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A Trust Administration Fee (TAF) came into effect on March 1, 2005. This is a fee to help fund Law Society trust assurance initiatives.
BC lawyers must remit to the Law Society a $10 TAF for each distinct client matter in connection with which trust funds are received on or after March 1, 2005, unless the trust funds are solely for the purpose of paying legal fees or to be held as a retainer.
Rule 2-72.2(3) states that a lawyer must remit the TAF “collected” or “allocated to a client file” for the previous quarter within 30 days of the end of that quarter. This means that remittances must be received by the Law Society by April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Each of these remittances will cover the three-month period ending March 30, June 30, September 30 and December 31 respectively.
New filing procedure
The TAF filing process has changed so that law firms will now log in from the website and create a new invoice online for each filing quarter. Once created, the invoice must be printed to accompany your TAF remittance cheque. This process has replaced the previous “TAF Filing Form” that many firms pre-printed to complete by hand. The filing form has been removed and is no longer accepted.
Log in at https://alt.lawsociety.bc.ca/taf/index.cfm to create a TAF invoice.
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The Trust Administration Fee funds the following Law Society iniatives:
- The Trust Assurance Program
Through the new Trust Assurance Program, the Law Society will conduct rotational “compliance audits” of all law firms to ensure lawyers handle trust funds appropriately. In addition, the Law Society’s trust assurance team will be available to answer any questions lawyers and their staff may have about trust accounting and to assist lawyers — particularly those in smaller firms or setting up new firms — to develop proper accounting systems.
- Custodianships
When a lawyer is unable to continue practising due to death, illness or regulatory suspension and has not made arrangements for another lawyer to take over his or her practice, the Law Society will ask the court to appoint a custodian of that lawyer’s practice. The custodian’s role is to assist the lawyer’s clients to find another lawyer to handle their legal matters and, in most cases, to wind up the lawyer’s legal practice. The Law Society is implementing a new, more cost-effective custodianship program that will see custodial services delivered in-house rather than out-sourced to private lawyers.
- Forensic audit
Auditors who investigate specific complaints against lawyers as part of our discipline process.
- Part B insurance
Part B insurance coverage provides compensation to clients who suffer loss through a lawyer’s misappropriation of trust funds.
For more information, see the TAF information circular and forms in the Publication & Forms section.
Contact us
For more information on trust assurance standards and reporting, please contact the trust assurance program.
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