Proof of funds for gifted stamp duty money?

ce5656

I’m in the middle of buying a property and have saved up all the deposit myself. My mum kindly offered to give me some money to cover the stamp duty and has already sent me this money from overseas. I do need it as my savings is just enough to cover the deposit.

My solicitor asked for a number of documents as proof of funds which my mum prepared, translated and sent over last November. She then went quiet on this despite my many follow-up emails (she said she needed my mum to sign a gift letter but never provided a template). 

Two weeks ago I was told that she just left the firm! Her temporary cover looked at the my file, spoke to her manager and told me that because this money is for stamp duty only, it’s not considered a gift and therefore doesn’t require any proof of funds. 

Then last week a third solicitor took over my file officially and when I spoke to her over the phone, she agreed that it’s not a gift in this case. But a couple of days later, she emailed me to say that although it’s not a gift, it “must be dealt with as if it is a gift”. She asked for pretty much all documents to be provided again because she needs them to be up to date, and £180 plus VAT upfront payment to “deal with a gift”.

I’ve already replied and asked her politely to first speak to her colleague and possibly that manager. Do you think proof of funds is required in my case? And if so, is this new solicitor reasonable to ask me to gather everything all over again?

Schwarzwald

Money is fungible. How do you separate those funds that are for the purchase price and those funds that are for taxes? Guess they sit in the same account. I think the argument that "this money is for taxes" doesnt work. its part of the total funds that you need and they are partially gifted to you.

user1977

It's a standard requirement by lenders that the purchase price comes from the borrowers' own funds (or is otherwise approved as a gift) - it's not standard for them to care who pays the stamp duty. So I suspect the gift letter is an over the top requirement dreamt up by the solicitor.

Going through the usual checks for source of funds is a more justifiable request.

TBG01

user1977 said:
 So I suspect the gift letter is an over the top requirement dreamt up by the solicitor.

It's not. It's another safe measure to protect the client incase the gift is ever disputed. 

user1977

TBG01 said:

user1977 said:
 So I suspect the gift letter is an over the top requirement dreamt up by the solicitor.

It's not. It's another safe measure to protect the client incase the gift is ever disputed. 

In which case the client can turn down the kind offer of the additional advice.

Snookie12cat

ce5656 said:

I’m in the middle of buying a property and have saved up all the deposit myself. My mum kindly offered to give me some money to cover the stamp duty and has already sent me this money from overseas. I do need it as my savings is just enough to cover the deposit.

My solicitor asked for a number of documents as proof of funds which my mum prepared, translated and sent over last November. She then went quiet on this despite my many follow-up emails (she said she needed my mum to sign a gift letter but never provided a template). 

Two weeks ago I was told that she just left the firm! Her temporary cover looked at the my file, spoke to her manager and told me that because this money is for stamp duty only, it’s not considered a gift and therefore doesn’t require any proof of funds. 

Then last week a third solicitor took over my file officially and when I spoke to her over the phone, she agreed that it’s not a gift in this case. But a couple of days later, she emailed me to say that although it’s not a gift, it “must be dealt with as if it is a gift”. She asked for pretty much all documents to be provided again because she needs them to be up to date, and £180 plus VAT upfront payment to “deal with a gift”.

I’ve already replied and asked her politely to first speak to her colleague and possibly that manager. Do you think proof of funds is required in my case? And if so, is this new solicitor reasonable to ask me to gather everything all over again?

With solicitors they need to prove all money going through them is traceable and therefore it needs to be treated as a gift and they will change you for this. The mortgage company won't care, but for money laundering reasons solicitors will not accept money they have not verified it's source. And they will charge you for the time spent to do this.

You can ask to file and pay the stamp duty yourself so it doesn't need to go through them but my solicitor refused my request to do this. 

Slithery

Snookie12cat said:

You can ask to file and pay the stamp duty yourself so it doesn't need to go through them

Not if you need a mortgage.

user1977

Snookie12cat said:

ce5656 said:

I’m in the middle of buying a property and have saved up all the deposit myself. My mum kindly offered to give me some money to cover the stamp duty and has already sent me this money from overseas. I do need it as my savings is just enough to cover the deposit.

