many tasks are overdue?” with actual count; “What’s the estate value?” returns real total; “When is the creditor notice deadline?” returns jurisdiction-specific date
1.7.2	Add jurisdiction-aware response templates — chatbot responses reference correct jurisdiction terminology and rules; disclaimers per jurisdiction; cites relevant statutes	S	1.7.1, 1.1.5	Responses use correct terminology for estate’s jurisdiction; legal disclaimers included; statute references accurate; tone is informative but not legal advice

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Phase 2: High Value (Tier 2)

Duration estimate: 18 days Goal: Add court-formatted reports, Executor Preparation Mode, family collaboration, AI document parsing, expanded jurisdictions, distribution management, enhanced security, and creditor claims workflow.

Epic 2.1: Court-Formatted Accounting Reports

Roadmap rationale: Required by EstateExec and Estateably. Court-ready formatting is a professional requirement for estate administration. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.1.1	Research court report formats for 5 jurisdictions — collect sample court-approved accounting formats for CA, NY, TX, FL, IL	S	1.4.3, 1.1.2	Format specifications documented for each jurisdiction; key differences identified; common elements extracted
2.1.2	Build court-formatted report engine — generate jurisdiction-specific formal accounting; carry value accounting (CA, VA); inventory reports; distribution reports	M	2.1.1	Reports match court-expected format per jurisdiction; carry value accounting correct; inventory matches asset database; PDF export court-ready
2.1.3	Implement report review and export — preview, edit annotations, print-optimized PDF export with court-ready formatting	S	2.1.2	Preview matches final PDF; annotation support for preparer notes; print layout verified; batch export for multi-report filing

Epic 2.2: Executor Preparation Mode

Roadmap rationale: P0 strategic — pre-death estate setup with seamless transition to settlement. No competitor does full lifecycle. Reddit users describe chaos when someone dies without organized records. Gap type: White-space

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.2.1	Design preparation vs. settlement mode architecture — define data model for living estate inventory, executor instructions, document vault; design transition trigger from preparation to settlement mode on death event	S	Phase 1	Architecture document defining: mode states, data shared between modes, transition workflow, data completeness scoring algorithm
2.2.2	Build Executor Preparation Mode UI — living estate inventory; executor instructions/notes; document vault for uploading wills, insurance policies, account credentials; data completeness scoring	M	2.2.1	Preparation mode functional with inventory, instructions, document vault; completeness score shows what’s missing; data persists across sessions
2.2.3	Implement mode transition — seamless transition from preparation to settlement mode; pre-populated data carries forward; task generation auto-triggers; date of death entry unlocks settlement features	M	2.2.2, 1.2.3	Transition preserves all preparation data; settlement tasks auto-generated; date of death triggers deadline calculations; no data re-entry required

Epic 2.3: Family/Co-Executor Collaboration

Roadmap rationale: P1 — SwiftProbate, Atticus, and EstateExec offer multi-user collaboration. Essential for families managing estates together. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.3.1	Design role-based access model — define roles (owner, co-executor, advisor, beneficiary read-only); permission matrix per role; invitation workflow	S	Phase 1	Permission matrix documented; each role has clear data access boundaries; invitation flow defined
2.3.2	Build invitation and user management system — email-based invitation; role assignment; activity feed showing who did what; shared task assignment	M	2.3.1	Invitations sent and accepted; role permissions enforced; activity feed tracks changes; tasks assignable to specific users
2.3.3	Implement data sharing and conflict resolution — define which data is shared vs. private per role; handle concurrent edits; audit log for all changes	M	2.3.2	Data visibility respects role permissions; concurrent edit conflicts handled gracefully; full audit log of who changed what and when

Epic 2.4: AI Financial Document Parsing

Roadmap rationale: CounselPro shipped 3-model AI pipeline for financial document reconstruction. EstateExec has financial doc parsing. High-value for reducing manual data entry. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.4.1	Build financial document upload pipeline — accept bank statements, credit card statements, tax returns as PDF; send to Claude vision API for extraction	M	1.4.1, 1.5.2	Upload accepts common bank/credit card PDF formats; Claude extracts transaction rows; handles multi-page statements
2.4.2	Implement transaction extraction and categorization — parse extracted data into structured transactions; auto-categorize using AI; reconciliation interface for user review	M	2.4.1	Transactions extracted with date, description, amount, type; auto-categorization accuracy >80% for major categories; reconciliation UI shows all extracted transactions for review

