800.000 Baht account after I die - can the partner access the account

[hkt83100]

A long time ago I read about this problem, but I lost the text due to a disk crash. Someone mentioned the name of the form to fill out at the bank. It was not power of attorney. The problem is the account has to be in a single name, but how can a partner get the money from the account? I remember there was a English and a Thai term for it...

Thanks for any hint in the right direction.

[riclag]

I dont know much about the legalities but

my wife who knows everything said upon my death she can get the funds!

I wont dispute it.

[MickTurator]

This is a subject of great interest to me.

 

I asked at the bank (ayudhya) last week and they said my wife would not be able to access the 800k baht.

A death certificate would not be enough and the matter would have to go to court.

Maybe the bank is talking rubbish so does anyone have an answer and know what form the OP has mentioned?

 

[kickstart]

As far as I know, they will be a lot of forms to fill out, first thing they will need will be the death certificate your passport,bank passbook, marriage certificate if you have one, that will make life a lot easier, and anything else .ie yellow registration book ID card, your wife /partner should be able to sort it all out.

When I asked at our locale bank, they said it will take 6 months, but that was some cashier at the bank, how reliably that information is I could not say.

Note: I have a will in the UK. they will need a death certificate as well, as far as I know only one is issued, no photocopies allowed, you can see the scenario who gets the death certificate.

[msbkk]

If a person dies, normally nobody can legally withdraw funds without a legal will of the deceased person except if it is a joint account. A power of attorney ends with the death of the account owner. At least this is my understanding.

Edited January 19 by msbkk

[Moonlover]

Surely a simple will naming your wife as the sole beneficiary and executor should cover this situation. Make sure the account number is clearly stated in the document.

 

There may well be other documents that the bank will require, almost certainly a copy of your death certificate.

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, MickTurator said:

This is a subject of great interest to me.

 

I asked at the bank (ayudhya) last week and they said my wife would not be able to access the 800k baht.

A death certificate would not be enough and the matter would have to go to court.

Maybe the bank is talking rubbish so does anyone have an answer and know what form the OP has mentioned?

 

The bank was absolutely correct, administration/'probate' is required.  On an account-holders death, that has to be reported to the bank which freezes the account.  Any withdrawals after the death are fraudulent/theft, even if the account holder gave access details to a third party before his death.

Edited January 19 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, kickstart said:

As far as I know, they will be a lot of forms to fill out, first thing they will need will be the death certificate your passport,bank passbook, marriage certificate if you have one, that will make life a lot easier, and anything else .ie yellow registration book ID card, your wife /partner should be able to sort it all out.

When I asked at our locale bank, they said it will take 6 months, but that was some cashier at the bank, how reliably that information is I could not say.

Banks are not able to grant authority for third parties to access the cash of deceased customers, courts appointing administrators/'probate' do that.

Edited January 19 by Liverpool Lou

[CharlieH]

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

The bank was absolutely correct.  Probate is required.  On an account-holders death, that has to be reported to the bank which freezes the account.  Any withdrawals after the death are fraudulent/theft, even if the account holder gave access details to a third party before his death.

This also my understanding.

[Liverpool Lou]

33 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Surely a simple will naming your wife as the sole beneficiary and executor should cover this situation. 

It will cover that situation and then the court can authorise distribution of the assets (administration/'probate').  A bank cannot decide the authenticity of a will and then give away the assets of the deceased account holder.

Edited January 19 by Liverpool Lou

[Liverpool Lou]

34 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

There may well be other documents that the bank will require

Yes, 'probate'/administration.

Edited January 19 by Liverpool Lou

[proton]

she can use the ATM card, just don't tell the bank. Also some banks allow joint signatories but its not a joint account. My mrs goes into Krungsri with the book and takes money out, how do they know i'm still alive? 

[Liverpool Lou]

1 minute ago, proton said:

she can use the ATM card, just don't tell the bank ... My mrs goes into Krungsri with the book and takes money out, how do they know i'm still alive? 

She can physically do that but she would be committing a criminal offence by fraudulently taking your assets after your death and your death, as a foreigner, has to be reported to the police. Her not doing that is also an offence.  

 

"My mrs goes into Krungsri with the book and takes money out..."

Does you missus fraudulently sign your name to get that money?

[aublumberg]

38 minutes ago, proton said:

she can use the ATM card, just don't tell the bank. Also some banks allow joint signatories but its not a joint account. My mrs goes into Krungsri with the book and takes money out, how do they know i'm still alive? 

For many the 800,000 would be in a fixed deposit account, so ATM card won't work in that case

[Denim]

My two cents worth.

 

Being 66 with a 60 year old wife I also approached our bank ( Bangkok Bank ) to ask whither opening a joint account would make it legal for my wife to access my remaining  funds if I died.

 

They said it would not. Legally my wife would not be able to withdraw my funds from either my account or a joint account. The legal process to gain access would be time consuming  and stressful.

 

So what do you suggest we do ?

 

Oh simple, if you trust your wife just tell her the code of your ATM card and she can withdraw it a little at a time after you die.

 

But that's illegal ?

 

Well...how will we know you are dead ?

The police don't tell us nor does anyone else. Unless the sum is very large just withdraw it with the ATM card.

