By LEAP | AAML New Jersey Silver Sponsor

New Jersey family law attorneys understand the importance of the CIS. It serves as the financial foundation for nearly every divorce case in the state. Judges rely on this detailed document when determining child support, alimony, and equitable distribution, making accuracy essential. 

With tight deadlines and ongoing updates as circumstances evolve, creating and maintaining a precise CIS requires significant time and attention—even for experienced practitioners. Collecting complete and accurate information from clients can also be an ongoing challenge.  

Fortunately, modern legal technology designed for family law now supports more efficient CIS preparation, giving you greater capacity to focus on delivering the thoughtful counsel your clients expect. 

Smarter Legal Technology for Modern CIS Preparation 

CIS customization and document automation solutions provide flexible, intelligent tools that can transform how your firm manages this essential workflow. Some solutions can offer features like: 

• Simplified data collection: Relevant contact and financial information can flow from a client questionnaire directly into the CIS. 
• Microsoft Word integration: Prepare, customize, and automate the CIS within Microsoft Word’s user-friendly software.
• Editable fields: Adjust labels to reflect the specific circumstances of each case. 
• Adjustable columns: Modify layouts, including customizing the amount of monthly expense columns in Part D.
• Additional lines: Add entries to monthly budgets, assets, and liabilities as needed.
• Built-in calculators: Convert financial data into required formats quickly and accurately. 

Powerful Benefits for Busy Family Law Practices 

Document automation allows you to populate the CIS using pre-entered client information with a few clicks, helping you produce consistent, high-quality documents both efficiently and accurately. As details change over time, the CIS can be easily updated in seconds. 

Additionally, a CIS with flexible functionality can help significantly streamline your workflow. Each CIS can be customized to reflect a client’s unique circumstances—whether that means adjusting columns, updating labels, or adding lines to monthly budgets and balance sheets. 

Effective CIS automation typically delivers three key advantages: 

• Reclaim Your Time: When software helps you manage repetitive tasks, you gain more capacity for high-value work such as client counseling, case strategy, advocacy, and business development. Instead of spending hours manually keying financial figures across multiple sections, initial data and updates can be synced throughout the form quickly. 
• Support Greater Accuracy: Automated data population and built-in calculations can help reduce the risk of errors inherent in manual entry. This reliability is especially important during settlement negotiations or court hearings, where even small discrepancies can be costly.
• Improve the Client Experience: Clients appreciate simplicity and professionalism. If using a secure portal, clients can submit financial information online. You can then automatically populate that data directly into the CIS, saving you time. This streamlined financial documentation process demonstrates your commitment to efficiency, accuracy, and exceptional service.  

With the right tools, CIS preparation can become more consistent, accurate, and efficient, benefiting both your business and your clients. LEAP’s practice management software solution includes automated New Jersey forms and templates, including for our customizable CIS. To learn more about how LEAP supports New Jersey family law firms, visit https://leap.us/area-of-law/family-law-software/new-jersey.