Post by barrumundi on Oct 25, 2015 9:22:52 GMT -5
This subject was prompted by a question from a friend. He is living in Colombia with his common-law wife and he owns a house. He has an adult daughter in USA and would like her to get some of his estate when he passes. He receives a pension of sorts from the USA but doesn't have any property or collateral in USA. Most of his net worth is currently tied up in his assets in Colombia, being his house and a near new car.
This is part of his email to me (edited to delete personal details):
I want her to have at least half of what I leave behind if not all of it but I also have a common law agreement with my 'ama de llaves' I got talked into after we first met to get on her health insurance.
I'm not sure about this, but I think she is entitled to half my property in Colombia, even though the money came from a sale of a property outside of Colombia and a purchase I made years before I knew her. If she gets half and my daughter in California gets the other half, I doubt very much she is going to sell to pay off my daughter and it would be doubtful my daughter would travel to Colombia to make her claim and most likely getting blown off by the Courts, her being a foreigner.
I know this is a question for an attorney and he would gladly take my money and agree with me on every point but the eventual outcome is questionable. I've seen it several times, after the guy is gone all promises made by family or friends became meaningless when it comes to money.
This is part of my response to him (edited):
I am in similar circumstances to you in regard to your daughter. I have adult kids in Australia that I would like to help with some money when I die, but I don't know if I will actually have anything left to give them. I had planned to leave them my house (and this is what I have told my wife) but the reality is, as you say, highly improbable.
Would they like to come here to Colombia to live in the house? I doubt it.
Would they, with absolutely no knowledge of the 'Colombian way' be able to sell the house? I doubt that!
Would my Colombiana widow help them sell my house? I doubt that also.
My solution to the problem is just leave the house here in Colombia to my wife. I have money in Australia in the bank and in my superannuation account and already have my kids listed as beneficiaries. In a reverse of the above situation with the house, my wife would have extreme difficulty getting her hands on those funds (if she wanted to).
There is no easy answer to your dilemma apart from some how squirrelling some money away into some sort of U.S. based trust fund for your daughter to access.
The sad reality is I don't know of even one Colombiana that would be likely to call her partners kids after his passing and say, "Would you like some help liquidating your father's assets here in Colombia?" The house, money, car etc. would be just shared out amongst the Colombian family because they know there would be absolutely no possibility of your kids knowing where to even start the process.....and that is not even taking into account any possible corruption, lying, cheating or scheming.
Please note, I am not casting dispersions on our Colombian families.......I am talking in general.
Anyone have a better plan?