Gifted Deposit from abroad

Astromodified

I am in the process of getting quotes for conveyancing of a property I am buying. The issue is that part of the deposit is gifted by my father in India. One of the solicitor firms refused to deal with it as the money has not been in a UK bank account for 6 months. Is this a common thing? None of the other solicitors I had quotes from mentioned this but concerned this issue may come later. Sent queries out, but obviously due to the Christmas and Covid, replies have been slow.

davidmcn

No, they're probably just unusually risk-averse. 

AskAsk

it may be that they worry they can not vet the money properly for money landering as the money comes from abroad.  but then again foreigners buy properties in the UK so i don't know how they would pass the vetting??

MaryNB

My parents sent me money from Ireland just a few weeks before I started the conveyancing process and it wasn't an issue. I did need to provide a lot of information on how they accumulated the money and provided proof of transfers to my UK account.  

davidmcn

AskAsk said:

it may be that they worry they can not vet the money properly for money landering as the money comes from abroad.  but then again foreigners buy properties in the UK so i don't know how they would pass the vetting??

In the same way as anybody else - by checking their ID and bank statements. Bit more hassle if you need to get things translated, and perhaps risk if you are relying on certified copies, and some jurisdictions are treated with more suspicion than others, but obviously for lots of buyers in the UK the "bank of mum & dad" means money coming from overseas.

Mickey666

I wonder how all the oligarchs buying up London properties for £millions manage?  I'm guessing they don't need a mortgage, but even so . . . .

davidmcn

Mickey666 said:

I wonder how all the oligarchs buying up London properties for £millions manage?  I'm guessing they don't need a mortgage, but even so . . . .

Nothing to do with mortgages, solicitors require to comply with money-laundering regulations in relation to any transaction they're dealing with.

Astromodified

Thank you all for the replies. Maybe the money coming from outside EU is the issue here. talked to the mortgage advisor, he said that money from abroad should be an issue for the lenders and less so for solicitors. He has arranged a solicitor firm which has no problem in dealing with the deposit from abroad (at least for now, and he can talk to them if things change later). What I found out that the solicitor firms have different levels of risk aversion in abroad funds (maybe having burnt their hands earlier). Some of them out rightly refuse, some are asking for involving another layer firm to verify source of funds and some have no problem. Just the first obstacle in buying process for me it seems...

Astromodified

davidmcn said:

Mickey666 said:

I wonder how all the oligarchs buying up London properties for £millions manage?  I'm guessing they don't need a mortgage, but even so . . . .

Nothing to do with mortgages, solicitors require to comply with money-laundering regulations in relation to any transaction they're dealing with.

I work in the luxury design sector. The Russians you are talking about have money laundering written all over the face, yet have no difficulties. Its my measly 14k which everyone has problem with

TJ9291

Astromodified said:

Thank you all for the replies. Maybe the money coming from outside EU is the issue here. talked to the mortgage advisor, he said that money from abroad should be an issue for the lenders and less so for solicitors. He has arranged a solicitor firm which has no problem in dealing with the deposit from abroad (at least for now, and he can talk to them if things change later). What I found out that the solicitor firms have different levels of risk aversion in abroad funds (maybe having burnt their hands earlier). Some of them out rightly refuse, some are asking for involving another layer firm to verify source of funds and some have no problem. Just the first obstacle in buying process for me it seems...

Just curious to see if this got sorted and if you were able to find a solicitor who were able to deal with overseas funds? Facing a similar issue!