 

This from the bank employee !! People iñ the bank actually thought it was amusing as if only a falang would be stupid enough to over complicate things when there is the Thai way !

 

Before anyone jumps down my throat I am merely repeating the bizarre exchange we had at the bank and in no way suggest this is what you should do.

 

We will find a better, more legal solution. 

 

 

[billd766]

13 minutes ago, Denim said:

My two cents worth.

 

Being 66 with a 60 year old wife I also approached our bank ( Bangkok Bank ) to ask whither opening a joint account would make it legal for my wife to access my remaining  funds if I died.

 

They said it would not. Legally my wife would not be able to withdraw my funds from either my account or a joint account. The legal process to gain access would be time consuming  and stressful.

 

So what do you suggest we do ?

 

Oh simple, if you trust your wife just tell her the code of your ATM card and she can withdraw it a little at a time after you die.

 

But that's illegal ?

 

Well...how will we know you are dead ?

The police don't tell us nor does anyone else. Unless the sum is very large just withdraw it with the ATM card.

 

This from the bank employee !! People iñ the bank actually thought it was amusing as if only a falang would be stupid enough to over complicate things when there is the Thai way !

 

Before anyone jumps down my throat I am merely repeating the bizarre exchange we had at the bank and in no way suggest this is what you should do.

 

We will find a better, more legal solution. 

 

 

If and when you find a better solution can you post it here please.

[Yellowtail]

My wife has my password and can just transfer it out via the Krungsri app. 

[jerrymahoney]

8 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

My wife has my password and can just transfer it out via the Krungsri app. 

So the bank will see that you made a large withdrawal from your account after you are dead.

 

Nice.

[proton]

6 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

So the bank will see that you made a large withdrawal from your account after you are dead.

 

Nice.

The bank does not know if you are alive or dead do they, mrs took money out of my account yesterday, I could have been dead for all they know

[jerrymahoney]

12 minutes ago, proton said:

The bank does not know if you are alive or dead do they, mrs took money out of my account yesterday, I could have been dead for all they know

The bank will at some point receive an official time of death.

[Galong]

My Will lists my bank accounts and gives her full access to my money upon my death. I didn't list my US accounts. My brother has access to them and will transfer the money to her upon my death.

[lopburi3]

9 hours ago, Denim said:

Being 66 with a 60 year old wife I also approached our bank ( Bangkok Bank ) to ask whither opening a joint account would make it legal for my wife to access my remaining  funds if I died

BBL had two types of joint account - those that require both signatures and those that either party can withdraw - so that may be the issue as have not seen posting of this being an issue (but guess if you are dead and gone you would not be posting)?

 

Some have reported using an single name account with second name in passbook UV page for withdrawals (only the owner name on passbook front page so accepted by immigration).

 

As has been said probate required to release funds and can take 3-6 months from many reports.  Some banks/personal seem more paranoid than others so freeze may not be absolute.

 

But for the 800k extensions perhaps best solution would be to change to income method if financially able to do so.  Or in any case have enough money available to spouse for the probate period.

 

For those with next of kin outside Thailand that could claim funds suspect will(s) could be very important.

[lopburi3]

3 minutes ago, Galong said:

My Will lists my bank accounts and gives her full access to my money upon my death. I didn't list my US accounts. My brother has access to them and will transfer the money to her upon my death.

As has been said bank can not act on a will - it must go to court first and that takes months.

[Yellowtail]

19 minutes ago, proton said:

The bank does not know if you are alive or dead do they, mrs took money out of my account yesterday, I could have been dead for all they know

In the US, the first thing you do when a loved one dies is go clean out the safe deposit box before the bank knows of the death. 

 

It's not the bank's money, it's our money. 

[lopburi3]

6 minutes ago, Yellowtail said:

 

It's not the bank's money, it's our money. 

Good luck with that.  It is the bank's money until proven otherwise.  Remember that 9/10ths of the law being procession?   Banks take that to the extreme.

Edited January 20 by lopburi3

[EVENKEEL]

13 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

The bank will at some point receive an official time of death.

Why would the bank be notified of a death?

[Raindancer]

12 hours ago, hkt83100 said:

A long time ago I read about this problem, but I lost the text due to a disk crash. Someone mentioned the name of the form to fill out at the bank. It was not power of attorney. The problem is the account has to be in a single name, but how can a partner get the money from the account? I remember there was a English and a Thai term for it...

Thanks for any hint in the right direction.

Pm sent to you.

[jerrymahoney]

14 minutes ago, EVENKEEL said:

Why would the bank be notified of a death?

To close  the account after making any legal distributions

 

I'm presuming the 800k account is for immigration purposes which cannot be a joint account.

Edited January 20 by jerrymahoney

[Yellowtail]

17 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Good luck with that.  It is the bank's money until proven otherwise.  Remember that 9/10ths of the law being procession?   Banks take that to the extreme.

The way I hear it was it was possession was 9/10ths of the law. 

 

In any event, I want my wife to be able to take possession before bank starts their procession. 

[it is what it is]

11 hours ago, proton said:

she can use the ATM card, just don't tell the bank. Also some banks allow joint signatories but its not a joint account. My mrs goes into Krungsri with the book and takes money out, how do they know i'm still alive? 

 

if the account is not in joint names obviously that would be illegal