Disclaimer & Policies
Terms and Conditions
Introduction
1. Quartet Estate Services, LLC is not a law firm. It is an online business where you are charged fees for services related to estate planning and probate matters. Quartet Estate Services, LLC provides unbundled services which means that the services provided by us are only those services you have requested and purchased and that we have provided. Once you have purchased a service and we have provided it, we will perform no other services for you until a new agreement for services has been reached. Once you have paid for the services we agreed to provide, we will not expect any other payment from you unless we have reached agreement for us to perform a new service for you.
2. We cannot and do not guarantee any outcome in your matter. We do guarantee that we will do our best to get you a satisfactory and timely outcome. By purchasing our services, you understand and agree that you may have to and will perform any actions we recommend to bring your matter to a satisfactory conclusion.
Client Confidentiality
3. Quartet Estate Services, LLC provides limited services connected to estate planning and probate matters. Our service area is limited to the Southeast Texas area and our attorney members are licensed to practice law only in Texas. As such we feel a moral obligation and a personal obligation to follow the highest professional standards of confidentiality. Any information we receive from our clients is held in the strictest of confidence and not released to anyone outside of our business unless approved by you first. We may by law be forced to disclose some of your information to agencies of the local, state and federal government. To the greatest extent possible we will inform you of this disclosure before it occurs.
4. A relationship with our business does not occur until we have completed an exchange of information with you through our website and we have notified you that we have accepted your engagement of our services. There are many reasons why we may not accept that engagement. The two most common reasons we decline engagement are 1) that you are requesting us to perform services outside our service area of Southeast Texas, and 2) that we are already engaged by another person who we feel has interests in the same matter that are in conflict with your interests. When we reach a decision that we are declining engagement, we will notify you as soon as possible and explain why we cannot perform the services you are requesting.
5. Prospective clients should be aware that any communication through our website and by regular unencrypted email is not being transferred through a secure method of transmission and should not be considered confidential. Our duty of confidentiality will arise once you have received instructions on how to set up secure password protected access to our client management software. Once you have set up your login and password to your secure client page on our client management software, we highly recommend that all communication between you and us be made through your secure client page.
6. During our engagement we will maintain a file that holds all of the information you have submitted to us. As an online business our files are electronic and are located on the secure servers of our client management software vendor. Any physical documents or other material you provide to us will be converted to an electronic version to the extent it is practicable and stored in your electronic file. All physical material will be returned to you as soon as possible.
7. At the conclusion of our engagement you will notify us in writing if you want your electronic file and its contents transmitted to you. We will decide what is the most practical method to transmit that information to you. All of the information you can access through your secure client page will remain available to you for five (5) years after the conclusion of our engagement. After five years we will dispose of your electronic file and any physical material still in our possession.
Client Fees
8. Quartet Estate Services, LLC recommends and encourages that the initial contact between you and us be made by registering on our website www.quartetestateservices.com. There will be no fees charged for registration. Fees will only be charged after we and you have reached an agreement that you will engage us to perform specific services related to your matter. Once that agreement has been reached, you will receive an invoice from us through your secure client page stating the agreed upon amount of a refundable retainer. When our retainer has been paid, also through your secure client page, we will begin work on your matter.
9. We bill at an hourly rate of sixty dollars ($60.00) per hour for the services we perform and, if necessary, a flat fee rate of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per document for every document we prepare. All the time we bill for services on your matter at our hourly rate is billed in blocks of six (6) minutes or one-tenth (0.1) of an hour, with a minimum billing of six (6) minutes for any single service. All the time we bill for services on your matter at our flat fee rate is billed in blocks of one (1) document, with a minimum billing of one (1) document for any single matter.
10. If we must go over the number of hours we originally estimated it would take to resolve your matter we will bill you at our hourly rate of sixty dollars ($60.00) per hour. If we must create additional documents beyond the number we originally estimated it would take to resolve your matter we will bill you at our flat fee rate of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per document.
