Get IOLTA NOTICE TO FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AND FOUNDATION

Expenses associated with an IOLTA cannot be paid from client funds. Thus service charges associated with the account and other charges, such as the cost of printing checks, cannot be paid from client funds. Some financial institutions will waive these charges.

IOLTA is an acronym for Interest on Lawyers Trust Accounts. Whenever a lawyer has funds that belong to a client, state ethics rules require that those funds must be kept in a trust account that's separate from the lawyer's general operating account.

Although IOLTA creates income, nothing else is changed: lawyers satisfy their ethical and fiduciary duty to place client funds in a secure account; there is on-demand access to the client's money; and, as in the past, the client realizes no interest income because the nominal or short-term client funds that are pooled ...

After a great deal of discussion, the Committee determined that neither debit nor credit cards should be issued or used on an IOLTA account. ... Attorneys may still accept debit or credit card payments on their IOLTA account. Any questions concerning the Committee's position may be directed to Anita R.

An IOLTA account is an interest-bearing checking account that an attorney or law firm maintains for client funds nominal in amount or held for a short period of time. The account is a demand account established in the name of the attorney or law firm. The account is often referred to as a client trust account.

The attorney must open an interest-bearing IOLTA account in his or her or the law firm's name and with the Texas Access to Justice Foundation's tax identification number. The Foundation will pay reasonable service charges on the IOLTA account.

A lawyer who receives funds that belong to a client must place those funds in a trust account separate from the lawyer's own money. Client funds are deposited in an IOLTA account when the funds cannot otherwise earn enough income for the client to be more than the cost of securing that income.

(Note: if your bank issues a debit card for your IOLTA account, under no circumstances should it have ATM privileges.) Some firms will also intentionally use their IOLTA accounts to hide assets, or will leave funds in their IOLTA even after they've been earned, using it as a savings account.

The attorney must open an interest-bearing IOLTA account in his or her or the law firm's name and with the Texas Access to Justice Foundation's tax identification number. The Foundation will pay reasonable service charges on the IOLTA account.

A lawyer who receives funds that belong to a client must place those funds in a trust account separate from the lawyer's own money. Client funds are deposited in an IOLTA account when the funds cannot otherwise earn enough income for the client to be more than the cost of securing that income.