Interview Templates

Interview templates are reusable, customizable question sets that streamline the process of creating and sending client intake interviews. Rather than selecting questions manually each time, you can create a template once and use it whenever you send a new interview.

Types of Templates

Divorcepath supports two types of interview templates:

• Pre-defined templates — templates created and maintained by Divorcepath, marked Pre-defined. They cover common intake scenarios: Intake Interview, Financial Interview (Support Claims) and Parenting & Children. You can’t change the originals, but if you change the fields of a pre-defined template, Divorcepath saves your version as a new firm template named, for example, “Parenting & Children (Customized)”.
• Firm templates — custom templates created by members of your team, marked Customized. Firm templates are shared across your entire organization, so any team member can use them when sending interviews. These are ideal for standardizing your firm's intake process.

Creating a Custom Template

To create a new interview template:

1. Open a matter, select Interviews in the matter sidebar, and click Customize interviews. This opens the Customize Interviews page.
2. Click New Template.
3. Enter a Template Title that describes its purpose (e.g., "Full Intake," "Financial Update," or "Separation Update") and an optional Description.
4. Under Configure Steps, select the steps and fields you want to include (see below).
5. Your template saves automatically as you work. A Saved indicator confirms each change.
6. To check the result, click Start under Preview Interview to step through the interview sections.

Once saved, the template will be available for selection whenever you create a new interview.

Selecting Steps and Fields

Each template is made up of steps, and each step contains individual fields. Select a step to include all of its fields, or select fields one at a time. The steps available include:

• Client Profile and Ex Profile — name, contact details, date and place of birth, occupation, and new-partner details.
• Client Address and Ex Address — current addresses.
• Relationship Details — marriage or cohabitation dates, separation date, place of marriage, and divorce status.
• Children — children's dates of birth and whether a child has their own lawyer.
• Client Lawyer and Ex Lawyer — details of each party's lawyer.
• Income and Opposing Party Income — employment, self-employment, and other income sources.
• Adjustments and Opposing Party Adjustments — adjustments to income.
• Property & Debt — real property, vehicles, bank accounts, investments, debts, and other financial holdings.
• Budget Items and Opposing Party Budget Items — monthly and annual living expenses by category.

You can include as many or as few steps as needed. Focused templates that collect only the necessary information result in shorter interviews and higher completion rates from clients.

Editing a Template

To edit an existing template:

1. Open the Customize Interviews page.
2. Click the template you wish to edit in the Templates list. Use the arrows below the list to see more templates.
3. Update the template title, description, steps, or fields as needed. Changes save automatically.

Firm templates also have buttons to duplicate or delete the template.

Changes to a template only affect future interviews. Interviews that have already been sent using the template will not be affected by subsequent edits.

Organization-Level Templates

Firm templates are shared across your entire team, making them a powerful tool for standardizing your firm's intake process. Any member of your organization can create and edit them. Benefits of firm templates include:

• Consistency — every team member uses the same set of questions, ensuring a uniform intake process across the firm.
• Efficiency — new team members can immediately start sending interviews using established templates without needing to build their own.
• Quality control — senior team members can create and maintain templates that reflect best practices and ensure all necessary information is collected.

Using Templates When Sending Interviews

When you send a new interview from a client's matter, you choose a template on the New Interview page. The Interview Types list shows all available templates, including pre-defined and firm templates. To use a template:

1. Open the client's matter and select Interviews in the matter sidebar.
2. Click Send interview.
3. Select the desired template under Interview Types. You can search the list by name.
4. Check the client's email address.
5. Click Send Interview.

Using templates saves time and ensures that your interviews are comprehensive and consistent across all of your client files.