Advice on how to list funds (solicitor?)

[apprenticeison]

Wonder if there’s a solicitor who might know about this…

About to buy a house with my partner. Have been sent a form from our solicitor to fill out listing where we’ll get the funds from. A large chunk of money will come from my savings account in another country. To make it easier to fill it out I was thinking it’d be easier for us to not list this, but to just list the same chunk from my partner’s saving account instead (he has the same amount spare). This would avoid the need to find/perhaps translate savings account information from another language.

But then it struck me, in the unlikely event that we split up and he turns into Mr Hyde, would he be able to argue that I didn’t contribute this amount to the purchase, even if there are transfers to his account for that sum around the same time? You never want to think things can happen so just thought I’d check…
Or is there any other reason why this is not a good idea?

Not married and buying as joint tenants.

I could ask our solicitor but I’m keen not to come across as if we’re trying to do something dodgy, absolutely not, it’s all above board and taxed etc, just thought it would be easier…

Thank you :-)

No expert, but it sounds like a bad idea in general. The proof is asked for because of anti money laundering legislation, and what you propose (no matter how genuine) kind of IS money laundering. I think far better to face up to the translation issues and keep yourselves free of any criticism. The whole process of buying a house takes ages, so there's plenty of time to translate.

Yes but it'd be nice to not have to do it ;-) I'm not sure how it could be seen as money laundering though... 'His' money will go towards renovations (+ a purchase of something just for him), so in a way it does not matter if I pay for the renovations instead... But if it would mean that he'd have a higher claim if we split, that's what I'm now wondering...

Completely agree that it needs to be above board of course!

Thank you for your thoughts :-)

It's very straightforward for you to just show where the money is, and has been for the last 6 months, the translation process is easy enough. Some language universities in the UK will do officially recognised notarized translations for you at a good price. University of Edinburgh did it for a Chinese friend recently.
I wouldn't try to find a way around this step as you never know what's around the corner...

Unless the money the OP is talking about comes from the proceeds of crime, it's not money laundering!

I wouldn’t because of what you said, it won’t be traceable to you in the event you split.

Yes you can use his money in savings as it will definitely be simpler than having to explain money moved from abroad

Get a declaration of trust drawn up by your solicitor to say what % each put in and how it is to be split in the event of a sale. Regardless of the source of your money this is a good idea anyway when buying a house with someone. Your solicitor will be able to do it.

Thank you for all the comments-very helpful! We'll definitely note what % belongs to each person in case of a split. (In fact that was one of the questions on one of the zillions of papers we need to fill out, but good reminder!).