I am an American man living in the Philippines, with substantial…

Wow, that was fast. (You look different from the expert that was originally assigned to my case...!)

I understand that $38 (of which you get much less) is insufficient for what I am requesting, and I am of course prepared to pay for additional services separately. Quite honestly, the attorneys here in the Philippines are for the most part incompetent, dishonest or both and I simply can not rely on their knowledge, judgment or honesty at all in this important matter.

Can you tell me why you (or someone else) at JA is unable to draft a document? Is it simply that the low fee does not justify the work involved? (That is easily rectified, I think.)

Or is it a legal issue? (I can not see any legal issues surrounding the providing of a draft document...?)

I had hoped that a simple "standard Will" could be taken as a starting document and amended/augmented.

Again, thank you for your lightning fast response.

Here is more information to assist you:

I am a former resident of Hawaii and still claim residence in Hawaii on my annual tax return, maintain a Hawaii PO Box, and still own property and bank accounts there.

However, my new permanent residence is the Philippines, where I also own property and various other assets.

I now want to make a Will, but I have been informed by attorneys here in the Philippines that they can not preside over a will involving U.S. assets. If this is true, then I would assume a U.S. Will would, equally, have no validity in the Philippines.

I am completely at a loss for what to do here. This is what I want to achieve:


1) All of my property, bank accounts and other assets in the U.S. and the Philippines should pass to my girlfriend (a Philippine citizen), who will hopefully be my wife at the time of my death.


2) I wish to avoid, as far as possible, a successful contesting of my Will by my family (parents, brother, 3 children living with 2 ex-wives in the U.S. and Philipines.)


3) I wish to name my brother (living in New York) as executor and secondary heir (in the event that my girlfriend dies with me.)


I see several possible problems:


1) I have read that many states will only appoint individuals as executors who are residents of the same state." (I have no one in Hawaii that I want to have as executor.)


2) What happens when an heir has difficulty entering the U.S.? Allow me to explain: If I should die, my Filipino girlfriend/fiancee/wife (whatever her status is at the time) may have a problem obtaining a visa in order to enter the U.S. and take control of my assets. We do not intend to move to the U.S., so she will have no green card and no U.S. passport. She is young and may not be able to prove strong ties to her home country (for example a job, house, husband, children, large bank balance, or an extensive travel history outside her country). As such, US Immigration will likely assume she "intends to immigrate", and will likely refuse her a non-immigrant visa in order to claim her assets.


3) Are there any other problems associated with passing my estate in the U.S. to a foreign national who may not at the time be my wife?


4) If nothing is left to my immediate family (parents, children, brother), does my will stand a good chance of being successfully contested by them? (And how could that be avoided?)


5) I don't want to change my will every time I open a new bank account or PayPal account, change a password XXXXX acquire/sell an asset. Is it possible in a will to state something along these lines: "Upon my death, all of my assets will pass to XXXX. A list of current assets and passwords can always be found on my computer and backup drives in a file named <<Will.zip>>, password XXXXX" Kept up-to-date, it would provide complete information to the executor and beneficiary/ies.


6) Do I need to execute a separate will for my assets here in the Philippines, or can a single Will cover global assets? And if so, is it acceptable to U.S. authorities that my Will is witnessed/notarized here in the Philippines?


7) Can the Filipino beneficiary act as executor (secondary executor) in the event that my brother is unable or unwilling to be executor?


8) How do I deal with hidden assets? I have a sizeable collection of gold coins, which are well hidden. Obviously I will not tell anyone (including an attorney or anyone reading my Will!) where they are located. Can I just cover these under the phrase "I bequeathe all of my assets, including those not specifically listed", or similar, and leave documentation as to their whereabouts on my computer in an encrypted file, and in my safe?


I understand that this is a lot to go into, and I do acknowledge that the $38 fee that I will pay JA in no way covers it.


Here is some additional background:

- I am 47 years old, twice divorced

- My first ex-wife lives in Hawaii with our son (15) and daughter (12)

- My second ex-wife lives in the Philippines with our daughter (5)

- I have paid generous divorce settlements in each case, and am paying child support for all three children, at least until they are 18, but no alimony.

- I own two 19-acre lots in Laupahoehoe, and have bank accounts in Hawaii. All of these are in my name only.

- I own and operate a medical web site, diagnose-me.com. This is my business, but only I can operate it so it would die with me

- Online, I own various PayPal accounts, and a credit card processing account

- I have a long-term girlfriend in the Philippines, who I want to be my sole beneficiary

- In the Philippines I also have assets, not currently under my or her name due to the Philippines not allowing foreigners to own land, and due to it being quite expensive to transfer the titles; I plan to transfer them to my girlfriend's name in due course

- I have a brother living in New York/Hawaii who I trust completely, but he would be a secondary heir i.e. only if my girlfriend should pass away also

- My brother holds 150oz of gold coins on my behalf in New York

- More gold is hidden in a location that only I know of

- My girlfriend and brother are both good and fair people who care about my children. In the event of my death, I trust them completely to look after my children fairly and responsibly, using the proceeds from my estate as necessary

- Why am I not leaving anything specifically to my children? The answer is that I am not on good terms with my ex-wives; they are raising my children in a way that deliberately alienates them from their father; I do not wish for these ex-wives to gain any benefit whatsoever from my estate.

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As I wrote, I am more than willing to work with you at additional cost, either inside or outside of the JA framework (I don't know what is allowed), provided that you are the right person for the job.

Thank you,

Stefan

Thank you, XXXXX XXXXX already earned the "Excellent Service" smiley... I have only one more question, if you wouldn't mind:

As I mentioned, I have a 'stash' of gold coins in the U.S. For obvious reasons, I don't want anyone knowing the quantity or their location prior to my death.

Now, since neither the quantity nor the location of these coins are stated anywhere (aside from in an encrypted file on my computer and documentation in my safe, which will not be seen until after my death), how can I be sure that they are all honestly accounted for by the attorney/executor in the U.S.?

What is to stop an attorney (who I don't necessarily trust) from telling the intended beneficiary "Oh yeah, I went to the hiding place and all I found was 5 coins, not the X that are stated in the Will. Here are the proceeds after tax!"?

Can you think of a mechanism that would protect not only the location of these coins now, but also ensure that the intended heir receives all that she has been bequeathed, without me giving out specific information about this asset?

The only way that I can see is for the beneficiary to say and do nothing about this part of my estate, until she is somehow able to acquire a visa to the U.S. and go on a "treasure hunt". But that could take 20 years, so it is far from ideal.