Foreign owner died after purchasing house/land in Thai partners name

[bankei]

It is also possible the will has been found by someone already and has been destroyed secretly because it affected that person adversely or that they may think they benefit more if no will were to be found.

[PhillyBoy]

Are you sure the house is 500,000 pounds and not 500,000 baht???? This guy would need to be quite well off to afford a 500,000 pound house in Thailand. If that is the case why are they sending a friend??? They should be sending a team of accountants.

[steven ber]

From everything you said so far, I seriously wonder if you're the best person to sort all this out. No Thai lawyer, no matter how decent his/her English is, will have a clue what you're going on about if you approach it as you have in this thread. And if it reaches a court, nothing you have to say will do more than provide comic relief.

Whatever he may or not have in Thailand is governed by Thai law and from the sound of it, most of the real property was already in the Thai lady's name so there's nothing that needs to be done about that. Anything to do with taxes would be way beyond your mandate, if you have one. Since this person was a friend, you may find you have no legal standing to even enquire about a will or to ask for its details if it is found.

Anything that may have been his back in farang land is not governed by a Thai will or Thai law. You should spend sometime to see if he left any instructions or a will there. If not, the inheritance will go to whoever is eligible by farang law unless they get charitable and decide to send some to the Thai lady.

If he put Baht 800,000 in an account in order to get a retirement extension, it would have to be solely in his name to satisfy most immigrations officers, so it's unlikely to be a joint account, but most people use those funds for living expenses during the year and replenish them when needed for the next annual application at Immigrations. So any balance is quite likely considerably less than Baht 800,000 and, without a will it would be up to a Thai court to decided what happens to it.

Not really sure what you hope to accomplish by coming here, but I expect it'll end up being a disappointing undertaking except for those who tried to talk sense to you about not coming here in the first place, good intentions aside.

You wonder if I'm the best person, I KNOW I'm not the best person, but I'm the only person, and I'll try the best I can, and as I already said earlier, I am out of my depth, but it was jump in, or do nothing.

I don't want to see the will, read the will, change the will or have a dance with the will, I just want to know the person holding the will is aware that Ian has died, and it's extremely unlikely that they are aware as nobody has attempted to get the death certificate.

Why didn't I think about looking in the UK, why didn't ThaiVisa members tell me to look in the UK, you bad bunch of people, look in the UK, yes, that's the answer, when's the next flight home?

Excuse the sarcasm, but seriously, can you think of a single person in the world that wouldn't try everything they could from home first, I did mention earlier that I'd exhausted all options in the UK and felt I had no choice but to go to Thailand.

He has just over 800,000 in the bank, it would have never been allowed to drop below that level.

Including getting to/from airports, and my airfare, I've spent 1000 UK pounds, well, not quite, I've still got 10,000 Baht, and only 1000 to pay for 1 night in a Bangkok hotel, and then just a few meals, as the immediate financial problems have been sorted out here, I'll probably blow the rest on a wild night out in Bangkok on the way home.

First and foremost, I'm helping a friend who helped me out when I really needed him, if that's not worth 1000, then I don't know what is, so what else do I get for my 1000 pound.

I've got to meet and get to know the man who made Ian's life so much better for his last few years.

I got to cry a little, laugh a lot, and really get to understand what Ian meant to his Thai partner, I really do believe he'd much rather have Ian back than have his money, and I'm no fool, I understand the bar scene very well, this was no bar boy (everything he told me about his past was backed up by the paperwork I found whilst searching)

I've got a new friend who understood Ian, and shared exactly the same sense of humor (same as mine as well)

I got to help him and relieve some of the pressure he was under

I got to help him arrange finance to cover till the Will comes through

I got a few new leads

I got to learn a few things about Wills, probate and Thai law

I got to enjoy ThaiVisa, some really useful posts and some great entertainment.

a week off work

a week in the sun,

a week staying in a remote Thai village

awesome real Thai food, not the crap they serve tourists

and a great night out in Bangkok still to happen

The best 1000 pound I ever spent.

But it does mean I'll have to wait for that bigger television.

[steven ber]

It is also possible the will has been found by someone already and has been destroyed secretly because it affected that person adversely or that they may think they benefit more if no will were to be found.

