Why Are You Even Here? The Surprising Attitudes of Some Expats in Thailand

[meatboy]

as me and the wf.have moved all our assets to here we thought now is the time to make new wills,[previously done in the uk] having contacted a lawyer and one who speaks english and took time to explain in every detail what was what.the wf.has always said what is hers is hers and whats mine is hers tooooooo.as we have no children we sat down and discussed who would get what,with help from the lawyer that part of it was easy.now came the what ifs,on my passing away first[most likely 20yrs older] i had to stipulate that my wife would recieve my co.pension,so name and address of the pension provider,as she worked in the uk.and has a ni.no.she is entitled to a bereavement payment[lump sum],after many this and thats it came to what if my wf.passed away before me[god forbid she dont] what will i have to do about the house,i had read previously that you have a year to sell it,not so as long as your wife stipulates in the will that i can continue to live in the home untill my passing away,that will keep the theives away,so the importance of your wifes wishes is crucial.there was still quite a lot of paper work to do,then the lawyer took 2 weeks cross checking every wish on our behalfs,we also had to make provisions for our beloved dog IF and that is a big if both of us suffered a tragedy so he lives the same life as he is used to,good food,run of the house,ect.then we had copies of our requests to check before we had the real ones which i and the wf.found to be done very profesional.

you might ask what did it all cost? less than a 24case of cider.

[simple1]

You have not made reference, so have you registered your Will with the Amphur, did you had the legal Thai version independently reviewed for accuracy. As you are a UK citizen have you prepared a Letter of Release to be faxed to the Embassy by your wife for your body to be buried/cremated in Thailand?

Edited February 7, 2013 by simple1

[meatboy]

You have not made reference, so have you registered your Will with the Amphur, did you had the legal Thai version independently reviewed for accuracy. As you are a UK citizen have you prepared a Letter of Release to be faxed to the Embassy by your wife for your body to be buried/cremated in Thailand?

thanks for that i shall check your concerns.

[terryp]

Of interest if your quite well off with property etc…if the will is not in Thai and registered with a Thai court by a lawyer (Judge even better) its worthless ....I also hate reading posts with no paragraphs

[HullyGully]

Depending on you assets you are still liable for UK IHT

You must be non domicile to be free from IHT

[davejones]

Depending on you assets you are still liable for UK IHT

You must be non domicile to be free from IHT

If you plan to stay in Thailand, it may be worth you trying to get your domicile changed. Domicile is quite complex, but may be worth you trying. Buy there is £325,000 exemption. I think this is double if you will to your wife, although I'm not sure if that only happens if you live in the UK. But you you have assets over the limit, it may be worth looking into. No point letting the tax man get his grubby hands on your hard-earned cash.

Edited February 7, 2013 by davejones

[Bpuumike]

Depending on you assets you are still liable for UK IHT

You must be non domicile to be free from IHT

If you plan to stay in Thailand, it may be worth you trying to get your domicile changed. Domicile is quite complex, but may be worth you trying. Buy there is £325,000 exemption. I think this is double if you will to your wife, although I'm not sure if that only happens if you live in the UK. But you you have assets over the limit, it may be worth looking into. No point letting the tax man get his grubby hands on your hard-earned cash.

That's pretty well Mission Impossible if you are a born & bred UK citizen

[davejones]

Depending on you assets you are still liable for UK IHT

You must be non domicile to be free from IHT

If you plan to stay in Thailand, it may be worth you trying to get your domicile changed. Domicile is quite complex, but may be worth you trying. Buy there is £325,000 exemption. I think this is double if you will to your wife, although I'm not sure if that only happens if you live in the UK. But you you have assets over the limit, it may be worth looking into. No point letting the tax man get his grubby hands on your hard-earned cash.

That's pretty well Mission Impossible if you are a born & bred UK citizen

You could be right. But if married to a Thai, not connections at all with UK, and plans to be buried/cremated here, it could be possible. Worth a try if there's lots of money involved.

[Bpuumike]

Depending on you assets you are still liable for UK IHT

You must be non domicile to be free from IHT

If you plan to stay in Thailand, it may be worth you trying to get your domicile changed. Domicile is quite complex, but may be worth you trying. Buy there is £325,000 exemption. I think this is double if you will to your wife, although I'm not sure if that only happens if you live in the UK. But you you have assets over the limit, it may be worth looking into. No point letting the tax man get his grubby hands on your hard-earned cash.

That's pretty well Mission Impossible if you are a born & bred UK citizen

You could be right. But if married to a Thai, not connections at all with UK, and plans to be buried/cremated here, it could be possible. Worth a try if there's lots of money involved.

If there's 'lots of money' involved you should already be well enough connected to people with the answers.

Believe me, non-UK domicile is an extremely difficult status to achieve.

May not sound helpful, but trying to help.

[davejones]

If there's 'lots of money' involved you should already be well enough connected to people with the answers.

Believe me, non-UK domicile is an extremely difficult status to achieve.

May not sound helpful, but trying to help.

I have enough money to make it worth my while looking into, but I don't have connections to people with the answers. Don't forget that many people with property in London, will be well over the inheritance tax threshold, even if they are cash poor. They may have bought cheap years ago, and are now property rich. It doesn't follow that they are well connected. Even an average priced property in central London is well over the limit. Many may not even realise that they have assets over the limit. I've read many stories of relatives in the UK that are shocked to find out that they have to pay inheritance tax, because it is seen by many as something that only the rich pay. But the limits are very low these days compared to property prices. Probably over half of UK property is over the limit. So that's a lot of people.

I agree that it may be very difficult, but if it can save £100K, then isn't it at least worth trying? The worst that can happen is that they say no. Nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

If you give up at everything that seems difficult, you will miss out on a lot in life.

Edited February 8, 2013 by davejones

[Bpuumike]

If there's 'lots of money' involved you should already be well enough connected to people with the answers.

Believe me, non-UK domicile is an extremely difficult status to achieve.

May not sound helpful, but trying to help.

I have enough money to make it worth my while looking into, but I don't have connections to people with the answers. Don't forget that many people with property in London, will be well over the inheritance tax threshold, even if they are cash poor. They may have bought cheap years ago, and are now property rich. It doesn't follow that they are well connected. Even an average priced property in central London is well over the limit. Many may not even realise that they have assets over the limit. I've read many stories of relatives in the UK that are shocked to find out that they have to pay inheritance tax, because it is seen by many as something that only the rich pay. But the limits are very low these days compared to property prices. Probably over half of UK property is over the limit. So that's a lot of people.

I agree that it may be very difficult, but if it can save £100K, then isn't it at least worth trying? The worst that can happen is that they say no. Nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

If you give up at everything that seems difficult, you will miss out on a lot in life.

I agree wholeheartedly with your final comment.

I still think you will find UK Non-domicile status d**n near impossible and best to look for alternatives. They are there, legal and available but I'm no financial or legal adviser. They make it difficult for the very reasons you are seeking it.

[hgma]

You have not made reference, so have you registered your Will with the Amphur, did you had the legal Thai version independently reviewed for accuracy. As you are a UK citizen have you prepared a Letter of Release to be faxed to the Embassy by your wife for your body to be buried/cremated in Thailand?

Please explain your source of information.

In my case I made my own will, had it translated AFTER certification of my signature in person on my embassy and then legalized by Foreign affairs as a genuine document.

worthless??????