My solicitor asked for a number of documents as proof of funds which my mum prepared, translated and sent over last November. She then went quiet on this despite my many follow-up emails (she said she needed my mum to sign a gift letter but never provided a template). 

Two weeks ago I was told that she just left the firm! Her temporary cover looked at the my file, spoke to her manager and told me that because this money is for stamp duty only, it’s not considered a gift and therefore doesn’t require any proof of funds. 

Then last week a third solicitor took over my file officially and when I spoke to her over the phone, she agreed that it’s not a gift in this case. But a couple of days later, she emailed me to say that although it’s not a gift, it “must be dealt with as if it is a gift”. She asked for pretty much all documents to be provided again because she needs them to be up to date, and £180 plus VAT upfront payment to “deal with a gift”.

I’ve already replied and asked her politely to first speak to her colleague and possibly that manager. Do you think proof of funds is required in my case? And if so, is this new solicitor reasonable to ask me to gather everything all over again?

With solicitors they need to prove all money going through them is traceable and therefore it needs to be treated as a gift and they will change you for this. The mortgage company won't care, but for money laundering reasons solicitors will not accept money they have not verified it's source. And they will charge you for the time spent to do this.

Like I said above, checking the source is fair enough, but that doesn't mean there's a requirement to document that it's a gift (and it sounds like it's the latter part they're proposing to charge extra for).

Snookie12cat

Slithery said:

Snookie12cat said:

You can ask to file and pay the stamp duty yourself so it doesn't need to go through them

Not if you need a mortgage.

Not true according to the stamp duty department, and the mortgage lender. Just another thing solicitors tell you, which doesn't seem to ring true.

Snookie12cat

user1977 said:

Snookie12cat said:

ce5656 said:

I’m in the middle of buying a property and have saved up all the deposit myself. My mum kindly offered to give me some money to cover the stamp duty and has already sent me this money from overseas. I do need it as my savings is just enough to cover the deposit.

My solicitor asked for a number of documents as proof of funds which my mum prepared, translated and sent over last November. She then went quiet on this despite my many follow-up emails (she said she needed my mum to sign a gift letter but never provided a template). 

Two weeks ago I was told that she just left the firm! Her temporary cover looked at the my file, spoke to her manager and told me that because this money is for stamp duty only, it’s not considered a gift and therefore doesn’t require any proof of funds. 

Then last week a third solicitor took over my file officially and when I spoke to her over the phone, she agreed that it’s not a gift in this case. But a couple of days later, she emailed me to say that although it’s not a gift, it “must be dealt with as if it is a gift”. She asked for pretty much all documents to be provided again because she needs them to be up to date, and £180 plus VAT upfront payment to “deal with a gift”.

I’ve already replied and asked her politely to first speak to her colleague and possibly that manager. Do you think proof of funds is required in my case? And if so, is this new solicitor reasonable to ask me to gather everything all over again?

With solicitors they need to prove all money going through them is traceable and therefore it needs to be treated as a gift and they will change you for this. The mortgage company won't care, but for money laundering reasons solicitors will not accept money they have not verified it's source. And they will charge you for the time spent to do this.

Like I said above, checking the source is fair enough, but that doesn't mean there's a requirement to document that it's a gift (and it sounds like it's the latter part they're proposing to charge extra for).

But if they are doing everything they would do when they check a gift apart from maybe getting the signed letter, then they are going to want to get paid for it. Granted the cost quoted is high. My solicitor only wanted £60

ce5656

Snookie12cat said:

Slithery said:

Snookie12cat said:

You can ask to file and pay the stamp duty yourself so it doesn't need to go through them

Not if you need a mortgage.

Not true according to the stamp duty department, and the mortgage lender. Just another thing solicitors tell you, which doesn't seem to ring true.

That’s actually a good point which I never thought of! Other than the money my mum sent me, every penny in my account comes from my salary which I have years of payslips to prove. If I ask to pay stamp duty myself and demonstrate that the deposit money which will go through the solicitor’s account has trackable source, they should have no reason to question me any further?