Help on opening an account with a large cheque

drew12a

My mother is about to receive an inheritance of approx 70,000 - 100,000 Euros (unsure what the figure is yet) and I would like to know whether my mother should open a brand new bank account with these funds, or have these funds transferred to her current basic bank account.

Also I would like advice as to which is the best method of receiving these funds. Should it be via bank transfer? Should my mother deposit a cheque for the actual account? Or is there a better method?

The monies right now are residing with a solicitor in the Republic Of Ireland in the form of a cheque.

I appreciate that not many people find themselves in this fortunate position but my mother is one of the nicest people a person could meet (I know I'm biased) and has worked very hard all her life. I'm really pleased for her.

All help and advice is greatly appreciated.

meer53

It will be easier for your mother to have the funds paid into her existing account, bank transfer would probably be the best method. She may be contacted by her bank to provide proof of where the funds have come from. Her solicitor will be able to do this for her, opening a new account with a large sum may take longer.

Chino

meer53 wrote: »

Her solicitor will be able to do this for her

No doubt ... and charge handsomely for doing something your mother can do herself.

xylophone

Your mother is UK resident and has a sterling bank account?

Could the solicitor arrange the conversion to sterling and a bank transfer to her bank account?

She might wish to advise her bank that the money is expected and its source.

Has she decided what she wants to do with the money once she receives it?

gunsandbanjos

I wouldn't open a brand new account and stick a cheque that size in! Asking for trouble, definitely use an existing account.

jonesMUFCforever

A Euro cheque payable to a brand new account or even an existing basic account will probably be sent on a collection basis rather than negotiation.
This means a delay of between 4/6 weeks before cleared funds would be available.
I know some Irish companies will refuse to send money electronically so push the solicitors as hard as you can.

ondine

Or, your mother could try to open an account in Euros with the bank she currently banks with - if they offer that.

Then get the money transferred to the new Euro account in Euros, no conversion. Usually incoming transfers in Euros from the EU are cheap, but they have a 50K limit so the amount might need to be split into 2 transfers).

After that use a currency broker firm* to convert the money from Euros to GBP - they usually have better conversion rates than the banks, and no conversion fees. I believe this is the cheapest and possibly the quickest way.


*E.g. HiFx, Baydonhill FX... but there are many others.

agrinnall

Once the money is in her account she may need to be aware of the change to FSCS compensation limits, that reduce from £85,000 to £75,000 from 1st January 2016.

http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/eligibility-rules/compensation-limits

drew12a

Many thanks, for everybody's advice. Apparently my mothers paralegal has received the cheque for the inheritance. The paralegal is going to send my mum the cheque for her to sign the back of it and wants my mum to return the cheque back to the said paralegal. The paralegal says they will then take out all expenses and will send remainder of the cheque to my mum via bank transfer.

My mum has no immediate plans at the moment.

Sorry for the delay in response, I am going to study all replies given. Thankyou everyone.

xylophone

sign the back of it and wants my mum to return the cheque back to the said paralegal.

This paralegal is the solicitor in the ROI?

Even supposing this is acceptable to the paralegal's bank,

http://www.ipso.ie/section/BusinessCentreChequesFrequentlyAskedQuestions

supposing the cheque got lost in the post?

I would not be at all happy with this proposal.

LandyAndy

drew12a wrote: »

Many thanks, for everybody's advice. Apparently my mothers paralegal has received the cheque for the inheritance. The paralegal is going to send my mum the cheque for her to sign the back of it and wants my mum to return the cheque back to the said paralegal. The paralegal says they will then take out all expenses and will send remainder of the cheque to my mum via bank transfer.

My mum has no immediate plans at the moment.

Sorry for the delay in response, I am going to study all replies given. Thankyou everyone.

For this amount of money, I think I'd have a short holiday in Ireland and incorporate the transactions face to face rather than do what is being suggested.