The thought had crossed my mind before I left the UK, could someone have convinced the Thai partner that he'd be better off if the Will wasn't found, there were good reasons why I thought this (I may go into them later, no time now), that's why I wanted to make him fully aware right at the start, but I know now that this wasn't the case.

[steven ber]

Are you sure the house is 500,000 pounds and not 500,000 baht???? This guy would need to be quite well off to afford a 500,000 pound house in Thailand. If that is the case why are they sending a friend??? They should be sending a team of accountants.

This was covered in the first few posts, I was only mentioning 500,000 as an example in the UK.

[Skint]

I have read over all the comments and my thinking goes like this... The house belongs 100% to his Thai Girlfriend, nothing can to taken by Thai or UK government or family. More than likely your friend lived here and was happy thus all his personal belonging should be given to his gf unless he has children and perhaps some should go to them. Your friend lived with this lady for many years. Any money in the UK I would think should perhaps be decided among family including his gf in Thailand. I am sure that would be his wish !!!

I am not sure why you are coming but don't make a fuss over something that you can't control. Thailand is not the UK and UK laws mean nothing here. Nothing here that is with his gf will ever go back to the UK unless she wants it to... So be nice and understand!!! She lost her partner and her means of support so this is very difficult time for her ! If you were my friend handling this for me I would want you to find as many ways possible to have financial support for my loving partner. Give don't try to take !

It's not a lady it's a bloke, the OP has been extremely careful not to disclose the sex of the partner the only reason for this is because the partner is a bloke.

OP you say he was a tv member perhaps people on here know him or could shed some light why not post up his user name?

[steven ber]

It's not a lady it's a bloke, the OP has been extremely careful not to disclose the sex of the partner the only reason for this is because the partner is a bloke.

OP you say he was a tv member perhaps people on here know him or could shed some light why not post up his user name?

I mentioned halfway through the thread that the Thai partner was a man, i didn't mention it earlier because it may have stopped someone posting some useful information, unlikely, but when you want the best info available, why take the chance.

I've asked the Thai Partner if Ian ever went to TV meet-ups, he said he didn't and they were always together.

[Skint]

It's not a lady it's a bloke, the OP has been extremely careful not to disclose the sex of the partner the only reason for this is because the partner is a bloke.

OP you say he was a tv member perhaps people on here know him or could shed some light why not post up his user name?

I mentioned halfway through the thread that the Thai partner was a man, i didn't mention it earlier because it may have stopped someone posting some useful information, unlikely, but when you want the best info available, why take the chance.

I've asked the Thai Partner if Ian ever went to TV meet-ups, he said he didn't and they were always together.

There is no issues if it's a bloke or woman it won't stop people giving help there is a gay section on here maybe he chatted to the community there.

It is not clear what your position is weather you are helping the Thai man you never met or the family members you hated, either way the only option is to give the uk assets to his next of kin family in UK and forget lawyers and seeking anything in Thailand the lawyers will shaft you and if you over step the mark which you could easily do you may put yourself in danger.

[marcusd]

If the house is 'in the Thai partner's name' he never owned the house in the first place so it wasn't his to give away.

Very good point, I hadn't thought of that.

If my understanding of Thai inheritance law is correct (no tax on cash), then the cash used to buy the house couldn't be considered as a way to avoid tax as there would be no tax due.

Could never get away with that in the UK.

there is no inheritance. The property is not partnered. It is not joint. It is not dual title. It is hers...thai... Never ever was his.

So no,tax not law applies. Business as per usual for HER.

The 800,000 baht may be in a Thai bank account to cover his retirement visa. This is HIS. I would suspect the bank with proper paperwork will give this to NEXT OF KIN unless she was joint on the account in which case it is hers.

You are delving into laws that just do not apply.

When in Rome, do as the Romans

Marcusd. Via tapatalk

[dawsonuk]

@dawsonuk ... if the thai bf can prove a genuine domestic relationship is that not the same as passing the estate to the wife as far as tax implications?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

It is not to do with the sex, rather the domicile of the partner. Although changes may have been made to the UK laws to allow same sex marriages, the tax man is always years behind and in his favour. Try buying a joint life 2nd death same sex annuity, or the implication of how it effects the UK state pension and the passing on to the spouse.

The taxman tries to close each loophole as they appear, then eventually you end up with a mess.

[ableguy]

What a stupid post, some people should not be allowed out on the street, dumb and dumber.

