i recently opened a bank account in thaland. i asked the banker what happans if i die - will they go looking for my heirs. she said 

" hell no. only with a court order we can release your money". she meant, of course, a thai court order.

so guys, try not to die before you managed your legal will.

Why would the bank have to look for a heir ?. Its your duty to make sure your heirs know there the money is. I don't get it do banks in other countries go looking for heirs ? AFIK its not the banks responsibility, also how would they know your dead ? 

Right robbo.

 

Looking for heirs is not the banks job, how do they know you are dead?

 

It is the job of the Executor of the Will to tell them and with the legal authorisation that Executorship confers on them ensure that the estate is distributed in accordance with the Will.

 

That is the case in the UK

 

SCOTT: Do you know what a "Will" is?

 

 

Edited June 25, 20188 yr by Enoon

11 hours ago, robblok said:

Why would the bank have to look for a heir ?. Its your duty to make sure your heirs know there the money is. I don't get it do banks in other countries go looking for heirs ? AFIK its not the banks responsibility, also how would they know your dead ? 

hmmm...you've got a point there...it;s just that i saw in one big EU bank that they said : " in case the account holder die, the first thing WE will do is looking for his heirs..."

i guess that was just a sales pitch, cause indeed, how will they know that he died ???

even tho i get zero interest on my visa account,

this is the no.1 reason i dont feel like bringing over money here

1 hour ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

i recently opened a bank account in thaland. i asked the banker what happans if i die - will they go looking for my heirs. she said 

" hell no. only with a court order we can release your money". she meant, of course, a thai court order.

so guys, try not to die before you managed your legal will.

Do banks in your home country look for heirs or care if somebody died or even get informed somehow? In Germany they don't, so i wouldn't expect anything to happen in Thailand.

Even better to leave the strict minimum in a Thai Bank and spend it as it comes in.

Depends on your timing. I have a plan to exhaust my funds just prior to my demise than write a bad check for my funeral.

1 hour ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

hmmm...you've got a point there...it;s just that i saw in one big EU bank that they said : " in case the account holder die, the first thing WE will do is looking for his heirs..."

i guess that was just a sales pitch, cause indeed, how will they know that he died ???

All depends if you use your real name when you opened the account. You can never be too careful!

12 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

hmmm...you've got a point there...it;s just that i saw in one big EU bank that they said : " in case the account holder die, the first thing WE will do is looking for his heirs..."

i guess that was just a sales pitch, cause indeed, how will they know that he died ???

I have encountered people (clients) dying a few times. I do their books so i see their bank accounts. The banks in the Netherlands will not know it when someone dies. The family has to come with some proof of death and then the account changes its name from Mr Robblok to heirs of Robblok. But banks don't check for people who dies, they might once in a while when there is no account activity for a long time but I would not bet my life on it. 

USA banks will not look for heirs nor will they do anything other than computer maintenance of the account unless otherwise directed. I do know that in some states the bank has to close the account and turn over the funds to the state after many years of inactivity.

 

'when you die - the bank wins'

To the best of my knowledge and experience the sodding bank wins when you open an account and every day thereafter!!

Just make sure someone has access to your account, and can empty it as soon as you die.

3 minutes ago, stevenl said:

Just make sure someone has access to your account, and can empty it as soon as you die.

Problem with that is everybody I know would empty my account within an hour of me giving them access. I'm leaving everything to my dogs via a living will.

13 hours ago, observer90210 said:

Even better to leave the strict minimum in a Thai Bank and spend it as it comes in.

A good plan? Except the same conditions will apply in whatever bank the bulk of the money is in.

I shall die with a large overdraft in my home country, the bank can keep that, I'm OK with that.

16 hours ago, Enoon said:

Looking for heirs is not the banks job, how do they know you are dead?

They should call you every week on friday afternoon and ask you

"are you dead yet" 

if your reply is negative, they should follow up with

"are you sure?"

