jeffandgop

Last time I had to do my 90 day report I went to G4T and paid them to do it as the time before that I mailed it and then had to go to the airport office to get the receipt that they didn't send back in my pre-stamped EMS envelope. 

This time I tried the mail again.

I sent it via EMS on Monday 3 April and it wasn't received by IMM until Friday 7 April (going from Chiang Mai to Chiang Mai via Lamphun). 

IMM processed it on Monday 10 April and I received the approved slip via EMS the next day 11 April. 

You asked for Charlie's number and I gave it.

2 hours ago, Mahseer said:

082 766 0426.

Explain the phone number. Company? Your personal knowledge of their qualifications? Info details please

It's a very widespread outage caused by a failure of a major station in Lampang

16 hours ago, CaliTransplant said:

Charlie at Chang Inter. He's Thai and lived 20 years in Australia so his English is excellent. He has serviced my old units and I bought a new one from him also. He's honest and ethical. His crew is careful, diligent, and thorough. 088 2637858

CaliTransplant- Please verify Charlie's' telephone number. I called it and no Charlie and no English speaking persons. 

Thanks

Thank you Canthai55 & CaliTransplant.

We need to find a reliable qualified trained local company to service our Mitsubishi air cons. The original dealer where we bought our units 2 years ago is somewhat unreliable in providing service when we call.  Anybody who has personal dealings with a Mitsubishi air con repair service care to recommend?

Thanks.

14 hours ago, scottiejohn said:

I am sorry Nancy L. I normally respect and like what you do but I, and am sure a few others,  take exception to your remarks that we must be clueless, need hand holding or are a first timer to use an agent. You and others might be quite happy getting up at stupid times of the day, wandering around shopping Malls, watching, films and eating overpriced crap at your favourite restaurant, but I do not. Nor do I wish to get up at that stupid time in the morning to go and sit on a plastic seat for God knows how long when I can get the same thing done a different way by getting up at a reasonable hour of the day (after 10AM at the earliest!) paying some money and get driven out to the ‘zoo’, when necessary, for all of a max of 20 mins and back in the local for lunch. To me that is the ‘no brainer’.  Not the act of a clueless etc person. Each to their own.

Yeah, no brainer indeed- as in willing to be forced to pay for a "private" firm to obtain governmental service above and beyond the government fees to comply with governmental regulations. 

On 2/14/2017 at 8:40 PM, EricTh said:

 

The problem is that there are many first-timers who don't know the exact procedures and they have nobody to turn to except the agents.

 

The printed broken English doesn't help and the English skills of the interns need to be vastly improved.

 

So there is a need for the agents but jumping queues would still be considered illegal if money were taken by the officers without going to the government bank account first.

 

I don't agree. With the help of people such as Nancy L & others as well as looking at the IM site, I did not need any agent to help my extension of stay for retirement the first time or the years thereafter

1 hour ago, ubonjoe said:

You have to get new income affidavit every year. Immigration will not accept one that is more than 6 months old.

Thank you!

For my next annual extension of stay based on retirement, I'm thinking of using the proof of income approach (letter/affidavit from the Us consulate), rather than money in the bank seasoned for 3 months. 

My question is if I choose the proof of income approach, can I use the same letter/affidavit for future renewals; or am I required to obtain a new proof of income letter each and every year?

1 hour ago, jonwilly said:

See a Thai Lawyer or stop reading all that folks post on Thai Visa.

 

john

Or stop reading YOUR posts implying that only a Thai lawyer can have all the knowledge and expertise and that the experiences of others have no value or merit. 

If a person is not comfortable preparing a will without a Thai lawyer by all means engage a lawyer. Others are quite capable of executing a will without a lawyer; you have no cause to criticize those that can and do. 

4 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Yes, that makes complete sense. Why, then, did the VFW publish this:

 

I think it's becoming clearer that the VFW got a bad vibe. I only brought it up to ask all the folks here, who have gotten legal help with their Wills, whether or not they were asked to include disinheritance clauses, in the situation where their Will leaves everything to spouse/significant other. I can only surmise that, no, such a clause has never been required, at least from the folks reading this thread. Chiang mai -- I know you had satisfactory experience with your lawyer in the prep of your/wife's Wills. Any disinheritance clauses in your situation?

 

Sorry to keep banging for information here. And, jonwilly, glad you know the procedures your executor will go thru, when you croak. Just really curious as to why you won't share them here. Or, maybe you never asked......?

Yes. The VFW statement is incorrect

44 minutes ago, JimGant said:

So your saying it gets even worse? That our marriage certificate from Hawaii is not valid because it's not registered in Thailand. Thus, I'm not even a statutory heir under Thai law and therefore all her statutory relatives get her inheritance -- even tho' her Will says I get everything?

The lunacy of all that certainly suggests disinheritance clauses are not needed. Not sure where the VFW got their info (albeit 2009), although they mention JUSMAAG -- but I can't find anything similar there.

