Money in a joint account for visa allowed?

[Kenny202]

I am guessing this has been answered before, and I am also guessing the answer is no...but I want to make sure my girl has access to money should anything happen to me, and usually when I have substantial amounts of money here it is for the 3 month money in the bank visa requirement (I have a child visa). I am guessing they wont accept money in a joint account?

I guess it defeats the purpose as the money in the joint account could be the other persons. Anybody asked the question?

 

And what if you have a joint account with another person (Girlfriend not wife). In the event of death is the money in the joint account free to be used by the joint account holder or is half of it frozen for the deceased persons estate?

[Jingthing]

You got it. They won't accept that.

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

If you trust her just tell her your PIN and make sure she knows where you keep your cards so she can just access your cash at the ATM should you get run over and killed by a tuk tuk. This is what I've done and if she was cheeky enough to try anything on I get a text alert the second there is any transaction at my bank(s) so she won't be doing that..

[elviajero]

54 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

and usually when I have substantial amounts of money here it is for the 3 month money in the bank visa requirement (I have a child visa). I am guessing they wont accept money in a joint account?

If applying for a ‘retirement extension’ it’s a definite no. The rules are a bit more relaxed for a ‘parent extension’, but it’s still highly unlikely a joint account would be accepted. Maybe if it was at least 800K (double). It’s not beyond the realm of possibility so it’s worth asking.

 

My advice would be to have two accounts; one joint and one in your sole name. Under the rules the 400K for a ‘parent extension’ only needs to be in your account on the day you apply and best kept in the account for the 30 day under consideration period. So you could transfer the funds from the joint account just before you apply and back again after the extension has been approved.
 

Quote

And what if you have a joint account with another person (Girlfriend not wife). In the event of death is the money in the joint account free to be used by the joint account holder or is half of it frozen for the deceased persons estate?

By law it’s 50/50. But both parties can withdraw any amount at anytime. If you died and she drained the account, no one is likely to do anything about it unless a third party made a claim against your estate.

[FarFlungFalang]

I tried this once but the account leaked like a sieve!

[Kenny202]

1 minute ago, elviajero said:

If applying for a ‘retirement extension’ it’s a definite no. The rules are a bit more relaxed for a ‘parent extension’, but it’s still highly unlikely a joint account would be accepted. Maybe if it was at least 800K (double). It’s not beyond the realm of possibility so it’s worth asking.

 

My advice would be to have two accounts; one joint and one in your sole name. Under the rules the 400K for a ‘parent extension’ only needs to be in your account on the day you apply and best kept in the account for the 30 day under consideration period. So you could transfer the funds from the joint account just before you apply and back again after the extension has been approved.
 

By law it’s 50/50. But both parties can withdraw any amount at anytime. If you died and she drained the account, no one is likely to do anything about it unless a third party made a claim against your estate.

The money in on the day you make the visa extension was the reason I went that way but Khon Kaen immigration wont have a bar of it, 2 months before and needs to be in until the under consideration period is complete however they have never asked me to show funds when returning to get my final visa stamp. It's up to them. Have heard similar reports from other immigration offices too. As it turns out best thing I ever did in light of new retirement regs. 

 

How soon after death do they freeze bank accounts etc here or do they actually even do that?

 

 

[worgeordie]

You can open a form of joint account, your name as account owner,

your wife/girlfriend,can sign on the place where you need a UV light

to view, she will be able to deposit and withdraw funds.

 

I cannot remember the name of the account,but if you explain what

you want to do,they will know what to do,it just looks like you are

the sole owner of account, but when signatures are checked under

UV light her signature will be there too, as Immigration dont check

with the UV light they won't know.     100% trust is advised before you do this.

regards worgeordie

 

 

[Kenny202]

1 minute ago, worgeordie said:

You can open a form of joint account, your name as account owner,

your wife/girlfriend,can sign on the place where you need a UV light

to view, she will be able to deposit and withdraw funds.

 

I cannot remember the name of the account,but if you explain what

you want to do,they will know what to do,it just looks like you are

the sole owner of account, but when signatures are checked under

UV light her signature will be there too, as Immigration dont check

with the UV light they won't know.     100% trust is advised before you do this.

regards worgeordie

 

 

That sounds perfect. Yeah out of the many girls I have had here probably the only one I would trust, not that there would ever be a life threatening amount of money in there and if it did look like things were going south only takes a few seconds to transfer it all out to another account. Been with her over two years and about 3 months in I gave her marching orders. She wouldn't take a thing with her, even took her gold off and gave back to me. She has more issues with pride than greediness lol

[elviajero]

3 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

The money in on the day you make the visa extension was the reason I went that way but Khon Kaen immigration wont have a bar of it, 2 months before and needs to be in until the under consideration period is complete however they have never asked me to show funds when returning to get my final visa stamp. It's up to them. Have heard similar reports from other immigration offices too. As it turns out best thing I ever did in light of new retirement regs. 