[steven ber]

What a stupid post, some people should not be allowed out on the street, dumb and dumber.

what post are you referring too?

[arisaje]

From everything you said so far, I seriously wonder if you're the best person to sort all this out. No Thai lawyer, no matter how decent his/her English is, will have a clue what you're going on about if you approach it as you have in this thread. And if it reaches a court, nothing you have to say will do more than provide comic relief.

Whatever he may or not have in Thailand is governed by Thai law and from the sound of it, most of the real property was already in the Thai lady's name so there's nothing that needs to be done about that. Anything to do with taxes would be way beyond your mandate, if you have one. Since this person was a friend, you may find you have no legal standing to even enquire about a will or to ask for its details if it is found.

Anything that may have been his back in farang land is not governed by a Thai will or Thai law. You should spend sometime to see if he left any instructions or a will there. If not, the inheritance will go to whoever is eligible by farang law unless they get charitable and decide to send some to the Thai lady.

If he put Baht 800,000 in an account in order to get a retirement extension, it would have to be solely in his name to satisfy most immigrations officers, so it's unlikely to be a joint account, but most people use those funds for living expenses during the year and replenish them when needed for the next annual application at Immigrations. So any balance is quite likely considerably less than Baht 800,000 and, without a will it would be up to a Thai court to decided what happens to it.

Not really sure what you hope to accomplish by coming here, but I expect it'll end up being a disappointing undertaking except for those who tried to talk sense to you about not coming here in the first place, good intentions aside.

Well i must say, all these posts kept me entertained for a while…….very interesting reading, but man is it all confusing.

From a few comments that jump out from the OP…..i don't know why you just didn't say what you wanted to say from the start.

You say your friend was organized and always had a Will and there was 'something very substantial in his Will for you'

Then your friend sold his home in the UK moved to Thailand met a new friend, that he was obviously pretty close with…..seeing as he bought him a 25 million baht house plus a car.

So what you really want to do, is find the Will to see if the 'Substantial something for you' is still in there?…….thats the bottom line really. Although it won't be the 25 million baht house, because thats not in his name anyway.

Oh…..and just another quick question……why on earth would the partner be worried about the cost of medication anyway, he has a business, a car and 25 million baht house to sell? Do you know how far 25 million+ baht would go in that remote Thai village you talked about.

You wonder if I'm the best person, I KNOW I'm not the best person, but I'm the only person, and I'll try the best I can, and as I already said earlier, I am out of my depth, but it was jump in, or do nothing.

I don't want to see the will, read the will, change the will or have a dance with the will, I just want to know the person holding the will is aware that Ian has died, and it's extremely unlikely that they are aware as nobody has attempted to get the death certificate.

Why didn't I think about looking in the UK, why didn't ThaiVisa members tell me to look in the UK, you bad bunch of people, look in the UK, yes, that's the answer, when's the next flight home?

Excuse the sarcasm, but seriously, can you think of a single person in the world that wouldn't try everything they could from home first, I did mention earlier that I'd exhausted all options in the UK and felt I had no choice but to go to Thailand.

He has just over 800,000 in the bank, it would have never been allowed to drop below that level.

Including getting to/from airports, and my airfare, I've spent 1000 UK pounds, well, not quite, I've still got 10,000 Baht, and only 1000 to pay for 1 night in a Bangkok hotel, and then just a few meals, as the immediate financial problems have been sorted out here, I'll probably blow the rest on a wild night out in Bangkok on the way home.

First and foremost, I'm helping a friend who helped me out when I really needed him, if that's not worth 1000, then I don't know what is, so what else do I get for my 1000 pound.

I've got to meet and get to know the man who made Ian's life so much better for his last few years.

I got to cry a little, laugh a lot, and really get to understand what Ian meant to his Thai partner, I really do believe he'd much rather have Ian back than have his money, and I'm no fool, I understand the bar scene very well, this was no bar boy (everything he told me about his past was backed up by the paperwork I found whilst searching)

I've got a new friend who understood Ian, and shared exactly the same sense of humor (same as mine as well)

I got to help him and relieve some of the pressure he was under

I got to help him arrange finance to cover till the Will comes through

I got a few new leads

I got to learn a few things about Wills, probate and Thai law

I got to enjoy ThaiVisa, some really useful posts and some great entertainment.

a week off work

a week in the sun,

a week staying in a remote Thai village

awesome real Thai food, not the crap they serve tourists

and a great night out in Bangkok still to happen

The best 1000 pound I ever spent.

