Solicitor fees- Property transaction with gifted funds.
Discussion
A solicitor is requesting an additional fee to verify the identity of the relative who gifted me a relatively minuscule sum.
Put in to perspective, I recently remortgaged, going through the same AML procedures, where a credit was evident on my account for a greater sum, from the sale of a beat up old car and I merely had to state that's where it came from.
Ultimately I can't take an immobile relative to a solicitor to undergo this process and pay for the pleasure and even if the sensible digital verification option is available, the solicitors say I would need to prove where the relative's funds came from, which would've been inheritance from decades ago.
Obviously I don't want to lose the money I've already paid the solicitor for their work. So can someone confirm whether charges for additional ID checks are reasonable when another says they won't charge, or whether they just want me to pay for more add-ons. Because if I need to pay to trace every movement of this few grand I may as well cut my losses and go elsewhere. Or just buy and sell a car.
Put in to perspective, I recently remortgaged, going through the same AML procedures, where a credit was evident on my account for a greater sum, from the sale of a beat up old car and I merely had to state that's where it came from.
Ultimately I can't take an immobile relative to a solicitor to undergo this process and pay for the pleasure and even if the sensible digital verification option is available, the solicitors say I would need to prove where the relative's funds came from, which would've been inheritance from decades ago.
Obviously I don't want to lose the money I've already paid the solicitor for their work. So can someone confirm whether charges for additional ID checks are reasonable when another says they won't charge, or whether they just want me to pay for more add-ons. Because if I need to pay to trace every movement of this few grand I may as well cut my losses and go elsewhere. Or just buy and sell a car.
Bizarre. To put this into perspective my parents 'gifted' me 100k to allow me to buy a property last year, basically my father's pension lump sum. The solicitor and mortgage provider was aware of the 'gift', but did no additional checks.
I then completed on my previous property 4 months later and 'gifted' the 100k back to my parents.
I'm not exactly sure what they should or shouldn't have done, but it will be due to fraud checks etc. Seems silly for a smallish figure.
I then completed on my previous property 4 months later and 'gifted' the 100k back to my parents.
I'm not exactly sure what they should or shouldn't have done, but it will be due to fraud checks etc. Seems silly for a smallish figure.
I think the solicitor is being over the top, their duty is to prevent the proceeds of crime entering the system. Your explanation would seem legit and if the funds are not being used for the house purchase then they only need to record what the transaction was (they are supposed to ask)
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
Caddyshack said:
I think the solicitor is being over the top, their duty is to prevent the proceeds of crime entering the system. Your explanation would seem legit and if the funds are not being used for the house purchase then they only need to record what the transaction was (they are supposed to ask)
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
If it were a fiver I wouldn't be querying it here... It's many times that. The only minor sum is the bankruptcy check on the relative.If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
I'd just pay but my real issue is the fact that the relative can't get to a solicitor or find 30 year old transactions.
It's a small sum and was pretty much covered again by the rest of my balance but they requested 12 months statements, and in light of their present degree of scrutiny I would have probably had to show proof that I'd sold and bought a car too. The gift was ultimately the source of the funds so seemed logical to evidence that, which I did.
Shuff4 said:
New / different bank account that doesn’t show this transaction?
I'm sure many would ignore it given the funds would be in the account without it, but seemingly here it would be impossible to transfer myself the funds without question. Not least as they've already seen the statement with that credit. R Mutt said:
Caddyshack said:
I think the solicitor is being over the top, their duty is to prevent the proceeds of crime entering the system. Your explanation would seem legit and if the funds are not being used for the house purchase then they only need to record what the transaction was (they are supposed to ask)
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
If it were a fiver I wouldn't be querying it here... It's many times that. The only minor sum is the bankruptcy check on the relative.If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
I'd just pay but my real issue is the fact that the relative can't get to a solicitor or find 30 year old transactions.
It's a small sum and was pretty much covered again by the rest of my balance but they requested 12 months statements, and in light of their present degree of scrutiny I would have probably had to show proof that I'd sold and bought a car too. The gift was ultimately the source of the funds so seemed logical to evidence that, which I did.
I don’t understand the bit about 30 yr old transactions?
