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Depositing/Disbursing Investment Funds with the Court

Rules, Orders & Statutes governing deposits with the court:

Please contact the finance department at (412) 208-7528.


General Overview of Cases that collect interest:

Investment accounts are created only when ordered by the court. The received funds will be deposited into an interest-bearing account and monitored by the finance office. There are three types of investment funds: Liquidity, Disputed Ownership Fund (DOF), and a Minor’s Account.


Commonly asked questions regarding investment accounts:

What does Finance require in the Order to deposit funds into an invested account

The proposed order to deposit funds into CRIS (the Court Registry Investment System) must be prepared on one of three forms: the Standard Investment Order (for Liquidity cases), the Standard Investment Order in a DOF case, or the Standard Investment Order in a Minor’s fund. Finance does not dictate what type of account should be selected; the attorney must review the statutes associated with each fund and make this determination when selected the appropriate proposed order.

I am an attorney preparing to make a deposit with the court for the funds to go into an interest- bearing account, but I don’t have an exact amount to put in the order at this time. What should I do?

This commonly happens when preparing a proposed order to deposit funds into CRIS. The attorney may choose to follow-up with an Amended Order stating an exact amount once the exact amount is known. When this happens, the Amended Order will be signed and then the Clerk of Court can proceed to accept the payment. Or it could be that the attorney doesn’t know the exact amount because the funds are currently collecting interest prior to their firm receiving the check to deposit. In that case, he should state in the proposed order the known principal amount, adding that when the check is presented to the Clerk’s Office the amount may increase to include accumulated interest.

What is necessary in the order to distribute CRIS funds?

The party motioning for the disbursement of invested funds must provide the principal amount of deposit, adding that interest has accumulated since that time. They will state the name and mailing address of each payee, including the amount of principal and/or interest they are to receive. Because the total amount of interest is unknown at this time, it is recommended to state the amount of interest as a percentage. For example, the Order might state, “Principal proceeds in the amount of $20,000.00, plus 50% of accumulated interest, is to be paid to Mary Smith and mailed to 123 Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15219”.

What else is needed to distribute CRIS funds?

A W-9 is required from each payee prior to disbursement. The payee must complete and sign a W-9 form and mail this form to the U.S. District Court Clerk’s Office, Finance Dept., 700 Grant Street, Suite 3110, Pittsburgh, PA 15219. Payment will not be generated until this form has been received. Upon receipt of the W-9 form, the finance department will verify that the name provided on the form is consistent with the name of the payee in the signed order. For example, if payment is to go to the Estate of Joe Smith, the W-9 received must have “Estate of Joe Smith” named on the W-9 form with the EIN of the Estate listed. All payments may potentially be subject to 1099 reporting.