But it does mean I'll have to wait for that bigger television.

[arisaje]

What a stupid post, some people should not be allowed out on the street, dumb and dumber.

what post are you referring too?

Well i must say, all these posts kept me entertained for a while…….very interesting reading, but man is it all confusing.

From a few comments that jump out from the OP…..i don't know why you just didn't say what you wanted to say from the start.

You say your friend was organized and always had a Will and there was 'something very substantial in his Will for you'

Then your friend sold his home in the UK moved to Thailand met a new friend, that he was obviously pretty close with…..seeing as he bought him a 25 million baht house plus a car.

So what you really want to do, is find the Will to see if the 'Substantial something for you' is still in there?…….thats the bottom line really. Although it won't be the 25 million baht house, because thats not in his name anyway.

Oh…..and just another quick question……why on earth would the partner be worried about the cost of medication anyway, he has a business, a car and 25 million baht house to sell? Do you know how far 25 million+ baht would go in that remote Thai village you talked about.

[steven ber]

What a stupid post, some people should not be allowed out on the street, dumb and dumber.

what post are you referring too?

Well i must say, all these posts kept me entertained for a while…….very interesting reading, but man is it all confusing.

From a few comments that jump out from the OP…..i don't know why you just didn't say what you wanted to say from the start.

You say your friend was organized and always had a Will and there was 'something very substantial in his Will for you'

Then your friend sold his home in the UK moved to Thailand met a new friend, that he was obviously pretty close with…..seeing as he bought him a 25 million baht house plus a car.

So what you really want to do, is find the Will to see if the 'Substantial something for you' is still in there?…….thats the bottom line really. Although it won't be the 25 million baht house, because thats not in his name anyway.

Oh…..and just another quick question……why on earth would the partner be worried about the cost of medication anyway, he has a business, a car and 25 million baht house to sell? Do you know how far 25 million+ baht would go in that remote Thai village you talked about.

I've great news for you my friend, there's plenty of reading schools in Thailand, and they're not too expensive, please come back at a later date and show to us the reading lessons have been money well spent.

Edited May 20, 2014 by steven ber

[ALFREDO]

Well i must say, all these posts kept me entertained for a while…….very interesting reading, but man is it all confusing.

From a few comments that jump out from the OP…..i don't know why you just didn't say what you wanted to say from the start.

You say your friend was organized and always had a Will and there was 'something very substantial in his Will for you'

Then your friend sold his home in the UK moved to Thailand met a new friend, that he was obviously pretty close with…..seeing as he bought him a 25 million baht house plus a car.

So what you really want to do, is find the Will to see if the 'Substantial something for you' is still in there?…….thats the bottom line really. Although it won't be the 25 million baht house, because thats not in his name anyway.

Oh…..and just another quick question……why on earth would the partner be worried about the cost of medication anyway, he has a business, a car and 25 million baht house to sell? Do you know how far 25 million+ baht would go in that remote Thai village you talked about.

OP wrote beforehand

"This was covered in the first few posts, I was only mentioning 500,000 as an example in the UK."

And on some other place, that this "house" was not something special and not really worth so much to think about it.

So nothing special to sell!

Also, expensive houses, also not so expensive, are in the rural countryside than not much worth either if you want to sale it.

Who will buy such a "Villa" in the middle of now where? And the very few really rich Falang or Thai builds usually a own castle if he can afford it.

I see that in Isaan countryside.

Edited May 20, 2014 by ALFREDO

[steven ber]

You are delving into laws that just do not apply.

When in Rome, do as the Romans

I was only asking what laws do apply.

I was asking what the Romans do, so I was aware.

[steven ber]

It is not clear what your position is weather you are helping the Thai man you never met or the family members you hated, either way the only option is to give the uk assets to his next of kin family in UK and forget lawyers and seeking anything in Thailand the lawyers will shaft you and if you over step the mark which you could easily do you may put yourself in danger.

I never said I hated the family, I only met one member once, they seemed nice then and now (when I contacted them to inform them of Ian's death), for his own reasons, Ian didn't want the money going to his family, perhaps because they already have money, or perhaps because he had so little contact over many many years, perhaps something else, but either way, he wanted his money to go to his Thai partner.

