Death of a Belgian in Thailand. Update 04-2022
Lung addie has expanded the 'Dossier deregistering for Belgians' with an addition about the death of a Belgian in Thailand. You can read that extension below. You can read the entire file here: https://www.thailandblog.nl/wp-content/uploads/Dossier-Belgen-update2022-1.pdf
The editors of Thailandblog would like to thank Lung Addie for his efforts.
Death of a Belgian in Thailand. Update 04 2022
Due to the recent handling of various files, it has become necessary to provide a guideline to the TB readers on this subject as well.
This article will mainly deal with what the surviving wife, in this case Thai, has to do with regard to the financial side of the matter. Mainly the INHERITANCE TAX and the SUCCESSION.
For the administrative side, in case of death, I can refer to an excellent article, written by Eugeen Van Aerschot for the FLEMISH CLUB PATTAYA.
Since this article is very well founded, I will not add anything myself, it is more than enough.
You can find this extensive article via the following link: https://www.thailand-info.be/NATUURLIJKOVERLIJDEN.pdf
THE INHERITANCE TAX:
The 'Inheritance tax', also called 'inheritance tax', is the tax that is due upon obtaining an inheritance and is a regional competence.
We must distinguish here between the following categories of heirs:
1 – the heir has only Thai nationality and not Belgian
2 – the heir also has Thai and Belgian Nationality
-1. If the heir(s) do not have Belgian nationality, they will not be taxed in Belgium as far as their share of assets abroad is concerned, but according to the legislation in the country of origin, i.e. in the home country (in this case). Thailand). The Belgian part of the assets, which is regarded as an inheritance, is taxed in Belgium.
-2. If the heir does have Belgian nationality, the entire inheritance will be taxed in Belgium.
In Belgium, a notary is often appointed to handle an inheritance. However, this is not an obligation as, if there are several heirs, one is not obliged to go into 'division', but can also remain in 'undivided' status. This does not change the fact that inheritance tax is levied by the tax authorities, which in this case is only payable by the surviving heir. The survivor is then regarded as a 'usufruct' and can in fact do what he/she wants with the estate concerning 'moveable property'. Not with the 'real estate'. As a usufructuary you cannot sell on your own, you always need the consent of the other parties. Since a sale ALWAYS goes through a notary, he will also take care of the division of the inheritance.
Completing the estate documents is not a simple matter. The file only consists of 28 pages. Of course, only part of these must be completed, but they must all be read. Usually an impossible task for a Thai person. Even for someone who is not familiar with these matters, it is already a decently complicated assignment.
THE SUCCESSION.
This is a document that indicates that someone is indeed the heir of a deceased person and to what degree or rank. This document is always required in Belgium to unblock an account of the deceased.
Two recent files that I have handled, here in Thailand, at two different banks, have shown that this is now also required in Thailand. As always in Thailand, this will probably not be a general applied rule and depends from bank to bank. Apparently they have gained experience and, after having already made a payment, they were confronted with the question of other legal heirs. Even if, possibly in Thailand, they were not entitled to it.
This SUCCESSION document can be obtained from the handling notary, if a notary has been appointed. If there is a Belgian will, a notary must always be appointed for its execution. A Thai will has no importance here as a Thai will can only be about things in Thailand and is not legally valid in Belgium, just like a Belgian will is not legally valid in Thailand.
If no civil-law notary has been appointed, this document can be obtained from the “Legal Security Officepart of the Ministry of Finance.
This office depends on where the deceased was last registered in Belgium.
Link to this office, where it is also possible to determine to which office the application should be sent and to download the application document, as well as the way to send it to the relevant service can be found:
https://financien.belgium.be/nl/particulieren/gezin/overlijden/deblokkeren_van_bankrekeningen
Completing this document also requires some administration experience and may also have to be done with the help of an intermediary. It contains about 15 pages of which about 10 are only informative.