11. We will keep records of all the time we spend working on your matter and records of all the expenses we incur while working on your matter. Any expenses we incur while working on your matter will be paid by you. Examples of expenses include but are not limited to document filing fees and other charges; travel expenditures including the cost of air fare, parking, gas and mileage; mailing costs; communication costs including conference calls and long-distance telephone calls; and the hiring of skilled specialists or licensed experts. Scanning of documents will be billed at thirteen cents ($0.13) per page and copies of documents will also be billed at thirteen cents ($0.13) per page.
12. We will bill all time we spend on your matter, all documents we create for your matter, and all expenses we incur while working on your matter to the amount of the retainer you paid. If there is any amount of your retainer left at the conclusion of your matter, we will refund that amount to you.
Termination
13. Either Quartet Estate Services, LLC or you can terminate our engagement by giving the other party at least 30 days’ notice. This notice must be in writing and we strongly recommend that it be transmitted through your secure client page. If we terminate the engagement we will, to the best of our ability, do so without adversely affecting your interest in your matter. We will terminate the engagement when it becomes clear to us that it legally or ethically necessary for us to do so.
Information Provided on Our Website
14. Information published on our website, www.quartetestateservices.com, contains only basic legal and other information and is not to be considered legal advice by anyone. Legal advice is applying legal knowledge to the particular facts and circumstances of a person’s legal problem. The information we provide on our website cannot and will not do that for you. Do not rely on the general information on our website to make legal decisions. You should always consult with an attorney about your specific legal problem.
PII and Privacy Policy
15. Quartet Estate Services collects no personal identifying information (PII) from users viewing content published on our website www.quartetestateservices.com. We do collect website statistics showing such information as the number of times a page is viewed and how many unique visitors view our website. This information is collected solely for the purpose of upgrading and re-designing our website. See our Privacy Policy for more details about this.
Obtaining Our Services
16. To obtain our services, you must first register on our website www.quartetestateservices.com. This does require you to disclose some personal identifying information (PII) about yourself. This information is collected so that we may effectively communicate with you about your matter and to help us make a decision on whether we will accept engagement in your matter.
17. Once we have reached an agreement that you are engaging us to provide our services to you, we may decide that a referral to another professional or organization will resolve your matter more quickly or efficiently. When we make that decision, we will notify you of our recommendation. With your permission we may then transmit some of your PII to that third-party professional or organization to facilitate the referral process.
Registration
18. Registration on our website is accomplished by filling out the Registration Form located on the Home Page of our site or on the Contact Us Page of our site. You will need to provide your name, a valid email address, and a short description of the matter you need our help with. Once we receive your information we will be able to make a preliminary decision about whether we can assist you.
19. If we decide we can help you with your matter, you will receive an email at the address you provided asking you to set up a secure client page where all further communication between you and us can be conducted using a secure link and not by regular unencrypted email. We use a client management software called Clio provided by a third-party vendor. Clio guarantees the security of their software. You will not need to download any software onto your computer or phone. You will need to have a usable version of your browser on either your computer or your phone.
20. There is no fee for registering at www.quartetestateservices.com. However, by registering on our website you are agreeing that you are over the age of eighteen or have the ability to sign a contract wherever your live. You are agreeing that you have the legal authority to resolve your matter and that you will provide us proof of that legal authority. You agree to sign documents giving us the authorization to act on your behalf in your matter. You are also agreeing that you will tell us completely and accurately all the facts about your matter and all of actions you have taken in your matter before you asked for our help. You also agree that you will notify us immediately if any of the facts and actions you told us about have changed or need to be updated. Finally, you agree that you will be available to meet with a member of Quartet Estate Services, LLC in person if the resolution of your matter requires it. We agree that we will do our best to schedule such in-person meetings at your convenience.
Keeping Your Personal Contact Information Updated
21. Quartet Estate Service, LLC asks that you keep your personal contact information current at all times. If there is a change in any of your personal information especially your email address please let us know immediately.
22. The quickest way to update your personal contact information is to use your secure client page. When you log into your secure client page there will be an option to review and update your contact information. If you are unable to use your secure client page to update your information you can reach us at the address and telephone number located on the Home Page of our website www.quartetestateservices.com.
