omegaman

Maybe in the UK. Other countries differ. In Australia I quote ' When your partner dies, we need to reassess your income and assets. To stay eligible for Age Pension you need to meet the thresholds as a single person.' You can't generalise.

Fundermentally, trust your head, and not your heart. There are no real rules, every girl is different. But, you will never understand Thai culture fully, there is always risk.

It depends on the welfare laws of your home country. If your home country allows you widow to benefit, the, make sure your marriage is registered in your home country, and you have a will at home that declares her as your sole benificary, a bank account in her name etc. As suggested, speak to YOUR embassy in Thailand.

Essentially most of the replies are correct in some way. Its a variable and complex situation. But fundermentally if Thai hubby refuses divorces, he cann stall the divirce certificate for years. Usually its for money. Get a good Thai lawyer and have him negiotiate a 'break fee' with the ex. Never run a dispute on principal, but always on practicality. When there is a child from the first marriage involved, and mum (your G/F) wants custody, then as before Thai hubby will screw as much cash from you as he can. There are lawyers in Thailand that specialise in screwing cash out of ferrang B/F. Its just business.

It depends on the laws of the country in which the asset is located. For instance, in Australia, we recognise and will uphold a Thai succession, seperation or inheritance decision, with appropriate evidence. A lot of Aussie keep the bulk of their cash and assets at home knowing that she will get fair treatment on his death. It also means these assets are subject to aussie family/divorce law (50/50) as a basis.

In theory yes its recognised, but in practise (ie you die) no. Get your US marriage certificate and your passport and birth certificate all translated into Thai by a THai Embassy approved translator. Then you both go to the local 'Umper' (magistrates/courts, IN HER HOME TOWN, with the originals, copies and translation, and have it recorded and recognised. Its free but time consuming. Free excludes 'wheel greasing' tips. I stress the HER HOME TOWN, as Thai MArriage law, although national in construct, is interpreted provincially. Her home town is defined by the house book she is listed on.

Its complex. Thai inheritence and succession law is incomprehensible, even for the Thai. In a perfect situation, she has access to the account, and there is no interferance from her family, then its all relativly safe. She just draws the money and done. But if she does not have access to the acoount, and she needs to get the bank to open access as the widowed spouse then its gets complicated. Thailand has no concept of a Public Trustee, and relies heavily on the departed nominating the Executor of the estate/will prior to death. If she is not the nominated executor on the notorised will, then she is screwed. Thai buearacry will hold the funds indefinitly. A common storey is that Bill leaves a condo and cash to Thai girl Nong. At the funeral, Nongs older brother steps in and takes everything in the family name. Then gambles and drinks it all away. Thai succession and inheritence law still favours older male siblings over females. Remember its an absolute monarchy. Even if she has legal rights, duty to family often makes her silent. So the plan is to ensure she, and only she gets the estate. My advise is; 1. Put the bulk of the money off shore in your home country, and register a will there. Delegate a solicitor in your home country to hold account details, and instructions to release the details to the wife on your death. This is assuming you home country has sensible succesion and inheritance laws, and is not as bad as Thailand. Why your home country? In 99% of countries, being a citizen gives protection. 2. If you trust her sufficiently, place the funds in either an off shore or onshore joint (dual access) account. Make sure she knows to wipe the account as soon as you pass. There is a risk here that if its a Thai account, family can still make a claim and the account is frozen. So an offshore account is better. 3. If option 1 or 2 are not suitable, then ensure you have a formal Thai marriage certificate, notorised and translated copies of your birth certificate and appropriate ID (passport), a registered official Thai will that names her as the executor, and a decent Thai lawyer she can contact immediatly. In thailand, the goverment does not offer her any protection or fair due process, she has to protect herself. So many unscrupulous people (usually family) take advantage of the grieving widow. However, if you are not 'of good character' (loose translation) at time of death (i.e. over staying your visa, past Thai criminal history, open warrants or pending police charges, or other civil claims against you) all bets are off, and the Thai Goverement has the right to seize all funds and assets, pending resolution, which never happens. Everything I have said refers to cash. Property is a whole different matter. As generally only Thai nationals can own land outright (I mean dirt not the building). During probate all sorts of quirky Thai historical land owner rights, charges, leans and claims can pop up. I had a mate's widow that lost the willed condo to the land owner as he had not paid 'water well' fees since purchase. They seized $US200k of condo for what was maybe US$20k of water fees over 10 years. If land is in the equation, my advise is just put 100% it in her name, and take the risk. Make sure she is the principal name in the 'House Book', not her parents or siblings, and not joint. If its a condo/appartment (in the case of a multiple dwelling on onw site), usually the building is yours outright and the actual land is owned by a corporation or body corporate (sic), and you are a shareholder in that entity. In the case of a single dwelling you again own the building outright but have a 90 year lease construct on the land. Remeber this, regardless of what the law states, EVERYTHING is subject to the interpretation of the court and its decision. It often doesnt matter what Thai law (or any law in any country for fact) the court decision is what you (or your widowed wife) will have to deal with. Appeals are a complicated lengthy process in Thailand. I will probably get flamed for that statement, but the law says this or that. If it goes to court, everyone looses. Option 1: above is the safest, depending on where you call home. So many ferrang avoid this option to avoid home country death and or capital gains taxes. Its better she gets 90% of something rather than 100% of nothing. Consider all outcomes (bad family, corrupt magistrate etc), play it safe. You need to protect her from not only the goverment, corrupt officials, but also her family. I am not a lawyer, just a wise and scared ferrang. Do your reasearch.