Evidencing source of funds - historic gifts

crumblebucket

My son is funding his house deposit (FTB) from historic financial gifts that we are struggling to evidence.  Since childhood my husband & I (& prior to their deaths, their grandparents) have over the years gifted varying sums of money to our children.  These funds have been moved around various savings’ accounts to maximise interest which has made them impossible to definitively trace their source.  Is it possible that a signed affidavit from us to this affect would be acceptable evidence of historical gifts or are there any other suggestions?  Thank you.

RHemmings

Sorry if I add a question to @crumblebucket's post, but would historical gifts be an issue for someone who is a cash buyer? Or, is it only when a mortgage is needed? 

Keep_pedalling

Were the saving accounts kept in your children’s own names? If they were then you are looking at long term savings rather than a gifted deposit.

Brie

RHemmings said:

Sorry if I add a question to @crumblebucket's post, but would historical gifts be an issue for someone who is a cash buyer? Or, is it only when a mortgage is needed? 

a solicitor might question it but I think it's really an issue for mortgage providers as they want to be assured there's no one else with an interest in the house.  We had to provide a letter from MiL to say she was gifting us money and was making no claim on the house we were buying and which we all would live in together.   

Flugelhorn

RHemmings said:

Sorry if I add a question to @crumblebucket's post, but would historical gifts be an issue for someone who is a cash buyer? Or, is it only when a mortgage is needed? 

I have bought with cash and never been asked where the money had come from, gathered from the forum that this was because the money had been in my account for a period of time eg 6 months

RHemmings

Thanks everyone. Please focus on @crumblebucket's question. I have my answers and want to limit the amount that I have hijacked the thread. 

Herzlos

crumblebucket said:

My son is funding his house deposit (FTB) from historic financial gifts that we are struggling to evidence.  Since childhood my husband & I (& prior to their deaths, their grandparents) have over the years gifted varying sums of money to our children.  These funds have been moved around various savings’ accounts to maximise interest which has made them impossible to definitively trace their source.  Is it possible that a signed affidavit from us to this affect would be acceptable evidence of historical gifts or are there any other suggestions?  Thank you.

What does the solicitor say? They are the ones you need to satisfy and not some people on the internet.

Bank statements should at least allow you to show the money moving around for the last few years, which may be enough.

SiliconChip

I disagree that moving funds between savings accounts makes it impossible to show the source, unless of course the donors and your son have not kept statements or they cannot be recreated now. All that's needed for each gift is to show evidence of the original deposit (bank transfer, cheque or cash paid in) then follow the movement of funds from that account until you arrive at where the balance is now.

Who is asking for it, and how far back are they asking him to go? Anything over 1 year would seem to be overkill, because funds older than that are just savings by now.

grumbler

Brie said:

RHemmings said:

Sorry if I add a question to @crumblebucket's post, but would historical gifts be an issue for someone who is a cash buyer? Or, is it only when a mortgage is needed? 

a solicitor might question it but I think it's really an issue for mortgage providers as they want to be assured there's no one else with an interest in the house.  We had to provide a letter from MiL to say she was gifting us money and was making no claim on the house we were buying and which we all would live in together.   

In my experience it was the solicitor - because of the AML paranoya epidemic spreading around.

Flugelhorn said:

RHemmings said:

Sorry if I add a question to @crumblebucket's post, but would historical gifts be an issue for someone who is a cash buyer? Or, is it only when a mortgage is needed? 

I have bought with cash and never been asked where the money had come from, gathered from the forum that this was because the money had been in my account for a period of time eg 6 months

My solicitor wanted to see 3-year history (!!) at the start, but then settled to 1 year. 
And yes, moving funds around because of chasing growing interest rates (combined with numerous regular savers and current accounts funding requirements) caused problems too. Despite being absoulutely legit all this does smell like ML and scared the solicitor.

eddddy

There are 2 different issues...

• Anti money laundering (AML) checks by your solicitor (they apply whether you need a mortgage or not)
• A gifted deposit declaration required by your mortgage lender (only if you need a mortgage)

AML checks are to check whether any of the money is 'dirty' - for example, the result of crimes like stealing, embezzlement, fencing, drug dealing, etc.  That applies to gifted money as well. e.g. The money might be a gift from a parent, but has the parent stolen it?

So a solicitor might want to do AML checks on the gift donor as well.

So it's a case of providing a paper-trail that shows that the money is 'clean'.

It's up to the solicitor how far back they want to go - 6 months, 1 year, 3 years, etc. If they are suspicious about you for some reason, their checks might be more thorough.


The gifted deposit declaration is much simpler. If the solicitor / mortgage lender requires one - it's usually just a case of the gift donor signing a standard template letter. (It confirms that the money is a gift - with no 'strings' attached.)

crumblebucket

Thank you for all your replies.  I think both the solicitor & the mortgage lender are asking for this information.  

Originally my son classed the deposit as savings but was told he was too young (26) to have saved that amount of money so evidence of source would be required.  Savings - apparently - need to be a demonstration of regular amounts being saved by him.  

The declaration of a gift with no interest in the property seems to only be appropriate if the funds are being gifted now.  A few years’ bank statements only show a portion of the funds being deposited & although I consider I am fairly organised, the paper trail of more than 10 years (during which time many accounts have been closed) is a bit beyond me. 

 I think we will have to go back to his solicitor/mortgage provider & try to pin them down as to what exactly is acceptable to them.  We will probably face the same situation in a few years’ time when our daughter decides to buy, so would like to be prepared.  That is why I was hoping to circumvent everything with some sort of affadavit.  It’s a long time since I took out a mortgage so my own experience is of limited worth!

Thanks again for your comments.