Security
23. As an online business, Quartet Estate Services, LLC uses online third-party software to conduct our business. This is known as Software as a Service (SaaS). We use a client management program called Clio Manage. We use a call management program called Ruby Receptionists. For credit card payments we use a program called LawPay, and for our accounting we use a program called QuickBooks. As a result, we keep none of your PII on any of our member’s computers. We have performed our due diligence and evaluated all of these programs for their ability to secure your PII and all the other information you will provide to us about your matter. We are satisfied that these programs will keep your information and our information secure.
24. By agreeing to our engagement, both you and Quartet Estate Services, LLC, are also agreeing to conduct business online. This means that all communication between you and us will be electronic and all submission of documents, contracts, agreements, authorizations, and payments will also take place electronically. All agreement will be signed electronically as allowed under federal and state law.
25. All electronic communications between Quartet Estate Services, LLC, and you are best handled through your secure client page that will be created for you in our client management software. You must have computer, tablet, or smartphone with current browser software that allows you to access your secure client page. You must have a valid email address and the ability to read .pdf files. You must also have a secure and stable Internet connection.
26. You will be responsible for the security of your client page. That includes selecting a unique password for your page and not sharing the login credentials for your page with anyone else. You will be responsible for any and all activity that occurs using your login credentials.
27. Quartet Estate Services, LLC will not sell or share your PII with any other individual or organization without your permission or authorization. We may send you email with announcements and newsletters attached that comply with applicable law. You can opt out of receiving these types of emails by contacting us through your secure client page. Again, regular unencrypted email is not a secure method of communicating with us.
Links
28. Quartet Estate Services, LLC will often post links on our website www.quartetestateservices.com directing users to other websites they may find useful or interesting. These links are provided as a courtesy to our users. We make no warranty or guarantee that the links we post are still active or safe to click on. We also make no warranty or guarantee that the website the user is directed to by the link is still being managed by the same entity that was managing it at the time the link was posted. Finally, we make no warranty and guarantee that the information contained on the website the user is directed to is true, accurate, complete, and appropriate for all users to view.
Trademark and Copyright
29. Quartet Estate Services, LLC claims trademark and copyright protection on all of the content published on our website www.quartetestateservices.com. Content from our website including logos, text, images, videos, and graphics may not be copied, re-produced, and/or redistributed to anyone in any form without our express permission. Content from our website also cannot be modified or used for commercial purposes without our express permission. Any documents we post on our website shall contain the following copyright notice: © 2020-2021 Quartet Estate Services, LLC. All rights reserved.
Social Media Policy
30. Quartet Estate Services, LLC and its members may have pages or profiles on different social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Our presence on such social media platforms does not mean that social media is an acceptable method of communicating with us or our members. Quartet Estate Services, LLC or our members will not have any personal contact with users or clients who try to contact us through such platforms. The proper way for users to contact us is through our website www.quartetestateservices.com. The proper way for clients to contact us is through their secure client page. This prevents the unauthorized or inadvertent disclosure of confidential client information to unknown persons through an unsecure and public social media platform. The only information we will disseminate through such social media platforms will be for marketing purposes only and is not directed to our current clients.
Arbitration and Choice of Law
31. If a dispute arises between you and Quartet Estate Services, LLC, it shall be resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association. The arbitration will be held in Houston, Harris County, Texas, and any and all further proceedings will be held in the same jurisdiction and subject to the laws of the State of Texas.
Disclaimer
Quartet Estate Services, LLC is not a law firm.
We help people solve problems that occur in their roles as beneficiaries, executors, and personal representatives of an estate. These problems are often legal in nature. Just as often these problems are not. Our members can provide legal information about our client’s problems but we do not provide legal advice. For the difference between legal information and legal advice see below.
Legal information is an explanation about legal terms, processes, and forms. Legal advice is the application of legal knowledge to the facts and circumstances of a particular case. For legal advice about an estate matter located in Texas you should consult an attorney licensed in Texas.
Do not rely on our website for legal advice. We make every effort to make sure the information on our website is accurate and current. We do not guarantee the accuracy of this information. We are not responsible for any adverse consequences to you if you do use our website as legal advice.
