South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts31—Disposition of trust money
(1) Subject to
subsection (2), a legal practitioner must, as soon as practicable after
receipt of any trust money in the course of practice, deposit the money in a
trust account and must not withdraw or permit it to be withdrawn except as
authorised by this Part.
(2) Where at or before
the time that a legal practitioner receives trust money the practitioner is
given a written direction by the person entitled to the money to dispose of it
in a manner specified in the direction, it is lawful for the
legal practitioner to act in accordance with that direction.
(3) A
legal practitioner may withdraw trust money from a trust account—
(a) for
payment to the person entitled to the money or in accordance with the
direction of that person; and
(b) for
satisfaction of a claim that the practitioner has against the person on behalf
of whom the money is held for legal costs; and
(c) to
satisfy the order of a court of competent jurisdiction against the person on
behalf of whom the practitioner is holding the money; and
(d) if
the money is subject to an instrument of trust, for making a payment in
compliance with the terms of that instrument; and
(e) for
dealing with any unclaimed money in accordance with the Unclaimed Moneys
Act 1891 ; and
(f) for
making payments to the Society under Part 4 for the credit of the
combined trust account; and
(g) for
making any other payment authorised by law.
(4) The
legal practitioner must keep detailed accounts of all trust money received,
and of any disbursement or other dealings with the money in a manner—
(a) that
accurately discloses the state of any trust accounts maintained by the
legal practitioner; and
(b) that
enables the receipt and disposition of trust money to be conveniently and
properly audited.
(5) The
legal practitioner must keep detailed accounts of any trust money received
that is, by virtue of a direction to which subsection (2) relates, not
paid into the practitioner's trust account, and of any disbursement, or
dealing, affecting that money.
(6) A
legal practitioner—
(a) must
not, without the approval of the Supreme Court, permit trust money to be
intermixed with other money; and
(b) must
not, without the approval of the Supreme Court, keep a trust account at an
ADI, or a branch of an ADI, outside the State; and
(c)
must, unless approval has been given under paragraph (b) to keep a
trust account outside the State, keep it at an ADI that is prepared to pay
interest on the account at a rate equal to or above the rate determined by the
Society.
(6a) The Society may
make a determination for the purposes of subsection (6)(c) and may revoke
or vary a determination made by it under that subsection.
(7) An approval under
subsection (6) may be given on such conditions as the Supreme Court
thinks fit.
(7a) A
legal practitioner who receives trust money in the course of acting in a
matter must provide the person who instructed him or her in the matter with
trust account statements in accordance with the regulations.
(8) A person who
contravenes this section or a condition imposed by the Supreme Court under
this section, is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $10 000.
(9) A
legal practitioner who fails to deposit trust moneys in a trust account as
required by this section is (apart from any penalty incurred under
subsection (8)) liable to pay the Society interest on the amount of those
trust moneys at the prescribed rate for the period of the default.
(10) The Society may,
for proper reasons, remit interest payable under subsection (9) wholly or
in part.
(11) Any interest
received or recovered by the Society under subsection (9) must be paid
into the statutory interest account.