La Playa Panama - Volume 12, January 2014 | Page 14

P. 14 - LA PLAYA

WWW.PLAYACOMMUNITY.COM

JANUARY / ENERO 2014

WHERE THERE’S A WILL, THERE’S A WAY!
(one for each spouse), and
our attorney retains a copy.

Panama.

W

ith a recent move
to Panama from
the United States,
we were overwhelmed with
getting all of the legalities
accomplished:
cedula,
drivers’
licenses,
health
insurance, car purchase and
insurance, etc. We had done
our due diligence in the U.S.
and had our assets covered
by our will in the U.S. but
hadn’t really thought about
having the need for a will in

Our
first
step
was to
file
a
“Letter of
Wishes.”
It is a very
s i m p l e
document
(ours is six
lines
each),
merely stating
that in the
event of the
death of one of
the
spouses,
the surviving spouse would
be the recipient of the
deceased spouse’s shares
of the corporation. In the
event of the death of both
spouses, the Letter of
Wishes lists the beneficiary
of the corporation.
Our
Letters of Wishes only
covers our corporation, as
our home and the land it is
on are the only items in our
corporation. We retain the
original Letters of Wishes

In principle as a foreigner,
you are able to dispose of
your Panamanian assets
through a well-written will of
your home country, which
may be valid in Panama.
However, it is necessary to
check the treaties between
Panama and the country of
your foreign will to determine
validity and further legal
consequences.
We tried to get beneficiaries
listed on our Panamanian
bank account. Our bank
requires that the benefactors
be consignors, which would
mean that they would have
to declare the foreign bank
account in the U.S. (which
would subject them to tax
ramifications in the U.S.).
Also consignors have direct
access to the bank account.
So after consulting with our
attorney, we decided that we
needed a Panamanian will.
The process of obtaining a
will in Panama is a formal
process that requires a
lawyer and interpreters for
t