Jayney2

Hello all,

I may be receiving a cheque in GBP from my fathers estate soon. I have found out the bank account in the UK I was keeping in case I needed it was probably closed and pilfered by Gordon Browns government.

I am not sure why a government is allowed to pilfer the odd £8 or whatever I had in it, but it was most likely seen as a dormant account.

If I try to deposit a GBP cheque into a US bank account I assume they are going to charge a lot. I did look at Transferwise, but they will not accept cheques, only electronic transfers. I'm assuming my best bet is to open a new UK bank account from the USA?

tom169

Opening up an account in the UK will be hard if you don't live there and can't confirm an address as they likely won't let you use a US address.

Have you visited your US bank and asked about the possibility and fees?

The only other thing I can think is sign the check over to someone else and have them deposit then use Transferwise.

quiltman

If it is a large cheque then be prepared for lots of questions! One way is probably go into your friends UK bank with him, take paperwork to prove where money came from, or easiest way would be to ask the executor to do the transfer for you instead of issuing a cheque. I did this for my brother in law who lived in spain when FIL died. Can't remember the cost but it was easy - we just instructed the bank to do the transfer from our executors account and deducted the fees from the total amount payable. Worked fine!

Pulaski

Your best bet is to have the executor transfer funds to your US account, ideally using whichever on-line FX broker-remitter will allow them to transfer funds from their account to your account. The fact that the name is different means that not all will allow that.

Your second best bet is to have the executor go to the bank where the estate's account is held and purchase a "bank draft" (I hear that most banks in the UK now issue them centrally and mail them to the account holder - you used to be able to buy them over the counter), which is a cheque drawn on the bank's own account at a US bank such as Citibank or JPM Chase. You can then just deposit into your account and it will clear overnight.

There are a very few US banks that now allow you to hold a GBP account, but I suspect that the fees are enough that there is little benefit to trying to go that route.

Pulaski

I don't think they like US residents as customers.
The exchange rate will likely be hideous, verging on criminal!
I don't think most banks in the UK now accept endorsed cheques into personal accounts.

tom169

I currently live with my parents.

Pulaski

That's funny, so do I! .... Well, my mother, not your parents.

Jayney2

I see Barclays will let you open a UK bank account as a non UK resident so long as you deposit £25K. However, I didn't think to ask my fathers solicitor to directly transfer. I will ask how much that may cost as when my father was alive he used to send £500 here and there for birthdays and such directly. I hope they wouldn't take the same percentage as that would be criminal.

petitefrancaise

Worldfirst do allow transfers to accounts in a different name. We have done it. I think opening an account with them is fairly easy and only the sender of the money needs an account.

I have a worldfirst account and a uk bank account - I'll look after your money if you like 😈 .

Nutmegger

Exactly what I did in the same circumstances. However, I have no-fee banking and an executor who understands international money transactions.