Viewing the information on this website and communicating with us through this website does NOT create an attorney-client relationship between you and Quartet Estate Services, LLC.
Cookie policy
Introduction
1. Cookies are short pieces of information that are placed in your browser when you visit a website. They usually take the form of a string of letters or numbers. Websites use cookies for several reasons but they are mostly used to determine who visits the site and to keep the site functioning properly. Quartet Estate Services, LLC uses cookies for the following reasons.
Identification of Users
2. Our most common use of cookies is to identify and remember a user who visits our website multiple times. This makes navigating our site easier for the user.
3. All users of our website can disable the use of cookies in the browser they use to access our site but this may affect the functionality of the site for that user.
Security
4. We also use cookies to secure our website from malicious users. These cookies prevent unauthorized activity by those users and unusual actions by the website itself. This improves the website experience for our regular users.
5. Our users may go to a different website by clicking a link placed on a page of our website. Quartet Estate Services makes no guarantees or warranties about how these other websites use cookies and is not responsible for what occurs once a user leaves our website. Users are encouraged to read the Privacy Policy or Cookie Policy of any website they visit.
Analytics
6. We also use cookies to help in the analysis of who uses our website, how often a user visits our website, and which pages on our website are viewed most often. Gathering this information on the use of our website helps us make decisions on the services we offer and the marketing of those services.
Performance
7. We also use cookies to gather information on the use of our website so we can improve the site for future visitors. If the website is not functioning properly or if we need to re-design the website to make certain pages easier for our users to view we get that information from cookies too.
Updates
8. We will update this policy from time to time as we gather more information about our website. Users are encouraged to keep checking back for changes to this policy.
Privacy Policy
Introduction
1. Quartet Estate Services, LLC takes your privacy seriously. Any information you share with us during our term of engagement is confidential. Confidential information may include, but is not limited to, personal information, business information, financial information, family information and, in some unusual instances, medical information. Sharing confidential information with us does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and Quartet Estate Services. This policy, as well as our Terms and Conditions, sets out the precautions we take to secure your information.
2. There are three types of information we gather from the users of our website and the people who engage our services. The first type of information is known as Personally Identifiable Information (PII). PII includes your name, email address, and the short description of your matter you give us when you register on our website. PII also includes information you give us through questionnaires we send you, interviews we conduct and documents you send us. PII is any information that can lead someone to identify you or impersonate you, especially by using the Internet. The second type of information is financial information. This is usually your credit card information but may include other types of information such as debit card information or checking account information. The third type of information is tracking information we gather when you use our website. This includes but is not limited to your location, your IP address, and personal preferences such as your preferred language and when you viewed our website. This information is gathered passively each time you access our website.
3. Quartet Estate Services, LLC is a company chartered in the State of Texas, doing business in the Southeast Region of Texas, and subject to the laws of Texas. However, our website is available for viewing by anyone who has access to the Internet. This policy recognizes that viewers of our website are subject to any laws or legislation concerning privacy that are in effect for any state, country, or region where that viewer may be located when they access our website.
Collection of Information
4. Quartet Estate Services collects PII for business purposes only. To provide services to those wishing to engage us it is necessary for us to collect this information. In order to ask for our help you are required to register on our website. At that time we will ask you for your first and last name, your email address, and a short description of the matter you need help with. This is the only PII we will ask for through our website. Any other PII we need will be submitted through our secure client portal where you will be asked to set up your secure password protected client page.
5. Quartet Estate Services only collects financial information in order to receive payment for our services. We prefer to be paid by credit card. All invoices and requests for payment will be sent to you for your review and payment through your secure client page. Any other method of payment will require special processing to protect your privacy and is not recommended.
6. Quartet Estate Services collects tracking information from people who view our website. This information is gathered passively as the user navigates from page to page within our site. No inferences about an individual user are drawn from this information.
Use of Information
7. Quartet Estate Services uses your PII to provide services to you. This includes setting up your file, creating your secure client page, sending information to you concerning your matter, and creating documents for you. We also use PII, particularly email addresses, to send press releases, newsletters, and other marketing materials to current and former clients. If you do not wish to receive this marketing material send an email to marketing@quartetestateservices.com to be removed from our mailing lists.
