Wiring money from US Account to UK Account

I know there are a few topics on this and I've read through them but I still have a couple of questions.

My mother recently passed away and left me a significant amount of money.  The money is due to be released from her 401 (k) in a week or two.  It will be deposited into my parent's BoA checking account (which I am a co-signer on).  My father wants to wire the money to my UK HSBC account.  We looked into XETrade as that is what I have used in the past but we can't get them to raise my parent's sending limit.

So, I guess my question is: can my father exchange USD to GBP and wire the money directly from his BoA account to my HSBC account?  I assume there will be a fee.  Do I need to notify HSBC that a large amount is expected to be deposited?  I have to have it in my account so I can make a payment into my pension. 

I am probably overcomplicating things but figured I should ask for clarity's sake.

Thanks in advance.

I wire money the other way (HSBC to BofA) with no trouble and minimal fees--the banks handle the exchange themselves (ie I decide how much I want to send in pounds; it appears in dollars). However, depending on the sum, I imagine there will be reporting/different sets of fees if it is a significant amount. I would imagine there are tax implications as well.

Are you able to pop into your branch?  I've found our local HSBC extremely helpful in cases like this, and they never hesitate to let me know if there is a way to save money/avoid fees. (To clarify, I wouldn't go to them for advice on the tax implications, but on the process, I definitely would.)

Thankfully, there aren't any tax implications.  I checked with HMRC. Since it is under the tax threshold (first time the dollar being weaker than the pound has helped me!), there aren't any tax issues.  For the US side, no tax as again, it is below the tax threshold.  So, I guess it is pretty straight forward after all.

Thanks for your help!


ETA: Inheritance tax threshold is what I was referring to by tax threshold.  Just want to be clear in case anyone else ever has the same question.

I've done wire transfers many times, and for large amounts, it's the only way to go for me. I've negotiated a good rate on the US side, and transferred as GBP as well as the more typical way of transferring USD and taking a chance on the exchange rate when it comes into our UK account.

Others have used other services, but I personally feel secure just dealing with my banks.

Dar, my grandmother died and left me some money earlier this year, her broker wired it to my Barclays account and there were no fees on my side. One bank in the states told me there was a $45 fee for however much you wired, but the broker sent it for free.  She also arranged for it to be sent to me in pounds sterling. Not sure why, but it seemed to make sense.  Anyway, the money reached my account with no fees and no problems.  Good luck.

I would be concerned that when the money leaves the joint account within the United States that your father may be losing some of his lifetime gift tax exclusion.

He will need advice on legal and beneficial ownership of the monies under local law where he is and whether the transfer to you is a gift.
 

I'm in a similar situation at the moment.  Currently trying to wire some of my inheritance from my dad from my US account to my UK account through XE.  Fortunately they were able to increase the amount but I'm finding the whole thing frustrating.  I think it may be communication issues but I've been on the phone to XE 4 times already this morning and twice to my US bank and it's still not done.

I was wondering (I should probably start another thread here, but...) what is the tax on US inheritance, what is the threshold?

I would be concerned that when the money leaves the joint account within the United States that your father may be losing some of his lifetime gift tax exclusion.

He will need advice on legal and beneficial ownership of the monies under local law where he is and whether the transfer to you is a gift.
 

Oh yes, this.  I would double check that running it through your father's account (although it is technically your inheritance) may impact his gift tax exclusion.  Is there not some sort of official "executor's" account? It may be best to run it out of there.

As far as US tax on inheritance, it is, as with all things, complex. Here is the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_States

States may also add their own estate taxes.

As far as US tax on inheritance, it is, as with all things, complex. Here is the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_States

States may also add their own estate taxes.

Far too complicated for me, my head is going to explode.   I'm going to need help big time with this and filing taxes in general. 

Only about 10 phone calls on top of the loads I've already made and have found out my bank won't let me wire money through XE without going into an actual branch.  Since I'm in England that's not going to happen so we are now doing it via direct debit which takes longer.  Anyone else have this problem?  My bank is Wells Fargo....

Oh yes, this.  I would double check that running it through your father's account (although it is technically your inheritance) may impact his gift tax exclusion.  Is there not some sort of official "executor's" account? It may be best to run it out of there.

As far as US tax on inheritance, it is, as with all things, complex. Here is the wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_States

States may also add their own estate taxes.

My father is the executor as he was named in my mother's will.  It definitely isn't his inheritance as she specifically states that it is to come to me.  She left everything else to him (house and its contents and all other monetary accounts). I don't know why they can't make this much easier to comprehend.  As if we don't have enough issues grieving such a huge loss...

Thanks for your help everyone and Andee, I hope things get better for you!

My farther is the executor as he was named in my mother's will.  It definitely isn't his inheritance as she specifically states that it is to come to me.  She left everything else to him (house and its contents and all other monetary accounts). I don't know why they can't make this much easier to comprehend.  As if we don't have enough issues grieving such a huge loss...

Thanks for your help everyone and Andee, I hope things get better for you!

Thanks Dar.

I found out after a whole day of phone calls back and forth that the issue was the increase in the transaction amount.  My bank won't let me wire *or* direct debit that large amount unless I come into a branch directly *or* verify a US residential address which of course I don't have as I LIVE IN ENGLAND NOW as I've told them countless times.
So now we're doing two smaller transactions equal to the large amount we originally wanted.  If only they had made it clear we could do two transactions easier than one large one it would have saved me an entire day of frustration.

Hope you get your stuff sorted soon as well Dar.

You probably all know this, but pay attention to the exchange rates as well.  The point of using FX specialists like XE.com and HiFX.com is that you get a better rate to convert currency. 

Barclays today quoted me a rate around $1.51 to the pound, while the spot rate is $1.57 and HiFX was about $1.56.  If you transfer £1,000 into dollars, that's a difference between a roughly $60 "fee" and a roughly $10 "fee" (and whether they call it a fee or not, that's what it is).

I suppose I'll ask a question as well.  Does anyone have a UK bank that doesn't charge a fee to transfer money to one of these FX specialists (like XE or HiFX)?  Obviously same day / next day wire transfers will cost something, but for a regular 3-5 business day ACH/BACS transfer?

I suppose I'll ask a question as well.  Does anyone have a UK bank that doesn't charge a fee to transfer money to one of these FX specialists (like XE or HiFX)?  Obviously same day / next day wire transfers will cost something, but for a regular 3-5 business day ACH/BACS transfer?

When I use XETrade to transfer money (which I just did last week), I don't get charged anything, other than whatever XE charges themselves.

For example, I needed to transfer 250 Euros last week. I used XETrade and they quoted me £213.62 for an EFT transfer.

That was their exchange rate for 250 Euros, with no charge for the transfer (a wire transfer is £12.50, but EFT is free). My bank did not charge me anything to transfer the money to them - so all I paid was the £213.62 quoted to me by XETrade, and it was transferred to the foreign account within 48 hours.

Before I did it, I also checked how much my UK bank would charge for a direct international transfer through them. My quote: either £230 (£220 for the exchange, plus £10 for a 3-5 day transfer) or £247 (£220 for the exchange, plus £27 for a 1-2 day transfer).