Cloning family members

The cloning feature available in the client list by selecting Tools and Clone family members is used to create a copy of one or more family members. This is useful in the following situations:

• Splitting up a family to prepare the return of a separated or divorced spouse

• Preparing the return of a dependant who has moved out of the family household

• Copying joint-custody dependants to a spouse who is separated or divorced from the family head

Cloning makes a copy of the selected family member, and assigns them a new client number. This copy (the clone) appears as a separate entry in the client list. Note that only the current year data is copied for the clone.

Once the copy is made, there is no more link between the original member and the clone, i.e. changes affecting one of them (including changes to permanent data such as the address, for example) will not be applied to the other.

To clone a family member:

1. In the client list, place the cursor on the family member you wish to clone.
2. Select Tools, then Clone family members.
3. In the dialogue box that appears, verify that the options Current individual only and Add to a new family are selected.
4. Check (or uncheck as relevant) the option Make cloned family member inactive in original family.
5. Click OK.

The program will create a new family with the clone as the family head.

If Make cloned family member inactive in original family was ticked, the family member will be inactive in the original family. The tax data of inactive family members do not take part in the tax calculations of the family for the years that they are inactive, but continue to take part in the tax calculations for other years where they remain active (e.g. prior years). This is useful for instance in the case of a separated or divorced spouse as it excludes the ex-spouse from the original family after the split, while retaining the correct family makeup before the split.

You can clone more than one family member into a new family:

1. Mark the family members to be cloned in the client list (using the spacebar).
2. Proceed per the cloning instructions above except in step 3, select Marked individuals only.

You can also clone one or more family members into an existing family:

1. Proceed as above but in step 3, select Add to an existing family.
2. In the field provided, enter the client number of the head of the family to which the clone(s) should be added.

Note that the program will not allow you to produce a family with more then one spouse.

Do not use the cloning feature to duplicate families for the purpose of creating "What if" tax scenarios as you need to avoid the confusion resulting from having two or more sets of information. Instead, us the tax plans which are available specifically to that end.

Attention DT FileCabinet/DT Client Portal users:

Whenever a client is cloned in DT Max, the cloned client is assigned a new client number. Because DT FileCabinet drawer IDs are based on DT Max client numbers (for more information, see the "Changing client numbers" knowledge base page), any documents sent to DT FileCabinet from a cloned client will result in the creation of new client (drawer) in DT FileCabinet. If you use DT Client Portal, you will need to manually link the new drawer to the existing client in DT Client Portal. This can be done by logging into DT Client Portal, clicking the "Admin" button, selecting the client in question, clicking on the "Document Presentation" button, and adding the new drawer.