I'm not helping the Thai man I never met, I'm helping my friend, and making sure his last wishes are granted, yes, that means indirectly I'm helping the Thai friend, but this was not my motivation.

[MAJIC]

You may be well intentioned but you are very naive Thai-wise.

By the time you get here everything that is not in his Thai partner's name (excepting perhaps a reefer jacket and a faded tie or two) will be in the possession of his partner in her house on her land.

No UK authority will wrest back any Thai based assets.

As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours.

Save your fares - unless you are interested in ...

"As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours."

That is very true,and what is strangest of all,I have never heard of a friend,who was not the Executor of the will (if there is one) who had the power to close his friends Bank accounts and put two Pensions on hold! Sorry OP I don't buy this! not for one minute!

[steven ber]

You may be well intentioned but you are very naive Thai-wise.

By the time you get here everything that is not in his Thai partner's name (excepting perhaps a reefer jacket and a faded tie or two) will be in the possession of his partner in her house on her land.

No UK authority will wrest back any Thai based assets.

As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours.

Save your fares - unless you are interested in ...

"As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours."

That is very true,and what is strangest of all,I have never heard of a friend,who was not the Executor of the will (if there is one) who had the power to close his friends Bank accounts and put two Pensions on hold! Sorry OP I don't buy this! not for one minute!

That's OK mate, I'm not selling.

What on earth do you think I'm trying to gain by making that up?

They asked me a few simple questions, I think any of his friends would know the answers, as I said, my primary motivation for calling them was to see if they were holding the will.

Think of someone you know well (you'll need their bank account numbers) and call the bank, it's staggering how easy it is.

The post office were the only people who required a death certificate.

Edited May 20, 2014 by steven ber

[MAJIC]

You may be well intentioned but you are very naive Thai-wise.

By the time you get here everything that is not in his Thai partner's name (excepting perhaps a reefer jacket and a faded tie or two) will be in the possession of his partner in her house on her land.

No UK authority will wrest back any Thai based assets.

As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours.

Save your fares - unless you are interested in ...

"As for any UK assets(?) that is the executors' duty - not yours."

That is very true,and what is strangest of all,I have never heard of a friend,who was not the Executor of the will (if there is one) who had the power to close his friends Bank accounts and put two Pensions on hold! Sorry OP I don't buy this! not for one minute!

That's OK mate, I'm not selling.

What on earth do you think I'm trying to gain by making that up?

They asked me a few simple questions, I think any of his friends would know the answers, as I said, my primary motivation for calling them was to see if they were holding the will.

Think of someone you know well (you'll need their bank account numbers) and call the bank, it's staggering how easy it is.

The post office were the only people who required a death certificate.

You obviously do not know the procedure for sorting out a Deceased Persons Estate.

Rule no 1. to close the deceased accounts and put 2 Pensions on hold,you would need to be the Executor of the will (which you are not,because you are looking for the will!) in order to be the Executor you need to obtain Probate,which you can't get without written evidence that you have been nominated "your Friends" Executor,.......again which you are not!

No it is not easy to obtain Bank Information of your friends account, firstly you did not produce your friends will because you did not have it. And no Bank in the World would do anything you suggested,without first examining your credentials,of which you have none,not even a Death Certificate!

"It's staggering how easy it is"

Absolute nonsense,it's not easy to get into someones Bank account,there is little chance unless you know their Security details,my Bank Security questions has between 10 and 15 questions,which are used at random,so unless you was working from a script,there is no chance of remembering them,so why should your friend give you his personal Bank details? So do tell us what were the simple questions your friends Bank asked you???

I note you are not selling,which is just as well,who in their right mind would buy your load of old Tosh!

"What on earth do you think I'm trying to gain by making that up?"

Nothing! you are not good enough to be a Troll!

[callaway]

When you buy a house/land with a thai wife or gf dont you have to sign a form stating that all funds for the purchase were that of the thai lady? So it is her property. End of story

[dotpoom]

Surly the house and land have nothing to do with anybody...they belong to a Thai person. "I need to explain to the Thai Partner if the 2% property inheritance rule would apply"....she did NOT inherit the house so no inheritance tax....it belongs to her and as far as anybody else is concerned....it was not "gifted" ....it was bought with her own money...If questions were to be asked about that they would have been asked at the time of purchase.....that's all in the past now.

