Solicitor asking for proof of Id after exchange

Frth

We think our solicitor may have made a mistake.

Solicitor attempted exchange on Tuesday and we assumed everything went fine.

Wednesday morning solicitor rang to ask where our deposit was coming from. I stated it's a savings account in husband and mother in law name and the money is from inheritance.
She said exchange can't go ahead as she now needs id from mother in law and proof of entitlement to inheritance.
We had planned completion date of Monday which has now had to be cancelled. Everyone in the chain is understandably frustrated.

We had uploaded all the appropriate documents when we instructed the solicitor. It includes a bank statement that shows the savings account with mother in laws name on. We're so confused as to why solicitor waited until after attempted exchange to ask for documents that she needed. Has she made a mistake?

davidmcn

Other than uploading the docs, had you not discussed with solicitor where the money was coming from?

GDB2222

Not quite a mistake, but she’s given the papers a final look-through and spotted MIL's name. You can complain later about the poor service, but first I suggest that you provide the extra information that she needs. She has a duty to the lenders as well as a general anti money laundering duty.

DCFC79

OP ive just been through the process of sending a number of docs to the solicitor.

The 1 I used sent me paperwork which stated what I was required to send back, she asked if any of the money was part of a gift and was sent a form to fill in.

Did you solicitor not tell you what was needed to be returned ?

anselld

If it was actually after exchange it would be a mistake.
Exchange happens when everything is ready and things do sometimes crop up at the last minute. Frustrating, but it happens.

Tiglet2

Things do crop up after exchange. Ideally, everything is in place at exchange but the file usually has to be reviewed between exchange and completion to ensure that the monies flowing in and out are correctly allocated and this is often where, upon checking account numbers and names, that they realise that something is missing. As stated above, due to money laundering regulations, everything must be accounted for correctly and as they act for the lender as well, it is their duty to do things by the book. So, unfortunately you will have to comply. As to whether you have a valid complaint, will be down to how much pressure they were under to exchange and whether you were asked for these documents earlier in the transaction but you failed to provide them.

AdrianC

Frth wrote: »

We think our solicitor may have made a mistake.

Solicitor attempted exchange on Tuesday and we assumed everything went fine.

Assumptions are never good. You haven't exchanged yet.

Wednesday morning solicitor rang to ask where our deposit was coming from. I stated it's a savings account in husband and mother in law name and the money is from inheritance.
She said exchange can't go ahead as she now needs id from mother in law and proof of entitlement to inheritance.

Correct.

We had uploaded all the appropriate documents when we instructed the solicitor. It includes a bank statement that shows the savings account with mother in laws name on. We're so confused as to why solicitor waited until after attempted exchange to ask for documents that she needed. Has she made a mistake?

They did make a mistake, yes, in not noticing earlier that it was a joint account with somebody not part of the purchase transaction. They could have easily breached money-laundering law if they hadn't picked up before exchange. Phew! At least the mistake was noticed and rectified in time.

Frth

Thanks for prompted replies.
We did get a list of documents to send. This included proof of funds and proof of deposit which we sent. Nothing further was requested.
All the documents which were requested were sent signed for special express delivery (!!) the morning after she requested them. We were very prompt.

Tiglet2

From the title of the thread I thought you had exchanged, but actually I see you haven't. Your solicitor may have gone through the file in order to exchange and then realised they didn't have ID for your mother in law. A bank statement counts as secondary ID, but they would want primary ID too, i.e. passport/driving licence. You surely would have been told this, or should have known primary ID would be required for a gifted deposit. During the course of the transaction, your solicitor is gathering all the various pieces of paperwork that they need before completion - believe me there are lots of information needed - and it is possible that one or two things that ideally should have been sorted out much earlier in the transaction are missed. The whole point of reviewing the file before exchange is to do a final check that everything needed is there.

As an example in my firm, one of the solicitors missed the fact that the witness to the Transfer was a relation of the seller (different surname, but was the same as our client's maiden name). Cue another Transfer being sent out to the client for signature and witnessed urgently. Client wasn't happy at all, but actually was her error (and then our error in missing it) as it had been clearly communicated by letter to her that the witness should not be related to her or connected to the transaction.

G_M

she now needs id from mother in law and proof of entitlement to inheritance.

so you now need to provide these. If you are in a hurry to Exchange, do so asap.


It's not unusual for Exchange to get delayed for one reason or another.

GDB2222

Frth wrote: »

Thanks for prompted replies.
We did get a list of documents to send. This included proof of funds and proof of deposit which we sent. Nothing further was requested.
All the documents which were requested were sent signed for special express delivery (!!) the morning after she requested them. We were very prompt.

You have my sympathy, as you have done all that was asked of you.

I’m afraid that, particularly in a chain, there’s much to go wrong, and it’s not unusual for things to get held up. This is a pretty minor glitch, and hopefully this will all proceed in a few days. It’s still frustrating and upsetting, though!

The main thing is to be frank with the other people in the chain, so they understand that this is a minor problem that can quickly be fixed.