Conveyancing lawyer who can deal with overseas funds?

[Herbion]

I don't know what to do, I was hoping for somebody on here who might have experience of a similar situation.

DH and me have been renting for years (although we did own a house previously, made some silly decisions, like going into rented ''for a while' - it's been years now and the market left us behind). We are coming up to retirement age so it would not be possible to take out a new mortgage. We have managed to save quite a lot over the last few years, have received pension lump sums, and most importantly, DH received a good-sized inheritance from his family who live abroad. He received this money in 2022,we kept it in the bank and we continued to save, and thought this year was the right time to buy. The inheritance is over 60% of the property value.

Now we've had an offer accepted on a house. Someone recommended me a conveyancing solicitor, he works online and though he is local, his company is based in another area, they have solicitors all round the UK. He seemed friendly etc. The solicitor sent me some forms through to complete and one of them was asking the source of our funds. I messaged him that some of our funds were from family abroad and he seemed very phased and concerned by this. He has asked for a shed load of information, says he will have to check with his company's çompliance team IF he can still act for us.

I do understand that solicitors have to comply with money laundering regulations, but this has really worried me. Seems he is inexperienced in dealing with overseas stuff. I heard that many legal companies don't like to? Yet it is all legit, we have all the legal documents and probate etc from my late FIL's will. I thought it would not be a big deal, as the money has been with us nearly 3 years now, and I had heard it is only money just received they are really bothered by, perhaps this was incorrect?

I have lost confidence in this solicitor, I am guessing that maybe his firm is just a conveyancing factory. But what sort of solicitor should I be looking for and how on earth do I go about it, I just want them to take care of it all for us. DH's remaining family abroad including his brother who was the executor are happy to help.

How do I find a decent solicitor who can deal with this? Anybody know?

As a Conveyancer, this is totally legitimate. We have to comply with so many anti money laundering regulations to the point where we spend more time on compliance than we do conveying the legal title! IMO the fact he asking questions makes him a good lawyer, not inexperienced. Be prepared to dig out a copy of the will and any correspondence received from the estate. What country did the funds originate from? There are different rules and refutations for different countries.

I am reluctant to go along with someone who seems to think it might be all too much for their company though! So I thought it might be better to cut our losses and start afresh. There were also mistakes in the initial emails they've sent, names misspelled, email addresses copied wrongly. It doesn't inspire confidence. They have also jumped to conclusions, that we are selling a property etc, although I am sure I told them the situation when I made my initial enquiry.

Just wondering how to find a lawyer that might have experience in these matters, there must be a way?

As the other poster has commented, it's quite likely a sign that he is good at his job. The reality is that it doesn't crop up that often and when it does you have to be sure, he is taking personal risk as well as his firm. Even if the monies were originally from the UK if it has come from various different sources you should be prepared to be asked a lot of questions to evidence it as the threshold for compliance is high, and he is right to run it by his compliance team. There are some countries that are a problem though due to being on sanctions lists and higher risk lists, if the monies have come from one of those countries you will likely face issues but quite rightly and would be the same whoever acted for you.

Compliance on source of wealth and funds is a massive part of the job for conveyancing

Any decent lawyer will need chapter and verse on the source of funds/wealth for this, so you need to be prepared for it. They have to ask these questions and can get in very significant trouble (serious fines and even imprisonment) if they don't.

Misspelling names/emails is a different matter and not one referred to in your OP or thread title.

Best option is to accept it's par for the course and be prepared to disclose and evidence it all - if you can, and provided no country specific issues etc then you have nothing to hide and should have no issues with providing all that is needed to sign it off fine.

It may feel intrusive but it's simply what the law requires to be compliant

All conveyancing firms have experience in it, it's part of the job but you have a very particular mix of factors involved that's all and I would think any firm would put that to their compliance team to lead them on it

Did you make it clear the money was here in a UK bank account and has been for three years?

I have given money to a member of family and had to sign a gifted deposit form.

Yes I told them that early on. They were so obviously taken aback by it though. Yes we can give all the info but if they then can't act for us it will be a waste of time?

Well just get someone else but yes you have to prove where funds come from.

Yes. Can anyone actually answer my question?

Is there any way to find a lawyer happy to take it on?

What country? (The answer makes a difference)

What country did the funds come from? It makes a huge difference.

At my firm we would have to take our insurers instructions that they would be happy to take on a case where funds came from overseas, as I suspect most firms would.

Your question is an impossible one to answer as all lawyers would ask the same questions you have been asked already. If you found a lawyer that didn’t, I wouldn’t use them! You will not get a simple yes/no answer from a firm to confirm they will take it on, they would have to review the documentation first.

Doesn’t matter how long you have had the funds, there is no time limit as to make funds ‘safe’.

I’m not a conveyancer but I am a lawyer and I agree with the other lawyers on here that you should be concerned by any firm NOT asking these questions. Lawyers now have massive compliance obligations to verify the source of funds for transactions.

the way you answered questions might not have helped. If you said the funds were from family abroad as your OP suggests that immediately raises a red flag. Corrupt people from other countries buying property in the U.K. as a safe haven for their ill gotten gains is a well-established money laundering method. See the recent scandals around Tulip Siddiq. If you had said the funds were from an inheritance and then in due course produced documents that show they came from abroad three years ago and have all the documentation to support that, the conveyancer would probably be less alarmed. It doesn’t mean they would carry out lesser checks. I just suspect your wording has set off a big flashing red light.

Oh dear, what am I supposed to do then? @eurochick ?

The reason I might not have mentioned the word 'inheritance' in my initial approach is because FIL actually died several years ago (yes we have a copy of the will and probate etc was all done properly), but the family only sold the relevant, jointly owned, property 3 years ago, which released the funds. Does that make any difference?

To be clear, DH was left a share of the (commercial) property, along with several other family members.

What you do is provide the documentation they ask for and answer their questions with as much openness and clarity as you can. Based on what you have said here, it is highly likely the firm will ultimately confirm they can act for you but they (and every other firm) are legally required to go through this process.

I agree with @AgentLisbon.

It is not uncommon for conveyancing correspondence to have typos but if you have lost faith in this firm already it might be better to start the compliance process elsewhere.

You still haven’t said what country it is OP.