Appointing a Beneficiary

[ravip]

What is the correct procedure to appoint a beneficiary to your Thai bank account?

When I inquired from the Bangkok Bank, they said that I can appoint only my wife or a relation - and even for that, I need to go to a court of law.

If not married what happens to your account after your demise?

 

[fletchsmile]

I haven't really come across the same level of options here, when it comes to allowing people to benefit from your assets when you're no longer here.

 

Under Thai law there is a hierarchy of who inherits your assets after your death in the absence of a will. Starting with parents and children and then working the way down the list as relatives get more remote.

 

Best way to solve all this is to make a will. In it you can specify who gets what as beneficiaries, and there is no need for them to be relatives at all. You can also specify who will execute your will for you (executor). The executor(s) and beneficiary(-ies) can be the same person.  

 

There is still a probate process to go thru, but your will specifies clearly your intentions and who will make it happen

 

So in your case above, make a will. You leave your bank account to whoever you want, and appoint someone to administer it all.

 

[hathairat2711]

2 hours ago, fletchsmile said:

I haven't really come across the same level of options here, when it comes to allowing people to benefit from your assets when you're no longer here.

 

Under Thai law there is a hierarchy of who inherits your assets after your death in the absence of a will. Starting with parents and children and then working the way down the list as relatives get more remote.

 

Best way to solve all this is to make a will. In it you can specify who gets what as beneficiaries, and there is no need for them to be relatives at all. You can also specify who will execute your will for you (executor). The executor(s) and beneficiary(-ies) can be the same person.  

 

There is still a probate process to go thru, but your will specifies clearly your intentions and who will make it happen

 

So in your case above, make a will. You leave your bank account to whoever you want, and appoint someone to administer it all.

 

Yes, indeed.  

 

The making of a Will is a simple process written in both the Thai and English language and possibly only requiring one page as the bank account is the only asset.

 

The fee involved would be no more than THB5,000.

 

 

[ravip]

@fletchsmile

@hathairat2711

Thank you very much for your precise information.

[how241]

Several banks, SCB and Kasikorn,  told me that they don't put beneficiaries on accounts.

[PETERTHEEATER]

Look at yesterday's posts under the Hua Hin forum. There was one querying making a Will in Thailand.

 

It can be done at a branch of your local Tessaban at very low cost even free.

[Media1]

Give them your ATM PIN

[MyFriend You]

2 hours ago, how241 said:

Several banks, SCB and Kasikorn,  told me that they don't put beneficiaries on accounts.

SCB wants me to make the beneficiary a joint account owner, which I will do, then a will is not necessary as she can draw from the account as necessary.  Trying to work out the logistics of that now.

 

[digger70]

13 minutes ago, TunnelRat69 said:

SCB wants me to make the beneficiary a joint account owner, which I will do, then a will is not necessary as she can draw from the account as necessary.  Trying to work out the logistics of that now.

 

One problem with that is that you can't use that account for you're yearly extension of 400 /800 KTHB For that the account must be solely in you're name.

[Thaidream]

Thai friend's father recently passed away- daughter  is beneficiary and went to the bank- they will not release the money without a court order. Even if one has a will or the death certificate and the bank book- the will has to go through the courts who then officially allow the bank to release the funds.  Only way around it is to have an ATM card or obtain the deceased's ATM card or have the account holder add the person as an account co-holder prior to death. Any fixed assets such as a car or land/house have to be transferred prior to death otherwise without a firm will the law of inheritance applies which splits things on a percentage basis..

[Suradit69]

57 minutes ago, Thaidream said:

Even if one has a will or the death certificate and the bank book- the will has to go through the courts who then officially allow the bank to release the funds. 

That's the probate process, or whatever it may be called here.  Simply having a will, even in farangland, would not authorize a bank to release funds. 

 

Quote

A probate court decides the legal validity of a testator's (deceased person's) will and grants its approval, also known as granting probate, to the executor. The probated will then becomes a legal instrument that may be enforced by the executor in the law courts if necessary.

 

[connda]

You'll need a Thai will that you'd need to submit to probate.  Without one, the probate court will award assets based on family relationships.

Edited November 28, 2017 by connda

[Thingamabob]

Why not have a joint account ?

[fletchsmile]

1 hour ago, Thaidream said:

Thai friend's father recently passed away- daughter  is beneficiary and went to the bank- they will not release the money without a court order. Even if one has a will or the death certificate and the bank book- the will has to go through the courts who then officially allow the bank to release the funds.  Only way around it is to have an ATM card or obtain the deceased's ATM card or have the account holder add the person as an account co-holder prior to death. Any fixed assets such as a car or land/house have to be transferred prior to death otherwise without a firm will the law of inheritance applies which splits things on a percentage basis..

Using a dead person's ATM card has the potential to get you in a whole load of trouble.