Sure, I know some offices don’t play by the ‘national rules’. But I’ve done it twice at two different offices without a problem.

 

3 hours ago, Kenny202 said:

How soon after death do they freeze bank accounts etc here or do they actually even do that?

I don’t know, but they wouldn’t know about the death until/unless the survivor or the deceased’s representative told them.

[Kenny202]

6 minutes ago, elviajero said:

Sure, I know some offices don’t play by the ‘national rules’. But I’ve done it twice at two different offices without a problem.

 

I don’t know, but they wouldn’t know about the death until/unless the survivor or the deceased’s representative told them.

Oh I thought the police would be notified as soon as the body was taken to the morgue?

[elviajero]

9 minutes ago, Kenny202 said:

Oh I thought the police would be notified as soon as the body was taken to the morgue?

I guess if it’s a foreigner the police (immigration) would be involved, but I doubt their priority would be notifying banks — if at all. IMO that would be down to the deceased’s representative. 

[billsmart]

You must have an account in your name only. You can, as is mentioned in early comments, give your wife or whomever the PIN number on your debit card. And, you can give someone else signing authority on your account.

 

That's my non-official understanding.

[Martyp]

I keep my retirement money and our day to day spending money in an account in my name only. I never spend below my 800,000 baht retirement amount. However, for emergencies I keep some money in a joint account. The account allows either one of us to add or withdraw money but if my wife makes any account transactions I get a message sent to my phone. If I am incapacitated temporarily then my wife has enough money to pay bills for a couple of months. If I die the same is true but she can then contact the bank to access the rest of the money. That, I assume, would take a couple of months. Major banks will have a process for beneficiaries to access accounts if you die. This works for family members but, obviously, not girlfriends.

 

As others have said, money in joint accounts does not qualify to meet the financial requirements for an extension of stay in Thailand.

[dorayme]

You should address this question to the local immigration office. Chonburi Immigration on Soi 5 in Jomtien said that 50% of the monies in a joint account would be accepted for visa extensions.

[jacko45k]

10 minutes ago, Martyp said:

Major banks will have a process for beneficiaries to access accounts if you die. This works for family members but, obviously, not girlfriends.

It is called probate and takes a court order to make the banks release funds. One would need to ensure enough funds are available to both survive, pay bills and engage a lawyer. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by jacko45k

[Farang99]

As long as the account is only in your name you can have more than one signatory. My wife can sign on my visa support account (a useful  addition if I am disabled).

[Chicken George]

Go to the Bangkok bank. Open a savings account. Main name is yours. Tell them you want another person to be able to take money out when they want. They will put another signature to the account. Nothing in book. Sorted. 

[Martyp]

1 hour ago, jacko45k said:

It is called probate and takes a court order to make the banks release funds. One would need to ensure enough funds are available to both survive, pay bills and engage a lawyer. 

Sounds like he has a girlfriend so it doesn’t apply anyway.

 

 In my case my sister has the resources for probate.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Martyp

[jacko45k]

3 minutes ago, Martyp said:

Sounds like he has a girlfriend so it doesn’t apply anyway.

 

 In my case my sister has the resources for probate.

With a Thai will I think it would. So long as you have the bases covered, many die leaving a mess to sort out. 

[Stevemercer]

Someone at Immigration once explained to me that they do not allow joint accounts because they believe, in many cases, the temptation would be too much for the Thai wife/GF to deplete the account during the seeding period. This would then cause difficulties for the applicant when trying to get their extension and problems for the immigration staff.

 

So it is better to remove that temptation, at least, and do us farangs a favour.

[Max69xl]

2 hours ago, dorayme said:

You should address this question to the local immigration office. Chonburi Immigration on Soi 5 in Jomtien said that 50% of the monies in a joint account would be accepted for visa extensions.

I am not sure Jomtien Immigration officially accepts a joint account when applying for a 1 year extension based on retirement. I have heard of people, when asking an IO,the answer was, 'go to the bank and get your own account', then come back. 

[maprao]

22 hours ago, Khon Kaen Jeff said:

If you trust her just tell her your PIN and make sure she knows where you keep your cards so she can just access your cash at the ATM should you get run over and killed by a tuk tuk. This is what I've done and if she was cheeky enough to try anything on I get a text alert the second there is any transaction at my bank(s) so she won't be doing that..

