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So how does my Thai wife get access to money in my UK HSBC account when i die ?


Pumpuynarak

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My Thai wife and i live in Thailand and i have a UK HSBC account where my pensions are deposited every month. The account is solely in my name and i transfer moneys to Thailand via Wise every month, now when i die how does my wife get access to any monies in the account ?

 

TIA for any help.

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My good mate died thankfully he left a will in the UK. The widow used his UK solicitor her widow's English wasn't good enough. The only document required was the original death certificate as well as a a notarized translation. That got her access to all that she had been left. Money, house etc.

The death certificate was also required by the Thai bank, even though it was a joint account, before she had access to it.

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This doesn't answer your question, I'm afraid, but I'd like to be sure you're aware of what will happen when you die. As soon as the UK authorities are notified, HMRC will freeze all your bank accounts that they are able to. They can't touch your Thai bank accounts without going through a court here, so that's safe for the time being, but any accounts in your name held in the various countries that are party to the death information sharing agreement with the UK (I'm not sure of its official name), which includes most of Europe as I understand it, including the Channel Islands, will do as HMRC ask them.

They do this so that their IHT claim on your assets after death can be dealt with before any other creditors. They're also likely to come looking for any assets and cash you may have left in Thailand, which is not a party to the agreement, but again that will involve a Thai court and be a slow process.

From what you've said in the past, I gather that you're quite well-off. I assume you still have the place in Spain, for example? Probably your house here is in wify's name so they'll have problems touching it as long as it's been that way for at least 7 years. So you'll leave a UK will, probably, as well as a Thai will, and possibly others, and then it gets really complicated. The whole mess of issues over residence and domicile (which are completely different things), different post-death tax regimes and double-taxation agreements, wify's UK IHT tax-free allowance (which, as I don't believe she's got a UK passport, will be much less than a UK resident's allowance), and a thousand other complications come into play. This only really matters if you're sufficiently well-off that HMRC feel it's worth their while chasing after your estate, but if they do then it can become a nightmare.

It's a very specialised area of law and what you need is to speak to a professional legacy planner if you feel you'll leave enough behind to encourage Hector to go digging for gold at your family's expense. If you want confirmation of this, drop a message to Tony Justice at Magna Carta as I know he's had experience of dealing with a situation when HMRC went to the Thai courts to try and wrest part of an estate left to a Thai wife. He can probably point you to the kind of international legacy planning expert you'd need, or else search on the internet, or maybe ask on a financial forum.

I hope that helps, and good luck. I should really be thinking along the same lines but I'm a natural procrastinator and hate the idea of facing up to my own demise.

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Thanks for your post TB, interesting stuff. Thank god the villa in Spain is long gone. Now i've given my son in the UK power of attorney so i think i'll get him to enquire with a solicitor in the UK (he has lots of contact with good solicitors due to his job) 

Maybe he can set up a will for me in the UK which will mitigate any liabilities to the HMRC and ensure wifey gets her just rewards as soon as possible after my demise.

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Yeah, I had a long discussion with an investment adviser about this, but my plan is to spend everything before I die! There's a teeny tiny flaw in that plan, as you might see, lol. For most people it's probably not an issue, but if you're likely to be a target for the jackals in HMRC then the aftermath for your family can be horrendous. And they start charging you interest at some usurious rate after six months if your estate hasn't cleared all its liabilities to HMRC, even if your executor hasn't been able to work out what those liabilities are yet. The best bet I think is to stick as much as you can in wify's name and arrange with your Thai solicitor that as soon as you've departed this world your wife is given all the PIN's and passwords and whatever else so she can clear out the rest of your loot long before HMRC will have realised that you're on their list of carrion. As I said, a pro can give you much better advice than I can if you think it's necessary, but only you know if that's the case.

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re the UK.  the bank will freeze the account when they know you are dead.  the executor of your will will send that for probate, approval.  once the will is approved, the executor can deal with the bank for your wife and they are very understanding.   regardless of her nationality, if you have lcearly left her the contents of the account, she will get them without an issue.  re taxes, thats dealt with by those executing the will, and usually involves a lawyer.

 

unless you have millions in there, or someone contests your will, it usually faster than thailand by far.

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Getting a good brief is paramount and the cost will be worth it in the event of your passing, albeit you won't see any benefit!.

The Solicitors are also the executors in the case of my dad's considerable estate, which adds slightly more expense but in the event of any challenge then I'd go to them anyway (as I have LPA for his health and finances), so it cuts out any issues on that part.

In your case they will arrange probate and if you instruct them specifically on what your wishes are re the bank accounts, they will ensure that it is done, and fairly quickly as well.

Anything that is even slightly out of the "norm" I'd get some legal advice on. It saves a lot of stress for your Mrs in a time of grief.

