Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Interest on
Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Board Helping to Secure Equal Access to Justice
Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Board Helping to Secure Equal Access to Justice
Unclaimed & Unidentifiable Funds in IOLTA Accounts
Effective June 29, 2018, Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15(v) requires lawyers and law firms to remit unclaimed or unidentifiable IOLTA Funds to the IOLTA Board following reasonable efforts to identify or locate the owner of funds for a minimum of two years. If at any time thereafter, the owner of the funds is identified and/or located, the funds remitted to the IOLTA Board may be reclaimed.
Which Funds Are Considered Unidentifiable or Unclaimed?
- Unidentifiable funds refers to funds accumulated in a Pennsylvania IOLTA account that cannot be reasonably documented as belonging to a client, former client, third party, or the lawyer or law firm for a minimum of two (2) years despite reasonable efforts to identify and return the funds to their rightful owner.
- Unclaimed funds refers to funds in a Pennsylvania IOLTA account for which a client, former client, or third party appear to have an interest, but have not responded to the lawyer or law firm’s reasonable efforts to encourage the client, former client, or third party to claim their rightful funds for a minimum period of two (2) years .
Remittance & Claim Forms
To remit funds to the IOLTA Board:
To claim funds from the IOLTA Board:
- Instructions and Form for Lawyers to Reclaim Remitted Funds
- Instructions and Form for non-Lawyer Claimants to Claim Funds
(For use only if the former client’s lawyer is no longer available.) - Instrucciones y Formulario de Reclamación del Propietario
(Para uso exclusivo si el abogado del cliente ya no está disponible)
Read the Rule & FAQ’s
- Pa. R.P.C. 1.15(v)
- Unclaimed & Unidentifiable Fund FAQ’s
- More questions? Please do not hesitate to contact the IOLTA Board via e-mail at paiolta@pacourts.us or by phone at (717) 238 2001.