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@Cyclone Ed

Welcome to the forum, Ed.

What you say is true. The option of using your brother as an intermediary is very good. In order to transfer to your selected people in the Phils, he will need their bank account info and the full name its registered under. By the way, I think the old outbound transfer limit of$10k / day has been limited to $5k now.

Regarding gifting to others, that's a personal decision, but make sure its very clearly stated in your will!

My wife got her ITIN by vising the Social Security office in the Manila embassy. Had the forms filled out, they inspected her passport & returned it. The ITIN notification was received by mail about a month later (pre-pandemic...).

My understanding from the law in the Philippines is that a property in the Philippines is shared in a marriage. So the title goes to the surviving partner. If not married the property title can be transferred to someone. This might be expensive. For properties out of the Philippines, the property can be sold if not needed. Thats what I did with my property in Austria.

@Skip Scott

Thank you so much.  I may need to plan some trips to Manila.

@Andy_1963

Thanks, Andy.  I don't have any property just yet.  Although I am considering purchasing a condo here in the Philippines as a convenient way to leave a financial legacy to someone.

@Cyclone Ed

You could also check with the consular office in cebu. I don't know if they have a social security office there.

@Cyclone Ed

You may want to check the consular office in cebu. They don't offer all services the Embassy does though.

@Cyclone Ed

If your talking about a monthly US benefit distribution and the beneficiary needing a ITIN, that is mostly true depending on the distribution agency etc.

I applied for my wife’s ITIN from here and yes it’s a little time consuming but not too difficult. Just follow the steps they have online.

I could be wrong but as far as I remember not just any filipino can get a ITIN. They need to qualify by Relationship as a spouse or child etc, or have a USA employer etc. You need to do some research on that…

Also, you can always choose who you want to be a beneficiary but Regardless there still is a pecking order by US law for your survivors, meaning any Relative, Spouse, child etc could always challenge a none relationship beneficiary.

Im no expert, so do some research but I know for my CALPERS thats the way it is, or at least the way I understand it.

If you have no spouse or children then no issue’s but the ITIN will be a issue for a non related filipino friend here.

Also just FYI, if your Filipina beneficiary did happen to have a ITIN, by federal law the Payer is mandated to withhold 30% of the monthly benefit to the payee as long as they are a NonResident Alien. That would mean they would need to file a yearly US Federal return using thier ITIN to get whatever of that 30% remained in the form of a Refund.

This in return would probably mean that they will need a US bank account for depositing or a US Address for check mailing.

The part about beneficiaries needing an ITN is new news to me--and BAD NEWS, since it will complicate things.

I have no family to claim whatever is left after I die. But there a number of Filipinas who have been good to me, and I would like to leave them something. So the ITN issue is one problem, since I don't want to excite my friends in advance. I'd rather surprise them (although there is something to be said for letting them know that if they continue being good to me it will benefit them 😈).

And then there's the other issue of getting the money from my trust into the country. It's likely to be more than a few dollars, which I hadn't really thought about--that could be a problem for my trustee.

Any thoughts?

An interesting issue bizwizard, one I have thought about long and hard.

If you have a trust are you the trustee or have you nominated one? A will in place and an executor to carry out your wishes? Your friends/associates here should open bank accounts and give the details to your executor for distribution of your funds.

Not sure what your tax laws are but from Australia I send what I like to mine or the better half's account and usually P1 to 2M each time and no problems aside from the bank tellers call asking "sir did you know that xyz was transferred to your account?" YES MAM "sir what' that for?" etc. Been doing it for 10 years and always the stupid call from the bank.

My sis is my executor and well knows my wishes.

Good luck.

Cheers, Steve.

Good point, Steve, regarding the bank accounts.  I haven't researched the maximum amount for transfers to GCash, but that is the primary mode I use for transfers to Filipinas, as most of them have GCash, but few have bank accounts.  I have instructed my brother to be prepared to transfer funds in the same manner upon my death.  He also will have contact information for my beneficiaries.