Source of Funds (long term savings)

jnorth55

I'm thinking of buying a property but proving source of funds seems complex. I'll give a quick explanation;
Basically my current property I thought I'd stay in so I didn't keep records of when savings accounts or bonds matured after a few years or so. I'll need to prove source of income but as I'm getting on a bit & have had much of these savings for decades I have no idea how I, or anyone, is supposed to prove where income came from that long ago. I ran a business for some time but that was more than 20 years ago & I don't have any of that paperwork now, at least none of the accounting paperwork.

Has anyone had a similar problem or know of any official guidance on this? 

Thanks.

se2020

You won't need to show years worth of paper trails.
The last 6 months should be fine.
If there is anything suspicious in the last few months they may wish to check back further 

jnorth55

se2020 said:

You won't need to show years worth of paper trails.
The last 6 months should be fine.
If there is anything suspicious in the last few months they may wish to check back further 

Thanks. I think that is the 'standard' process but I should have mentioned that I don't intend to use a mortgage so proving source of income will no doubt be checked more thoroughly. My question really is around how the system deals with savings that a buyer has had for decades. I don't have wage packets from jobs decades ago or paperwork from the business I ran as that was also years ago.

Flugelhorn

I have bought properties for cash and there was never a problem if the cash had been in my account for a while -no-one asked where it came from

Slinky

We bought without a mortgage and 6 months of statements was enough for our solicitor.

jnorth55

Flugelhorn said:

I have bought properties for cash and there was never a problem if the cash had been in my account for a while -no-one asked where it came from

Thanks. Good to know. 

user1977

jnorth55 said:

se2020 said:

You won't need to show years worth of paper trails.
The last 6 months should be fine.
If there is anything suspicious in the last few months they may wish to check back further 

My question really is around how the system deals with savings that a buyer has had for decades.

There isn't a "system" or any universal set of rules. It depends what your solicitor wants - so the only useful answer is to ask them.