If the queried transaction is a car transaction within the period of you receiving the gift then they just need to know what the transaction was and some proof of it. If it is a large firm ask the practice manager to review what is being asked for and explain the process….you may get a simple response that it can be ignored.
Caddyshack said:
How much is the fee? If it is under £30 then I doubt they really make any money from doing an add on, it is probably a pain for them too.
I feel like I'd be identifying them by stating the specific sum as no one else would dare charge that, especially now others think it should be a fiver!R Mutt said:
Caddyshack said:
How much is the fee? If it is under £30 then I doubt they really make any money from doing an add on, it is probably a pain for them too.
I feel like I'd be identifying them by stating the specific sum as no one else would dare charge that, especially now others think it should be a fiver!I mentioned £5 as I had a client ask me to certify their ID today to avoid them needing to pay their conveyancers £5 ID fee.
Caddyshack said:
R Mutt said:
Caddyshack said:
I think the solicitor is being over the top, their duty is to prevent the proceeds of crime entering the system. Your explanation would seem legit and if the funds are not being used for the house purchase then they only need to record what the transaction was (they are supposed to ask)
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
If it were a fiver I wouldn't be querying it here... It's many times that. The only minor sum is the bankruptcy check on the relative.If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
I'd just pay but my real issue is the fact that the relative can't get to a solicitor or find 30 year old transactions.
It's a small sum and was pretty much covered again by the rest of my balance but they requested 12 months statements, and in light of their present degree of scrutiny I would have probably had to show proof that I'd sold and bought a car too. The gift was ultimately the source of the funds so seemed logical to evidence that, which I did.
I don’t understand the bit about 30 yr old transactions?
If the queried transaction is a car transaction within the period of you receiving the gift then they just need to know what the transaction was and some proof of it. If it is a large firm ask the practice manager to review what is being asked for and explain the process….you may get a simple response that it can be ignored.
R Mutt said:
Caddyshack said:
R Mutt said:
Caddyshack said:
I think the solicitor is being over the top, their duty is to prevent the proceeds of crime entering the system. Your explanation would seem legit and if the funds are not being used for the house purchase then they only need to record what the transaction was (they are supposed to ask)
If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
If it were a fiver I wouldn't be querying it here... It's many times that. The only minor sum is the bankruptcy check on the relative.If you have any evidence of the transaction such as the log book issue or maybe the bank statement of the relative showing the same transaction that should be enough.
Ultimately the ID cost should be about £5 so just pay it and move on.
I'd just pay but my real issue is the fact that the relative can't get to a solicitor or find 30 year old transactions.
It's a small sum and was pretty much covered again by the rest of my balance but they requested 12 months statements, and in light of their present degree of scrutiny I would have probably had to show proof that I'd sold and bought a car too. The gift was ultimately the source of the funds so seemed logical to evidence that, which I did.
I don’t understand the bit about 30 yr old transactions?
If the queried transaction is a car transaction within the period of you receiving the gift then they just need to know what the transaction was and some proof of it. If it is a large firm ask the practice manager to review what is being asked for and explain the process….you may get a simple response that it can be ignored.
R Mutt said:
I meant their inheritance from 30 years ago from which effectively this sum would've come. Solicitor wants 3 months of their statements too, which of course as a retiree isn't going to be amassed over that period. The sum will have been in savings for decades pre online banking and I simply won't be able to get them to a bank to obtain an ancient statement. Moreover the few hundred quid I've paid the solicitor won't be worth my time to do so
Just provide them with the 3 months statements from the giftee, that will cover it off with an ID check. They are looking for credits into that account of a similar size to the amount gifted to you, they are not looking to see them accruing the money.Caddyshack said:
The Solicitor just needs to be comfortable that the family member has not put dirty cash in to their account just to give it to you to launder through the property transaction.
I get that and they're satisfied with a few months statements evidencing the above.But they still want to charge me £100 for dealing with the gift, plus the costs associated with the digital ID checks and bankruptcy search
Given the fact that I can satisfy their compliance requirements without transporting someone to the office I'm obviously going to proceed but they're effectively charging me because a credit for a few grand is visible on my bank statement
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