A few questions about multinational marriage, surnames, banking

[Utopos]

Hi. My wife is Argentine by birth and a naturalized U.S. citizen. We married in the U.S. years ago and, not expecting to return to here, she took my last name. All our financials in the U.S. use my surname, including her Social Security deposits, and her U.S. passport, etc..

Here, however, she uses her maiden name as that is what's on her DNI and Argentina passport. Her having two different last names --- mine in the U.S. and her maiden name in Argentina --- complicates life a bit and I'm searching for the best workaround/solution. My goal is to make things as easy as possible for her, should something happen to me.

For simplicity's sake, using the same name in both countries seems a good idea.
Is it possible to change her last name in Argentina? We have an apostilled certified marriage certificate (though not translated), her U.S. naturalization certificate, and U.S. passport .Or...is changing her name back to her maiden name in the U.S. while still here a viable alternative? Could she get a DNI under my surname with her U.S. documents, to open a bank accounts in that name?

Today our local Registro Civil was unsure how to even register our U.S. marriage here to make it official, but they said they'd look into it.

Social Security - hers now goes into our Schwab account. Can she open an account at Banco Macro and have SS sent there instead, and with what last name? The guy at our local Macro branch didn't have a clue (nor did he know where their central office is in CABA, seriously). I know SS (in dollars) can be sent to Banco Macro when applying initially, but can it can be redirected there later? I imagine the receiving account would have to match her name with Social Security.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thank!

 

[LuckyLuke]

Her having two different last names --- mine in the U.S. and her maiden name in Argentina --- complicates life a bit and I'm searching for the best workaround/solution. My goal is to make things as easy as possible for her, should something happen to me.

Howdy Utopos,

My wife and I share the same situation as yours. She is a dual citizen that has her married name in the US and maiden name down here.

Given that each country is it's own system and don't really share anything, I'm struggling to understand the complications you are envisioning. Can you please amplify on what scenarios you are trying to avoid?

 

[Utopos]

Hey LuckyLuke! Thanks for the reply. You are, of course correct. However there are a few complicating factors I neglected to mention.
Still, having her Social Security sent directly to Argentina would simplify things for her were I not here. Can SS payments with my surname be sent to a Banco Macro account in her maiden name... or would she need to/be able to open a Macro account in my surname?

Did you do anything so that Argentina recognizes your U.S. marriage? Is it necessary to do so?

 

[wineguy999]

Utopos, I'm assuming you don't have permanent residency in ARG?

 

[on the brink]

Can SS payments with my surname be sent to a Banco Macro account in her maiden name... or would she need to/be able to open a Macro account in my surname?

Check with your bank - they should know the best way to do it. Argentine banking regulations change all the time, and only banks keep up with them.
If your local branch people don't know, they will steer you to their international transfer desk. It may take a day or so to reach the right person.

Best of luck....!

 

[LuckyLuke]

Hey LuckyLuke! Thanks for the reply. You are, of course correct. However there are a few complicating factors I neglected to mention.
Still, having her Social Security sent directly to Argentina would simplify things for her were I not here. Can SS payments with my surname be sent to a Banco Macro account in her maiden name... or would she need to/be able to open a Macro account in my surname?

Did you do anything so that Argentina recognizes your U.S. marriage? Is it necessary to do so?

No, I didn't do anything to recognize our marriage. However, I should mention that many of our USA bank accounts still have her maiden name.

My wife has initiated wires to herself in the past and it was required to be a "mirror" account, i.e. the same owner on both sides. The SSA likely already recognizes your wife's maiden name, so I don't think an outbound direct deposit to an Argentine maiden name account should be an issue on their end.

What remains then is what documentation Macro would require to recognize her married name in the US. Personally, I think an apostilled Marriage certificate should be sufficient. But we would probably want to test that out.

I'm a little confused as to how you haven't tested this already. Do you have a USD account down here yet? If so, in whose name is it? In whose name is the Schwab account? How are you receiving the SSA funds down here right now?

 

[Utopos]

I remember reading about the need for accounts to be in the identical name in both countries, though not recently, don't remember what for, and things may have changed since then. This is perhaps the cause of my nagging suspicion of potential problems.

