Making My Will In Thailand

[billd766]

I am working with my Thai wife and a lawyer making our wills.

If I die first (most likely as I am 61 and my wife is 40) everything will go to her and our son who is Thai and British.

If she dies first everything will go to him but I will be named as his guardian and therefore I will still be elegible for the support visa and to stay in the house until I die when it will all go to him anyway.

Should all 3 of us die in an accident for example, everything will go to my wifes parents unless they die first, then we want it all to go to her youngest brother.

As I understand it when a Thai dies the assets go to the direct eldest in the bloodline and work its way down unless there is a specific will nominating where the assests are to go.

Do I register the wills in Thai and English at the British embassy who will have to be informed snyway of my death?

I will have 3 UK pensions plus my UK bank account to inform as well as various other credit card companies etc as well as my son, (bugger the ex wife, she would only shed tears of joy and happiness).

Should I ask a good friend in the UK to keep a contact list of who to inform as well?

Sorry to be a little morbid but I am trying to plan ahead.

It has taken my wife some time to come to terms with this as it seems that Thais don't seem to like talking about death of someone in the family.

[GuestHouse]

You should make two wills, one in Thailand covering your assets in Thailand the other in the UK covering your assets in the UK.

You should also appoint an exectutor to the wills.

Here's a tip.

Make you will 'Fees Paid Up Front'. That is all the fees relating to the will are paid by you while you are alive.

Lawyers and Banks will offer you no fee wills that are often (but not always) paid for at the time of your death as a percentage of your estate. (You can see the sense in that can't you.... ) Jo Lawyer, but actually more often Jo Bank has a water tight investment in your wealth/house/savings/shares etc.

So - Rule No 1 (Fees Paid Up Front).

Now for your pensions.

You should not, absolutely should not, make any provisions for your pension within your will. There are two reasons why not.

Firstly your pensions are governed by trust laws, the pension trustees control your pension, not you. If you mension your pension in your will you are claiming it as an asset, which under trust law it technically is not - The Trustees Control your Pension, Not You. Getting that wrong could lead to tax problems - Not death duties, but taxes on all your tax free contribitions... Ouch!

The second reason is, while your pension fund is not part of you estate, if you mention it in you will it becomes part of your estate and then becomes subject to death duties.

What you should do is write an 'Expression of Wishes' to the trustees of your pension (Copy in the file you give to your executor).

Now be careful hear, you cannot rule out dependents, Again the Trustees control your pension not you. However, they do tend to follow your instructions. But keep it simple. ie Simple Percentages to each 'Dependent' starting with the major share going to your wife. Likewise for any lump sums payable under the pensions.

Did you see that word 'Dependent'. That means your wife, your child, any adopted child. It does not mean any other relatives but it might very well include an ex wife if she is still caring for a child under the age of 19 or who is still in full time education.

You should include a statement in your 'Expression of Wishes' regarding what you wish to happen if you AND your wife predecease your child. Almost certainly this should be placing the money in trust for the sole use of the child, you need to think carefully about that - See me earlier response to Advice on Wills

My advice is the provisions you have made for your property in Thailand seem sensible, but you need to re-think what you want to happen with your UK based wealth.

I certainly would not be giving pension funds to children without strings attached and I certainly would not make any Thai an exectutor to my will.

As for the difficulty of making wills, yes it is dificult, but you can make it easier by considering it is a chance to pass on your last wishes and feelings. I have made gifts in my will that seem on the outset small and senseless. A microscope for my son, some paintings for my daughter, a cycling racing trophy for a friend. What I know is these things have special meaning between us, and I have said "I want you my daughter, my son, my good friend to have this".

Wills are about taking care of the people we love.

[billd766]

Hi GuestHouse

Thank you for the advice especially on the pensions side.

I have a military pension and a company pension at the moment and according to them when I die my current wife is entitled to 50% of them until her death when they terminate so unfortunately my son will get none of them.

In just over 3 years I will entitled to the UK state benefit pension and on my death my wife will get 60% I believe until her death after which that will also terminate.

I have no assets in the UK as my ex wife has taken care of that other than a joint bank account with my current wife and £500 my first son borrowed off me and I will let him keep that.

I will also have to make a list of who to contact in the UK when I die (credit cards, banks, friends etc) and I have a good friend in the UK who can deal with that for me unless she dies first.

This is a morbid subject but I think a very necessary one that everybody should deal with as early as possible. in your life.

My ex wife in the UK wants nothing to do with me and my UK son is 27 so there is no problems there.