Inheritance: do I need to tell the bank where the money has come from?

jaypers

I think there is much more to it than just receiving a large sum. You say it is from a solicitor……your Bank will see this and it is a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction. It’s more around your financial behaviour. If anything is suspicious it may be queried, and rightly so to ensure there is no money laundering or illegal transactions. What you are doing is obviously normal and legitimate. I received a large sum as tax free cash from my pension…….again, the source is clear and the transaction would make sense to my Bank. 

poppystar

I had no problems with large transfers in but on one occasion I went into the branch with a cheque (only five figures) and the Spanish inquisition had nothing on what then happened! So if it’s a transfer I wouldn’t tell them in advance and would definitely avoid a cheque. 

For moving large sums onward the branch could do more than online but again decided on public inquisition of where it came from, where it was going etc. Their telephone banking service allowed large transfers easily of more than the daily online limit and with no questions.

Section62

jaypers said:

I think there is much more to it than just receiving a large sum. You say it is from a solicitor……your Bank will see this and it is a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction....

Not necessarily - if it is an electronic payment the receiving bank sees a sending account sort code and account number and a whole lot of coded information identifying the payment within the system. To find out who sent the payment is likely to require the receiving bank to ask the sending bank.

So at the point the payment might trip the AML/anti-fraud systems it won't (necessarily) be seen as a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction.

It will of course end up being sorted out sooner or later, but I suspect the OP's question is about how to avoid the potential difficulties this might cause in the interim.

In the OP's case the risk may be slightly greater as they are having more than one payment.  One might go through without question, the second may trip the systems as a "What's going on here?" question.

eskbanker

Section62 said:

jaypers said:

I think there is much more to it than just receiving a large sum. You say it is from a solicitor……your Bank will see this and it is a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction....

Not necessarily - if it is an electronic payment the receiving bank sees a sending account sort code and account number and a whole lot of coded information identifying the payment within the system. To find out who sent the payment is likely to require the receiving bank to ask the sending bank.

My understanding is that the messaging protocol accompanying electronic payments does include the name of the sender's account, as this will often work its way onto recipients' statements, etc....

Section62

eskbanker said:

Section62 said:

jaypers said:

I think there is much more to it than just receiving a large sum. You say it is from a solicitor……your Bank will see this and it is a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction....

Not necessarily - if it is an electronic payment the receiving bank sees a sending account sort code and account number and a whole lot of coded information identifying the payment within the system. To find out who sent the payment is likely to require the receiving bank to ask the sending bank.

My understanding is that the messaging protocol accompanying electronic payments does include the name of the sender's account, as this will often work its way onto recipients' statements, etc....

According to Nationwide BS that isn't necessarily the case (at least not by default), they had to go back to the sending bank to work out who made a payment to my Nationwide account I was querying.

I believe it is a bit hit and miss, or maybe that was a Nationwide specific issue?

eskbanker

Section62 said:

eskbanker said:

Section62 said:

jaypers said:

I think there is much more to it than just receiving a large sum. You say it is from a solicitor……your Bank will see this and it is a perfectly obvious legitimate transaction....

Not necessarily - if it is an electronic payment the receiving bank sees a sending account sort code and account number and a whole lot of coded information identifying the payment within the system. To find out who sent the payment is likely to require the receiving bank to ask the sending bank.

My understanding is that the messaging protocol accompanying electronic payments does include the name of the sender's account, as this will often work its way onto recipients' statements, etc....

According to Nationwide BS that isn't necessarily the case (at least not by default), they had to go back to the sending bank to work out who made a payment to my Nationwide account I was querying.

I believe it is a bit hit and miss, or maybe that was a Nationwide specific issue?

I'm not sure whether lack of visibility is due to the sending bank or the receiving one, and have certainly seen plenty of posts reporting similar issues to you regarding unidentified receipts, but the fact that at least some FP transactions are identifiable on receipt must mean that the messaging protocol itself caters for the name of the sender's account, even if it may not always be populated....

BooJewels

I just looked back at some of my bank statements and house proceeds from a solicitors, made as a BACS transfer just show the name of the solicitors in one case and in another from a different solicitors shows their company name along with the sold property address, which I assume they maybe added as a reference.  I received 2 cheques for the same pension settlement, one each paid in at a counter to a different bank and they each just show as a cheque deposit - with no details - one bank tells me which branch it was paid in at, nothing about where the cheque arose.

