Gifting money

Hi Terry, I am the person who asked you a question about giving my son a gift of about $50,000 to purchase a home. My sons financial advisor is asking for a copy of my bank statement to show where the money came from. I understand they want a paper trail on the money but I feel uneasy about giving the financial advisor a copy of my savings account where my money is, is this usually how this is handled? thank you very much.

Terry Says:   Yes, sadly for your privacy, the origin and source of the gift has to be documented!  That’s the way things work these days!  If you have “too much” money in that account and don’t want to show all that to your son, much less his financial advisor, move some of the money temporarily to a new account and use that as a demo.  (Although if it happens too close to the need, they may ask to trace that money back to the original account!  It’s worth a try though.)