Epic 2.5: Expanded Jurisdiction Coverage

Roadmap rationale: SwiftProbate has 3,200+ county guides. Expanding from 6 to 16 jurisdictions plus county-level data for top states significantly improves market coverage. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.5.1	Add 10 more state jurisdictions (total 16) — research and populate jurisdiction data for 10 additional high-population states	L	1.1.2	16 jurisdictions fully populated and validated; task templates updated for new jurisdictions; deadline calculations verified
2.5.2	Build county-level court locator for top 5 states — county-specific court addresses, phone numbers, filing requirements, local rules	M	2.5.1	Court locator returns correct county court for address; filing requirements specific to county; data covers top 5 states by population
2.5.3	Create institution-specific guides (top 20) — how-to guides for closing accounts at major banks, brokerages, insurance companies	M	Phase 1	20 institution guides covering major banks (Chase, BofA, Wells Fargo, etc.), brokerages (Fidelity, Schwab, Vanguard), and insurance companies; step-by-step death notification process

Epic 2.6: Distribution Management

Roadmap rationale: Distribution request workflow is essential for tracking what beneficiaries receive and when. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.6.1	Build distribution workflow — distribution request creation, approval flow, payment tracking; partial distribution support; distribution receipts; beneficiary distribution tracking dashboard	M	1.4.2	Distribution requests created with beneficiary, amount, asset; approval step before execution; payment recorded; receipt generated; dashboard shows total distributions per beneficiary

Epic 2.7: Enhanced RBAC and Security

Roadmap rationale: Multiple user accounts, 2FA, and session management required for collaboration features and professional use. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.7.1	Implement 2FA and enhanced session management — TOTP-based 2FA; session timeout configuration; forced re-authentication for sensitive operations	M	2.3.2	2FA enrollment and verification functional; session timeout enforced; sensitive operations require re-auth; recovery codes available

Epic 2.8: Creditor Claims Workflow

Roadmap rationale: Formal claim recording, approval/rejection, and statute of limitations tracking complete the liability management module. Gap type: Parity

ID	Task	Effort	Dependencies	Acceptance Criteria
2.8.1	Build claims workflow UI — formal claim recording; approval/rejection/dispute workflow; statute of limitations countdown; notice to creditors publication tracking	M	1.3.2	Claims recorded with full details; approve/reject/dispute actions available; statute of limitations countdown visible; publication dates tracked with expiration warnings

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Phase 3: Strategic (Tier 3) — Epic-Level Only

Epic	Features	Estimated Effort	Key Dependencies
3.1	Executor Copilot — proactive AI advisor monitoring progress, identifying missed deadlines, suggesting next actions, weekly digest	XL	Phase 1 (chatbot, task generation, jurisdiction data)
3.2	Complete Probate Module — requirement calculator (all jurisdictions), court locator, small estate affidavit generation, bond calculator, hearing tracker	L	Phase 1 (jurisdiction foundation), Phase 2 (expanded jurisdictions)
3.3	Form/Document Generation Engine — 50 most common forms, auto-populate from estate data, PDF generation, jurisdiction selection, form bundling	XL	Phase 1 (jurisdiction), Phase 2 (expanded jurisdictions)
3.4	SNT/Special Needs Trust Module — capital vs. income accounting, benefit preservation rules, distribution impact review, SSI/SSDI/Medicaid tracking	L	Phase 1 (financial tracking, distribution)
3.5	Bank Integration (Plaid) — OAuth bank connection, automatic transaction import, AI categorization, reconciliation	L	Phase 1 (financial tracking)
3.6	Comprehensive Knowledge Base — 200+ articles, searchable, context-sensitive help, video tutorials, glossary	L	Content creation
3.7	Estate Liquidation Tools — personal property cataloging, garage sale/auction tracking, donation tracking with tax deduction calculation	M	AI vision capability

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Phase 4: Exploratory (Tier 4) — List Only