8. Quartet Estate Services uses your financial information for payment purposes only. This includes processing your credit card, debit card, or other form of payment. It also includes entering necessary information into our accounting system and making deposits into our bank.
9. Quartet Estate Services uses your tracking information to monitor the usage and functionality of our website. This includes the location and IP address of the user, the pages each user views, how often a user returns to our website, and which pages in our site are most popular with our users. We also use tracking information when we upgrade or re-design our website. If you do not wish to provide this information to us you will need to disable the Cookies in your browser. See our Cookie Policy for further details.
Sharing of Information
10. Quartet Estate Services does not keep any PII on our computers. We have contracted with several vendors to supply our business services. We have evaluated all of these vendors and have determined that their security standards meet our requirements for protection of PII. These include Clio, our case management system vendor; TxDocs, our document assembly vendor; Google, our online storage vendor; Docusign, our electronic signature vendor; and Ruby, our virtual receptionist vendor. Your PII is transmitted to them and kept on their secure servers that we are able to access for our business purposes. If you have any questions about their privacy policies please visit their websites and review them. Other than our vendors, all PII is considered strictly confidential and is not shared with anyone who is not associated with us unless and until we have received express permission from you.
11. Quartet Estate Services does not keep any financial information on our computers. We have contracted with several vendors to supply our financial and accounting services. We have evaluated all of these vendors and have determined that their security standards meet our requirements for protection of financial information. These include LawPay, our credit card processing vendor; Quickbooks, our accounting vendor; and Amegy, our bank. Your financial information is transmitted to them and kept on their secure servers that we are able to access for our financial and accounting purposes. If you have any questions about their privacy policies please visit their websites and review them. Other than our vendors, all financial information is considered strictly confidential and is not shared with anyone who is not associated with us unless and until we have received express permission from you.
12. Quartet Estate Services does not keep any tracking information on our computers. We have contracted with a vendor to supply our website services. We have evaluated this vendor and have determined that its security standards meet our requirements for protection of tracking information. Their name is Squarespace. Your tracking information is transmitted to them and kept on their secure servers that we are able to access for our website purposes. If you have any questions about their privacy policy please visit their website and review them. Other than our vendor, all tracking information is considered strictly confidential and is not shared with anyone who is not associated with us unless and until we have received express permission from you.
Retention of Information
13. Quartet Estate Services retains your PII as long as we are currently engaged by you to provide services. After our engagement ends, we will maintain your PII for a period of seven (7) years in case any dispute about the services we provided arises. All PII will be removed from our systems when your matter file is destroyed.
14. Quartet Estate Services retains your financial information as long as we are currently engaged by you to provide services. After our engagement ends, we will maintain your financial information for a period of seven (7) years in case any dispute about the services we provided arises. All financial information will be removed from our systems when your matter file is destroyed.
15. Quartet Estate Services retains your tracking information as long as we are currently engaged by you to provide services. After our engagement ends, we will maintain your tracking information for a period of seven (7) years in case any dispute about the services we provided arises. All tracking information will be removed from our systems when your matter file is destroyed.
Sale of Information
16. Quartet Estate Services does not sell anyone’s PII.
17. Quartet Estate Services does not sell anyone’s financial information.
18. Quartet Estate Services does not sell anyone’s tracking information.
Conditions for California Residents
19. Quartet Estate Services began operations as of March 1, 2020. We have no PII or any other information about anyone for the twelve months preceding that date. We were not subject to any laws or legislation prior to that date including the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA).
Conditions for Foreign Residents
20. Quartet Estate Services began operations as of March 1, 2020. We have no PII or any other information about anyone for the twelve months preceding that date. We were not subject to any laws or legislation prior to that date including the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Changes to Policy
21. Quartet Estate Services will from time to time update this policy to stay in compliance with the laws and best practices concerning our user’s privacy. Notice of these updates will be placed on our website but users are encouraged to regularly check this policy for any changes.
22. Any disputes arising from this policy will be resolved as set out in our Terms and Conditions.
23. The laws applicable to any disputes arising from this policy will be determined as set out in our Terms and Conditions.