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Dying in Thailand, Funeral Arrangements and Bank Account


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Bank accounts are frozen after a death, atm from abroad might not work as it would take a while to get all the money out, if you still could.

Are they? How does the bank know when a expat account holder has died? Surely your embassy doesn't contact every bank to let them know one of their citizens has died. Or do they? I can understand if several people were involved in the decease persons will then having the account frozen would be the right thing to do until the estate was sorted out.

As far as banks being notified of an accountholder's death, I don't believe there's any automatic process for consulates to do that. And, based on past posts here on the subject, the result in the wake of a death can vary.

Some posters here have reported accounts being frozen in the wake of the death through the bank somehow being made aware of the death, but those reports seemed to be more in smaller, everyone knows everyone else's business locales.

If you were in Bangkok or some other bigger area where there isn't so much of a local grapevine, I doubt the bank would immediately or quickly find out -- unless someone for some reason went out of their way to tell them.

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My bank accounts are linked to my daughter's account in the

US....if I should croak...she just transfers the money to herself....?

I'm not aware of any Thai bank accounts that exist where someone in the U.S. can initiate an online funds transfer to pull funds from a Thai bank into a U.S. bank.

If you have some arrangement like that, who's it with, and how does it work?

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Jamie,

Draw up a Thai will that states that you want to cremated here. Regarding the K-bank account you can leave the balance in your will to your daughter, unfortunately this will mean that you will either have to appoint someone to execute your will or your daughter will have to come here to do so. There are maybe 2 shortcut ways. The first is to have a second ATM card for your K-bank account. When you die she draws the money in the UK. The second way is to have 2 K-bank accounts. The first you use and keep your money in, this account must however be internet banking enabled and your daughter must have access to this accounts internet facility. The second account is a dummy account, for this account your daughter keeps the ATM card. If you should die here, your daughter transfer the money from your account to the dummy account and she draw the money at the ATM in the UK. There would be banking charges but much less than legal fees for executing a will. Just remember to change the pin codes of any new ATM card before trying to use them outside of Thailand.

This is the most sensible advice I've seen for the OP thus far in this thread:

As Southern Star noted, there are two basic ways of dealing with a farang who dies leaving a Thai bank account as their main/only remaining Thai asset:

1. the informal way, leaving an ATM/debit card with the associated PIN to the person you wish to access the funds after your death. In that situation, the funds can be withdrawn from another country, but only up to the daily limit provided for under the Thai bank card and the ATM machine being used. The risk there, is that if the bank somehow finds out you've died, they're likely to freeze the account.

2. the formal way, which is to draft a Thai will (which doesn't necessarily require using a Thai or other lawyer) that designates an executor for your Thai estate and directs that the account's funds go to your daughter in the UK. If you die without a Thai will, Thai law has a somewhat involved list of relations/family members who (if they exist) are entitled to your Thai assets.

The complication there is, AFAIK, it would be difficult or close to impossible for your daughter to handle that from the UK without coming to Thailand -- unless she was going to (I hesitate to say this) hire a Thai probate attorney to handle the local proceedings for her. And that carrying with it all the attendant risks of dealing with a legal community not exactly known for its high levels of professionalism and ethics.

If it were me, I'd probably do both. Do the ATM card approach as my first plan, and if that works and your daughter can access the funds, it's done. But also, have the Thai will naming her as your backup plan, just in case the ATM approach hits any snag. You could talk to your daughter about it ahead of time, in the context of you offering her an all expenses paid vacation in Thailand, during which she can also pick up the remains of your Thai bank account.

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would it be illegal to withdraw cash on an ATM card from a dead persons account?

I think it would be until the estate is settled. For instance the person withdrawing the money may not be the legal heir.

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It's not good advice to tell someone to withdraw money from a dead person's account -- not in any country.

Bank accounts are likely to be frozen here. We foreigners are "watched" more than we realize and there isn't any "patient/client/customer privacy" in Thai culture. Cops, hospital workers, Thai employees at the embassies, bank employees -- they all talk with each other and it's known when a foreigner dies, esp if it's in an area outside Bangkok and even there, I suspect the word gets around fast.

The best way to ensure that your final wishes are carried out is to have Final Wills one in the UK for your UK assets and one in Thailand for your Thai assets. Be sure your local branch manager know you have a Thai Final Will and your wishes. Name a good friend in Thailand as your executor -- someone who will look out for the interests of your primary heir -- your daughter. Be sure to leave a nice gift to your executor, say 30,000 baht for their trouble. After all, someone here is going to have to do some legwork if your daughter isn't able to come to Thailand to get documents in order, get rid of your stuff, be sure the money in the Thai bank account is transferred to her, etc. Be sure the Thai Final Will gives the executor the ability to use his discretion to hire professionals as needed -- like if he has to hire a lawyer, which probably won't be needed if a bank account is your only asset.

As for your funeral arrangements. You can arrange for a prepaid package from outfits like Allison Monkhouse, but it's also possible to detail what you'd like in your Final Will and make your wishes known to your local executor and have him handle the arrangements. Often a hospital can make arrangements for a simple cremation.

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In Thailand, what's legal and not illegal is usually not a matter of black and white.

As I said above, there's the informal and formal ways of dealing with this.

Suffice to say, if the accountholder's intention is that the funds go to his daughter upon his death, especially if that intention is expressed in a Thai will, and he gives the daughter the ATM card to enable that to happen, who's going to complain?

But as stated above, I'd always also make arrangements for the backup plan of going the formal will/probate route just in case the informal route encounters any problem.

