Suggestion Making a Will that Stands up

Emily Latella would say Nevermind.

 

People who have any assets whether they be bank accounts or property like a car, motorbike or house and lot in Philippines need a Philippine will for those assets. If you have any assets in USA you need a will in USA also (yes, each state has different laws so may need more than one if assets in multiple states).

 

Wrye, you don't have to be a resident of any state in the US. I was tired, burning the midnight oil. I should have said I wasn't giving up my Tx residency in the US. I have found no rules where you have to reside in any state at all. I think it's a good thing to have a state residency in the US so I am keeping it but I see no reason why a US citizen can't just be resident in a foreign country with no residence in any particular state or territory in the US. Having an address where one receives mail doesn't make one a resident. Of course living in the Philippines doesn't necessarily make one a resident either. Passport may be a sticking point because they like to have all the boxes filled but looking at my passport it doesn't list where I live, only the state I was born in.

 

Estate law can be complicated so I am not going to say you are wrong but I will note that there is a reason they call it a last will and testament. Along with the fact that I have heard of two wills being merged but rarely.

 

I question how the state you were last resident in knows when you have moved? Or where you have moved to? Frankly I don't think the IRS would bat an eye if I filed my taxes and entered my address as Purok 2 Cangmating Sibulan, Negros Oriental, Philippines as long as everything else was correct. This is all hypothetical for me. I use my brother's address as my permanent and mailing address.

Maybe your CPA has a very common problem, people often make up an answer when they don't know the answer, or they could be right. I would pay them for an hour of their time if they could show me the law or regulation if I really wanted to know. If they can't show me, I'm not going to pay them. That would be state law of the last state you were resident or federal law. Where the law is silent, you can do as you please.

I think it is a presumption that one would move to another state but as far as I know there is no regulation that says you must move to another state. Maybe it is a blind spot? If you must be resident in a certain place a certain period of time before you have established residency say 30/90 days, why couldn't you tell them you reside in the Philippines, whether you are granted resident status by the Philippines or not?

What if one leased a motorhome and traveled the US, Canada, Mexico and just used a mail forwarding service? Or lived on a boat? A few years ago there was a story about people not paying taxes because they lived in houseboats on a lake. My state drivers license is expired and I'm driving on my Philippines license. If anyone asks, I'll tell them I'm here on personal business. I don't expect it to come up.

 

How long have you had the Tx license? That would be prima facie evidence that you are a resident of the state of Tx. You weren't by chance using absentee ballot voting were you?