Gifted deposit enquiry

Flugelhorn

MWT said:

Trying82 said:

Thank you, I have tried to tell them what the information was for and they just didn't want to listen. They can be a little stubborn at times, I think I'll have to discount that amount from the funds I currently have. 

... also worth letting them know that you will not see the details they provide either, as sometimes that can be a concern...

Good point - possible that they will be OK with a total stranger seeing the details rather than the nearest and dearest. Seems in her dottiness mother had been OK showing various people from social services her bank balance but wouldn't show me 

user1977

Flugelhorn said:

MWT said:

Trying82 said:

Thank you, I have tried to tell them what the information was for and they just didn't want to listen. They can be a little stubborn at times, I think I'll have to discount that amount from the funds I currently have. 

... also worth letting them know that you will not see the details they provide either, as sometimes that can be a concern...

Good point - possible that they will be OK with a total stranger seeing the details rather than the nearest and dearest.

Yes, after all they're presumably happy with the thousands of total strangers who work for their bank having access to all their info, so a handful of extra people at the solicitors having a snippit of that information shouldn't really make any difference.

Bluebell1000

Could you use their money to pay stamp duty (if applicable) and moving costs instead?

Trying82

Thank you all for your responses. I've asked the solicitor if a letter and ID will suffice, she's yet to respond. I'll probably have to call her. Worse case, I'll have to wait until the end of the month on payday. 

I just wanted it over and done with.

user1977

Trying82 said:

Thank you all for your responses. I've asked the solicitor if a letter and ID will suffice

What's the letter going to say? It's not going to prove the source of funds in any way.

In practice, if a client starts getting awkward when asked for this sort of stuff, it's only likely to add to suspicion.

PennysIntoPounds

You say it's not a huge amount and that you may be able to go ahead without it so maybe if they still refuse, they could instead give you, if applicable, their tax free gift allowance of £3000 this year and if it's more than that, another 3k next tax year that you could use to 'refund' yourself?
https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

Strummer22

user1977 said:

 Though we have heard here of various cases of solicitors probing things to ridiculous degrees.

Oh the tales I could tell! In fact, I will. In brief, I have two competing tales:

1. My father-in-law was potentially going to provide bridging finance (an interest-free loan) to my wife and I to buy a property before ours had sold. The lender sent a standard gifted deposit form for him to sign. We were all like, "no, this is not a gift, we will pay it back from the proceeds of our house sale which is well progressed and expected to complete by XX date." I knew the solicitors would never accept the gifted deposit declaration given that we'd made it clear the amount would be paid back. In the end it took a call with a manager at the lender to have all parties agree to a bespoke letter defining the terms of the loan. In the end we didn't need it as the house purchase got delayed for other reasons so we did manage to sell our house and use those funds. Nonetheless we spend too much time and effort and a bit of solicitor's fees trying to sort it out!

2. Having gotten the money from the sale of our house - and two others, as we were buying in with my mum and my wife's mum (separated from father-in-law referenced above) - we had an enormous nightmare with our solicitor and lender regarding proof of source of funds.

The lender quite rightly wanted to rely on the solicitor's say-so. Our solicitor, having not been involved with the sale of the three houses which had been done in different parts of the country at different times (all within the previous 6 months though), was unwilling to say he was satisfied that the money had come from these sales. We provided all documentation and bank statements linking the money coming in to the completion of each sale, but alas! He would not say he was 'satisfied' - the exact wording the lender was looking for. In the end, I begged for a conference call between the solicitor and lender and somehow hammered this square peg through the round hole. I'm not even sure how I managed it, I think I've blocked that part of my life from my memory now.

Exodi

Trying82 said:

amnblog said:

When dealing with a purchase the Solicitor is legally bound to take record of the source of the funds. This is also the case for the Lender and the Broker. The Lender will often rely on the Solicitor to manage this.

Solicitors have differing views on what they ask for in these circumstances. A gift letter, proof of source of funds (bank account statement) and ID is common. Whatever their policy, the buyer and donors of any gift need to comply with it or the purchase will not progress with that Solicitor.

Perhaps the Solicitor will be prepared to call your Grandparents and explain the situation personally. Or alternatively, your grandparents own Solicitor (if they have one that they already trust) may be able to act as a third party to satisfy the conveyancing Solicitor.