• [ ] Calculator Library — estate value, cost basis (step-up), executor fee, family entitlement, tax calculators (15+)
• [ ] Family Entitlements Module — spousal elective share, dependent support, family allowances, insolvency handling
• [ ] Trust Administration Workflows — trust lifecycle management, trustee compensation, investment tracking, termination
• [ ] Integration Framework — QuickBooks export, cloud storage sync, email integration, Clio for attorneys
• [ ] Professional Practice Features — multi-estate dashboard, archiving, cloning/templates, client portal
• [ ] Mobile App / PWA Completion — full PWA development with offline capability and push notifications
• [ ] Specialized Estate Types — ancillary probate, insolvent estates, intestate succession, multi-jurisdiction
• [ ] AI-Powered Distribution Modeling — what-if scenarios, tax impact analysis, beneficiary communication templates
• [ ] Professional Services Marketplace — vetted attorney/CPA/appraiser directory with referral system

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Risk Register

Risk	Phase	Likelihood	Impact	Mitigation
Jurisdiction data accuracy — probate rules are complex and state-specific; errors could cause real harm	1	High	Critical	Multiple source verification per jurisdiction; prominent “not legal advice” disclaimers; user feedback mechanism for corrections; start with 6 jurisdictions, expand carefully
XL accounting system scope expansion — double-entry bookkeeping with trust accounting is inherently complex	1	High	High	Start with basic transaction tracking (income/expense/distribution); defer full double-entry to refinement iteration; cap Phase 1 to “functional tracking, not CPA-grade”
Claude vision accuracy for will parsing — legal documents have varied formatting, handwritten elements, poor scans	1	Medium	High	Spike task (1.5.1) establishes accuracy baseline; 7-step manual wizard as fallback; user confirmation step before committing extracted data; confidence scoring
Multi-user collaboration complexity — data sharing, conflict resolution, and permissions add significant architectural complexity	2	High	Medium	Design role model first (2.3.1); start with simple invitation + role assignment; defer complex conflict resolution until validated
Tauri 2 desktop packaging — cross-platform builds for macOS and Windows with auto-update, encryption, and offline support	1-2	Medium	Medium	Existing v4.0.1 proves Tauri 2 viability; test Windows build early in Phase 1; maintain backward compatibility with existing data
Court report format compliance — court-accepted formats vary by jurisdiction and may change	2	Medium	High	Start with well-documented formats (CA, NY); include “verify with your local court” disclaimer; user-editable report templates

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Dependency Graph

Phase 0: 0.1 (independent)
         0.2 → 1.1.1, 1.3.1, 1.4.1

Phase 1: 0.2 → 1.1.1 → 1.1.2 → 1.1.3 → 1.1.4 → 1.1.5
                                → 1.2.1 → 1.2.2 → 1.2.3 → 1.2.4
                                → 1.3.2
         0.2 → 1.3.1 → 1.3.2 → 1.3.3
         0.2 → 1.4.1 → 1.4.2 → 1.4.3
                     → 1.4.4
         1.5.1 → 1.5.2 → 1.5.3 → 1.5.4
         1.2.3 + 1.1.2 → 1.6.1 → 1.6.2
         1.1.2 + 1.4.1 → 1.7.1 → 1.7.2

Phase 2: 1.4.3 + 1.1.2 → 2.1.1 → 2.1.2 → 2.1.3
         Phase 1 → 2.2.1 → 2.2.2 → 2.2.3
         Phase 1 → 2.3.1 → 2.3.2 → 2.3.3
         1.4.1 + 1.5.2 → 2.4.1 → 2.4.2
         1.1.2 → 2.5.1 → 2.5.2
         Phase 1 → 2.5.3
         1.4.2 → 2.6.1
         2.3.2 → 2.7.1
         1.3.2 → 2.8.1

Critical path: 0.2 → 1.1.1 → 1.1.2 → 1.1.4 → 1.2.2 → 1.2.3 → 1.6.1 → 1.6.2 → 2.2.1 → 2.2.2 → 2.2.3 (jurisdiction → task generation → onboarding → Executor Prep Mode is the longest chain)

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New Skills / Shared Library Needed

Skill or Component	Products Affected	When Needed
estate-jurisdiction-engine	Estate Manager	Phase 1 (Epic 1.1)
estate-document-extraction	Estate Manager	Phase 1 (Epic 1.5)
estate-accounting	Estate Manager	Phase 1 (Epic 1.4)
estate-task-automation	Estate Manager	Phase 1 (Epic 1.2)
plaid-financial-integration	Estate Manager	Phase 3 (Epic 3.5)
kanban-board-builder	Estate Manager (distribution workflow), Career Coach (job tracker)	Phase 2 (Epic 2.6)
tauri-desktop-development	Estate Manager	Phase 0 onwards (reference throughout)