Questions 1-do all wills have to go to probate and if so what court handles it? How long does it take?

2- Can the beneficiary be the executor?

3- Is there a way to add GF to bank account so she would receive the assets immediately upon my death but she doesn't have access to it while I'm alive?

Thanks !

1 minute ago, ricky52 said:

Is there a way to add GF to bank account so she would receive the assets immediately upon my death but she doesn't have access to it while I'm alive?

You don't trust your life partner?

11 minutes ago, Packer said:

You don't trust your life partner?

Do you? Fool.

11 hours ago, gargamon said:

Do you?

Of course. From our beginnings as Washington State Ph.D students to our current life with our teenage children, we've had many joint bank accounts along the way, usually with her putting in more than me. :)

You're not in a relationship with an ex 'cashier' are you? 🤣

15 hours ago, gargamon said:

Do you? Fool.

The fool is the one with a partner they don't trust.

6 hours ago, Packer said:

Of course. From our beginnings as Washington State Ph.D students to our current life with our teenage children, we've had many joint bank accounts along the way, usually with her putting in more than me. :)

You're not in a relationship with an ex 'cashier' are you? 🤣

I prefer the new wife every day strategy.

NB via Gemini:

In Thailand, life insurance payouts are generally not considered part of the probate estate, allowing for direct, swift transfer to designated beneficiaries. Upon the death of the policyholder, beneficiaries must submit a death certificate, original policy, and ID documents to the insurer to claim benefits.

Key Aspects of Transfer Upon Death in Thailand:

Direct Payout: Life insurance benefits are paid directly to named beneficiaries, bypassing the lengthy court-probate process required for other assets like bank accounts or real estate.

A variety of answers which have nothing to do with the question that was asked. I suggest that you Google Thailand probate laws. As a quick and incomplete answer yes you do mostly have to go through probate and it is not cheap as lawyers and judges are in the mix. Like you I protect my assets. My original plan was to leave my wife my Bank card number so that money was available to tide her over until probate was completed. This is not legal. She can not access any money that is in your name until completion of probate. The same rule applies to everything that is in your name only. You need to discuss this matter with a reliable firm of lawyer preferably not one in a tourist resort

Questions 1-do all wills have to go to probate and if so what court handles it? How long does it take?

2- Can the beneficiary be the executor?

3- Is there a way to add GF to bank account so she would receive the assets immediately upon my death but she doesn't have access to it while I'm alive?

1. Yes.

2. No.

3. Add your girlfriend as a beneficiary

17 minutes ago, pompeymike said:

3. Add your girlfriend as a beneficiary

No such instrument in Thailand.

38 minutes ago, john smith said:

A variety of answers which have nothing to do with the question that was asked. I suggest that you Google Thailand probate laws. As a quick and incomplete answer yes you do mostly have to go through probate and it is not cheap as lawyers and judges are in the mix. Like you I protect my assets. My original plan was to leave my wife my Bank card number so that money was available to tide her over until probate was completed. This is not legal. She can not access any money that is in your name until completion of probate. The same rule applies to everything that is in your name only. You need to discuss this matter with a reliable firm of lawyer preferably not one in a tourist resort

As is often the case the best workaround is to simply go around the government, and not include them in the process. If possible.

15 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

As is often the case the best workaround is to simply go around the government, and not include them in the process. If possible.

Well this will likely depend upon just how big was the deceased's account but per AI Gemini:

Withdrawing funds from a deceased person’s Thai bank account, even by a wife, is illegal under Thai law and can result in severe legal and financial consequences. In Thailand, bank accounts are frozen immediately upon the bank receiving notice of the death.

Here is what happens if a wife withdraws funds from a deceased husband's Thai bank account:

Criminal Charges (Fraud/Theft): Unauthorized withdrawal is considered fraud and a criminal offense, as it is seen as taking assets from the estate, which must be legally distributed.

Legal Complications & Penalties: The wife could be sued by other heirs (such as children, if any) for the misappropriation of assets.

21 hours ago, gargamon said:

Do you? Fool.

Why be with someone if you can't trust them

55 minutes ago, pompeymike said:

3. Add your girlfriend as a beneficiary

Not in Thailand, he won't.

Thai banks have no such thing.

