Can I make an inheritance document with my bank?

[VinnieK]

Hi all

Sorry for the confusing title

I have some money in the bank

I haven't done a full will as of now 

Can I ask the bank to make a document , signed by me and my mrs, so she can inherit the money in case of death?

Do they even offersuch service?

 

Is it gonna 'hold' when the time comes to be put to action?

 

Regards

 

V.

 

[LarrySR]

Standard procedure to have beneficiaries named on a retirement / investment account, insurance or annuities.

Ask your bank if you can assign a Beneficiary or open a Pay Upon Death account. 

[KhunLA]

Not needed.  Line of inheritance in Thailand, wife will get anyway on presenting your marriage & death certificate.

[VinnieK]

3 hours ago, KhunLA said:

Not needed.  Line of inheritance in Thailand, wife will get anyway on presenting your marriage & death certificate.

We are not married

[KhunLA]

1 minute ago, VinnieK said:

We are not married

"signed by me and my mrs" ... OK ... draw up a will then

[buick]

i asked bangkok bank (main office on silom rd, bangkok) if i could list a beneficiary on my savings account and foreign currency account.  they said 'no'.  i need to prepare a will instead.  the two accounts are the only assets of any real value that i have in thailand so it seemed simple enough to try the beneficiary route but i was denied.  as of now, i still haven't prepared the will.  my bank accounts in the USA are covered by the beneficiary route.

[Sheryl]

As far as I know, banks in Thailand do not allow a "payable on death" provision. At least this is what they have all told me. Same is true of banks in Cambodia.  Unfortunately.

 

I had to make out a Thai will just for this reason.

 

I have read posts to the effect that there is some way to add a second person as signatory to your account without it being a joint account (which would be a problem if on a retirement or marriage extension). I don't really understand this but people say they have done it.

 

 

[livram]

5 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

I have read posts to the effect that there is some way to add a second person as signatory to your account without it being a joint account (which would be a problem if on a retirement or marriage extension). I don't really understand this but people say they have done it.

 

Last year I had my daughter added to my Bangkok Bank account. They had my daughter sign on the back page, you can only see her signature under the ultra violet light. Otherwise her name doesn't show up anywhere on the book.  

 

I did it this way to avoid having to open another account. I read that Krungsi Bank will also do this. That is where my 800K Imm account is. I was afraid to try but I don't see how Imm would know an extra name was added.

[Pib]

1 hour ago, livram said:

Last year I had my daughter added to my Bangkok Bank account. They had my daughter sign on the back page, you can only see her signature under the ultra violet light. Otherwise her name doesn't show up anywhere on the book.  

 

I did it this way to avoid having to open another account. I read that Krungsi Bank will also do this. That is where my 800K Imm account is. I was afraid to try but I don't see how Imm would know an extra name was added.

That is called a "Signatory" (a.k.a., bank acct Power of Attorney) which allows a person to withdraw/transfer funds from your account but supposedly it only valid while you are still alive.   I have my wife as Signatory (and vice versa) on some of our Bangkok Bank accts and on my Krungsri acct....the Krungsri acct is the one I use for extension of stay renewal purposes.   Your bank prepares all the paperwork and their is a 30 baht govt stamp fee the bank collects to process the signatory paperwork...pretty simple process. 

 

Immigration don't care about a Signatory(ies) that may be on an acct because a signatory is not a joint owner...it just a person who has some financial authorizations with your acct.   Only the acct owner name will appear on the first page of the passbook and on the bank letter prepared for immigration.  A signatory name is visible "under a black light" on the last page of the passbook.

 

Edit: Note: if you happen to have a special/restricted Bangkok Bank acct to receive U.S. govt pension payments like social security, military retirement, etc., via ACH you can not add a signatory to this type of acct.   But adding a signatory to a regular/standard Bangkok Bank acct is OK even if it's being used to receive U.S. govt pension payments via Int'l Direct Deposit which uses SWIFT vs ACH.

Edited April 25, 2022 by Pib

[VinnieK]

So, apparently the answer is no.

I wanted to avoid a full will as I don't have any other assets here

Plus it costs 10000 baht last time I asked

Lawyers are thin on the ground in my neck of the woods btw. (no competition price-wise)

A bank 'document' would be the cheapest way to do it

Plus ..they can't renege on their own document when the time arrives to redeem it, so to speak...(ok, they can...lol)

Thanks for the answers ????

 

[KhunLA]

I think our will cost less than 100 to register.  Don't need a lawyer.  There's a fill in the blank will on the internet somewhere, don't have link.  Download, fill out, register.  Too easy.

 

What is with people and lawyers here ?  I've yet to need, 3 land & house, 2 wills, 8 usufructs, 2 different provinces.

Edited April 26, 2022 by KhunLA

[buick]

On 4/25/2022 at 6:47 PM, KhunLA said:

I think our will cost less than 100 to register.  Don't need a lawyer.  There's a fill in the blank will on the internet somewhere, don't have link.  Download, fill out, register.  Too easy.

