Best Posts in Thread: Suggestions for Estate Planning in Dumaguete

@Obliged Friend
Marriage (Sound ones) stand on Commitment, trust and doing what is right and provide for our passing.
In our cabinet are 5/6 Files(Each of course labelled) each one contains Instructions as to what to do when I pass for the things in any particular File, most of my pensions have Widow rights and so my wife must act on what is written in the File concerned, I have ( to my mind) covered bases that I can. Wills are there and Bank details that she would need to sort out with the Banks concerned, She is a working Lady so has her own money/ Bank account and can and would survive until all things got into gear for her, My Burial Plot is bought and paid for so I know where I am going and is a Triple Plot so that we would all 3 of us (Yep even our Daughter) go there when they also pass on. Sad part But...... The OP stated that his wife came from the Mountains, it matters not as a lot of Wives do here. If it is well documented by us then it can soon be sorted. No! we Certainly can't Control lives after we are gone but knowing we have provided and shown the way to retrieve that provision, we have done all we can

 

Difficult to answer this in a general way without knowing specific circumstances. But I will have a go:

1. Funeral: There are various Funeral Homes and others here may suggest a good one. If the choice is cremation then be aware that it has been stated on this forum recently that the Chinese one insists on cremation within 24 hours of death, but not all do. Part of one posting here (a person kindly helping with his friend's funeral where I think cash was an issue) is "3 days at the Garden of Saints funeral home (rejecting their packages) we bought an 'urn' from Claytown Daro (P150), a coffin for P5k from Green Pastures (Daro), then went on to The Haven Crematory in San Jose Ext. It was a quick turn around but there was a lot of running around and haggling. Garden of Saints was stuck with him while we did all this and as we hadn't agreed to even take him there they were in no position to argue. They got P14k in the end and they were lucky to get that." Jack Peterson has suggested here about checking on Funeral Plans.

I suggest if it bothers you then do some research yourself so that you leave your family specific instructions.

2. Leaving family in an adequate financial situation: This depends on your current financial situation. Either you have enough cash to have built up a fund here and/or possibly started a business your wife can run or you need to find something she could do to earn a 'living' (e.g. getting her some training). You mention "mountain" and am I correct that perhaps your wife is from a simple background and you have a concern about her opportunities for business/employment? I think the corollary of that is she would not have been used to an expensive lifestyle and these people are survivors - the poorest walk around with smiles and get by.

3. Children: As Jack Peterson said, surely this would be in the hands of your wife. If you have any specific concerns about this then you should discuss them with her soon. I am a little unsure about your issue of "white daughters" - I assume they will live as happily in the care of your wife as if they were pure Filipino.

I understand this matter bothers you, so may I suggest writing a list of your concerns, doing some research and discussions with your wife, then tick off each part as you feel you have dealt with it.

My own personal view is that we must do the best can we can for the ones we love to protect them when we are gone but we cannot control their lives and so should not spend too much of our valuable time left worrying unnecessarily about it. Just that we do not leave them in a mess through absence of any forethought on our part.

 

I think the best thing you can do is to get your child a passport to your home country while you are still around.This will give them options later.
Setting up a trust fund in your home country for the child ( and mother if you want) . this fund would be invested and paid out in annual increments to them. Personally i would not try to do this in the Philippines as their are too many crooked lawyers here.

 

I copied the list below - please tell me which ranking Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq have and I will voluntarily take myself off to an optician at once.

Rank/Country/Global Finance Safety Index Score
1 Iceland 6.16
2 Switzerland 7.01
3 Finland 7.04
4 Portugal 7.07
5 Austria 7.08
6 Norway 7.27
7 Qatar 7.28
8 Singapore 7.34
9 Denmark 7.41
10 New Zealand 7.42
11 Canada 7.42
12 Slovenia 7.44
13 Sweden 7.50
14 Czech Republic 7.68
15 Spain 7.81
16 Ireland 7.82
17 Estonia 7.89
18 Australia 7.95
19 Belgium 7.98
20 Germany 8.09
21 United Arab Emirates 8.21
22 Croatia 8.27
23 Oman 8.34
24 Latvia 8.45
25 Lithuania 8.49
26 Slovakia 8.53
27 Poland 8.54
28 Hungary 8.61
29 Mongolia 8.74
30 Bhutan 8.79
31 Netherland 8.82
32 Cyprus 8.88
33 Romania 8.88
34 South Korea 8.93
35 Uruguay 8.93
36 France 9.01
37 Kuwait 9.10
38 United Kingdom 9.21
39 Malaysia 9.22
40 Italy 9.23
41 Botswana 9.25
42 Bulgaria 9.27
43 Japan 9.49
44 Kazakhstan 9.50
45 Morocco 9.53
46 Moldova 9.58
47 Laos 9.61
48 Jordan 9.67
49 Georgia 9.68
50 Argentina 9.80
51 Rwanda 9.98
52 Zambia 9.98
53 Namibia 10.00
54 Saudi Arabia 10.02
55 Bahrain 10.02
56 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.04
57 Greece 10.13
58 Serbia 10.14
59 Macedonia 10.24
60 Paraguay 10.25
61 Chile 10.25
62 Armenia 10.25
63 Ghana 10.27
64 Panama 10.27
65 United States 10.30
66 Malawi 10.33
67 Bolivia 10.39
68 Tajikistan 10.48
69 Albania 10.48
70 Sri Lanka 10.53
71 Azerbaijan 10.56
72 Gabon 10.57
73 Mauritius 10.72
74 Tunisia 10.77
75 Ecuador 10.81
76 Nepal 10.82
77 Iran 10.84
78 Lesotho 10.88
79 Tanzania 11.02
80 Senegal 11.08
81 China 11.11
82 Algeria 11.14
83 Vietnam 11.15
84 Brazil 11.15
85 Peru 11.22
86 Sierra Leone 11.26
87 Indonesia 11.27
88 Madagascar 11.32
89 Kyrgyzstan 11.43
90 Benin 11.60
91 Uganda 11.62
92 Israel 11.64
93 Zimbabwe 11.84
94 Cote d'Ivoire 11.85
95 Mozambique 11.91
96 Ethiopia 12.01
97 Costa Rica 12.02
98 Nicaragua 12.06
99 Trinidad and Tobago 12.19
100 Thailand 12.27
101 South Africa 12.33
102 Dominican Republic 12.48
103 Egypt 12.63
104 Mauritania 12.76
105 Mexico 12.82
106 India 12.85
107 Turkey 12.94
108 Russia 12.94
109 Cambodia 12.96
110 Jamaica 13.02
111 Kenya 13.13
112 Lebanon 13.43
113 Burundi 13.46
114 Honduras 13.55
115 Cameroon 13.56
116 Ukraine 13.91
117 Congo 13.96
118 Venezuela 13.98
119 Mali 14.15
120 Chad 14.31
121 Bangladesh 14.66
122 Colombia 14.79
123 Pakistan 14.80
124 Nigeria 14.88
125 El Salvador 15.43
126 Guatemala 15.81
127 Yemen 15.93
128 Philippines 17.70

 

Here my Friend you are the General Public or had you forgotten who/what you are and certainly where you are