But lets keep 800,000 in one to stay here. 🙃

1 hour ago, pompeymike said:

2- Can the beneficiary be the executor?

1 hour ago, pompeymike said:

2. No.

Apologies but you are wrong here.

Executor and beneficiary can be the same person.

A witness cannot be a beneficiary however.

22 hours ago, Packer said:

You don't trust your life partner?

Trusting isn't 100 % It just a safety precaution .

Imm just makes things difficult .

One has to have an account in ones name Only for the yearly extension for the 800 K Ret Extension So it would make sense that Imm would allow the account be in Both names if its a term deposit account but only be Paid after the Main account holder has Expired.

4 minutes ago, digger70 said:

would make sense

You're talking about Thailand and Thai immigration. 🙂

7 minutes ago, digger70 said:

One has to have an account in ones name Only for the yearly extension for the 800 K Ret Extension So it would make sense that Imm would allow the account be in Both names if its a term deposit account but only be Paid after the Main account holder has Expired.

AI Gemini:

Here is a breakdown of the rules regarding joint accounts for retirement extensions:

Presumption of 50/50 Ownership: If you use a joint account, Immigration often assumes the funds are split 50/50 between the account holders. This means if you are using a joint account with a spouse, you may be required to show a balance of 1.6 million Baht to satisfy the 800,000 Baht requirement for your own extension.

Just now, Packer said:

You're talking about Thailand and Thai immigration. 🙂

Yea , that is a very good topic for a Thai will isn't it.

I am sure that that are some expats worry about and how to do that .

Look what the OP is saying in 1, 2 and special number 3.

Didn't you read that.

9 minutes ago, JerryM said:

AI Gemini:

Here is a breakdown of the rules regarding joint accounts for retirement extensions:

Presumption of 50/50 Ownership: If you use a joint account, Immigration often assumes the funds are split 50/50 between the account holders. This means if you are using a joint account with a spouse, you may be required to show a balance of 1.6 million Baht to satisfy the 800,000 Baht requirement for your own extension.

Yea we All know that one has to have the 1.6 Million if in both names for Imm but there are Expats that don't Have 1.6 Mil just only the 800 K.

2 hours ago, pompeymike said:

Questions 1-do all wills have to go to probate and if so what court handles it? How long does it take?

2- Can the beneficiary be the executor?

3- Is there a way to add GF to bank account so she would receive the assets immediately upon my death but she doesn't have access to it while I'm alive?

1. Yes.

2. No.

3. Add your girlfriend as a beneficiary

A beneficiary can also be the Executor of a Thai Will. My spouse and I are both the Executor, and the beneficiary, of the other's Will.

22 minutes ago, newnative said:

My spouse and I are both the Executor, and the beneficiary, of the other's Will.

For those that have bought Thai land in their wife's name, it's worth noting that whilst you cannot buy Thai land in your own name, you can inherit it fully.

Upon execution of the will the Thai land will be placed in your name, with the stipulation that you have 12 months to sell or gift the land to a Thai. After 12 months the local land office can sell the land at a price they set and keep 5% of the selling price, the other 95% being deposited in your bank account.

37 minutes ago, digger70 said:

Yea we All know that one has to have the 1.6 Million if in both names for Imm but there are Expats that don't Have 1.6 Mil just only the 800 K.

Yes and there are expats who don't have the 800K either but that doesn't seem to stop them.

23 hours ago, ricky52 said:

Questions 1-do all wills have to go to probate and if so what court handles it? How long does it take?

2- Can the beneficiary be the executor?

3- Is there a way to add GF to bank account so she would receive the assets immediately upon my death but she doesn't have access to it while I'm alive?

Thanks !

1) In general the court executing a last will will be in the country of primary residence of the deceased person. So, if your primary residence is Thailand, it will be a Thjai cort handling your will and estate. As everywhere, it can take relative long time, depending of the will and if there also are foreign values and/or foreign heirs. Often a suggested solution is, if there are foreign values, to make two last wills, one for Thailand covering Thai assetts, and another for the foreign values, generally following the law there, which is primary a matter for fixed assetts like real estate.

2) To my knowledge, yes.

