Tippaporn

Gee, Halloween is next Thursday and after reading that horror story I can skip the slasher movie I was going to watch this weekend. That would be mild in comparison. Thanks for the spine tingling tale of fright. It's true what you say that the banks own your money once you deposit it with them. I've learned that during the '08 financial crisis. Only in a crooked system can that arrangement be codified.

I'm in possession of his 5 laptops. He attempted to write a will and listed all of his assets. So that part is easy. I'll be confronting the perp after we have an administrator. I don't think he'll balk at returning any monies he embezzled. The consequences if charged and convicted are not worth 50,000 baht. I'm sure he can do the math.

This topic is an aspect of this topic, but needs to be separate. The back story: the deceased has lived in Thailand since 1991 with only two return trips to the UK in those 33 years. Problem: Back in the eighties he had bought an undetermined number of shares of British Airways and Rolls Royce. He had opened an account at NatWest for the specific purpose of receiving the dividends from his shares. He then forgot about the account. Fast forward to 2 January 2020 when he contacted NatWest requesting his lost account number. Now fast forward to 13 May 2020 when he sent a follow up email to NatWest requesting that someone give the matter attention. That's all the information I have. The question is, what course of action to take for both the NatWest account and locating the shares.

Wise advice, thank you. Fortunately there are no claims being made by either his sister nor his nephew. According to Thai law nephews have zero standing to claims of inheritance. And he's stated emphatically that he has no legal representation on this matter in Thailand. There will be no opposition in court.

He was an absentee father. 5,000 baht per year for her birthday. That was it. And that lasted only up until she was six or seven. He had been largely invisible since. I won't judge him as there's a lot of complexity. Humans are complex creatures. I get that and so hold nothing against him. I grant he made some poor decisions but I also grant that he did the best he knew how. That's good enough for me. I realise, too, that I myself live in a glass house, LOL.

One estranged sister residing in the UK and what appears to be a spiv banker nephew in Hong Kong. The estate is not worth any effort by the EWB nephew and he's made that clear. He wouldn't even come in for the funeral of his "beloved" uncle. The value of the estate is worth pursuing.

The Thai bank accounts were immediately frozen. Two 25,000 baht withdrawals were made on the day of the father's death. That money needs to be returned, either willingly or not. I believe it will be willingly as the detrimental consequences far outweigh the paltry gain.

I'm late with all of my responses because this has been all consuming since the father's death. The funeral was arranged with the help of friends and took place on the 13th. The father had set money aside for the funeral and hospital so that is all behind us. The pension is with Zurich. We've contacted them to let them know the policy holder is deceased and they now await for an administrator to be appointed in order to settle the account.

Thanks, ddedave. So far so good. No doubt it involves a lot of running around and it's a huge learning experience but nothing that's too formidable that we haven't been able to handle ourselves.

Trying to do this without lawyers. We're in the process of petitioning the Thai court to be appointed administrator of the estate. The daughter is first in line to the inheritance according to Thai law. It's just that she's a minor. The mother shouldn't have any trouble being appointed the administrator. If we need a lawyer to compose a proper petition then we will certainly do that. But we believe that this should not at all be complex given the estate.

I'm truly amazed. We received a soft copy of the Consular Letter via email by 4 PM today. The hard copy is available to be picked up at the embassy with only a two hour notice so that reception can be notified of our arrival. I've rarely seen government respond so swiftly. When I sent the required documentation to the UK embassy I told my contact that if she needed anything else to feel free to ask me. I thought it wise to mention that we have certified copies of the father's, the daughter's and the mother's birth certificates. That is further hard evidence establishing the daughter as the true daughter of the father. Here is what my embassy contact wrote in reply: If you could send the birth certificates in your own time, that would be much appreciated. It is not needed for the consular letter, but it will be better to provide the confirmation of the relationship between <father> and <daughter>. So, if anyone would dare question the legitimacy of the daughter as the legitimate daughter then the birth certificates establish that with certainty. The father is listed as the father on daughter's birth certificate.

Okay. I sent an email to the British embassy requesting a Consular Letter and almost immediately received a reply instructing me to call the embassy. On the call I provided the information they asked for and they will send an email back this afternoon with a contact at the embassy. After I receive that email I will send them a copy of the father's passport, the daughter's UK passport, the mother's Thai ID card, and the police report. There is no need to have the police report translated. Once they receive those documents then I assume they will issue the Consular Letter. Hopefully we can have that by tomorrow.

Always possible but I doubt it's probable. He doesn't seem the type to spend his time on social media.

Thanks for all of the info. Very helpful. We're not far from the embassy so we may just go in person. Only because I'd like to enquire about the father's pension and perhaps they can give us guidance. In any case, I will keep updating this thread to let all know how it works out. And I may have other questions. Thanks all for your help thus far.

I'm an incurable optimist. Granted there's a great deal of effort involved but I fully expect calm seas. If the father's assets are all in Thailand and therefore this case would be resolved according to Thai law then it appears that the fraudster friend and nephew have zero standing upon which to make claims. And certainly not without either of them having to retain lawyers in order to contest the daughter's claim. Personally I doubt they would attempt to go to those lengths if the father's assets are not great enough to offset their risks, costs and efforts. That's simply my educated assessment given the entirety of the facts that are available to me. The nephew would have to be willing to travel as well. Economically speaking, I doubt he would have much to gain. Excellent advi ce. Thank you. Asking him first might prove to be the easiest solution. If he has no legal right to possess them and they are otherwise valueless to him then he may simply willingly give them up to avoid a hassle for paltry items which gain him next to nothing. It usually comes down to simple economics. If he refuses to relinquish them then certainly we'll be straight on our way to the police station. Not as yet. It's only been a few days since the father's passing, everyone involved was new to me, and I knew not whom to trust initially. Call it the fog of war. I had to do a lot of listening to many unknown facts given by many people before I could put even the slightest picture together. But I fully intend to ask for the return of the items in his possession. I do know that he wasted no time in attempting to clear the father's apartment of it's contents and bring them to his house. He attempted this yesterday but failed as the building owner required legal documentation which he did not possess. I've had a great deal of contact with him over the last two days and he exhibits all the telltales of a con artist. Everything from the constant repetition of everything to gain my trust, his incessant claims that he wants nothing out of this and is only acting on the requests made to him by the father to the swiftness by which he attempts to gain control over the entirety of his friend's estate. I am loathe to accuse someone of being nefarious without strong confirmation but given the evidences thus far it appears unmistakable. I've experience with too many people in my life who lust for money. I agree with you wholeheartedly. He is most definitely trying to work with me and he has let me know in no uncertain terms how he would manage the estate. No one gets anything without his approval. He repeated ad nauseum the fact that we are not to expect much at all as the father's estate was paltry. The repetition was a tell as it was obvious that he was attempting to condition our expectation. When asked what the father's assets amounted to he would say that it's no one's business as the money is intended only for the daughter and nephew. If that's not a red flag I don't know what is. Yes, it's a race now to safeguard the assets. An ATM allows a maximum 50,000 baht withdrawal per day and he does not have the proper documents to withdraw directly from the bank. He has the bank books so we are unable to know the balances. Though we've frozen the main account today we need to present more documentation to the bank to access the account information to view any withdrawals made in the last few days. And if he has made unauthorized withdrawals then I will hold him to account.