Getting started comes down to three things: your profile and brand, a household, and its first document. This article explains each one and why Bancroft works the way it does. New to Bancroft? See Get Started.
Where Bancroft lives
Bancroft lives at app.usebancroft.com. Your client portal lives at your own subdomain (for example, yourfirm.usebancroft.com), or at your own domain on the Firm plan. Either address works for sign-in. You can sign in with email and password, Google or Microsoft.
Turn on multi-factor authentication before you work with client information. See security and MFA.
Your profile and brand
On first sign-in, you add a few details about yourself. Your name appears on client email sent from your portal. Your logo, colors and fonts are set separately and can be finished later. See white-label and branding.
Your first household
A household is one client family: spouses or partners, children and dependents in one record. A single client is a household of one. The household owns everything else: documents, the asset inventory, important people and trust funding.
The household’s state of residence decides which documents are offered. Ask us in a demo about the supported states. If your client lives in a state we do not cover yet, tell us. Demand drives which states come next.
New accounts include sample households, so you can see a finished plan before you invite a real client.
Your first document
Bancroft builds one document at a time. There is no single questionnaire that produces a whole estate plan at once. This is deliberate: it gives you and the household control over scope and timing. Build the will today and come back for the trust next week, without re-answering what the household record already holds.
Each document has its own questionnaire. The client makes every selection. Review the answers with the client before the document is finished. Until then, any answer can change at no cost.
A finished document is stored in the household record. You can download it, the client sees it in the portal, and its signing steps become tasks. See the document workflow.
How the free plan works (if applicable)
The free plan covers one complete estate plan for one household: one of each document type. It is used when the first finished document is created, and it stays with that household. Questionnaires in progress do not use it.
When you are ready for a second household, reply to any Bancroft email and we will move you to a paid plan. Changes to that household’s signed trust stay free, as they are on every plan.
Where to go from here
A plan does not end at the signing. Read these next:
- How a Bancroft plan comes together: every stage, and who does what at each one.
- The client experience: what households see in your branded portal.
- Trust funding: how each asset headed for the trust is tracked to completion.
- Compliance: how Bancroft handles the unauthorized practice of law. Forward it to your compliance officer.
- How onboarding works: the live walkthrough, your check-in and support.
Still need help?
Email the Bancroft team. A person reads and answers every message. Tell us what you were trying to do and what you saw.
Already a customer? Step-by-step guidance for every task is in Training and Help, under Resources in Bancroft.
Evaluating Bancroft for your practice? Book a 30-minute demo or see pricing.