Buying property in cash - Gift from abroad

Socrates1982

Hi posting this for a friend. Friend has received advice from their conveyancing solicitor but have hit a stumbling block. I mentioned to them about this forum and made them aware that any replies given are not to be treated as 'official' advice but rather that this is a good sounding board platform. They asked me to post the following about their situation:

They are buying a property in cash. The funds come from a mixture of savings, ISA and sale of previous property owned. All of which can be sourced. 

They also received an early inheritance gift from both parents. Parents are British but since retired abroad. The early inheritance money came from both parents foreign bank accounts. Their wealth was earned in the UK. 

Conveyancing solicitor  questioned the source of those funds and also asked for evidence that it was early inheritance. 

Friend can't provide evidence where those funds came from, only her parents can. But even then all they can provide is bank statements from abroad. She mentioned that that to the solicitor who is now saying they can't proceed as they can't verify the source of income. My friend also doesn't have evidence that states it was early inheritance as it was just done via conversations within that family. 


Looking for advice on a few things:
Does anyone know a financial advisor that has experience with anything similar? Or one that you think maybe able to advise?

Has anyone had a similar-but-different experience themselves and if so what evidence did you need to provide regarding inheritance gift? 

Moving forward - If my friend has to pull out of the purchase because it really can not proceed based on the above, anyone have any ideas on how they can proceed in the future?

I didn't want to say to my friend that I couldn't see a way forward for them myself. But then again I have no experience with buying a property in cash myself. I was thinking of saying to my friend a mortgage application might be the way forward. But that doesn't solve the root of the issue. 

Thanks in advance anyone 

WellKnownSid

Not sure I see the issue. I recently gifted some money for my daughter - that was just a conversation.

Her solicitor just sent me paperwork to sign that said “I gifted this money, it came from [source], I will have no interest or charge over [property].” To this I attached ID and bank statements. Job done.

WellKnownSid

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, the solicitor charged £50 for this extra paperwork 🙄

user1977

Socrates1982 said:

Conveyancing solicitor asked for evidence that it was early inheritance. 
 

It might be simpler if you just call it a "gift", which is what it is. But for a cash purchase I don't see why it matters what it is - did the solicitor explain? All they ought to need is evidence of where the money has come from. There are no standard requirements for that so different solicitors will look back different timescales or require differing degrees of evidence, really your friend just needs to carry on asking what sort of alternative evidence the solicitor will accept.

Keep_pedalling

Surely all the parents have records showing that this money has come from their own savings? Usually you only have to go back 6 months. When we had to do this for our daughter I provided statements from our S&Ss ISA 6 months prior to cashing in the gift, plus statements showing it leaving our ISA to our current account and immediately being transferred to our daughter.

if you friends parents can’t show something similar then it is not going to look good.

Socrates1982

Keep_pedalling said:

Surely all the parents have records showing that this money has come from their own savings? Usually you only have to go back 6 months. When we had to do this for our daughter I provided statements from our S&Ss ISA 6 months prior to cashing in the gift, plus statements showing it leaving our ISA to our current account and immediately being transferred to our daughter.

if you friends parents can’t show something similar then it is not going to look good.

My friend said that the solicitor couldn't accept statements from foreign bank accounts. She is getting mixed messages from the solicitor: provide evidence - but we can't accept foreign statements. 

My friend did say to me when we met that she is confident her parents can provide all those statements. But on one hand it looks like the early inheritance gifts is going to set her back. Like you say not looking good.

Bookworm105

money from abroad is obviously more "sensitive" in terms of the solicitor owing a duty to "the govt" as (unpaid) enforcer of the money laundering regulations. That is a requirement of their professional body. It is non negotiable.

That said it is down to the individual solicitor to decide what level of evidence meets his expectations of how to show he has diligently done what he is supposed to do, ie make sure it is not dirty money being washed in a UK property deal . 

user1977

Socrates1982 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Surely all the parents have records showing that this money has come from their own savings? Usually you only have to go back 6 months. When we had to do this for our daughter I provided statements from our S&Ss ISA 6 months prior to cashing in the gift, plus statements showing it leaving our ISA to our current account and immediately being transferred to our daughter.

if you friends parents can’t show something similar then it is not going to look good.

My friend said that the solicitor couldn't accept statements from foreign bank accounts. She is getting mixed messages from the solicitor: provide evidence - but we can't accept foreign statements. 

I think some solicitor are averse to getting involved with any funds from abroad, but it would be clearer if they just said so - bit daft to suggest they will accept foreign money but then not accept foreign bank accounts, which is what will invariably be used to evidence the source of funds! Or are they maybe just wanting a translation? i.e. it's foreign statements written "in foreign" which they don't accept? That's perhaps more understandable.

Socrates1982

Bookworm105 said:

money from abroad is obviously more "sensitive" in terms of the solicitor owing a duty to "the govt" as (unpaid) enforcer of the money laundering regulations. That is a requirement of their professional body. It is non negotiable.

That said it is down to the individual solicitor to decide what level of evidence meets his expectations of how to show he has diligently done what he is supposed to do, ie make sure it is not dirty money being washed in a UK property deal . 

ok thank you. This sounds a bit more positive now. I know my friends family and they are very humble and decent people. I guess as long as she can discuss with the solicitor why it is they wont accept foreign statements and explain her situation in a bit more detail, she can demonstrate its not dirty money. 

Socrates1982

user1977 said:

Socrates1982 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

Surely all the parents have records showing that this money has come from their own savings? Usually you only have to go back 6 months. When we had to do this for our daughter I provided statements from our S&Ss ISA 6 months prior to cashing in the gift, plus statements showing it leaving our ISA to our current account and immediately being transferred to our daughter.

if you friends parents can’t show something similar then it is not going to look good.

My friend said that the solicitor couldn't accept statements from foreign bank accounts. She is getting mixed messages from the solicitor: provide evidence - but we can't accept foreign statements. 

I think some solicitor are averse to getting involved with any funds from abroad, but it would be clearer if they just said so - bit daft to suggest they will accept foreign money but then not accept foreign bank accounts, which is what will invariably be used to evidence the source of funds! Or are they maybe just wanting a translation? i.e. it's foreign statements written "in foreign" which they don't accept? That's perhaps more understandable.

Thank you. This makes things a bit clearer too. I text my friend and she said the statements would be in English anyway. 
If still not accepted, it maybe be a case of advising my friend to find solicitor who has experience dealing with funds from abroad, or look towards a mortgage to make up the difference.

Keep_pedalling

There is no such thing as an early inheritance, it is a gift.