It may sometimes occur that you have money in your trust account that you are not able to pay out to a client because you are not able to locate or identify the client. If you have made attempts and have been unable to locate the beneficiary of trust money for two years or more, that money may be paid to the Law Society as unclaimed trust funds pursuant to subsection 111(1) of the Law Society Act, 1996. The Law Society will hold the money in trust for the client for a period of ten years. A person or the legal representative of a person who is entitled to the money may claim the money from the Society and if the Society is satisfied that the person is entitled, it will pay the money to the person with interest.

 

If no one has claimed the money following the ten-year period, the money will be paid to the New Brunswick Law Foundation. 

 

Under no circumstances do you have any claim to money that belongs to a client. If you have unclaimed trust funds, you may continue to hold it in trust for the benefit of the client, or pay it to the Law Society if it qualifies as unclaimed trust funds