Law Foundation of Saskatchewan

 Source of Funds - Mixed Trust Accounts

What are mixed trust accounts?

Lawyers frequently hold money for clients in trust. The reasons range from the clients’ need to buy or sell real estate, buy or sell businesses, settle litigation, transfer matrimonial property, wind up estates, pay retainer fees, and so on.

If the amounts involved are small, or will be held in trust for a short time, and so are unlikely to generate any net interest for the individual client, the money may be placed in a "mixed trust account" with funds from other small or short term transactions.

How does the interest from mixed trust accounts get to the Law Foundation?

Saskatchewan lawyers are required to hold trust money for clients generally (rather than for a specific client) in an interest bearing account.  The Legal Profession Act, 1990 deems the lawyer to hold the interest in trust for the Foundation, and to send the interest to the Foundation (Section 78).

Lawyers are required by the Rules of the Law Society of Saskatchewan to instruct the savings institution in which they have a mixed trust account to send the interest earned on that account quarterly to the Foundation, and further to personally pay any service fees levied by the savings institution arising out of the operation of the account (Rule 911).

Mixed trust accounts must be held in a prescribed savings institution in the Province (Rule 900), unless the lawyer’s primary practice is outside Saskatchewan (Rule 910(4)).  The Foundation has agreements with most approved savings institutions respecting the rates of interest to be paid and the procedure to be followed when remitting interest on mixed trust accounts.

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