Father's passing
Hello,
I was hoping for some advice on how I need to handle my father's passing.
My dad moved from Australia to Thailand in 2003, before he moved he had written his last will and testament with an Australian lawyer and his sister was made executor. Ten years ago I received a letter from my auntie saying that dad had made me the executor, along with a copy of the will (this copy still has my aunties name listed as executor). I am also dad's enduring power of attorney. Today I tried to contact the Australian lawyer that the will was written with to see if they had an updated copy of his will but they have not yet responded.
Five years ago my dad moved back to Australia to an aged care facility in Qld (I am in NSW), he unfortunately passed early yesterday morning. He leaves behind his wife (whom I have not had contact with in several years) my sister and myself.
His wife, is a duel citizen to Thailand and Australia and dads house and possessions in Thailand are all to be left to her. Possessions in Australia are to be divided 50% to his wife and the other 50% to my sister and I, this is fine by us. The harsh reality of the situation is that his story is the typical old westerner marry and young Thai lady and she takes him for everything.
I do not believe dad has any assets in Australia to divide as he was living off of his pension which covered his aged care living arrangements with a hundred or two left over at the end of each month.
This weekend I will be heading up to Queensland to organise his cremation with the funeral home and the service at the church that he attended. We have also got plans to meet his wife at the aged care to divide his possessions. My only wish is that his ashes are dealt with lovingly and respectfully, my sister and I would like to spread them around the forest behind our childhood home. The only possessions we are looking for are photos.
My questions are, what are the chances that we will receive dads ashes? If dads will was updated with a different lawyer, if we cannot find a copy of the updated will at the nursing home, how do I go about finding it?
What else do I need to do in terms of debts (if any), Centrelink, Medicare etc?
We are hesitant to get a lawyer involved at this point as it seems unnecessary as it will be a big expense with little assets to divide, would I be correct in thinking like this?
Thank you for your assistance. It's really appreciated.