What happens to one's belongings...?
What happens to one's belongings...?
What happens to a foreigner's belongings (computer,
phone, moto, car, bank account, jewelry, fill in the blank) in the event they die in the KOW?
Does Cambodia honor a will or trust? What if the deceased's family doesn't want to incur the expense of sending the body back to the home country?
Do the police get first dibs, does the cleaning lady who found the deceased claim what's rightfully hers for being first on the scene, or what?
phone, moto, car, bank account, jewelry, fill in the blank) in the event they die in the KOW?
Does Cambodia honor a will or trust? What if the deceased's family doesn't want to incur the expense of sending the body back to the home country?
Do the police get first dibs, does the cleaning lady who found the deceased claim what's rightfully hers for being first on the scene, or what?
Re: What happens to one's belongings...?
The cases i witnessed over the past 2 decades appeared to be straight forward:
The person who finds the dead person first takes care of most cash in the wallet while leaving ATM Cards etc. untouched. Gold etc. is mostly fleeced by early involved family members or the Police. Motorcycles , TV etc. are distributed by the Police to those close to the dead person.
Bank Accounts are more tricky.
When a restaurant owner in sihanoukville died in the arms of his vietnamese girlfriend she ran away. A day later she told me about the death of her friend. She said he did have a bank account but did not know at which bank. She also had no idea where the ATM Card was. After going from Bank to Bank with his Passport i finally ended up at the ... Bank. I presented the Passport to the Bank Clerk and asked him to check if this person had a bank account there. He roamed through the files and finally picked one up, quickly flicked it open ...... but long enough for me to see the Photo matching the dead person and said...., NO, sorry that person has no account here ! I don't know who finally sacked the balance of his account but there are theories that come to mind.
This happened back in 2008 !! I think it would be a lot harder today for the bank clerk to pull off such a stunt.
The person who finds the dead person first takes care of most cash in the wallet while leaving ATM Cards etc. untouched. Gold etc. is mostly fleeced by early involved family members or the Police. Motorcycles , TV etc. are distributed by the Police to those close to the dead person.
Bank Accounts are more tricky.
When a restaurant owner in sihanoukville died in the arms of his vietnamese girlfriend she ran away. A day later she told me about the death of her friend. She said he did have a bank account but did not know at which bank. She also had no idea where the ATM Card was. After going from Bank to Bank with his Passport i finally ended up at the ... Bank. I presented the Passport to the Bank Clerk and asked him to check if this person had a bank account there. He roamed through the files and finally picked one up, quickly flicked it open ...... but long enough for me to see the Photo matching the dead person and said...., NO, sorry that person has no account here ! I don't know who finally sacked the balance of his account but there are theories that come to mind.
This happened back in 2008 !! I think it would be a lot harder today for the bank clerk to pull off such a stunt.
Re: What happens to one's belongings...?
Kaputt is pretty much right but if you are concerned with investments, property etc then you need to make a will in Cambodia.
This is not so easy and you need a lawyer who will charge an arm and a leg. Some of the requirements are that the will has to be hand-written and placed in an envelope sealed by the lawyer. After death the executor brings the UNOPENED envelope to the court and makes a claim. After years and heaps of money the people named in the envelope may eventually inherit the property.
Best advice for those with property is : dont die in Cambodia.
This is not so easy and you need a lawyer who will charge an arm and a leg. Some of the requirements are that the will has to be hand-written and placed in an envelope sealed by the lawyer. After death the executor brings the UNOPENED envelope to the court and makes a claim. After years and heaps of money the people named in the envelope may eventually inherit the property.
Best advice for those with property is : dont die in Cambodia.
Re: What happens to one's belongings...?
Just as I expected... this might explain why Khmer friends/acquaintances are constantly telling me I should buy a moto, buy a car, buy land, ...kaputt wrote: ↑Wed Apr 17, 2019 2:22 am The cases i witnessed over the past 2 decades appeared to be straight forward:
The person who finds the dead person first takes care of most cash in the wallet while leaving ATM Cards etc. untouched. Gold etc. is mostly fleeced by early involved family members or the Police. Motorcycles , TV etc. are distributed by the Police to those close to the dead person.
Bank Accounts are more tricky.
When a restaurant owner in sihanoukville died in the arms of his vietnamese girlfriend she ran away. A day later she told me about the death of her friend. She said he did have a bank account but did not know at which bank. She also had no idea where the ATM Card was. After going from Bank to Bank with his Passport i finally ended up at the ... Bank. I presented the Passport to the Bank Clerk and asked him to check if this person had a bank account there. He roamed through the files and finally picked one up, quickly flicked it open ...... but long enough for me to see the Photo matching the dead person and said...., NO, sorry that person has no account here ! I don't know who finally sacked the balance of his account but there are theories that come to mind.
This happened back in 2008 !! I think it would be a lot harder today for the bank clerk to pull off such a stunt.
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Bluenose, Doc67, drozd, Majestic-12 [Bot], Yerg and 629 guests