Some Nigerian banks will look for heirs, and will find you & send you an email  ?

1 hour ago, VocalNeal said:

A good plan? Except the same conditions will apply in whatever bank the bulk of the money is in.

Of course....but at least if abroad, it may be easier for your family (if you have one) to start the procedures against the bank and not be harassed as farangs in Thailand when dealing with the courts, dual pricing and so on...

15 hours ago, JAZZDOG said:

Depends on your timing. I have a plan to exhaust my funds just prior to my demise than write a bad check for my funeral.

I assume this is a joke. I have a similar plan to control time and method of my demise but I already prepaid a funeral. 35000 baht. My avenue to darkness does not involve skydiving. Been there, done that. I can only hope an idiot driver of any nationality doesn't spoil the plan. Make it easy for everybody and be a gentleman.

Your check plan will not fly.

Won't help, no matter what you do. The banks in Australia were recently caught out by a Royal Commission for charging dead clients for advice that they didn't need or get.

I have no idea how it works maybe trough the embassy,a good friend

died a few weeks ago and his account was blocked the next day.

27 minutes ago, Timebandit said:

I assume this is a joke. I have a similar plan to control time and method of my demise but I already prepaid a funeral. 35000 baht. My avenue to darkness does not involve skydiving. Been there, done that. I can only hope an idiot driver of any nationality doesn't spoil the plan. Make it easy for everybody and be a gentleman.

Your check plan will not fly.

Don't matter, I'm dead remember.

And that's why the mandatory 800k is such a pain in the a$$.

I would be curious to see the figures of the amounts of unclaimed farang money in Thai banks ,on which the account holders have passed away.

 

And if something is done to trace the heirs via the embassies? or if the money is just pocketed by the Thai Banks ?

 

Best option is to have a will, give a power of attorney to your next of kin back home, with the ATM card codes...

Edited June 26, 20188 yr by observer90210

4 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

And that's why the mandatory 800k is such a pain in the a$$.

Don't do it, leave your money somewhere it works for you, direct deposit the income and give immigration a lie letter from you embassy. How do you think all the gringo derelicts without a pot to piss in stay here on retirement extensions. Look at them, it's not based on their 401K

6 minutes ago, BuaBS said:

And that's why the mandatory 800k is such a pain in the a$$.

The mandatory 800K does NOT need to be on a Thai Bank Account, but can be on a bank in your home country. 

Well, at least that's how the Retirement Visa formalities in Belgium state it, but could be different for other countries.

Very easy to  register a Will in Thailand  to  cover  the  end  event. 

6 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

I would be curious to see the figures of the amounts of unclaimed farang money in Thai banks ,on which the account holders have passed away.

 

And if something is done to trace the heirs via the embassies? or if the money is just pocketed by the Thai Banks ?

 

Best option is to have a will, give a power of attorney to your next of kin back home, with the ATM card codes...

Living Trust is the way to go and include access info to all fund sources with the Trustee. Simple, all assets in one safe place. Trustee will usually be the person you want to end up with your assets when you move on. Very easy to set up.

4 minutes ago, JAZZDOG said:

Don't do it, leave your money somewhere it works for you, direct deposit the income and give immigration a lie letter from you embassy. How do you think all the gringo derelicts without a pot to piss in stay here on retirement extensions. Look at them, it's not based on their 401K

Only works when you have an income.

 

5 minutes ago, Peter Denis said:

The mandatory 800K does NOT need to be on a Thai Bank Account, but can be on a bank in your home country. 

Well, at least that's how the Retirement Visa formalities in Belgium state it, but could be different for other countries.

No has to be here in Thailand.

Extentions only with a bank letter and a bank statement on the day you go for your extention.

 

5 minutes ago, Dumbastheycome said:

Very easy to  register a Will in Thailand  to  cover  the  end  event. 

Even if you have a will , the folks you leave it to will have to come to a country they've never been to and don't understand the language.