The statutory heirs comes into play when there is no will. Having a will with designated beneficiaries precludes distribution to statutory heirs  in accordance with the Thai Civil Code. 

Where there is a marriage not registered in Thailand, Thai law does not recognize that as a legal marriage; so the risk is, without a will, the surviving spouse loses out to claims made by statutory heirs. Having a will naming the spouse the beneficiary, irrespective of the marriage  not being registered in Thailand, ensures the spouse inherits the estate. 

41 minutes ago, JimGant said:

So your saying it gets even worse? That our marriage certificate from Hawaii is not valid because it's not registered in Thailand. Thus, I'm not even a statutory heir under Thai law and therefore all her statutory relatives get her inheritance -- even tho' her Will says I get everything?

The lunacy of all that certainly suggests disinheritance clauses are not needed. Not sure where the VFW got their info (albeit 2009), although they mention JUSMAAG -- but I can't find anything similar there.

The statutory heirs comes into play when there is no will. Having a will with designated beneficiaries precludes distribution to statutory heirs by Thai Civil Code. 

Where there is a marriage not registered in Thailand Thai law does not recognize that as a legal marriage; so the risk is without a will the surviving spouse loses out to claims made by the statutory heirs. Having a will naming the spouse the beneficiary irrespective of the marriage not being registered in Thailand ensures the spouse inherits the estate. 

2 hours ago, JimGant said:

Did anyone who's had a Will drawn up by a lawyer -- in which everything is being left to the spouse -- have specific language in that Will disinheriting all applicable statutory heirs? I ask because of the following I stumbled across (admittedly, dated -- and claiming no authoritative credit).

 

Now, my wife's Will leaves all her assets to me, even specifically naming those assets by title/serial number (chanotes, cars, bank accts). But, she didn't name any of her brothers or sisters for disinheritance. Is anyone knowledgeable that maybe we need to go back and reaccomplish her Will? Obviously, that would be a nice CYA move -- but has anyone's lawyer given any guidance on this? Don't want pay a lawyer's fee that may not be necessary.....

If the marriage is not legal under Thai law the spouse is not recognized as being the husband. An example is where the husband is non Thai and marries a Thai citizen outside of Thailand and does not register the marriage in Thailand. In this case the husband would get zero. 

A will does not need to specifically exclude statutory heirs to preclude those persons from obtaining a part of the estate. By having a will and designating the beneficiaries as you wish precludes that the estate does not get distributed to the statutory heirs. Statutory heirs really comes in to play when the deceased has no will. 

On 1/23/2017 at 0:27 PM, JimGant said:

 

Nancy, you now certainly have an ironclad (procedurally) Will. Certainly there will be no problems when submitted to probate court as to the authenticity of the testator, as well as his/her mental competence. But, that's the rub -- this Will will have to go through probate -- if what we've seen on all the Will threads here are true.

 

Is that your take? Or, do you think your bank manager will accept your Amphur Will as self probating?

 

If not, you'll have to hire a lawyer to babysit you thru probate court -- same as the fella who has a template Will, with two witness signature affixed.

I don't see any factual basis for the statement that a lawyer is mandatory for the "same as the fella who has a template". If you think just a little about Wills and the basic concept and requirements, the fundamentals are such that any law office who routinely provides these services has and uses templates because you do not need to create one from the ground up each and every time. I believe my Will will require probate, as I understand all Wills do; but I don't agree that only a lawyer may submit it to the Court to receive approval of the Will's appointed executor to administer my Estate. My executor may turn to a lawyer to submit to probate and/or help to administer the estate- that will be his choice when the time comes. 

17 hours ago, elektrified said:

That alone would be grounds for a contest.

 

No disrespect to jeffandgop, but there are many things to consider with regards to an Estate that may be valued at more than say 5 million THB, for example. Only a good estate planning lawyer who has been made aware of, and whom understands the individual situation can plan accordingly. Downloading a form off the Internet would be O.K. I guess - for a simple estate of 1-2 million THB and for which the beneficiary doesn't have many relatives, some with less than the best of intentions, or estranged relatives in their home country. Many steps have to be taken in advance of a possible contest once the Testator passes.. A novice would not know how; especially a foreigner in Thailand.

I just disagree...Why you would arbitrarily apply 5M THB as being some sort of a threshold where an Estate becomes some sort of a complexity as opposed to 4.5M THB or 5.5M THB I don't know.  But your reply does indirectly reflect that whether to engage a lawyer or not depends on the particular circumstances of the persons involved and the Estate.  In my case I remain confident that the template I obtained is correct for my and my wife's particular circumstances, for the relatives that exist, and for the Estate itself which in our case well exceeds your 5M THB line in the sand...this is not the first wills we have prepared so we are quite comfortable with our approach. Regards to all.

3 hours ago, cyberfarang said:

This maybe useful to some of you.

