Cash gift

NiniS

Hi, I have read through this forum and found a few replies that might answer part of my question, but not completely, so I decided to create this thread (sorry if it is in the wrong section!).

I live together with my other half/boyfriend and we are currently wanting to save up for a house. To help us, his grandmother (also his legal guardian I think as his mother is no longer around) has gifted us £10,000 in cash, all in £50 notes. Seems that some old people do still keep their savings under their mattress!

The problem now is that we want to deposit this money into our bank account, but we are not sure if this is allowed and if they will ask questions. As far as I know, there is no paper trail of this money as she didn't take it out of an account, it has always just been kept in her house. Is it enough to say that it was a gift from her? Or do we need some kind of proof? Will they want to tax this money?

Thanks so much for your help!

Stevie_Palimo

Firstly you need to check the £50- notes are still legal tender as they are doing away with the older ones and if you have 10k in cash in older notes it will be deemed useless shortly if not already.


Also if they are older ones you can only change a certain amount at a time ie:- £200 £300.00 per bank.


If they are newer ones then all you do is deposit small amounts at a time ie:- £750.00 week one, leave it a week or so and then deposit £1000.00 and so on until you have paid it all into the bank.


As far as I am aware it is still fine to bank around £3000 - £5000.00 without to many questions but if you get looked into they could freeze your account due to money laundering.

NiniS

Hi Stevie, thanks for your reply!

I already checked the notes and they all seem to be the newer ones, so still fine to use luckily!

If we end up depositing the money in multiple batches, won't that look more suspicious to the bank, as it will be going on for a longer period of time?

Stevie_Palimo

I have always been led to believe that if you walked into a bank with a large chunk of change questions will be asked so when ever I have a large amount of cash I bank it in smaller amounts and or split it over my 4 accounts. If you do not need it straight away why not open a credit union account for a few grand, Premium bonds over the post office for a few grand and then deposit the cash into a few accounts.

Mojisola

NiniS wrote: »

To help us, his grandmother (also his legal guardian I think as his mother is no longer around) has gifted us £10,000 in cash, all in £50 notes. Seems that some old people do still keep their savings under their mattress!

NiniS wrote: »

I already checked the notes and they all seem to be the newer ones, so still fine to use luckily!

Did she change old notes to the new ones or has she saved £10k in the last three years? If she's keeping that amount of cash at home, she could lose it all in a fire or a theft.:(

le_loup

NiniS wrote: »

. To help us, his grandmother (also his legal guardian I think as his mother is no longer around)

How old is this boy?

NiniS

le_loup wrote: »

How old is this boy?

27, so no longer a boy I'm afraid. :P
Not sure if legal guardian is the right term (I'm not English so might get my words confused here), but she basically raised him and his brothers as their mom left when he was about 6.

dzug1

You will not get taxed on this gift - the GM's estate may be if she doesn't live 7 years


Paying it in in one go will certainly lead to questions - but you have good answers to them.


Paying it in in bits is classic money laundering - if the bank notices.


If they do it will cause more trouble than answering the original questions

agrinnall

I've got to agree with dzug1, while paying in £10K in cash should be questioned, it's a lot safer than paying in smaller amounts over a long period. Perhaps the grandmother could write a letter explaining that the cash has come from her (although that may lead to further questions on where she got it from).