[fdbob]

It looks to me like part of the gift made 5 years ago is still subject to UK inheritance tax.

But firstly there is the 3,000 GBP a year gift allowance.

Secondly there is a nil tax threshold of 325,000 GBP.

And thirdly there is taper relief which reduces the tax by 60 or 80 percent in years 5 and 6 after the gift was made.

So probably some UK tax to pay at 40 pc on the gift.

So maybe the tax man will claw this back either from the UK estate, or maybe try and get it from the Thai giftee.

One for the lawyers!.

Wake up people the house is in her name it's HERS

[searcherkind666]

if the thai partner was with him for 10 years then she or he should be the common law wife , that would be fair . I hope he died satisfied with his life .

[kinmaew]

sorry to hear about your friends death and I hope all works out for the best but case in point for all; why do farang men still insist on putting their life savings in their Thai partners name, even if they are married? Fact is, you cant trust this country, it is corrupt and you as a farang have very little rights compared to a Thai. I will be coming there to live again one day and my house will be in my home country under my name with me collecting rent to live on and I would only ever buy a house/land in LOS if I was a citizen and fluent in Thai and the Thai partner also put in for the house. So, in other words, its likely I wont buy a house/property over there and I will sleep at night and never reveal how much I am worth. Trust a Thai?, I would rather trust a snake.

[steven ber]

You obviously do not know the procedure for sorting out a Deceased Persons Estate.

Rule no 1. to close the deceased accounts and put 2 Pensions on hold,you would need to be the Executor of the will (which you are not,because you are looking for the will!) in order to be the Executor you need to obtain Probate,which you can't get without written evidence that you have been nominated "your Friends" Executor,.......again which you are not!

No it is not easy to obtain Bank Information of your friends account, firstly you did not produce your friends will because you did not have it. And no Bank in the World would do anything you suggested,without first examining your credentials,of which you have none,not even a Death Certificate!

"It's staggering how easy it is"

Absolute nonsense,it's not easy to get into someones Bank account,there is little chance unless you know their Security details,my Bank Security questions has between 10 and 15 questions,which are used at random,so unless you was working from a script,there is no chance of remembering them,so why should your friend give you his personal Bank details? So do tell us what were the simple questions your friends Bank asked you???

I note you are not selling,which is just as well,who in their right mind would buy your load of old Tosh!

"What on earth do you think I'm trying to gain by making that up?"

Nothing! you are not good enough to be a Troll!

I'm not the executor, well, perhaps I am, we'll find out when we find the will, but I managed to close his bank accounts and stop his pensions, I was surprised, but you know what, it wasn't such a big deal to me.

If there were 15 security questions, I'd most likely know the answer to them all, I know his mother's maiden name, I know the name of his favorite teacher (he was a friend), I know the name of his first pet, and most likely anything else they could have asked.

Perhaps other's may not have been able to answer such easy questions, perhaps the questions were more difficult than I though, but I knew the answers, I can't even remember the questions, it wasn't that important at the time, I just wanted them onside so I could ask if they were holding the will.

They could have asked for pin numbers, they didn't, but I knew them, they could have asked for the number used when using his card security reader at home (they didn't), I could have answered that question, as I said earlier, I dealt with all his UK Mail, my address was his official UK address after he sold his UK home.

As I said earlier, I knew him well, I knew how he thought, i knew the things that were important to him, his Thai partner wanted me to get into his password protected computer (I'd already worked out his passwords for his various email addresses before I left the UK), I took one look through his papers and worked out his password, I had to get into his computer to see if there were any clues to where he left his will.

You don't believe I managed to close his accounts, that's up to you, it wasn't a big deal to me, as I said, why would I make that up.

[meatboy]

well well well what an episode an absolute thriller from the first post,it would make a fantastic series for,

" LITTLE BRITAIN IN THAILAND"

Edited May 21, 2014 by meatboy

[Eneukman]

I haven't read all the posts so apologies if this has all been covered before. First, let me say that I spent some 25 years in the UK administering estates of people who died both in the UK and abroad.

