Estate planning firms that assemble and ship trust binders in-house now have an alternative that moves that work into the signing assignment itself. Prestige has announced an estate planning signing support service that combines document printing, binder assembly and delivery by a notary to the signer, offered broadly to estate planning firms through Prestige Notaries.
The significance lies in where the labor sits. The service originated with a client that was assembling tabbed trust binders internally and paying to ship them. Prestige took over ordering binders and tabs, printing documents, organizing and sealing materials, and arranging for a notary to bring the completed package to the signer. The firm no longer needed to assemble binders or absorb shipping costs, converting a recurring internal burden into a line item within the signing engagement.
That shift matters for firms weighing staffing against document volume. Preparation tasks that once consumed paralegal and administrative time are now folded into the assignment handled by Prestige and its field professionals. The company frames the development as an example of an approach described by Jennifer Garland, founder, President and CEO of Prestige Companies: listening to a client's specific operational needs and building support around them. A process created for one firm became a service offered more broadly.
Garland founded Prestige in 2015 after working as a paralegal at the Washington State Attorney General's office and managing a mortgage company. That mortgage experience exposed a need for streamlined processes and hand-vetted notaries, which Prestige Notaries was established to address. The company today serves banks, corporations and law firms, with a database of more than 260,000 notaries across all 50 states.
Independent professionals are central to the model. Garland describes the notaries and field agents working with Prestige as small business owners whose independence remains important to the relationship, emphasizing self-sufficiency over dependence on the company. Support includes clear expectations, access to resources and ongoing communication with the service team, paired with a consistent vetting process for every notary placed regardless of location or assignment.
Because Notarial law varies by state, Prestige maintains a library of state-by-state guides so team members can reference jurisdiction-specific requirements rather than rely on memory. That library, together with training and vetting, underpins assignments involving professionals in different states.
The logistical range is notable. Prestige has arranged for a notary and field agent to travel by float plane to a remote Alaskan island and remain for several days to obtain a signature, and for another notary to reach a signer by snowmobile to a mile marker. It has also coordinated a commercial signing with 17 signers across five cities and three time zones occurring simultaneously. Shipment tracking inside the company's platform lets clients follow materials without calling a carrier, preserving staff attention for work that requires direct personal involvement.
The estate planning offering applies that same logic to physical preparation and delivery, placing binders, tabs, printing, organization, sealing and delivery within the assignment rather than leaving binder assembly as an internal responsibility of the firm.