My own experience of these circumstances is that the Donor baulks initially and then complies once they see that is the only route forward.

You can assure your Grandparents that any confidential information handling in our world is treated with more case than most places that handle it. Sloppy data security has dire consequences for a Solicitor Firm.

Thank you, I have tried to tell them what the information was for and they just didn't want to listen. They can be a little stubborn at times, I think I'll have to discount that amount from the funds I currently have. 

Had a very similar situation when my ex's dad had to sign a gifted deposit form.

The first form was (against my recommendation) defaced by the ex's dad, whereby he felt it appropriate to just cross out and change the terms and conditions at the bottom of Nationwides Gifted Deposit Form.

To prevent argument, my ex insisted I at least try provide it back to the solicitor, who effectively laughed in my face and rejected it.

The second form was (again, against my recommendation) deliberately filled out wrong by the ex's dad, whereby he listed his daughter as the only mortgage applicant (because he wanted to make sure I wouldn't get any of his money in the event of a breakup) - despite this already having been dealt with in a deed of trust.

Once again, I was urged to at least try provide it to the solicitor, who was probably beginning to wonder if I had something wrong with me, and again, obviously rejected the form.

The third form I filled out in it's entirety except the signature, and refused to send it to the solicitor if there was anymore nonsense and he complied.

As you can imagine, there was a similar sideshow with the bank statements, whereby we had to organise it being sent directly to the solicitor.

If I had my choice, we wouldn't have used his money.

I think 'they can be a little stubborn at times' is putting it nicely... don't offer a gift if you're going to be obstructive over it.

Trying82 said:

I've asked the solicitor if a letter and ID will suffice, she's yet to respond. 

Haha, hmm, I wonder!!! They are legally obligated by AML to check the source of the funds.

I don't think a letter saying 'this is our money, pinky promise' will cut it.

No19v87

Exodi said:

Trying82 said:

amnblog said:

When dealing with a purchase the Solicitor is legally bound to take record of the source of the funds. This is also the case for the Lender and the Broker. The Lender will often rely on the Solicitor to manage this.

Solicitors have differing views on what they ask for in these circumstances. A gift letter, proof of source of funds (bank account statement) and ID is common. Whatever their policy, the buyer and donors of any gift need to comply with it or the purchase will not progress with that Solicitor.

Perhaps the Solicitor will be prepared to call your Grandparents and explain the situation personally. Or alternatively, your grandparents own Solicitor (if they have one that they already trust) may be able to act as a third party to satisfy the conveyancing Solicitor.

My own experience of these circumstances is that the Donor baulks initially and then complies once they see that is the only route forward.

You can assure your Grandparents that any confidential information handling in our world is treated with more case than most places that handle it. Sloppy data security has dire consequences for a Solicitor Firm.

Thank you, I have tried to tell them what the information was for and they just didn't want to listen. They can be a little stubborn at times, I think I'll have to discount that amount from the funds I currently have. 

Had a very similar situation when my ex's dad had to sign a gifted deposit form.

The first form was (against my recommendation) defaced by the ex's dad, whereby he felt it appropriate to just cross out and change the terms and conditions at the bottom of Nationwides Gifted Deposit Form.

To prevent argument, my ex insisted I at least try provide it back to the solicitor, who effectively laughed in my face and rejected it.

The second form was (again, against my recommendation) deliberately filled out wrong by the ex's dad, whereby he listed his daughter as the only mortgage applicant (because he wanted to make sure I wouldn't get any of his money in the event of a breakup) - despite this already having been dealt with in a deed of trust.

Once again, I was urged to at least try provide it to the solicitor, who was probably beginning to wonder if I had something wrong with me, and again, obviously rejected the form.

The third form I filled out in it's entirety except the signature, and refused to send it to the solicitor if there was anymore nonsense and he complied.

As you can imagine, there was a similar sideshow with the bank statements, whereby we had to organise it being sent directly to the solicitor.

If I had my choice, we wouldn't have used his money.

I think 'they can be a little stubborn at times' is putting it nicely... don't offer a gift if you're going to be obstructive over it.

Doesn’t take much investigation work to explain why this is now your ex! 😂