So I'm not sure that a cheque would actually be beneficial in this instance, for identifying the source of the funds.

refluxer

Cloth_of_Gold said:

I am about to receive the first tranche of an inheritance, which will be a substantial 5 figure sum. The money will be paid into my current account by the executor, who is a solicitor, so it will come form his firm's account. Is it likely that receiving this money into my account will raise any red flags at the bank? I have nothing to hide, obviously, so should I tell them in advance that this money will be credited to my account and where it has come from?

I wouldn't worry at all about the electronic transfer of a 5-figure sum into your account from a solicitor. It wouldn't even cross my mind as a potential concern, but that's based on my experience with my own bank - others may be different. I would only expect you'd be questioned if you tried to pay a huge sum in as cash and I'd personally prefer large incoming payments to be electronic instead of via a cheque, given the choice.

As you eluded to above, the days of the 'friendly bank manager' are gone and popping into your local branch to give them prior warning of any type of scenario is unlikely to achieve anything. One example of this is when my daughter went abroad on a school trip - we popped into the local branch of her building society to warn them that the card would suddenly start to be used abroad (as I was concerned it would get immediately blocked) and they said there was nothing they could do, as they had no control or influence over the building society's anti-fraud measures.

As mentioned above - if your bank is a high-street bank then it's very likely that you will do much better if you look elsewhere for a higher interest savings account. One issue you might come across is if and when you start to transfer large sums elsewhere, but anti-fraud checks can happen to anyone when moving large sums around. I have only ever had occasional large, outgoing payments queried - never large incoming payments.

35har1old

Section62 said:

Cloth_of_Gold said:

I am about to receive the first tranche of an inheritance, which will be a substantial 5 figure sum. The money will be paid into my current account by the executor, who is a solicitor, so it will come form his firm's account. Is it likely that receiving this money into my account will raise any red flags at the bank? I have nothing to hide, obviously, so should I tell them in advance that this money will be credited to my account and where it has come from?

Personally if it was me I'd pay the money into a smallish local building society - at least initially - as they seem to be better at handling larger one-off payments, and being smaller may be more agile than a faceless big bank if it comes to querying the legitimacy of the deposit.

Secondly, unless they wanted to charge an unreasonable fee, I'd ask the solicitor to make the payment by cheque (if possible with me collecting it in person).  A cheque with the solicitor's details printed on it is possibly less likely to trip the AML/anti-fraud systems.  I'd also keep a photocopy of the original cheque (and paying-in receipt) as evidence in case anyone asks for source of funds proof in the future.

Edit:

BooJewels said:

I was put off ringing, after a conversation with one overseas call centre where I said I was ringing about 'my late father's account' and she said I'd have to get him to ring himself once he arrived home.

...a good example of how dealing with a local building society might be easier than a big bank.

Your more likely to be charged a fee by having the money transferred electronically FP.
Cheques are free

BooJewels

35har1old said:

Section62 said:

Cloth_of_Gold said:

I am about to receive the first tranche of an inheritance, which will be a substantial 5 figure sum. The money will be paid into my current account by the executor, who is a solicitor, so it will come form his firm's account. Is it likely that receiving this money into my account will raise any red flags at the bank? I have nothing to hide, obviously, so should I tell them in advance that this money will be credited to my account and where it has come from?

Personally if it was me I'd pay the money into a smallish local building society - at least initially - as they seem to be better at handling larger one-off payments, and being smaller may be more agile than a faceless big bank if it comes to querying the legitimacy of the deposit.

Secondly, unless they wanted to charge an unreasonable fee, I'd ask the solicitor to make the payment by cheque (if possible with me collecting it in person).  A cheque with the solicitor's details printed on it is possibly less likely to trip the AML/anti-fraud systems.  I'd also keep a photocopy of the original cheque (and paying-in receipt) as evidence in case anyone asks for source of funds proof in the future.

Edit:

BooJewels said:

I was put off ringing, after a conversation with one overseas call centre where I said I was ringing about 'my late father's account' and she said I'd have to get him to ring himself once he arrived home.

...a good example of how dealing with a local building society might be easier than a big bank.

Your more likely to be charged a fee by having the money transferred electronically FP.
Cheques are free

With the two estate properties I mentioned above - I had the choice, as executor - of one 'free' cheque posted to me for the entire net house value, to then distribute myself to the relevant beneficiaries, or paying £30 per recipient for a near instant transfer directly to the beneficiaries - truly wasn't worth the saving to take on that responsibility, along with maybe a week or more delay in receiving and cashing a cheque - plus a taxi ride to the bank to do so - then maybe making a second trip to set up transfers out once cleared.  Sometimes seemingly saving money just isn't worth it - depending on your circumstances.  Plus several more opportunities for something to trip up.