Legal Question in Family Law in California

Re: escrow proceeds held by attorney

It seems that your attorney or her attorney has put the funds into his or her attorney trust account which is exactly what an attorney is supposed to do by law. Unfortunetly, the California State Bar takes any interest that is earned from these accounts, and applies the money to public purposes.

You would need to get a Court Order to put the money into another type of interest bearing account. This could probably be done by a stipulation and order between the parties. The account would probably have to be a blocked account that would not be accessible without a further order from the Court.

The problem is; would the interest you earn on the funds, offset the attorney fees for obtaining the order, and a future release order?

Re: escrow proceeds held by attorney

If both parties agree, I see no reason why funds cannot be put into an interest bearing account. Both parties would put their names on the account and give instructions to the bank that neither party can withdraw funds unless both parites sign or there is a court order. Otherwise, if the parties do not agee, the funds must be put into a "non-interest bearing" trust account until and unless there is a court order placing the funds in an interest bearing account. I am sure the attorney would like to get those funds out of his trust account if he could.