Marriage 400,000. Bhat Bank Account

[Colabamumbai]

When I marry and have the necessary funds for the marriage visa in the bank $400,000.00 Bhat, when I die can my wife use the bank card? or go to the bank and claim the money, or what happens to that money. Can any one give me some input on this, my wife should be able to withdraw the funds with the bank card since I am no longer alive and will not need to show this to immigration? Or do I need a will here specifiying that those funds go to her???

[Lite Beer]

Moved to Banking.

[Spoonman]

Leave the pin number in your will ??

[goldfinger]

giving her the ATM card and PIN will be enough, much easier than to do all the paperwork after.

[Mario2008]

giving her the ATM card and PIN will be enough, much easier than to do all the paperwork after.

That would not be legal. In most cases it will be all right, but when there is a debt somewhere that still has to be paid it can lead to big problems.

[Mario2008]

She will be your heir, and provided there are no other heirs and there are no debts, she will get the money.

[bangon04]

giving her the ATM card and PIN will be enough, much easier than to do all the paperwork after.

And there's an outside chance if you give her the PIN and ATM card now, she will help you avoid the paperwork by clearing the account even before you die, so that will make your estate easier to manage when the time comes.

[Colabamumbai]

Leave the pin number in your will ??

Will I need a will or can I just give her the ABM card and the pin Number which she will have anyway. I am just having thoughts about the future if I do marry and who I marry, instead of sin sod as I am not wealthy, I thought this way she gets paid later for looking after me if it ever came to that, I could not care for my self, I am a young buck 59. Then she does not have to worry about money.

[ESB7]

She stands to gain 400,000 on your death, thats tempting.

[Colabamumbai]

She stands to gain 400,000 on your death, thats tempting.

Thats what I figure should be enough sin sod for the right lady......To light the fire for me on my death.

[aurelius]

The bank will hold the funds when/if they are advised that an account holder has died. So if no-one tells them, and she has access to your ATM card, she can take the money anytime. If you are married and there are no other dependents then she gets the money anyway, but it may take a few months to work through the details.

Most banks also use a proxy authorisation as well. Frequently people send drivers and maids to withdraw funds from an account, which can be done with the right signatures and id. If you were to sign one of these forms, she can present it to the bank and withdraw all the funds in one go - lets say you had a fixed account, not just an ATM-accessible savings account, then she could take the funds from that (one proxy for one account). As noted above, she could also take this any day while you're well and truly alive, so need to be careful about handing it out.

[torrenova]

ATM card (replaced when necessary) and PIN number (checked when the card is replaced) with your lawyer or whoever is going to deal with your estate and she can get it in a day or two. SCB is 200k a day through one account at the ATM and at least one of my Bangkok Bank accounts has a daily ATM limit of Bt500,000.

[tripplejjj]

@Colabamumbai,

When you set up a bank account, you should name your wife as the beneficiary (payable on death). In this case, all your wife has to do to claim the money is present your death certificate and her identity to the bank. The bank will give her the money, then close your account. There is no need for a lawyer or a Will. This is the best course of action. Quick, fast, and simple.

It is easier for someone else to contest your Will, then to contest your beneficiary. I named my wife as the only beneficiary on all my financial accounts. I also give her the yearly letters from my investment holdings that say she is the beneficiary (100%). The bad part about not having a Will is that, if you both die, then who gets to keep the 400K? (Answer: lawyers)

If you died with or without a Will and she withdrew your money using your ATM card and pin, then it may appears that she stole your money. Remember, upon your death, the law has to determine, as best as it can, what asset you have and who it belongs too. A beneficiary is the best way to go.

[jfchandler]

I have an interesting wrinkle on this... The bank account at issue in the OP here is a THAI bank account.

But I have U.S. bank accounts, where I too want to name my fiance/future legal wife as the beneficiary. I want to name her as the beneficary now, even though we are not legally married yet.

Yet in talking to one of my major U.S. banks today, they said they could/would not accept a beneficary form designating someone who doesn't have a U.S. Social Security Number, or at least a TIN (Taxpayer Identification Number), which is kind of a subsitute for a SSN# for non U.S. residents. My fiance/wife, being Thai, at present has neither of these.

I asked my bank whether it would make any difference if we already were legally married, and they said no... They would not accept a beneficiary designation even naming my legal wife, unless I could include the beneficiary's SSN or TIN on the form.

Anyone else have any experience with this, and how to best resolve it. I'm assuming I need to get her a TIN, and then go thru the normal beneficiary designation process. ???

[lopburi3]

You can not even obtain insurance in the US anymore without an SSN or TIN. And obtaining TIN is much more difficult than previously (only on payment of tax now I believe). So getting that TIN will be important after marriage. I have joint and POD accounts but wife had TIN when applied for.