3) A bit difficult, and widely a matter of trust. A solution can be shared bank account(s). I use the latter for some of my funds in Thailand – also my securyty if something happens to be, then my girlfriend has access to funds to both pay for me and keep going herself – and I wrote in my Thai will that any funds in shared accounts, which can be both bank books and mutual funds, shall fully belong to the other named person. Furthermore I've stated in my last will that a certain amount of cash shall immediately be available for my girlfriend, which was also an important matter when we had our minor child living in the house, so there were funds for living expenses and school. With such a statement it should be legal to get fast access to some money; probaly also if you withdraw some cash from bank accounts before they a frozen. But the latter is again a question of trust, because my girlfriend needs to know my pin-code to withdraw some money from an ATM.

47 minutes ago, newnative said:

A beneficiary can also be the Executor of a Thai Will. My spouse and I are both the Executor, and the beneficiary, of the other's Will.

If so why did you put no for #2?

14 minutes ago, khunPer said:

1) In general the court executing a last will will be in the country of primary residence of the deceased person. So, if your primary residence is Thailand, it will be a Thjai cort handling your will and estate. As everywhere, it can take relative long time, depending of the will and if there also are foreign values and/or foreign heirs. Often a suggested solution is, if there are foreign values, to make two last wills, one for Thailand covering Thai assetts, and another for the foreign values, generally following the law there, which is primary a matter for fixed assetts like real estate.

2) To my knowledge, yes.

3) A bit difficult, and widely a matter of trust. A solution can be shared bank account(s). I use the latter for some of my funds in Thailand – also my securyty if something happens to be, then my girlfriend has access to funds to both pay for me and keep going herself – and I wrote in my Thai will that any funds in shared accounts, which can be both bank books and mutual funds, shall fully belong to the other named person. Furthermore I've stated in my last will that a certain amount of cash shall immediately be available for my girlfriend, which was also an important matter when we had our minor child living in the house, so there were funds for living expenses and school. With such a statement it should be legal to get fast access to some money; probaly also if you withdraw some cash from bank accounts before they a frozen. But the latter is again a question of trust, because my girlfriend needs to know my pin-code to withdraw some money from an ATM.

Thanks there will be two wills one for America one for Thailand both completely separate

23 hours ago, Packer said:

You don't trust your life partner?

life?

1 hour ago, digger70 said:

Yea we All know that one has to have the 1.6 Million if in both names for Imm but there are Expats that don't Have 1.6 Mil just only the 800 K.

Actually I did not consider that ,so thank you that ends that idea.

20 minutes ago, khunPer said:

1) In general the court executing a last will will be in the country of primary residence of the deceased person. So, if your primary residence is Thailand, it will be a Thjai cort handling your will and estate. As everywhere, it can take relative long time, depending of the will and if there also are foreign values and/or foreign heirs. Often a suggested solution is, if there are foreign values, to make two last wills, one for Thailand covering Thai assetts, and another for the foreign values, generally following the law there, which is primary a matter for fixed assetts like real estate.

2) To my knowledge, yes.

3) A bit difficult, and widely a matter of trust. A solution can be shared bank account(s). I use the latter for some of my funds in Thailand – also my securyty if something happens to be, then my girlfriend has access to funds to both pay for me and keep going herself – and I wrote in my Thai will that any funds in shared accounts, which can be both bank books and mutual funds, shall fully belong to the other named person. Furthermore I've stated in my last will that a certain amount of cash shall immediately be available for my girlfriend, which was also an important matter when we had our minor child living in the house, so there were funds for living expenses and school. With such a statement it should be legal to get fast access to some money; probaly also if you withdraw some cash from bank accounts before they a frozen. But the latter is again a question of trust, because my girlfriend needs to know my pin-code to withdraw some money from an ATM.

Thanks any idea how long it would take a person(beneficiary) to have access to the bank account ? (probate)

3 hours ago, john smith said:

A variety of answers which have nothing to do with the question that was asked. I suggest that you Google Thailand probate laws. As a quick and incomplete answer yes you do mostly have to go through probate and it is not cheap as lawyers and judges are in the mix. Like you I protect my assets. My original plan was to leave my wife my Bank card number so that money was available to tide her over until probate was completed. This is not legal. She can not access any money that is in your name until completion of probate. The same rule applies to everything that is in your name only. You need to discuss this matter with a reliable firm of lawyer preferably not one in a tourist resort

Thanks