# In preparation for the death of a spouse.



## MangoTango (Feb 8, 2020)

We live in Mexico. We have no property (nor family) left in the US. We do have numerous bank/retirement/annuities still in the US.

My wife (of 39 years) was told recently that after 2 bouts of chemo her situation is terminal. 

I have managed to change the 'registrations' on the bulk of our joint US accounts to individual. I was told by Schwab (where her retirement accounts sit) that upon her passing I could simply roll her accounts into my own - with no tax issues.

The annuity company said pretty much the same thing. I could elect a one time payout, or they would simply keep making her monthly payments (to be honest I'm not sure they even cared about receiving notice of her passing).

We have attempted to close out any her of her accounts which were in her name alone. That is in some cases easier said than done particularly in Mexico - where things may never happen. We have also tried to convert our joint Mexican accounts to individual accounts as well - but all I can do is try. Going forward I am just going to assume our wishes were honored (I am not going to be a policeman).

I am having a ton of trouble changing the registration of our 40 year old bank account because of the 'security' procedures they have in place which do not allow me to authenticate myself with my Mexican phone. At this point I may never tell them of my wife's upcoming passing.

BTW - I was shocked that our joint accounts in the US - joint with rights of survivorship - REALLY ARE NOT !! Even though we are US citizens, because we have a foreign residence, our accounts would be LOCKED until the IRS was done with them.

Any thoughts / comments appreciated.


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## tomwins (Dec 27, 2014)

I am so sorry you are having these troubles as you are dealing with your wife's illness and terminal condition. It makes me concerned for my own situation as we have joint accounts in the U.S. and individual accounts in Mexico as well. Please keep us informed about how the financial situations evolve and please accept my sincere expression for this difficult time in your life.


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## Moulard (Feb 3, 2017)

First, looking after yourself and your spouse.. these will be trying times.



MangoTango said:


> We have attempted to close out any her of her accounts which were in her name alone.


If she cannot close the account consider transferring the balance of the funds out of the account instead. It will, in essence, have the same effect.



MangoTango said:


> I am having a ton of trouble changing the registration of our 40 year old bank account because of the 'security' procedures they have in place which do not allow me to authenticate myself with my Mexican phone. At this point I may never tell them of my wife's upcoming passing.


If its a US bank, it might be worth ringing them rather than using any online portal. In lieu of a telephone banking pin, they may simply ask you to provide details of the account that only an account holder would know. So long as you have access to statements, then that may be a way forward... it has been for me. Its also worth noting that when my US credit union introduced two factor authentication, I could not register an Australian phone number myself, but they credit union staff were able to do that from the back end. Something to explore at lease



MangoTango said:


> BTW - I was shocked that our joint accounts in the US - joint with rights of survivorship - REALLY ARE NOT !! Even though we are US citizens, because we have a foreign residence, our accounts would be LOCKED until the IRS was done with them.


If I had the energy to do so, and I suspect you have more important things to do with your time at this moment, I would be challenging them on that. Are they actually referring to recovery of SSA Payments as opposed to the IRS I wonder?


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