Source of funds: what the notary asks for, and why

It is the request that most surprises foreign buyers, and the one that actually blocks signatures on the appointed day. Yet there is nothing personal about it: it binds the notary, on every file, and it is prepared in a few hours if you start in time.

A duty, not curiosity

Article L561-2 of the Monetary and Financial Code places the notary among the professionals subject to anti-money-laundering vigilance duties. This is not a faculty left to their judgement: they must be able to justify where the funds come from, and they are liable if they receive a deed without having done so.

The practical consequence is simple. A notary who does not understand the origin of the money will not sign, however likeable the file and whatever date is already booked. The suspense is not about their decision, it is about when they will discover the missing document.

The evidence expected, by source

Each origin calls for its own proof, and the logic is always the same: show how the sum was formed, not merely that it sits on an account.

Accumulated savings are evidenced by account statements over several months, showing the gradual build-up. A balance screenshotted the night before says nothing.

The sale of a property abroad requires the translated deed of sale and the statement crediting the price. Both together, since one dates the transaction and the other links it to your account.

A family gift supposes the deed of gift or the gift declaration, with the matching transfer. This is where anticipation counts most, because the deed must be drafted and signed, which takes time.

A bank loan is evidenced by the accepted loan offer, which the bank most often sends directly to the practice.

The sale of a business or securities requires the sale agreement and the custodian’s transaction advice.

The rule that blocks most signatures

It fits in one sentence: funds must leave an account in your name.

A transfer sent by a parent, by a company you own, or from a joint account you do not hold suspends the signature, even when the intention is perfectly clear and the source perfectly clean. The notary cannot trace a payment whose sender is not a party to the deed.

If a third party funds all or part of the purchase, that is prepared upstream, by a deed of gift or a family loan received by the notary, and the money then passes through your account. Improvising a transfer the day before the deed settles nothing: it creates exactly the problem preparation would have avoided.

The right moment, and a safety reflex

Gather these documents from the signing of the preliminary contract, and send them without waiting to be chased. A foreign bank statement must be requested, sometimes translated by a sworn translator, and travels: the chain takes days, and more from a country outside the European Economic Area.

One last reflex, on a point where the loss is final. Never take the practice’s bank details from an email, however perfectly written, without confirming them by phone on a number you dialled yourself. Fraud on transfers of notarial funds targets foreign buyers precisely, who have never met their contact, and money gone does not come back.

These requirements interlock with the rest of the calendar: the two routes to signing without travelling to France have their own lead times, and the law that will govern the transmission of your property is decided at the same moment, with the same notary.