List of things that need to be done by my wife if I die before her

[connda]

I could use suggestions on creating a list of things that need to be done by my wife if I die before her.  Fyi, I'm a US citizen. 
Who does she need to contact, what forms will she need to obtain, how does she execute my Will, etc. 

[Liverpool Lou]

Hospital, police, embassy, lawyer.

[OneMoreFarang]

Many things can be found out after the fact.

 

What she should have is a list or people/companies/organizations.

 

I.e., she should know you have a bank account with bank X. If she inherits from you then later she can contact bank X and they will look for accounts, etc. She does not need the numbers.

If she doesn't even know there is bank Y then it won't be easy to find out later.

 

People who should be informed when you die.

 

And last but not least, she should know if there are any outstanding bills, if you should give money to anybody, etc. Because if you are dead and xyz comes and tells her just last week you borrowed 100k she should know about that - especially if it is untrue. 

[ezzra]

Good post by OneMoreFarang, just make sure to put all the relevant information in your last will and testament as to what your wishes are and how should be notified etc, etc,...

[KhunLA]

My wife has a list of things to do:

... rent a digger

... wrap me in good garden plastic, not that I care, but prefer bugs not to eat my corpse

... hit the PO Box every year to send the 'pulse check' back.

... don't let my account go over $10k USD, make monthly withdrawal transfers

... enjoy as long as possible ... LUV YA

[Woof999]

1.) Party

2.) See 1.)

[Tarteso]

“List of things that need to be done by my wife if I die before her”.

 

Don’t log off this site and let her read all your posts and replies from July 2009 ????

[pagallim]

I made such a list for her quite a number of  years ago.   I detail my pension providers with respective reference numbers, along with their addresses and email/phone numbers.   The UK embassy contact details etc.   Family she already knows about, and that just about wraps it up.

[connda]

What does she need from the US Embassy if anything?

[Negita43]

The UK embassy actually has such a  list of the "official things" that need to be done in English and Thai which can be downloaded. In my experience the USA Embassy is far more helpful to it's citizens abroad so I'm sure the they will have one. With regard to assetts etc a list and a trustworthy solicitor will help

Edited January 22, 2023 by Negita43
tidy up grammar

[prakhonchai nick]

Phone number of nearest crocodile farm????

 

 

[PJ71]

3 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Many things can be found out after the fact.

 

What she should have is a list or people/companies/organizations.

 

I.e., she should know you have a bank account with bank X. If she inherits from you then later she can contact bank X and they will look for accounts, etc. She does not need the numbers.

If she doesn't even know there is bank Y then it won't be easy to find out later.

 

People who should be informed when you die.

 

And last but not least, she should know if there are any outstanding bills, if you should give money to anybody, etc. Because if you are dead and xyz comes and tells her just last week you borrowed 100k she should know about that - especially if it is untrue. 

So basically a will - lol.

[prakhonchai nick]

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

Good post by OneMoreFarang, just make sure to put all the relevant information in your last will and testament as to what your wishes are and how should be notified etc, etc,...

No. Put all the relevant information re handling the estate WITH ---NOT IN the last Will and Testament. The Will should only include ones wishes, and who gets what.  Find a lawyer (in the US) who will handle the estate, and leave his name and address with the Will.

Edited January 22, 2023 by prakhonchai nick

[prakhonchai nick]

Just now, prakhonchai nick said:

No. Put all the relevant information re handling the estate WITH ---NOT IN the last Will and Testament.  The Will should only include ones wishes, and who gets what.  Find a lawyer (in the US) who will handle the estate, and leave his name and address with the Will.

 

[richard_smith237]

- Get rid of the body

- Prepare a sound alibi 

[Mickeymaus]

In respect of banks and property - I didn't rely upon any advice from other people. I contacted each bank and the Land Office and asked them what documents they need. It depends on the country and the bank. In any case - make a list of everything. Since my Will is handwritten I additionally made a video where I read the Will. 

[Tropicalevo]

1 hour ago, connda said:

What does she need from the US Embassy if anything?

When my wife died, her body was taken to the local hospital for an autopsy (that never happened).

 

The hospital will not release the body until it has received a document from the embassy. The document will probably vary depending on nationality.

 

This was the one time that I found the British embassy to be very helpful. They emailed the document to me within 24 hours of receiving the death certificate.

 

However, getting the police report, having the hospital release her body for the cremation and avoiding sudden 'supplementary charges' after the cremation - that was a totally different story.

[Jerno]

7 hours ago, KhunLA said:

My wife has a list of things to do:

... rent a digger

... wrap me in good garden plastic, not that I care, but prefer bugs not to eat my corpse

... hit the PO Box every year to send the 'pulse check' back.