 

What is with people and lawyers here ?  I've yet to need, 3 land & house, 2 wills, 8 usufructs, 2 different provinces.

where did you register the will ?  your local amphur office ?  is that right ?  i got a quote of 30,000thb to prepare a will, translate it and register it (i'm in bkk).  all i've got is two bank accounts.  i clarified that with the law firm and the price didn't change.  then i found another lawyer that said he'd do it for 5,000thb.  that sounded reasonable.  but he never did the work, i sent all the relevant data including filling out the basic will form that i got online.  so he needed to translate and register it. 

 

i don't really want to visit the local amphur office and would prefer to pay someone to do that.  i've read that a will doesn't need to be registered but i'd rather have it registered than not registered.  i'd be leaving the assets to two thai people i know.  my assets in the USA are covered.  generally speaking it is really just my 800,000 for retirement extension plus a little extra, sometimes another 200,000 or so.  so about a million baht that i could give to two people (50/50 split) here in thailand if i can get the will done.

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:47 AM, KhunLA said:

I think our will cost less than 100 to register.  Don't need a lawyer.  There's a fill in the blank will on the internet somewhere, don't have link.  Download, fill out, register.  Too easy.

 

The willingness of local amphur or khet staff to register wills for foreigners seems to be highly variable... almost like their willingness to register mixed marriages -- some make it relatively easy; some throw up endless complications and requirements beyond all reason.

 

When I first inquired at our local khet office in BKK, we went and talked with the officer in charge of wills, explained our situation and what we wanted to do, and after some back and forth, he replied with what would have been a relatively painless process to register a will with them.

 

Didn't do it at the time, but went back a year or so later. That guy was gone and a new officer had taken his place. Then, the new guy basically wasn't willing to register my will unless I jumped through all kinds of hoops including getting listed on a tabien ban (which is a status I don't have).

 

[JimGant]

On 4/28/2022 at 1:50 PM, buick said:

i've read that a will doesn't need to be registered but i'd rather have it registered than not registered.

Why? What does registration do for you? Just write out a

Will in long hand and, although not required for long hand wills, have two witnesses (not your beneficiaries). Record the signings, yours and witnesses,  on your cell phone camera, then a thumb drive. If you trust one of your beneficiaries to pay the other one his half, then make him a co-signatory, then upon your death, have him clean out most of your account (but don't close), either in person or on-line (assuming you set up ahead of time his account as a receptor for transfers from yours). The bank won't know you're dead, so this shouldn't be a problem. But, if so, your Will will allow probate and eventual settlement with both beneficiaries -- for a substantial fee, no doubt.

 

Thus, the Will is an insurance policy, should fait accompli of emptying your account not work. Possibly identify a lawyer ahead of time that will handle probate, should it be necessary. Give his phone number to your executor, presumably one of your beneficiaries. If it has to go the probate route, you'll need your Will translated into Thai -- but no need to do this prematurely, if probate is not necessary. But, you'll have to trust either the lawyer or executor to have a fair translation accomplished -- wonderful opportunity to swap in a new beneficiary.......

.......never mind, as you'll be dead.

 

 

[prakhonchai nick]

On 4/25/2022 at 9:02 AM, KhunLA said:

Not needed.  Line of inheritance in Thailand, wife will get anyway on presenting your marriage & death certificate.

Unfortunately not so.

 

Whether one has prepared a Will, or dies intestate, Thai banks will not release money without the sight of a Thai probate document.-  and a Thai lawyer is required to obtain this, and they are not cheap!  When a foreigner dies intestate, his money etc - IN THAILAND- is subject to Thai intestacy rules, which state that 50% goes to his family in his homeland (pecking order--parents, all children, siblings etc etc) with just 50% to his Thai wife.  A wife/widow will only receive 100% if there is a Will naming her as beneficiary.

[lungbing]

That's if you tell the bank.

[VinnieK]

On 5/3/2022 at 3:03 PM, prakhonchai nick said:

Unfortunately not so.

 

Whether one has prepared a Will, or dies intestate, Thai banks will not release money without the sight of a Thai probate document.-  and a Thai lawyer is required to obtain this, and they are not cheap!  When a foreigner dies intestate, his money etc - IN THAILAND- is subject to Thai intestacy rules, which state that 50% goes to his family in his homeland (pecking order--parents, all children, siblings etc etc) with just 50% to his Thai wife.  A wife/widow will only receive 100% if there is a Will naming her as beneficiary.

So are you saying that if no will whatsoever exists, the Thai state will award your family back home with  all the money?

Sounds too good to be true

[DrJack54]

On 6/3/2022 at 9:22 AM, VinnieK said:

So are you saying that if no will whatsoever exists, the Thai state will award your family back home with  all the money?

Sounds too good to be true

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

Have been reading threads along the same lines as this one for some time.

 

In particular directed to the MANY folk using money in bank method.

In particular where the extension is based on retirement.

 

Meaning upwards of 800k is maintained in Thai bank in your name only.

 

In my case did not do a Will and as not married, my thai partner of 10years would not have access to these funds in bank.

 

In my case the situation arose very quickly and as I am unable to attend bank myself it does not present a simple solution.

 

So off for operation tomorrow and hopefully don't have a dire outcome..

 

Sounds bit "poor old me", not meant that way. It's more a post to encourage people to have something in place to allow access to the money in bank the way you would want.

 

As mentioned by others in the thread .. marriage and/or a Will seems best option. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by DrJack54