Unearned fees and advances for costs must be placed in the trust account.
Nonrefundable fees are permissible, but remain subject to the rule regarding clearly excessive fees.
An attorney who charges a flat fee, a portion of which will be used to pay costs, must deposit into the trust account any unearned fee, as well as the estimated amount of costs. In 1976 this Committee, at the request of the Board of Governors, published an advisory opinion addressing several common questions relating to trust accounting. We begin by setting forth some of the pertinent provisions of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar. A lawyer shall hold in trust, separate from the lawyer's own property, funds and property of clients or third persons that are in a lawyer's possession in connection with a representation. All funds, including advances for costs and expenses, shall be kept in a separate account maintained in the state where the lawyer's office is situated or elsewhere with the consent of the client or third person, provided that the funds may be separately held and maintained other than in a bank account if the lawyer receives written permission from the client to do so and provided that such written permission is received prior to maintaining the funds other than in a separate bank account.