4 ms·

In this country, UK, it seems that they just ask you, at least that's been my experience when buying property. My take on this is, it is done, so that solicito

In this country, UK, it seems that they just ask you, at least that's been my experience when buying property. My take on this is, it is done, so that solicitors can claim plausible deniability should the money not be 100% above board, but to be fair I've not sought to inform myself on the legislation.

dijit 7y ago
I bought an apartment in Sweden and they asked me a cursory question about my deposit. Seemed incredibly innocuous and casual until my UK bank (Barclays) sent me a letter stating that my Swedish bank had requested details about large deposits and I should call the official Barclays line if I want to allow it. So, there exists methods to check at least.
desas 7y ago
They're legally required to because of money laundering legislation.
- reallydontask 7y ago
  My point is that if I say the £300K I'm using to buy a house with come from an inheritance, are they going to check further or are they going to take my word for it?
  - jackweirdy 7y ago
    There are no hard and fast rules and they will take a risk based approach. I went through this process recently having bought a house a few months ago. My conveyancer told me for example that if any part of the money is a gift, the relatives would have to write a supporting letter explaining the purpose and source of the gift money. I’m sure similar evidence would be needed for inheritance too. This seems to be some dated but relevant law society advice https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/archive/aml/property-lawyers-guidance/ https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practi...
  - desas 7y ago
    I'd guess they'll ask for a bit more information but it's up to them - it's their livelihood on the line if they're not doing their job properly. I do know that I gifted someone buying a house £2k via bank transfer. The solicitor queried it, had me fill out a form saying who I was, why I'd transferred the money, where I'd got the money from and to prove it. I was able to provide them with a statement from a savings account showing a regular amount going in and then £2k being withdrawn and that satisfied them.

dijit 7y ago

I bought an apartment in Sweden and they asked me a cursory question about my deposit. Seemed incredibly innocuous and casual until my UK bank (Barclays) sent me a letter stating that my Swedish bank had requested details about large deposits and I should call the official Barclays line if I want to allow it. So, there exists methods to check at least.

desas 7y ago

They're legally required to because of money laundering legislation.

reallydontask 7y ago
My point is that if I say the £300K I'm using to buy a house with come from an inheritance, are they going to check further or are they going to take my word for it?
- jackweirdy 7y ago
  There are no hard and fast rules and they will take a risk based approach. I went through this process recently having bought a house a few months ago. My conveyancer told me for example that if any part of the money is a gift, the relatives would have to write a supporting letter explaining the purpose and source of the gift money. I’m sure similar evidence would be needed for inheritance too. This seems to be some dated but relevant law society advice https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practice-notes/archive/aml/property-lawyers-guidance/ https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/practi...
- desas 7y ago
  I'd guess they'll ask for a bit more information but it's up to them - it's their livelihood on the line if they're not doing their job properly. I do know that I gifted someone buying a house £2k via bank transfer. The solicitor queried it, had me fill out a form saying who I was, why I'd transferred the money, where I'd got the money from and to prove it. I was able to provide them with a statement from a savings account showing a regular amount going in and then £2k being withdrawn and that satisfied them.