 

Whether you think the money should belong to you, or you're entitled to it, etc or even if you think you're the first legatee in a will, it still should go thru a probate process if you don't want a nasty surprise. The type of things that could go wrong include:

- A will comes to light, where someone else is the beneficiary

- Someone contests the will or your claim

- Someone else has a prior claim to the asset for whatever reason, eg legal charge taken over it, tax is due on it etc etc

- or it simply comes to light that you've taken the money from a dead person's account without the authority to do so

 

I wouldn't touch this solution with a barge pole. No doubt many people do and nothing bad happens, but for me it's not worth the risk, however small.

 

BTW you also have to go thru a similar probate process in the UK. The bank won't give you the money with just a will, bank book and death certificate. Reasons include those above. You may think there's no will, but one appears. You may think you have the last will, but someone comes along with a later one etc....

[fletchsmile]

14 minutes ago, connda said:

You'll need a Thai will that you'd need to submit to probate.  Without one, the probate court will award assets based on family relationships.

This is particularly important if you are a foreigner claiming a deceased Thai's assets.

 

Thai laws around intestacy/ dying without a will, have the foreigner sharing those assets with all manner of Thai relatives of the deceased down to distant cousins if you're not careful.

 

So at the same time as getting a will done for your assets. Get one done for your partner and their assets if they have anything of value in their name, that you expect/ want to become yours. 

Edited November 28, 2017 by fletchsmile

[MyFriend You]

4 hours ago, digger70 said:

One problem with that is that you can't use that account for you're yearly extension of 400 /800 KTHB For that the account must be solely in you're name.

Didn't realize that, maybe the ATM Card & PIN is the way to go.  I see another poster saying even with a Will, Bankbook without a court order all is for naught - begs looking into as well for myself.  I never know what info is legitimate on this forum and what is not (can't even trust my own posts haha)

My beneficiary is not Thai, she is my Vietnamese partner, I'm trying to make her beneficiary on my Condo as well, that will take a lawyer.

Edited November 28, 2017 by TunnelRat69

[jacko45k]

It would go to probate, according to your will or line of succession.

Access to bank accounts solely in your name would require a court order. So a lawyer and court case would be required.

A joint account requiring either holder (rather than both), is an option.

 

[ravip]

15 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

SCB wants me to make the beneficiary a joint account owner, which I will do, then a will is not necessary as she can draw from the account as necessary.  Trying to work out the logistics of that now.

 

But for depositing the THB 8K for the retirement visa cannot be done in a  joint account, isn't it?

[Jack Mountain]

Just an idea which i am thinking of:

- Ask my long time gf to open an 2nd account at a bank.

- I will get all the tools (Internet Banking, SMS, App, Bank book, ATM Card) to  withdraw money from it, except her ID card of course which is I think the only weak link in this idea. Correct me if i am wrong pls.

- I will put money on it not telling her how much.

- I will make a sealed envelope with all relevant info. Not sure yet if i will do that actually because  her ID card should be enough to get money out of HER   account.

 

  What do you think about this idea? Any more weak links? I would like to hear them!

  Reason of all this. TIT (seen to many relations going down the drain) and with a will you lose your Flexibility.

[fletchsmile]

17 hours ago, TunnelRat69 said:

SCB wants me to make the beneficiary a joint account owner, which I will do, then a will is not necessary as she can draw from the account as necessary.  Trying to work out the logistics of that now.

 

I can't say for certain, but I'm not sure this information is correct. Bank staff often get things wrong or give out misinformation. Sometimes they are just also ignorant of the facts. Sometimes other reasons

 

(Another example being bank staff that tell you interest under 20k is tax free so keep opening multiple accounts and you don't pay tax. It's very common to hear this, but it's wrong. It's 20k in aggregate across all banks not per individual account. Some (branches of some) banks also apply the rules incorrectly by not even aggregating all the accounts in their own bank. There were a few articles on this recently in BKK post too)

 

Would be interested to hear of anyone's experiences of actually having done this joint account in practice. Like the 20k interest though, it wouldn't surprise me that whatever the actual law is, it gets applied incorrectly, so even if someone has done it this way, it's not necessarily correct LOL

 

Looking at it legally and logically, on the death of the other joint account holder, only half of the money is likely to automatically be the property of the remaining joint account holder. The other half will depend on claims of various parties, which probate would iron out. What would happen for example if I wrote in my will that my share of a joint account should go to XYZ. I die and the joint account holder comes along and empties the lot? The joint holder has then taken money that does not legally belong to them :)

Edited November 29, 2017 by fletchsmile

[MyFriend You]

11 hours ago, ravip said:

But for depositing the THB 8K for the retirement visa cannot be done in a  joint account, isn't it?

Your correct, t the account has to be in your name only fo that purpose.........