GIFTING MONEY TO HELP WITH DEPOSIT

Martok

My daughter and SIL are buying their first house and I am gifting them £6000 to help with the deposit.

Can someone tell me why I have to jump through so many hoops to gift them this money.

I have to provide to their solicitor the following:

My last six months payslips

The last six months bank statements from the account in which my salary is paid

The last six months bank statements for the account the gift is coming from

A statement from last year and the year before to show the build up of funds into this account

For any large payments into these accounts statements / documents have to be provided from the source account along with an explanation of how the payments were obtained.

Earlier this year I gifted my granddaughter £1000 towards her deposit and all I had to provide was one bank statement to the mortgage broker and they informed the solicitor that they had confirmed I had the money and had also confirmed my identity.

When I asked the mortgage broker why this firm of solicitors require so much proof of my available funds they said different solicitors interpret the money laundering regulations different ways.

I fail to see how a one off gift of £6000 towards a deposit for a property warrants so much scrutiny.

mta999

It does sound excessive - I would write a formal letter of complaint to the solicitor's practice.

Albermarle

Definitely they are being OTT
Could be a junior member of staff being over enthusiastic in following guidelines.

Brie

They'll say it's to prove there's no money laundering involved.  

Alderbank

They have a statutory duty to take whatever steps they need to be able to assure the authorities that the money is legitimate.
What actual steps they take are up to them and will be based on their professional training and experience. They risk being admonished if they are not careful enough but are very unlikely to be told off for being too cautious.

When I gave my daughter a sum considerably greater than £6k, all her solicitor asked for was a signed letter from me to say it was a gift and not a loan. Perhaps things have changed.

Do you have a 'foreign' name or is your account with an overseas bank? If you have evidence that you were discriminated against because of your race or other protected reason you might possibly have a claim for unlawful discrimination.

Albermarle

Brie said:

They'll say it's to prove there's no money laundering involved.  

Yes all solicitors will ask for proof of funds, to try and stop money laundering. However the OP is being asked to provider more than normal for a relatively small sum.
Some solicitors seem a bit over zealous in this area.