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In Thailand, what's legal and not illegal is usually not a matter of black and white.

As I said above, there's the informal and formal ways of dealing with this.

Suffice to say, if the accountholder's intention is that the funds go to his daughter upon his death, especially if that intention is expressed in a Thai will, and he gives the daughter the ATM card to enable that to happen, who's going to complain?

But as stated above, I'd always also make arrangements for the backup plan of going the formal will/probate route just in case the informal route encounters any problem.

Yes, what's legal and what's not isn't always a matter of black and white, but someone shouldn't count on an heir draining an account via an ATM card from abroad and the only way that heir will have to access the account.

I've seen a situation where a legal heir indeed started to drain account before the bank froze it and then she found the bank was rather hostile in subsequent dealings, even though she had a valid Final Will. They insisted she probate the Final Will and I've known that same branch to accept Final Wills from widows without insisting on probate in other situations.

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Yes, what's legal and what's not isn't always a matter of black and white, but someone shouldn't count on an heir draining an account via an ATM card from abroad and the only way that heir will have to access the account.

That's exactly what I said above, Nancy, two times over. And now three. Under the OP's circumstances, make arrangement to try the informal route, but also plan for the backup of going the formal route with a Thai will just in case.

At the end of the day, it's the OP's account and the OP's money to do with as he wishes.

Thailand should make it easier in such matters. But unfortunately, Thailand and Thai banks don't allow accountholders to easily designate legally binding "payable on death" beneficiaries with banks for individual accounts as other places do, including the U.S.

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don't die in Thailand .... you don't want to go out lonely ....

I've learned to refrain from advising others, "don't, you don't, you should, you shouldn't, you must" and so on.

What peace a person finds at the end of life seems to have some relationship as to what type life they lived on earth. I've know a goodly number of people with a warehouse of material goods, and they were the loneliest beings inside; devoid of any sort of alternative reference to help guide them through life. The trail they followed consisted of money, power, prestige, sex and so forth.

Death, it seems, is a solitary adventure. My room may be full of well-wishers, and if I am coherent enough to console them, I don't believe that I will be lonely, even if the room is an empty one.

Indeed, if I were to have a catastrophic, medical event that resulted in immediate unconsciousness, I doubt I would be aware of any audience or assemblage that was intent on wishing me farewell.

I leave others to decide whatever life they choose to live and any foretelling of a lonely departure seems meaningless. The where and when I die, is most likely out of my hands.

As they say hereabouts, "Up to You".

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don't die in Thailand .... you don't want to go out lonely ....

I've learned to refrain from advising others, "don't, you don't, you should, you shouldn't, you must" and so on.

What peace a person finds at the end of life seems to have some relationship as to what type life they lived on earth. I've know a goodly number of people with a warehouse of material goods, and they were the loneliest beings inside; devoid of any sort of alternative reference to help guide them through life. The trail they followed consisted of money, power, prestige, sex and so forth.

Death, it seems, is a solitary adventure. My room may be full of well-wishers, and if I am coherent enough to console them, I don't believe that I will be lonely, even if the room is an empty one.

Indeed, if I were to have a catastrophic, medical event that resulted in immediate unconsciousness, I doubt I would be aware of any audience or assemblage that was intent on wishing me farewell.

I leave others to decide whatever life they choose to live and any foretelling of a lonely departure seems meaningless. The where and when I die, is most likely out of my hands.

As they say hereabouts, "Up to You".

You deserve more likes on your statement. Well done.

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Jamie,

Draw up a Thai will that states that you want to cremated here. Regarding the K-bank account you can leave the balance in your will to your daughter, unfortunately this will mean that you will either have to appoint someone to execute your will or your daughter will have to come here to do so. There are maybe 2 shortcut ways. The first is to have a second ATM card for your K-bank account. When you die she draws the money in the UK. The second way is to have 2 K-bank accounts. The first you use and keep your money in, this account must however be internet banking enabled and your daughter must have access to this accounts internet facility. The second account is a dummy account, for this account your daughter keeps the ATM card. If you should die here, your daughter transfer the money from your account to the dummy account and she draw the money at the ATM in the UK. There would be banking charges but much less than legal fees for executing a will. Just remember to change the pin codes of any new ATM card before trying to use them outside of Thailand.

Be sure to mail her your phone right before you die so she can have access to the OTP (one time passwords) required for K-Cyber banking. Oh, and if you have time, get the roaming function on your cell phone plan turned on too.

:-)

Edited by Heng
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Funeral arrangements I do not know about.....but I imagine if you ask your Church or a Buddhist monastery they will lead you in the right direction.

As for the money in your bank account, just arrange for your ATM card or Credit card to be given to your daughter with the understanding that she will inherit the card and become the person drawing money from that account.

For that matter if you leave the card to your daughter and leave the access code numbers then she could draw money from the account until the funds in the account are depleted.

I asked my Thai bank about this and they told me if I supply the card and that info to my widow then the card can be continued to be used to draw money as if it was myself and I was still alive.

As the bank does not know you are dead then the account remains alive and to be used as if you are still alive yourself and drawing money from your account.

If the bank is notified that the account holder is deceased THEN...they will freeze the account until the widow or inheritor of the account jumps through all the legal hoops to gain access to that account.

So in other words if I hand my card to my wife today and tell her the access code numbers she can go and draw money from that account and lets say I die next day...then how would the bank know ....so the wife carries on drawing money from that account until it is depleted and the bank never knows.

** if I am wrong, then please correct me***

Cheers

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