 

My GFs 87 year old Thai mother has decided to make a will. She has 3 sons and 1 daughter. The mother is widowed and owns a house near the town worth about 1 mil baht. My GF took her to our local amphur office to ask about making a will, as we also were quoted around 8000 to 10000 baht if using a lawyer.

 

The procedure: a Thai person can make a will at any amphur office, no need to be an office in their registered district. First the mother has to see a doctor at any hospital to confirm she is compos mentis and mentally capable for the making of a will. To my surprise she does not have to be certified by a psychiatrist, just a regular doctor will do. Then she visits the amphur office to create her will.  All she requires are 2 witnesses, cannot be close family or anyone left in the will, the full names and ID card numbers of the beneficiaries and words the will according to how she wishes to distribute her estate to the beneficiaries. The will becomes registered with the amphur office and another copy given to the mother. Cost about 50 baht.

 

But this method as far as I am aware is for Thai nationals only.

Not entirely correct. You are referring to Section 1658 of the Thai Civil Code as I wrote about a few days ago. Nothing in Thai Civil Code requires any physician confirmation of being of sound mind; witnesses can be anyone so long as they are not beneficiaries and of legal age (not a minor) so close family members could be witnesses if they were not a beneficiary.

2 hours ago, luther said:

“One doesn't need a Will to have their assets probated. If there's no Will, then the assets through probate here in Thailand will be distributed to the statutory next of kin under the Thai Commercial Code.”

 

Two lawyers said the same thing, however if you have a wife here and want her to receive all of your assets, without a will probate will stall until you have gathered sworn/notarized/translated testimony from other relatives turning down their share.

 

Went with Khun Sumalee on Huay Kaew Road. Will report back when I have the wills in hand and will ask about the cost of probate.

If you would, ask if there is a will naming a executor who is not a beneficiary is probate still required?

And is probate required if it is the spouse who is named the executor in the will?

There is also this website registered in Berkeley California USofA that one can download legal forms to use as they wish- from a book published in Thailand...just fyi...

http://www.thailawforforeigners.com/forms.html

3 minutes ago, jeffandgop said:

To answer, for me understanding contract law and creating contractual instruments is more like repairing a flat tire.  In my 25 years working for the world's largest airplane manufacturer I spent ⅔ of those years in Contracts; which included creating contract templates to be used by the company's procurement organizations.  I spent time in the UK managing contracts for the acquisition of aircraft valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  I spent time in Turkey creating and administering contracts to support NATO.  And I spent time in Bangkok creating and administering contracts with Thai companies to support a US contract with the RTAF.

In fact, an understanding of Thai law would realize that one may create a will by hand, without any witnesses, without registering it with the Amphur, and that is legal under Thai law.

I should have added in my reply that I understand others are not comfortable creating wills or entering into contracts without legal advice so engaging a lawyer is necessary.  One must do what best serves their comfort zone.

13 hours ago, canthai55 said:

The internet is a great source of info. But when a professional is needed, do you go to Youtube for a clip on open heart surgery ?  Why anyone would use a source from outside LOS to settle an issue inside LOS beggars belief. 740 baht will not buy a decent lunch for 2 people - let alone what will happen to your estate when you depart this life.

To answer, for me understanding contract law and creating contractual instruments is more like repairing a flat tire.  In my 25 years working for the world's largest airplane manufacturer I spent ⅔ of those years in Contracts; which included creating contract templates to be used by the company's procurement organizations.  I spent time in the UK managing contracts for the acquisition of aircraft valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.  I spent time in Turkey creating and administering contracts to support NATO.  And I spent time in Bangkok creating and administering contracts with Thai companies to support a US contract with the RTAF.

In fact, an understanding of Thai law would realize that one may create a will by hand, without any witnesses, without registering it with the Amphur, and that is legal under Thai law.

I have read the Thailand Civil and Commercial Code Sections 1599-1755 which govern Succession, Statutory Right of Inheritance, Wills, Administration of an Estate and Partition of an Estate.  The construction of the Will template I obtained is in accordance with the applicable sections in my view.  If you peruse the internet their are many companies and law offices, including within Thailand, that offer legal templates for downloading & use.  It’s part of their practice.  In fact, one of these law firms whose internet address is in Thailand, and whose website provides office physical location, telephone numbers, list of practicing attorneys, etc. has legal templates to download AND their own website links to thailawonline.  So, be specific and factual- what document from what source has been determined to be invalid?  That you state that the lawyer in Bangkok had the opinion that the document you provided her was invalid doesn’t prove that her opinion was correct, either.  What is your proof that thailawonline is “most likely a Nigerian scammer”??

18 minutes ago, canthai55 said:

10,000 baht - aprox 300 bucks. Not a huge amount for piece of mind. But Up 2 U

10000 x 2 Wills= 20,000 baht. The template I paid for is 90% similar to the wills I previously executed in the US. 

Yeah, I got great piece of mind doing what a lawyer would do when a little research saved me 2-3 months of daily living expenses.