But if she paid the tuk tuk to run you over she knows you won't be able to read the text!  

 

Sorry couldn't resist ????????

I have done the same as you.

Edited November 6, 2019 by maprao
Spelling

[AAArdvark]

Do Thai banks allow someone to be named as a beneficiary? It is common practice in the US.  In the case of the account holder's death, the money goes to the designated beneficiary.

[Martyp]

1 minute ago, AAArdvark said:

Do Thai banks allow someone to be named as a beneficiary? It is common practice in the US.  In the case of the account holder's death, the money goes to the designated beneficiary.

That was the question I asked my Kasikorn branch a couple of years ago. They just told me that a family member could contact the branch and that there would be a process to access the funds. That may very well be probate through the courts.

 

In the US you can short circuit probate with an estate plan. Maybe you can do that in Thailand as well. That would be a question to pose to a lawyer.

[AAArdvark]

4 minutes ago, Martyp said:

That was the question I asked my Kasikorn branch a couple of years ago. They just told me that a family member could contact the branch and that there would be a process to access the funds. That may very well be probate through the courts.

 

In the US you can short circuit probate with an estate plan. Maybe you can do that in Thailand as well. That would be a question to pose to a lawyer.

Of course that would require a family member and not a gf.

[Sheryl]

13 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

Do Thai banks allow someone to be named as a beneficiary? It is common practice in the US.  In the case of the account holder's death, the money goes to the designated beneficiary.

Unfortunately no, I have asked. No "transfer on death" provision.

 

I have a Thai will solely for this reason.

[Khon Kaen Jeff]

21 minutes ago, maprao said:

But if she paid the tuk tuk to run you over she knows you won't be able to read the text!  

 

Sorry couldn't resist ????????

I have done the same as you.

Mmmm, a bit cheesey for my taste, up your game a little ????

[Aussieroaming]

22 hours ago, elviajero said:

If applying for a ‘retirement extension’ it’s a definite no. The rules are a bit more relaxed for a ‘parent extension’, but it’s still highly unlikely a joint account would be accepted. Maybe if it was at least 800K (double). It’s not beyond the realm of possibility so it’s worth asking.

 

My advice would be to have two accounts; one joint and one in your sole name. Under the rules the 400K for a ‘parent extension’ only needs to be in your account on the day you apply and best kept in the account for the 30 day under consideration period. So you could transfer the funds from the joint account just before you apply and back again after the extension has been approved.
 

By law it’s 50/50. But both parties can withdraw any amount at anytime. If you died and she drained the account, no one is likely to do anything about it unless a third party made a claim against your estate.

Your mistaken in regards to joint accounts and retirement extensions.  I have had retirement extensions for 5 years using a joint account with my wife, no dramas. The requirement we had was at least 1.6M Baht instead of 800, which is a problem for some. I've never held a sole account in Thailand, only joint account with my wife and have had marriage and subsequent retirement visas approved for the last 7 years. Its only my personal experience but obviously a positive one. Thanks

[Kenny202]

2 hours ago, jacko45k said:

With a Thai will I think it would. So long as you have the bases covered, many die leaving a mess to sort out. 

I am not surprised.... as no one here seems to be clear on how to do a will. My lawyer says do everything up at his office but needs to be also registered at Amphur, 3 witnesses, all the usual BS. We are in a big city so not an easy task as we don't really have three people we know well enough to ask to sit at the Amphur 2 or 3 hours. On top of this the Amphur asked for the will in English translated to Thai and they will only accept a translation done by "the ministry of foreign affairs"? Whether they mean the Australian embassy or some Thai govt department is not clear yet. She enquired also at her home Amphur and got a completely different story but reading between the lines a fob off ie go away and annoy someone else

[Kenny202]

6 minutes ago, Aussieroaming said:

Your mistaken in regards to joint accounts and retirement extensions.  I have had retirement extensions for 5 years using a joint account with my wife, no dramas. The requirement we had was at least 1.6M Baht instead of 800, which is a problem for some. I've never held a sole account in Thailand, only joint account with my wife and have had marriage and subsequent retirement visas approved for the last 7 years. Its only my personal experience but obviously a positive one. Thanks

No one is mistaken and I see these debates going on daily on TV. Every govt office seem to have their own different interpretations of regulations, as does the particular individual in the particular office that you are dealing with. Whether it be drivers licenses, Immigration, anything. Just a real clusterf@#$ here. SNAFU. Most times always seems to me they make up some story hoping you will go away as they are A) too lazy to help you or B) don't have a clue and are too embarrassed to say "hey, I am not sure but I will check".