Per StirpesDocs
For clients

Payments and signing

Paying invoices, e-signing the engagement letter, and the ceremony.

Paying an invoice

Invoices appear in your portal and arrive by email. You can pay by card or by bank transfer, through a secure checkout; start from the invoice email or from the Invoices page in the portal.

The Invoices page opens with the one figure that matters, the amount due across your invoices, and a single Pay button for the one that needs you first. Below it every invoice is listed with its own labelled figure, so a number is never left for you to interpret: what's due on an open invoice, what you paid on a settled one, or what you netted where money came back. An invoice whose due date has passed is marked overdue and says how many days late it is. Paying on the due date itself is never late.

Each invoice opens to show what it's for: the lines it bills, the payments recorded against it and when, anything refunded, and a Download invoice link that gives you the same document the firm has. That detail is there whether or not the invoice is still open, so a paid invoice stays something you can look up rather than something that disappears.

Now and then a firm corrects an invoice after sending it, a line amount or its description entered wrongly, say. The invoice keeps its number and shows the corrected figures, and the copy you download notes the date it was corrected. A correction never takes a payment or gives one back; any payment you've already made stays recorded against the invoice.

If an invoice is already paid in full when the firm sends it, it arrives as a record for your files, and its email says no payment is due.

A card payment goes through right away and the invoice shows as paid. A bank transfer takes a few business days to clear. While it's on its way the invoice says so, gives you a date to expect it by, and the Pay button steps aside, so you can't accidentally pay the same invoice twice; it updates on its own as soon as the money lands, and it's never marked overdue while it's moving. If the transfer doesn't complete, your invoice tells you why and the Pay button comes back, so you can try again without having to call the firm.

Every settled payment has a receipt. Open an invoice's details and each payment listed there links to its own, so a bill you paid in two parts gives you a receipt for each part. It works the same whether you paid online or the firm recorded the payment by hand, a check you posted or a card you gave over the phone. Each receipt names the payment, the payments before it, and what was still owed right after.

If money has been returned to you, the invoice says how much and the day it settled. A refund still on its way says that instead, with no date, because a bank refund takes days to land and you shouldn't be told it has arrived before it has.

A refund gives back money you paid; it doesn't change what's still owed on an invoice you haven't finished paying. Such an invoice keeps its Pay button and its amount due, and its details list the refund beneath the amount due so the arithmetic reads top to bottom.

The pay link in an invoice email keeps working. You don't have to pay the day it arrives, and you don't have to ask for a fresh link if you come back to the email a week later. If the invoice has been paid in the meantime, the link tells you so rather than charging you again, and if a payment was recorded just as you opened it, the page says your balance changed and asks you to open the link again to pay what's left. If you leave the checkout without paying, nothing is taken, and you can pay later from the portal or the same email. The one exception is a change of who the invoice is billed to: the link in the earlier email then stops opening it, and the firm sends the invoice afresh to whoever now pays it.

If you have the Invoices page open for a while and the invoice changes in the meantime (it's paid, or a payment starts clearing), selecting Pay refreshes the page and says so rather than starting a second payment. If you've been signed out in the meantime, you're taken to request a fresh sign-in link, which brings you back to your invoices.

If an invoice has been partly paid already, you're only ever charged what's still outstanding. The portal shows the balance remaining and pays that, and the link in the invoice email does the same, so it doesn't matter which one you reach for.

Some firms have the platform send a reminder while an invoice is still outstanding. It carries the same durable pay link, and it stops as soon as the invoice is settled, including while a payment you've just made is still clearing.

Saved payment methods

If you've paid the firm online before, Manage payment methods on the Invoices page opens the payment provider's own secure page, where you can replace a card that's about to expire or drop one you no longer use. It's the same handoff as paying: the firm keeps the ledger, and your card details are only ever handled by the payment provider. You're returned to your invoices when you're done.

The link is there whether or not you currently owe anything, which is usually exactly when you want it. It isn't there at all if you've never had an invoice from this firm, since there's nothing saved yet to manage.

Signing the engagement letter

The engagement letter, the agreement that engages the firm, is signed electronically. You'll receive a signing invitation by email, sent in your firm's name, and can sign on any device. Once everyone has signed, the executed copy is stored with your matter and available in your Documents.

The letter waiting for your signature is the one the firm reviewed, and it doesn't change underneath you. If its terms change after the invitation goes out, the firm sends a fresh invitation for the new version.

An invitation is tied to the address it was sent to. If your email changed, or the firm issued a fresh invitation for any other reason, the earlier link stops working; always sign from the most recent email. If a signing request is still waiting on you, you may get a reminder about it; signing is what stops them.

Signing your estate documents

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives are signed in person, with the witnessing and notarization the law requires. When your documents are ready, the firm sends you a booking link to choose a time for the signing ceremony that works for you. It books directly against your attorney's calendar, and you'll get a confirmation by email.

Once you've booked, going back to that link shows you the appointment you already have rather than the calendar again, so you can't accidentally book the same thing twice. It's also where you'll find the details: when it is, how to join if there's a video link, and links to reschedule or cancel where those are available. If neither is offered, contact the firm and they'll move it for you. The same is true of the consultation booking link.

The questionnaire

Answer once; every document your attorney drafts draws from it.

On this page

Paying an invoiceSaved payment methodsSigning the engagement letterSigning your estate documents