18 hours ago, ThaiBunny said:

I was actually hoping for an official link - you know, from the government themselves

At the bottom of the article (link posted by JimGant) are three links to SSA docs for further information/details.

For convenience I've copied them (fixed 1 broken link) here:

 

Your Payments While You Are Outside the U.S

Social Security Benefits Eligibility Screening Tool (BEST)

Social Security Handbook

Another good reason to obtain an ITIN for your Thai wife is if you have accounts in the U.S. or widow's benefits that she'll be able to claim, she will need an ITIN in order to do so.  Better to set her up with one now that for her to have to figure out how to get an ITIN after your passing.

 

And as mentioned earlier, a Thai passport is the best ID for obtaining an ITIN and is easier for a Thai person to obtain.  Why not treat her to a little international travel after she gets her passport?

10 minutes ago, NancyL said:

Another good reason to obtain an ITIN for your Thai wife is if you have accounts in the U.S. or widow's benefits that she'll be able to claim, she will need an ITIN in order to do so.

Expect it may also help to designate any non joint account as pay on death?  That should avoid probate delay I believe.

6 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Expect it may also help to designate any non joint account as pay on death?  That should avoid probate delay I believe.

A revocable trust elimiates probate in all states doesn't it?

 

12 minutes ago, Dante99 said:

A revocable trust elimiates probate in all states doesn't it?

 

I suspect it does but you do not need any lawyer to make an account POD.  Keeping it simple.

POD's also increase the amount of FDIC insurance:

Quote

 For example, a revocable trust account (including living trusts and informal revocable trusts commonly referred to as payable on death (POD) accounts) with one owner naming three unique beneficiaries can be insured up to $750,000. See the Your Insured Deposit brochure for details.

https://www.fdic.gov/deposit/deposits/faq.html

It's actually pretty neat to see how holding financial assets, in different mannerisms, can significantly increase your FDIC insurance (not that I worry too much about my financial institutions failing....). Play around with this tool.

https://edie.fdic.gov/

 

Unfortunately, to name your Thai relatives as POD's, you need SSNs or ITINs -- neither of which are easy to obtain, unless such relatives have a US connection of some sort.

41 minutes ago, JimGant said:

Unfortunately, to name your Thai relatives as POD's, you need SSNs or ITINs -- neither of which are easy to obtain, unless such relatives have a US connection of some sort.

In this thread we are talking about having such - as married and filing joint tax return.

What I did to get my wife's ITIN was just a three step process:

1) get a certified copy of her passport from the US consulate

2) fill out the W7 form (ITIN application)

3) attach both to a paper filing of our tax return

 

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw7.pdf

 

Currently the consulate is closed and does not consider certifying a passport to be an emergency service so you will have to wait for them to open up for appointments again. The alternative is to attach the original passport to the return and hope you get it back before you need it.