Whether or not the gift is liable to UK inheritance tax depends on Ian's domicile when he died. Domicile is an extremely complex question so I can only generalise here. I assume that Ian was born in England of English parents so his domicile of origin will be English (note that when dealing with inheritance tax, there is a difference between English and Scottish domicile). If Ian sold any house he owned in England before moving to Thailand to live on a permanent basis, it is possible that he will have acquired a domicile of choice in Thailand. If it was Ian's intention to return to England to live at some point in the future, he will almost certainly have retained his English domicile of origin.

Let us assume that he has acquired a domicile of choice in Thailand. In this case, his estate outside the UK will NOT be liable to inheritance tax. However, if he had retained his English domicile of origin, any gifts he had made within the 7 years prior to his death will need to be taken into consideration. As already stated, there is an annual exemption of £3,000 per annum. This can only be used against a gift in the year in which it was made though if the previous year's exemption had not been used, it can also be offset against any gift though the exemption for the year in which the gift was made must be used first. Therefore the maximum annual exemption available for this gift is £6,000.

Next, there is an exemption of £325,000 that is available on the death of the individual. If the value of the gift (at the time it was made) after any annual exemption available is less than £325,000 there will be no inheritance tax payable though the value of the gift will reduce the exemption available to the heirs of his estate at his death. For example, if the value of the gift after annual exemptions (if any) was £225,000, Ian's estate at his death would only have an exemption of £100,000 available. Any gifts made in the 7 years prior to the death will use up the £325,000 exemption in the order in which they were made but I have assumed that this is not the case here. In the event that the gift was liable to inheritance tax, the amount of tax payable will be reduced after 3 years. As Ian died more than 5 years but less than 6 years after the gift was made the reduction in the tax payable would be 60%.

One other point, which doesn't apply here, is that if someone is domiciled in the UK but has a non-domiciled spouse, the spouse exemption is restricted to £55,000 a figure that has been unchanged for many years.

Alan

[steven ber]

I haven't read all the posts so apologies if this has all been covered before. First, let me say that I spent some 25 years in the UK administering estates of people who died both in the UK and abroad.

Whether or not the gift is liable to UK inheritance tax depends on Ian's domicile when he died. Domicile is an extremely complex question so I can only generalise here. I assume that Ian was born in England of English parents so his domicile of origin will be English (note that when dealing with inheritance tax, there is a difference between English and Scottish domicile). If Ian sold any house he owned in England before moving to Thailand to live on a permanent basis, it is possible that he will have acquired a domicile of choice in Thailand. If it was Ian's intention to return to England to live at some point in the future, he will almost certainly have retained his English domicile of origin.

Let us assume that he has acquired a domicile of choice in Thailand. In this case, his estate outside the UK will NOT be liable to inheritance tax. However, if he had retained his English domicile of origin, any gifts he had made within the 7 years prior to his death will need to be taken into consideration. As already stated, there is an annual exemption of £3,000 per annum. This can only be used against a gift in the year in which it was made though if the previous year's exemption had not been used, it can also be offset against any gift though the exemption for the year in which the gift was made must be used first. Therefore the maximum annual exemption available for this gift is £6,000.

Next, there is an exemption of £325,000 that is available on the death of the individual. If the value of the gift (at the time it was made) after any annual exemption available is less than £325,000 there will be no inheritance tax payable though the value of the gift will reduce the exemption available to the heirs of his estate at his death. For example, if the value of the gift after annual exemptions (if any) was £225,000, Ian's estate at his death would only have an exemption of £100,000 available. Any gifts made in the 7 years prior to the death will use up the £325,000 exemption in the order in which they were made but I have assumed that this is not the case here. In the event that the gift was liable to inheritance tax, the amount of tax payable will be reduced after 3 years. As Ian died more than 5 years but less than 6 years after the gift was made the reduction in the tax payable would be 60%.

One other point, which doesn't apply here, is that if someone is domiciled in the UK but has a non-domiciled spouse, the spouse exemption is restricted to £55,000 a figure that has been unchanged for many years.

Alan

Thank you very much Alan for taking the time to reply.

I'd estimate the total value of the estate (without the house and land) to be about 200,000 pounds, the house and land value should be at the very lower end of of the (expat) scale, it's a very small place in a semi-rural location about 40km outside of Chiang Mai, so I'm sure the Thai partner has nothing to worry about.

Thanks again Alan, excellent information.