IHT kicks in at varying levels depending upon if property is involved and your own personal IHT allowance. Your wife will get your assets and wealth with no IHT to pay as it transfers to a spouse with no penalty, however, it's your legacy to your kids which will get the Tax applied, and any assets left to your spouse does not effect your nil rate band.

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15 hours ago, Bazle said:

Oh bugger, yep fair point Baz, I assumed she was domiciled here in the UK with him, I ahould have read the post!.

Regardless, the best way forward is getting legal advice and maybe also some advice regarding your assets and any IHT liability.

Edited by Butch
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Well i thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and i decided to transfer a wedge into my SCB account for future prosperity then wifey's got access to decent dosh to cover all eventualities as she might not get her pension for a while.

But i have'nt told her.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YET 🤣 

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On 7/27/2022 at 4:46 AM, Pumpuynarak said:

Well i thought about it and thought about it and thought about it and i decided to transfer a wedge into my SCB account for future prosperity then wifey's got access to decent dosh to cover all eventualities as she might not get her pension for a while.

But i have'nt told her.........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

YET 🤣 

Not wishing to pry pump but was the transfer easy to do. Are there limits as to how much one can transfer from a UK bank to one abroad? 

Just wondering about the fees also. 

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41 minutes ago, Aqualung said:

Not wishing to pry pump but was the transfer easy to do. Are there limits as to how much one can transfer from a UK bank to one abroad? 

Just wondering about the fees also. 

With HSBC, I can transfer a max of £39,999 at a time, at a cost of £5.

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55 minutes ago, Stillearly said:

HSBC will also take a large % on any FX deal ( I think it's 3%) 

much better to use a service like Wise imho 

Im currently living in Sweden. When I transfer money to my wife's Swedish account its costs nothing from my natwest account. That's for next day delivery. 

That said, it's done in euros and no doubt my wife's receiving account will charge a small fee. 

Theiving xxxxx. 

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Just now, Aqualung said:

Im currently living in Sweden. When I transfer money to my wife's Swedish account its costs nothing from my natwest account. That's for next day delivery. 

That said, it's done in euros and no doubt my wife's receiving account will charge a small fee. 

Theiving xxxxx. 

If NatWest are debiting your GBP account and transferring EUR , they will also be taking around 3% on the FX deal 

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2 hours ago, Aqualung said:

Not wishing to pry pump but was the transfer easy to do. Are there limits as to how much one can transfer from a UK bank to one abroad? 

Just wondering about the fees also. 

 

1 hour ago, Stillearly said:

HSBC will also take a large % on any FX deal ( I think it's 3%) 

much better to use a service like Wise imho 

Bingo, i never use anything other than wise. Its by far the cheapest and most efficient method to transfer that i am aware of, also it meets Thai immigration requirements on monthly transfers for my retirement extension. 

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1 hour ago, Stillearly said:

If NatWest are debiting your GBP account and transferring EUR , they will also be taking around 3% on the FX deal 

I thought so mate. No way of beating these buggers. 

Transfer wise next time I think. 

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5 minutes ago, Aqualung said:

I thought so mate. No way of beating these buggers. 

Transfer wise next time I think. 

For years i did Swift transfers from HSBC UK to SCB THAI at a cost of 4GBP by HSBC and then i would get a charge by HSBC some 6 weeks later of 15GBP. On top of that SCB would charge me 500bht to convert the sterling to baht.

When Wise appeared on the scene it was a "no brainer" to use them at their lower charges and same day transfer. I would be waiting 4/5 days for the Swift transfer to hit my SCB account !!! 

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18 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

When Wise appeared on the scene it was a "no brainer" to use them at their lower charges

Just received an email that Wise's charges are increasing for some currencies, incl. (to) Thai baht.

. . .

https://wise.com/price-change/send-money?source=USD&target=HUF&payInMethod=BANK_TRANSFER&sourceAmount=1000&priceChange=2022-july-reprice

Capture.JPG

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15 minutes ago, lazarus said:

Just received an email that Wise's charges are increasing for some currencies, incl. (to) Thai baht.

. . .

https://wise.com/price-change/send-money?source=USD&target=HUF&payInMethod=BANK_TRANSFER&sourceAmount=1000&priceChange=2022-july-reprice

Capture.JPG

Yeah just saw it Laz but its a relatively small increase ehh ? Wise is rapidly turning into a "Bankster" lol

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26 minutes ago, Pumpuynarak said:

Yeah just saw it Laz but its a relatively small increase ehh ? Wise is rapidly turning into a "Bankster" lol

Yeah...I checked...just a small percentage increase.

I send a little $$ to Malie's grandparents from time to time...so it's not an issue for me.

Edited by lazarus
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