Wilsons Solicitors

Acceptability: Normally no restriction, provided it, added to other cash payments made within the previous 7 days, totals under £1,000. Otherwise treat it as a cash receipt over £1,000 as below.

Clearance: day of receipt, provided the cash has been banked.

Proof of source (see below): not required.

Acceptability: acceptable subject to extra care with proof of source as below.

Clearance: day of receipt, provided the cash has been banked.

Proof of source (see below): usual rule applies as below but with extra care.

Acceptability: no restrictions.

Clearance: 10 working days (ie usually 14 calendar days). Eg cheque received 1st of month, payment out can be made 15th (or later if bank holidays have intervened).

Proof of source (see below): must be cheque drawn from an account in the client's own sole name. It must not be a joint account (unless they are joint clients), a business account, or somebody else's account. The cheque will state on its face the source of the money: ie the account details and name are printed on it.

Acceptability: no restrictions.

Clearance: 10 working days (ie usually 14 calendar days). Eg received 1st of month, payment out can be made 15th (or later if bank holidays have intervened).

Note:

A bankers draft is the same as a cheque, so the same rules apply.

This is because a bankers draft is literally a cheque. The only difference is that it is a cheque drawn by the bank itself rather than by the client out of his account with the bank. In other words, the fact that a cheque is a bankers draft just makes it much less likely that it will be dishonoured. But it does not make it impossible (banks do fail occasionally, and bankers drafts can be forged just like other cheques can).

Bankers drafts have to be cleared through the bank like any other cheque. This clearance is more reliable, but not quicker.

Proof of source (see below): usual rule applies as below (not the same as cheques).

Acceptability: no restrictions, except that certain cards are excluded (eg American Express and Diners cards).

Clearance: 4 working days. Eg client pays lawyer on Friday, lawyer can pay out on the following Thursday (or later if bank holidays have intervened).

Proof of source (see below): must be card in the client's own sole name. It must not be a joint account (unless they are joint clients), a business account, or somebody else's account.

BACS can be arranged through most banks, and are often free of any bank charge. However, the sending bank usually quotes at least 3 days to get it to the lawyer, so forward planning by the client is essential, and it may be advisable for the client to give extra time in case there are any hiccups in the banking system that delay it getting to the lawyer.

Acceptability: no restrictions.

Clearance: working day after receipt. Eg money arrives in lawyer's account Friday, lawyer can pay out on the Monday.

Proof of source (see below): usual rule applies as below.

CHAPS payments are same day money transfers. They can also be arranged through most banks and online banking, but a fee is usually payable to the bank. They are same day transfers but NOT instantaneous. It often takes several hours for a payment to arrive at its destination. Clients are therefore best advised to arrange a CHAPS payment for the day before the lawyer will pay it out just to be on the safe side.

Acceptability: no restrictions.

Clearance: In principle, day of receipt. Eg money arrives in lawyer's account Friday, lawyer can pay it out on Friday. This is subject to practicality however. Eg if the payment has spent several hours getting to the lawyer the lawyer might not have enough hours left in the day to send it back out again to its destination.

Proof of source (see below): usual rule applies as below.

These are treated as BACS (see above)

Acceptability: not acceptable. These will be rejected by the bank. This is because of government regulations and is outside the control of the lawyer.

If, exceptionally, such a payment is accepted by a bank this does not constitute acceptance by the lawyer. Any such receipts will initially be treated by the lawyer as unexpected receipts (see below). If accepted they will then be treated by the lawyer as if they were cheque receipts (see above).

In circumstances where payment through the lawyer would normally be expected (eg towards a house purchase) must not be made. This is because of regulations and to avoid any suspicion of fraud.

(Eg from mortgage lender, or housebuyer, or compensation payer) are sometimes organised by a lawyer on a client's behalf and the lawyer will be entitled to do this and to acknowledge receipt of the money on your behalf.

Other receipts from non-client on client's behalf or otherwise must not be made. This is because of regulations and to avoid any suspicion of fraud.

Unexpected receipts into the lawyer's bank account cannot be accepted by the lawyer irrespective of whether the bank accepts them. This is because of regulations. If received such payments may be liable to be impounded pending investigation of the circumstances.

Banking facilities cannot be offered by lawyers. Any payment to a lawyer must relate to a transaction or matter in which the lawyer is instructed. A lawyer is required to treat any payment received in breach of this as an unexpected receipt (see above).

Any money received by a lawyer must be accompanied by satisfactory confirmation of its source, eg a bank statement showing its withdrawal (but not one simply showing it exists, it must show its withdrawal). This is so as to comply with regulations and applies whatever the form of the receipt. It must be demonstrated to originate from an account in the client's own sole name. It must not be a joint account (unless they are joint clients), a business account, or somebody else's account.

The only exception to this is cash receipts under £1,000. However, a cash payment smaller than £1,000 will be subject to the same rules if it, added to other cash payments made within the previous 7 days, totals more than £1,000.

It would not normally be necessary to enquire further as to the source of monies arriving by cheque or plastic. This is because both carry on their face confirmation of the source of the money: ie the account details and name are printed on it.

Lawyers need cleared funds before completion of any job, including their fees and expenses and VAT. They cannot complete until they have got them. So get any payment organised in good time bearing in mind the above rules, or further charges may be incurred, even if the job can still be completed on time.

Sometimes a lawyer will arrange for monies to arrive from somewhere other than the client. The best example of this may be where a client is buying a house with a mortgage. The lawyer will ask the mortgage lender for the monies to come to the lawyer direct on behalf of the client. Where this happens, he will often try to get the monies to arrive in advance because of the above rules. As a result the client might end up paying extra for interest or other charges. This is just to make things run smoothly.

Any funds received by a lawyer (by any method) which cannot be demonstrated to come from a source within the categories mentioned above cannot be accepted unless a TPMA is obtained. A TPMA can only be granted by a senior lawyer, and will normally be refused unless there are exceptional circumstances.

There are various charges made in relation to the above methods of money receipt. These will be in addition to any other charge charged by the bank etc. Details of these charges are published on our website under 'Miscellaneous services and fees'.