Login | January 09, 2026
New Mahoning probate court program helps streamline preparation of estate/guardianship accountings
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: January 8, 2026
Legal professionals who prepare annual accountings for estates and guardianships in Mahoning County Probate Court are being encouraged to utilize a new Societal Systems program to help streamline the process and increase accuracy.
Mahoning County Probate Court Judge Robert N. Rusu Jr. said the Societal Systems software solution allows clients’ banking information to be imported directly into the program, shaving off hours of preparation time.
“The artificial intelligence-infused software works much like popular tax preparation programs such as TurboTax,” said Judge Rusu.
“Preparers can upload assets, budgets and expenditures and categorize transactions within the program, linking to the estate’s bank account to allow automated import of the transactions during the reporting period. Filing notes can also be added to completed accountings.
“The information is then analyzed and exported directly to the court on standard probate accounting forms,” said Judge Rusu. “The software allows the court to set parameters on spending and monitor the spending to make sure it stays within limits.”
For example, he said if a loved one has a fixed set of expenses each month and the guardian exceeds that budget, the program can help catch the issue early on, allowing the court to reach out to the guardian to get an accounting of the discrepancy.
“This helps to prevent fraud, which is a huge issue,” Judge Rusu said.
Judge Rusu said the program can also help to expedite the liquidation of an estate by quickly assembling the decedent’s debt and assets, allowing the fiduciary to close the estate in a timelier fashion, thereby saving additional attorney fees, court costs and allowing for quicker distributions.
There’s no additional cost for utilizing the system, which has been up and running at the court since March.
Judge Rusu said he’s hoping more law offices will take advantage of the program.
“One of the biggest problems that we monitor as a court is the delinquent accountings that must be filed annually,” said Judge Rusu. “Many times, the fiduciaries do not get the information to their attorneys so they can file an account timely and therefore the court wastes valuable time conducting hearings and sending out notices which just increases legal fees and administration fees.”
Friedman & Rummel Co. associate Joseph Johnson, who focuses on probate and estate planning, said he’s used the program to prepare accountings for guardianships, probate estates and even trusts.
“These accountings are typically done using Excel or some type of similar software and require myself or my staff to manually input every transaction that’s occurred since the last accounting was filed,” said Johnson. “With guardianships and trusts there are countless transactions that could occur, including mortgage payments, doctor visits, etc. that must be transferred from a paper bank statement into the Excel program.
“This includes the payment amount and date, which must be put into the correct category,” said Johnson.
“Societal pulls all the data over and categorizes it in minutes versus hours allowing me to submit it to the court. It helps eliminate human error as well. I can’t tell you how many times a number has been transposed causing me to have to go through every transaction a second time.”
Judge Rusu said because the program is relatively new the company is allowing legal professionals to make suggestions as to how it can be improved.
“My staff really likes the software, but one issue we’ve identified is that the program is only prospective, not retrospective,” he said. “As a result, if the fiduciary did not sign up for online banking when the account was first opened, we can’t access any of the data prior to the person signing up for online banking.
“The company tells me that there is a fix in the works currently,” said Judge Rusu.
Legal professionals interested in learning more about the program can send an email to hello@societalsystems.com. They can also test the software by visiting Mahoning.SocietalSystems.com.