... don't let my account go over $10k USD, make monthly withdrawal transfers

... enjoy as long as possible ... LUV YA

Sorry, but bugs will eat you from inside out, or worse hungry animals dig down to snack on you. Do the fire instead and go onto your afterlife warm and toasty.

[connda]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:52 PM, Negita43 said:

The UK embassy actually has such a  list of the "official things" that need to be done in English and Thai which can be downloaded. In my experience the USA Embassy is far more helpful to it's citizens abroad so I'm sure the they will have one. With regard to assetts etc a list and a trustworthy solicitor will help

I found that list today.  I need to write up the list for my wife and get keep a copy of my current Will and the list of items that the US Embassy will need and keep them in where my wife can find them at home. 
That info helped.  Thanks!

[JimGant]

On 1/22/2023 at 3:27 PM, connda said:

What does she need from the US Embassy if anything?

Maybe nothing, if the hospital doesn't need a release certificate (you might want to investigate that ahead of time). If a certificate is required, the embassy/consulate will need to know who the next of kin (NOK) is -- and this is automatically your wife, so just provide a copy of your marriage certificate. And you may want to get a "consular report of death of a US citizen abroad," which serves as a US death certificate, needed to cut checks to beneficiaries of insurance policies, etc. In my case, the wife would need a death certificate to  begin her Air Force survivor benefit payments. Interestingly, I queried the Air Force (DFAS), also Schwab and some other agencies she'll need to contact, about whether or not just a Thai death certificate, with translation, would suffice. Answer: Yes, as long as it's accompanied by a certified translation. (Don't know what constitutes "certified", but Star Visa here in Chiang Mai said, yes, they're certified translators, which I guess means they have a rubber stamp to make translations look official....) So, maybe she won't need to visit embassy/consulate at all -- very handy I would think, if you live out in the sticks..... (But, I would suggest that if you can get that "consular report of death....," I would do so, just in case I got some bum info.)

 

Some other thoughts:

 

If your wife is sole heir and executor in your Will, and your sole asset is a bank account -- should be easy and recommended to avoid probate, since it could cost upwards of 50k baht, and take many months. Tons of info on this forum about this, so I'll let you do a search. Key related points: online banking; co-signatory; and bank has no legal requirement to freeze your account -- if they have no knowledge of your death, which they most likely wouldn't. Anyway, lots of info out there about this, although not necessarily conclusive.

 

Do early in the year things your wife would have to do if you didn't do them early. Like FBAR -- you can do it on Jan 1st, as I did. Required Minimum Distribution of your IRA (and her IRA, if applicable). Taxes -- I did mine thru TurboTax mid Jan, and got my refund check from the IRS 4 days ago. Yes, if she forgot to do your FBAR, doubtful anyone would follow up. However, your RMD has to be done before she can inherit your IRA.

 

Doing last year's taxes this year is one thing (assuming you got it out of the way, by doing it early). This year's taxes, i.e., taxes for the year you die, is another thing. Do you have a tax preparer lined up to help her? Can she download 1099's from the Internet? If all your income is documented with 1099's (except a few hundred in interest from Bangkok Bank), then you -- and more importantly the IRS -- know what your tax bill will be. Thus, why not set up your withholding and estimated tax payments to be a few hundred over your future tax bill? Then, the wife can choose to file late, or not at all. The IRS doesn't bother with folks who they owe money to (unless they suspect you have some non 1099 money out there, which I doubt applies in this scenario). So, if the wife never files to get that over-withholding back, she's probably ahead of the game, losing $200 to the IRS -- but saving $400 by not paying a tax preparer. Plus, not wasting time fumbling around for 1099's, especially if she's computer illiterate and the 1099's are only online....

 

Anyway, death planning can be interesting....

 

 

[Bluetongue]

One thing is if I am finding it increasingly difficult to deal with Government, banks, paypal, wise, super funds, pensions, providing only digital ids etc etc, my IT and English challenged wife is surely going to find it incredibly difficult. This is just the way things have gone now in Australia anyway as I imagine across the west. So much so that I intend to leave most of it here so that there are only minimal, low value requirements to deal with authorities in Australia which I hope to convince my non challenged nieces or nephews to deal with as executor, last tax return and such

[KhunLA]

Hide all the plans before, and all the evidence after ... ????

[khaepmu]

I found the  following link very helpful regarding my death and things my Thai wife should be aware of and things she will have to do. 

 

https://isaanlawyers.com/death-of-foreigner-in-thailand/