The computerisation of trusts requires careful organisation.

Before even considering using a computer for trusts, set up a working party, made up of those who will be using the information provided by the computer.

Endeavour to ensure that represented on the working party is the best advice you can obtain on both trusts and computers.

Include also, if possible, someone who expresses no intention of ever touching a keyboard.

Ensure that this group meets regularly and that its members are clear on the action to be taken by the next meeting.As the project progresses, make sure the operator, if there is one, joins the group so that you can control and set priorities for his or her work.

Make sure that any changes in working practice, input forms etc are discussed with everyone involved with trusts in the firm and that you compile a manual of new procedures and decisions.These management procedures are appropria te even if you only have one member of staff who is involved with trusts.

The partner responsible for the project and the firm's investment in the hardware, software and the time involved, must remain in control.

If the final result is a system which is understood by only one individual you will have achieved very little.One of the earliest and most important management decisions to be made by the working party is how, and by whom, the information is to be entered.

There are two instinctive reactions; first, that it is an accounting system and therefore, as with the firm's books, all entries should be made centrally; secondly, that as each trust has been in the hands of an individual partner or manager in the past, and he or she has the file, then he or she should be the person who uses the computer.Quite clearly if there is only one person in the office who handles trusts he or she will have to be the person who operates the computer, and any firm would be well advised to ensure that this person has the required ability and is given support (perhaps a temporarily employed student), so that the information is put on the computer as soon as possible.

The problem is that even if that person has a great deal of enthusiasm and supposed experience it is extremely difficult to tell whether or not he or she will achieve your objective.

Why not see if you can send him or her, for a few days, to a firm which is already using the program, to make sure that he or she has the ability to cope with it?In a larger office one can be more flexible.

Trusts have innumerable variables and some programs are complex and involve a large amount of preliminary work.

The learning curve is extremely steep.

Extra staff to load all existing information on to the computer are required and they can, in turn, train the existing staff.Once the system becomes familiar, entering details of contract notes and income is not a particularly difficult task.

If this can be done centrally it is obviously worthwhile as one can then be sure that the information on the computer is up to date and not affected by staff holidays or illness.

An advantage of central inputting is that there may be some doubt as to how a transaction, such as a demerger or take-over, is to be dealt with on the computer.

Central inputting means that every shareholding will be dealt with in the same manner in all the relevant trusts.

Furthermore, to search for information to obtain reports it may be important that entries are made in a particular fashion, and again, centralisation makes sure that this is done.Generally, we find that those involved in trusts, whether partners or managers, find their own level of expertise on the computer.

In the majority of cases the bulk of the repetitive information is entered centrally, and the updating of incidental information is done by the managers.

There is a range of expertise amongst the managers which one is continually endeavouring to increase.

For example, while all will rely on the expertise of the computer operator for the actual format of the accounts, some will be able to prepare the accounts themselves, while others will rely on the operator.In all cases, however, dividends from bank statements and the purchase and sale of investments from contract notes are posted by the operator.

This highlights one of the drawbacks in the introduction of any technology: there is usually a need to introduce another specialist to operate it.

The organisation is then dependent upon that specialist.

It is therefore important that every system has proper support from the software company and that full training is available for operators and users.

This should be reinforced by in-house training.

Partners and managers should become familiar with the system, so that one is not dependent upon a key employee.Remember, if you select a program which has recently been introduced you will probably not be able to find someone with any experience of it, and any operator you employ will have to be trained on a system with which you and they are unfamiliar.

If that operator leaves this procedure will have to be repeated.

Outside training can only be of limited help.One of the advantages of a computer system, once you and your staff are familiar with it, is that the management of any trust can be handed over with comparative ease from one partner or manager to another.It is obvious that the use of a computer for trust work means that partners and staff will have to spend a great deal of time on the project.

The rewards however are great.

Let us hope that sufficient members of the profession will take up the challenge.

Some will have a trust practice which is large enough to absorb the overheads, others will have an enthusiast who should be given the necessary encouragement.Some firms of accountants are already offering a trust accounting service and one hopes that the administration of trusts is not an example of yet another area of work which is gradually falling into the accountant's orbit.In many areas of the country there must be groups of solicitors who, realising that individually they do not have either the resources or the expertise, could join together for their mutual benefit to provide a trust record and accounting service.

Information can easily be transferred on disks, as and when they are updated from a central processing point to the user, and there would probably be no need for the additional expense of a direct line.

The user would be able to extract and compile all the necessary valuations and reports.Even if you feel that computerisation of trusts may not be for you yet, look at some of the new simple programs for investments, accounts etc, which may be compatible with a system already in your office.

Programs (including spreadsheets) are becoming cheaper, more flexible and easier to use.The introduction of a computer for trust work means that it may well be able to cope with the paperwork involved in the administration of estates.

In this area income tax returns and the final accounts are usually the items which cause delay.

Even if you are satisfied with your present method of preparing estate accounts, it is well worthwhile using or adapting the capability of the trust program to load on to it all the investments held at the date of death, particularly if you envisage that a number will be retained for some time.

By doing this, not only can you track the performance of the shares and obtain a current valuation whenever this is required, but you should be able to obtain a complete listing of all dividends that the estate should have received, and details of any capital gains tax payable on any sale.In just the same manner the firm will be able to become more active on the investment side of financial services.

There are a large number of people who have no experience in handling their funds, which may even have been inherited from an estate with which your firm has dealt.

Solicitors are still regarded as a natural port of call for an honest, unbiased opinion.

With a computer you can provide yourself with the information you need to keep up to date with your clients' af fairs.

You can warn them of capital gains tax problems and provide schedules of their investment income, which will save time and money in the preparation of their income tax returns.

Linked with the use of a nominee company, you can save them the bother of dealing with all the company circulars, take-overs and rights issues and act as a valuable and worthwhile link between them and their stockbroker.

The funds involved may not always be large, but they maintain the link between you and the clients when they are not moving house or making a will.Remember that a nominee company may well need to be a 'recognised' body under the Solicitors Incorporated Practice Rules 1988, and that you will need approval for the company to use a name which differs from that of the partnership.Trusts have formed an integral part of the practice of the law in England for centuries, and fulfilled a need which can arise in a number of different circumstances.

They have not perhaps, of late, always received the attention they deserve and the profession has not yet reacted quickly enough to criticism in this area; some clients, having once experienced the workings of a trust, have resolved never to use them again.Properly managed trusts can provide a steady and worthwhile contribution to the profits of the firm, and the investment of time and money in the use of a computer can maximise this.

Above all, what a computer will provide, if handled efficiently, is quick and accurate information which can regularly be passed on to the client or anyone involved with the trust.

In addition, it enables the solicitor, who has charge of the day to day administration of the trust, to ensure that the trust assets are properly managed.