I'm a permanent resident and have both peso and dollar accounts, though in my name only. Schwab (U.S.) is joint using my surname. I transfer $ for living expenses using WU (when it works, which currently not), MoneyGram, or a brokerage account (all in my name only).

Our house too is in my name only, something which we also need to <cough> address. Argentina has archaic laws regarding wills and inheritance, a subject of another post perhaps. No, you cannot say where/to whom YOUR things go... better do it BEFORE your expiration date.

It is me (using my name) that does all things financial/technical both here and in the U.S. If you need award-winning Spanish poetry and/or beautiful paintings, my wife is your gal. However financial matters/technical matters are much easier for me than for her (geez sweetie, we've only 108 passwords...). "Progress" seems to make both financial and tech matters more complicated, less dependable and simple even for me. So often companies end up protecting me from myself, requiring multiple forms of authentication or flagging infrequent transactions. I... grumpily... deal with this. My wife would find many issues, now and future, insurmountable.

(not quite a P.S., but I loathe cell phones for SOOOO many reasons. Anyway...)

Even such a "simple" thing as death benefit payments, are a headache. In my case, none can be sent out of the U.S. And nope, not to Schwab either. A checking account is opened (someplace, perhaps BoA), a checkbook mailed... to an address in the U.S. where we actually have never lived. Hopefully my brother will outlast me and be willing to forge a deposit into Schwab? So far he's saying 'yes-no'.

We'll get to Banco Macro HQ one day soon to ask about transferring dollar deposits here, and perhaps contact the embassy Federal Benefits Unit (if they still exist).

Don't mean to be grumpy but it's the only thing I'm somewhat good at. <practicing in mirror> Grrrrrr!!

Gracias para todos

 

[wineguy999]

I'm a permanent resident and have both peso and dollar accounts, though in my name only. Schwab (U.S.) is joint using my surname. I transfer $ for living expenses using WU (when it works, which currently not), MoneyGram, or a brokerage account (all in my name only).

If you submitted a translated copy of you marriage certificate with an apostille for your permanent residency, then your marriage has been recognized as legitimate by Argentina. Important to note that my wife never used my name, always keeping her own, so there was no room for confusion or denial. It took us a couple of meetings pointing out that acceptance of the marriage document constitutes official recognition, but it was certified. YMMV.

 

[LuckyLuke]

It is me (using my name) that does all things financial/technical both here and in the U.S. If you need award-winning Spanish poetry and/or beautiful paintings, my wife is your gal. However financial matters/technical matters are much easier for me than for her (geez sweetie, we've only 108 passwords...). "Progress" seems to make both financial and tech matters more complicated, less dependable and simple even for me. So often companies end up protecting me from myself, requiring multiple forms of authentication or flagging infrequent transactions. I... grumpily... deal with this. My wife would find many issues, now and future, insurmountable.

We have much in common my friend. I too handled all administration and finances in the USA and still do. When we came down here 3 years ago I was too bewildered to manage anything at the same level. My wife initially did all the administration and finances until I was able to comfortably take it over. She could administer it if she had to, but she doesn't enjoy it the same way I do. My wife still cannot remember any of her passwords. But I'm confident that in my absence she would get along just fine in life, resetting her passwords a lot I'm sure.

That being said, having all the accounts in your name is in my opinion, probably not a great idea. Regardless, Argentina has very specific laws about common law marriages and the rights to the estate of the surviving spouse vs. children. It can get very complicated if there are prior marriages with prior children or if you two end up separating at any point in the future. I would definitely read up on this or consult a professional if you prefer so you can properly plan your estate in a way that won't tie up all your assets in a lengthy probate. In other words organize everything so she'll have access to funds and assets without having to prove to a judge that it's 50% hers by law (and the rest to be distributed evenly to children).

This will give you not only a head start on avoiding costly inheritance pitfalls, but most likely the peace of mind you seek.

 

[Utopos]

I received permanent residency before we were married, so nothing concerning our marriage has been submitted to Argentina as yet.

My wife does have one bank account here in her name (which I just remembered), but only in pesos. At a minimum, we will add a dollar account there and see about Banco Macro.

...and we do need to seek legal advice.

Many thanks!