Last year I assisted a Thai widow when her British husband died. He was sadly incapacitated for some 3/4 months before death, during which time the wife raided his bank account with the visa money, and bought a new car (on finance) and spent the balance on other things.. Once dead, there was no money for the funeral (she borrowed) and at the end of the day she gets a mere 4,500bt/month pension, which is not enough for basic living, quite apart from repaying funeral costs and the monthly car finance costs. Her loss, but could easily have been his had he not died and had no money for his visa extension.
Ouch! Yes, that is not adequate. I have been trying to wean my wife off insurance on family members. I am of the opinion that if you can afford to self-insure, it's almost always a better deal. A lot of money is spent by Thai families on insurance.
I'm somewhat flabbergasted by how much money Thai spend on funerals, even poor families--they will mortgage the family rice fields in order to pay sometimes 300,000฿ or more for an elaborate multiway funeral. I've tried to get agreement to not do that for me, but it seems unlikely my wishes will be followed.
I'm well protected financially, so my main concern is providing money that will guarantee my wife lifelong security. She wanted me to give her cash, but I'm afraid it could easily go astray, so instead I invested an equivalent amount in a charitable remainder trust through my university that will provide her with about 70,000฿ a month lifetime income, with gradual inflation increase. Coupled with a free and clear Thai home, she should be able to live comfortably while having some money free to help family. Oddly enough, she still feels insecure without a lot of cash in her bank account! I am lucky to have found a very solid, practical, frugal Thai wife, with a good family, but have still been surprised at how the family obligations keep ramping up with time.
Thanks, Nick, for the appropriate details. I have had to discourage some USA acquaintances with modest resources from taking on a Thai wife, since they have little idea how expensive it gets to meet Thai family expectations. leading to a lot of sad stories and busted marriages. I just added paying for university for a nephew to my monthly 'salaries' allotment. You know how it goes. It is a bit like running your own foreign aid program.
Question Mel, how do you orchestrate for that same scenario while in America ?
(I believe it remains a Catch-22.)
Question Mel, how do you orchestrate for that same scenario while in America ?
(I believe it remains a Catch-22.)
I'm not quite sure which thing(s) you're referring to. I'll try to guess. In the short run, my wife plans on returning to her family in Thailand when I die. I have her set up with enough US$ to do so in a USA ATM-accessed account in her name, which automatically goes to her on my death. My niece is successor trustee for my own revokable trust, and would help my wife sort things out, relieving her of the USA details. Everything in Thailand is in my wife's name and sole property. Everything in USA is in my name and sole property. It's structured so there should not be any probate or difficulties. If she pre-deceases me, her property goes to her son. My property gets dispersed per my trust agreement, and everything regarding my wife is pre-arranged. In the mid-term, my wife will likely get a US passport when eligible in two years, so she'll be dual national, which will make travel and taxes easier. A huge advantage is that thereafter, the USINS has no leverage over her, and we can come and go as we wish. She'll have to pay US taxes on her trust income, which can be done remotely from Thailand. My main K-Bank account has her as beneficiary, which will give her an immediate chunk of cash. She'll be able to ATM access the Bangkok Bank account to extract that money. In the long term (20 years), if we're so lucky and still get along, I'll probably up the amount in her trust so she has a bigger income. Are you referring to something else? What I have done isn't right for everyone. There is, of course, the risk that we will divorce, but I figure in that case she deserves some reasonable compensation, and that is taken care of.
