Living Wills And Legacy Planning In Thailand
a living will is basically mething that is important if you would like to have me conditions on what happens for medical treatment and financial stuff when you’re incapacitated. You haven’t passed away, but you’re incapacitated,. this living will include directives for your physician, for example. The best way to describe it is let’s say you’re a Jehovah’s Witness and you have the belief that you don’t want to have a blood transfusion. that’s mething that you would put in your living will,. We have what’s called a medical surrogate. That pern will be in charge of making sure that those wishes in your living will are handled accordingly.
Al there’s me financial things that are al handled in a living will. And metimes we have to attach like a power of attorney for medical stuff or for financial stuff actually more importantly. that way things can be done when you’re incapacitated by that pern who’s received the power of attorney. just in smary the living will is mething that communicates your wishes when you’re just incapacitated and you’re not you haven’t passed away. it could be and it is related to medical treatment and to your financials. I got it. I’m I’ve kind of understanding it. I’m
Medical Surrogates And Financial Authority
still alive but maybe I’ve got dementia and I’ve got I’m choosing before I get dementia who’s going to take care of my affairs and medical decisions that rt of thing. Is that what it is? Well, I wouldn’t use dementia. Like I’m just going to say like here’s a perfect scenario. mebody has a heart attack and they haven’t passed away but they’re in the hospital and they’re not able to deal with stuff. And the medical surrogate on your living will make sure that the proper treatment is given to you that you’ve agreed to.
, when do they not resuscitate you if if you go in , you go into cardiac arrest or mething like that. Those are al things that are handled in a living will. And then metimes you have financial obligations that need to be taken care of and through a power of attorney in in connection with the living will it’s possible that your bank will allow certain bills to be paid from your account even though you’re not able to , authenticate those transactions. And it’s up to the bank’s own internal system but at least we got that financial POA signed. if the bank cooperates they’ve got the docentation that they can do it. Each bank will entertain requests like that on a case by case basis.
Making A Thai Last Will
What about a last a last will? well that’s the one that most people know enough about,. if you’ve got me assets in Thailand and you have a last will, it’s basically going to say who your beneficiaries are, like your heirs,. It’s going to say your executor, who’s going to handle that part of your estate. And basically, it just makes it clear for the authorities who’s going to get whatever assets you have in Thailand,.
And one of the things that that is very important is making sure that that will is accessible. there’s a couple of things that you can do. You can just, , you can leave it with your lawyer in the office and then al keep a copy for yourself, maybe in your safety deposit box, keep one in your house mewhere. Make sure that your loved ones, like say the pern that you’ve chosen as your executor, for example, make sure they got a copy as well. And that way if you do pass away, that that will everybody knows that you’ve got the will and you’re able to make sure that they’re able to make sure that your wishes are adhered to, basically. Yes.
Separate Wills For Different Countries
what about mebody like me? I’ve got assets in the UK and I’ve got assets here in Thailand. I don’t have I don’t have any property here, but obviously, if I was to pass away, touch wood, today, I mean, I’ve got a car, I’ve got a scooter, I’ve got several bank accounts, , my laptop. I mean, me that has to go mewhere. would I is it advisable to have one just just one just one will for for the UK and and Thailand or would I have one in the UK and one in Thailand and how does it work?
Yeah, well, but well, mostly, , , me metimes wills that are drafted in one country can be enforced in another country, but it’s difficult. it’s much better to just have a will in Thailand and a will back in your home country. Keep them separate. separate. . Yeah, exactly.
Legalizing A Will In Thailand
obviously, you go to see a lawyer with your assets, telling what you want to go in the will. But I have heard, once a will once the will has been written and it’s all legal, it has to go to a court of law here in Thailand to get notarized or checked offs. Sure. basically, here’s what we do. Let’s say you’re a TLP member,. And you need us to draft a will for you. we’ll draft the will, we’ll send you a questionnaire, you answer all the questions, we’ll draft the will for you.
And then after that’s done, it needs to be legalized, and then you can send it to the government authority if that’s what you want to do to make sure that it’s like got the official like stamps on it. And as long as the will is accessible, then you can do it just leave it at that. But it’s up to you how far you want to take it. Most people think that legalizing it is the best way to go. if, , it’s not going to be included in the membership, but the will itself is. If you need us to legalize it for you, my family planning team, or my legal team in the in office that deals with family planning, will go through the process of legalization that way that it’s , that it’s more secure for you. I don’t know the exact steps, but my team does and they’ll go through that with you and you can decide if you want to do it that way. .
Legacy Planning And Membership
And then lastly, we I’ve heard mething about a legacy will. I’ve got I haven’t got a clue what that is. Do what a legacy will is? Yeah, well it’s not really a legacy will, , but there’s me me companies and financial institutions and we got one as a partner. They’re called RWC,. And what they do is they offer mething slightly different and it’s good for the scenario like imagine that you have a wife, Thai wife, and you have children here in Thailand with that Thai wife and the way they are, their spending habits are not really very responsible and you’re afraid that they’re going to , whatever you leave them in the will, whatever cash, whatever assets, they’re going to sell everything, they’re going to spend all the money, and then they’re not going to be secure for the rest of their lives,. you can set up mething, it’s called legacy planning with us, and it’s very simple. You invest a certain amount of money in the program, and then it comes back to your beneficiaries in like either lp ss or in payments once a year. Like, it’s very flexible. It’s like it’s similar to a trust, if that makes sense. And basically, how how we would set that up is you would go through the initial consultation about what wills that you want.
you’ll speak to our family planning attorney or a family planning consultant, and they’ll review everything with you, establish what your needs are, and then recommend me of these options to you. And then, if you decide to go and you want to learn more about the legacy planning option, what they’ll do is they’ll schedule a specialized consultation with RWC, our partner,. And they will go through everything with you. There’s no extra charge for that. Normally, a company like this would charge you to go through this whole kind of setup portion to figure out what you want, but in this case, our members don’t have to pay for that at all. they can go through the whole program with them to see if it’s mething they want to do. And then at the end of that, if they don’t want to do it, there’s no fee. , but if they decide they want to go through with it, then that there’s going to be like the , the quotation will be sent to you with the fee structure and how everything is going to be set up and the process from beginning to end,. And it just depends on what you want to do after you’ve passed away and how how, , you want to give your heirs or your beneficiaries access to everything off the bat, or do you want to give it to them in installments because you don’t want them to just waste it or spend it all or sell all the assets? just, , the these are just things that that that me of the expats consider. Yes. .
just tell me cuz I again, I don’t know. If mebody hasn’t got a will, mebody like me for instance, if I didn’t have a will and I passed away today, what happens to my belongings? Do they automatically go to mebody here in Thailand or Yeah, well, yeah, the basic concept is that there’s, , a sector of the Thai government that deals with that,. And the assets will go under their control temporarily. And if mebody comes forward to claim it, as long as they can prove that they’re your , , related to you, then there’s a chance that they will release that. There’s a process for that. I don’t know the whole process. my family planning legal team and consultants will be able to answer that,. But that’s the basic concept. what about if If nobody comes across, rry, if if no if if nobody claims those assets as part of your family, then they would just belong to Thailand the basically the Thai government. And they would do whatever they wanted to do with it. Yeah.
what about the scenario? mebody had a a long-term Thai girlfriend, but they weren’t married and they actually wanted to leave a will with their assets to their Thai girlfriend here in Thailand. Could mebody do that or it does it have to be a family member? No, if there’s a will, then they we just follow the instructions in the will. It’s only when there isn’t a will that that previous process that I discussed, that’s when you might have, , that that’s when your estate would have to deal with that. But if you’ve got a Thai girlfriend and as long as you put her in your will, it’s just like any normal will,. Whoever’s in your will is entitled to what you say that they’re entitled to in your will. Yeah. This more for people who live here long-term in Thailand, retired retirees, etc. if mebody’s here and they’re interested in having a will, professional will written out for them or a legacy, anything like that, how how do they get in touch with you? you be after you become a member, you just contact us.
You would say, “Listen, I want to make a will.” , you have a couple of consultations about it. And we’ll send you a questionnaire, and then we will be prepared. If you need it legalized or you want it legalized, there’ll be a small fee extra for that. They’ll talk about that in advance. Some people just want the will drafted, and they deal with all that other stuff by themselves. people that join up to our membership just for the will,. They can if they want, they can cancel after they draft the will. We don’t care,. But our membership covers a lot of additional benefits like a 24-hour emergency line, like the emergency medical card, unlimited legal advice, reviewing contracts before you sign, relving disputes. For example, let’s say your landlord didn’t give your deposit back. All of those things are included in the membership, but like I said, if you just want to relve your legal issue and then stop the membership and reactivate it again in the future if you need us again, that’s al available.
We’re very flexible people. Because that’s handy al for , like I was saying about my friend who comes out here for six weeks. It Sure. , he he he can take out the membership with you, run it for two months, he goes back to the UK, and he can cancel. When he comes back a year later, for instance, six months later, he can take it out again. And just out of interest, how much is the monthly membership now? 1,295 Thai baht per month. . And that covers all 1,295 Thai baht, yes. . And that covers everything you just mentioned. .
