Help with Gifted Deposit

shaysonic

Hi all,

Me and my partner have just officially started the house buying process using the HTB Equity Loan scheme. My partner has managed to save up a lot of money over the last few years and has also received a generous gift from her aunt around 8 months ago to put towards a deposit. 

As we are getting all our paperwork ready, we want to just find out if we need to have a gift letter from my partners aunt and if so, does it need to be written out to the both of us? We're asking this because our broker is saying that gifted money no longer counts as gifted after 6 months in your savings account, but our solicitor is saying the opposite. It's very conflicting information and there is very little that we could find out online regarding how long a gifted deposit is considered "gifted"? 

So any help or advice on the matter would be great.

Many thanks

Carrot007

Get one just in case?

It is open to interpritation and solicitors (thankfully) err on the side of caution. Though it should ultimnately be down to the requirements of the mortgage provider.

shaysonic

Carrot007 said:

Get one just in case?

It is open to interpritation and solicitors (thankfully) err on the side of caution. Though it should ultimnately be down to the requirements of the mortgage provider.

We're happy to get one and send all the details by email but the solicitor is being a bit irrational currently. They're telling us that the aunt has to sign up for an app and put all the documents up on the application for verification, which would be doable if the aunt spoke English or at least lived in the UK. They're based abroad and cannot read English or understand it, so this is proving to be difficult.

We are looking at using Natwest as our mortgage provider

user1977

If the solicitors have decided they need to check aunt's credentials for the source of funds then unfortunately she/you will need to jump through the solicitor's hoops. Saying it's too difficult for her to bother with is only likely to ring alarm bells.

I expect there will be alternatives to using the app if necessary, but it depends whether those are any easier e.g. getting notarised copies of her ID etc.

Carrot007

user1977 said:

If the solicitors have decided they need to check aunt's credentials for the source of funds then unfortunately she/you will need to jump through the solicitor's hoops. Saying it's too difficult for her to bother with is only likely to ring alarm bells.

I expect there will be alternatives to using the app if necessary, but it depends whether those are any easier e.g. getting notarised copies of her ID etc.

Indeed.

OP, of course you can ask them for another method or pay for a non bottom of the barrel (at a guess) solicitor that would accomodate such.

housebuyer143

shaysonic said:

Hi all,

Me and my partner have just officially started the house buying process using the HTB Equity Loan scheme. My partner has managed to save up a lot of money over the last few years and has also received a generous gift from her aunt around 8 months ago to put towards a deposit. 

As we are getting all our paperwork ready, we want to just find out if we need to have a gift letter from my partners aunt and if so, does it need to be written out to the both of us? We're asking this because our broker is saying that gifted money no longer counts as gifted after 6 months in your savings account, but our solicitor is saying the opposite. It's very conflicting information and there is very little that we could find out online regarding how long a gifted deposit is considered "gifted"? 

So any help or advice on the matter would be great.

Many thanks

Did you notify NatWest about the gifted deposit? If your broker seems to think it's not a gift I would be concerned. Some lenders take your solicitors view and expect it to be with you at least a year before it's not a gift.
Your solicitor is going to tell them if you have not

MaryNB

Your broker is wrong, there's no general 6 month rule. My solicitor went back a lot further than 6 months with the money I received from my parents.

Even if natwest has a requirement to go back only 6 months, I would presume your solicitor would have their own AML procedures which could be stricter than the lender's. 

Since your aunt is from a non English speaking country you'll most likely have to provide certified translations of any financial documents she provides. 

shaysonic

Thank you for all the help guys!

We managed to speak to the solicitor and the broker and get clear info on what is needed for the gifted deposit. 

We’re gonna be providing all the documents tomorrow to the solicitor

ACG

Solicitors have one lot of requirements.
Lender has a different lot. 
Broker has a different lot.