What is a trust account?

A law practice trust account is a bank account that is held by a law practice for the purpose of holding client’s money used for the purpose of delivering legal services. In a conveyancing practice, the money held is usually the deposit or the settlement funds.

A law practice’s trust account is heavily regulated and requires full-time administration to be compliant. It is also audited at least once a year by external examiners to ensure that the practice is properly maintaining their client records. If the law practice did not do so and comply with all of their reporting duties, the principal or legal directors of the law practice may lose their practicing certificate. Hence, your conveyancing lawyers will treat it with all due respect and diligence. Hence, if you are putting your money into a law practice’s trust account, you can be assured that the money will be properly accounted for.

In the electronic conveyancing world, a law practice’s trust account is often linked to the electronic settlement platforms for the purpose of disbursing funds. There are no more bank cheques that are exchanged at settlements in states like Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia.