How to prove origin of funds?

callmeted

Hi all,

I bought a shared-ownership flat back in 2012, and between then and now I have met and married my lovely wife.

We have thus decided now is a good time to staircase and buy the rest of the property, with a mix of a mortgage and savings my wife has had in her accounts since 2005ish, which she received in a lump sum as proceeds from the sale of the family home when her father sadly passed away (c.£120k).

The housing association we are working with, as per the anti-money laundering legislation they adhere to, have requested proof of origin of funds - which is proving to be the problem. We presented them with a year's statement for one of my wife's savings accounts containing £65,000, from which we'd like to utilise £40,000 as a deposit.

Through the whirlwind time of her father's death, neither she or her mother have any documents to detail the money arriving in her account, and the solicitor who worked with the family has since been jailed for embezzling money! Unfortunately, the housing association is insisting that the evidence comes in the form of a letter from the solicitor, and won't accept anything from the family's accountant.

We are severely stressed. The money has been in various bonds/savings accounts since 2005 so it's impossible to ascertain the initial start-point for when this money reached her savings. We have no idea how to prove that the money is legitimate! What can we do?

I've seen what the Law Society has to say about AML, and I know I just need concrete evidence to explain the source of funds. But what can we use?

We are a fair way along in buying the rest of the property and paid so much already in fees to solicitors, housing association and surveyor, so looking to keep progressing with the purchase. Could our solicitors help, or would it muddy the waters even further?

ANY ADVICE GRATEFULLY RECEIVED!!!

Thanks in advance

xylophone

Was there a will? Probate? Letters of administration?

Evidence of sale of the family home not long after father's death?

If a gift from mother rather than a bequest, any evidence of this?

davidmcn

Can I get this right - these funds have been held in accounts in her own name for 10 years, and they want to look beyond that? I'm sure your solicitor can point out to them how absurd that is, and how it compares to their own policies.

agrinnall

Presumably the money is being paid to the HA? If so, I would ask your solicitor to write to them to say that ensuring your compliance with AML rules is your solicitor's responsibility, and the HA should keep their noses out of things that are not their business (the solicitor would probably phrase it a bit more politely).

PixelPound

Maybe you could have said they were from earning accrued over time.It is feasible you could have built them over 10 or 15 years

Mrs_pbradley936

Housing Associations can be strange to deal with. One of my sons met a divorced woman with a child and she lived in a partly owned set up. Anyway my son moved in with her, a few years down the line they had a child together and sought to buy a greater share. They were turned down by high street lenders and so my husband and I offered to finance the remainder and they could pay us so much a month.


We checked with our solicitor to make sure it was legal and above board BUT the Housing Association would not even consider it! Apparently they are not allowed to help "speculators" so I am aware that they have their own guidelines which may be nothing to do with being legal.