Trust: Disbursement Approval Process

Trust: Disbursement Approval Process

Summary Overview

When requesting a disbursement or release of funds from a Gravis Law trust account, there is a specific approval chain which must be followed depending on the amount to be released.  The goal is to mitigate risk of fraud and human error when money is processed out of trust bank accounts. You may submit a check request before these approvals have been completed; accounting will perform them. 

Verification

Your accounting team must verify funds have been received and there is little-to-no risk of the funds being removed from the bank account and returned to the payor (cancelled checks, failed credit card payments, etc).
  1. Checks (Personal and Business): 7 business days after deposit
  2. Cashiers Checks: Same Day (assuming your accounting team can verify funds with remitting bank)
  3. Cash: Same Day
  4. Money Orders: 1 day after deposit
  5. Wires: Currently 1 day after deposit
  6. LawPay Credit/Debit Cards: Generally 1 business day, Status must say "Completed" in LawPay
  7. LawPay EChecks: Generally 5 business days, Status must say "Completed" in LawPay

Approvals

Depending on the amount of your request more than one finance member may need to review and approve the request. Based on the amount, the following is who needs to approve. 
  1. Below 10K: Trust Accountant
  2. Between 10K - 50K: Trust Accountant and CFO
  3. Above 50K: Trust Accountant, CFO, and SMA
On average, the approval process will take 1 business day and can be done while waiting for the deposit to clear the bank account. 
  1. What does "On Hold" mean? 
  2. How To: Request a check? 
  3. How To: Refund a client's trust balance


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