How to Handle Unclaimed Client Trust Funds and IOLTA Escheatment: The 2026 Step-by-Step Compliance Playbook

Almost every law firm is holding client money it cannot return — closed matters with $47 residuals, clients who moved without forwarding, estates with no remaining contact. Leaving that money in your IOLTA indefinitely is not neutral; it is a reportable compliance failure in most states. Here is the 7-step process for identifying, documenting, curing, and escheating unclaimed trust funds.