Memo · Trust accounting & handling client money
Trust irregularity briefing note for the principal
Internal note that lines up the facts of a trust irregularity so the principal can give written notice to the regulator as soon as practicable. It is not the notice.
- Kind
- Memo. An internal or advice memo.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales, Western Australia
- AI use
- Red You write the text. The tool writes nothing into the document. Where permitted, it may check, clarify or collect data, and anything it checks or collects is verified.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for New South Wales and Western Australia.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use as soon as someone in the practice thinks there may be an irregularity in a trust account or trust ledger. The principal decides and gives the notice. Do not send this memo to the client or to the regulator.
Used for these tasks
- Reconcile the trust ledger to the bank and the matter files
- Check a trust-to-office transfer against the bill and the authority
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may place dates and amounts from records the principal supplies into the facts table. The principal decides what the irregularity is and writes the notice.
AI may
- Copy dates, amounts and ledger references from records the principal marks as the source
- List the fields the NSW online report and the WA email each ask for
AI must not
- Must not decide whether there is an irregularity or draft the words that will be sent
- Must not lodge the form or send the email
- Must not describe the cause as fraud, staff error or a bank error
The lawyer checks
- A principal has decided that notice is required and has signed it
- The notice uses the regulator's current method and goes out as soon as practicable, not after the internal review is finished
- WA notices follow the Board's email format and do not attach documents unless the Board asks
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is available after you log in. It is free. When you log in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Trust accounting & handling client money
- Client authority to withdraw trust money for legal costs, with notice of withdrawal and pre-transfer checklist (Uniform Law)
- Direction to pay money into the law practice trust account
- Client direction for an IOLTA or separate trust deposit (United States)
- Written direction to pay trust money to a third party
- Payment-redirection and deepfake call-back verification protocol for trust disbursements
- Check before a trust-to-operating transfer (United States)
- Review checklist for AI-assisted monthly trust reconciliation (Uniform General Rules r 48)
- Unidentified trust money register and enquiry
- Notice that funds were received into trust (United States)
- Client notice: our bank details will never change by email (payment fraud and deepfake warning)
- Trust account statement to the person for whom money is held
- File note when trust funds are disputed (United States)
- Controls standard: AI tools and trust records (read-only access, no payment functions, audit trail)
- Index for a trust investigation or external examination
All precedents for Trust accounting & handling client money · Tasks and AI use in this area