Inheritance in Thailand

[newnative]

2 hours ago, scoutman360 said:

If there is no Will, Suradit69 gave you the order of priority for who can receive the inheritance.

You don't need a lawyer to make a will.

You don't need to register it with the Amphor.

You DO need to have it written in Thai language (English can be included), have it signed by 2 Witnesses. Have an Executor assigned in the Will. There are many threads on this and talk about how the Executor must go about it.

Strangely enough, the last time I had my Will done in Thailand, they said the Witnesses must be Thai.  OK, whatever.

Banks will do something strange if there is no activity on an account. Eventually the money is frozen. Don't know about real estate, but I am sure that most building contracts state that if the owner doesn't pay his/her maintenance fees, the Jurasic Management can take the condo and sell it.

 

 

 

Witnesses do not need to be Thai.

[newnative]

    Always a good idea to have a Will that covers one's assets in Thailand and it's helpful to include funeral/body remains instructions.  When one dies, there's plenty that needs to be done; a Will does some of the work in advance.  

[Brunolem]

2 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

Normally the relevant embassy would be notified of the death. Embassies should allow/encourage their citizens in Thailand to register next of kin or friend to notify in case of emergency. They would try that, but then notify the police if they failed to find anyone willing to deal with it all since, I believe, the disposition of the body would be delayed pending that check.

 

Yes, of course you can name an heir ( a person, charity, whoever) who is unrelated to you.

 

The list of statutory heirs I included in my earlier post only comes into play if a will does not exist. With no will, the spouse, children, et al, if they exist, would become heirs in the order listed.  If there is no will and none of the statutory heirs exist, then property is handed over to Thai government, but the statutory heirs can be passed over if a will exists and names someone else ... anyone else.

 

In my Thai will the named 100% heir is not related to me by blood or marriage.

 

 

Thanks.

[Lacessit]

I have two wills, one in Australia, and one in Thailand. They both say the same things. Basically what's in Thailand goes to my GF here, and what is in Australia goes to my son.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, livram said:

 

Quote

Half of the time I see the first statutory heirs list as "CHILDREN" the other half states the first statutory heirs as "DESCENDANTS" which would includ grandchildren and great grandchildren.

So it it children or descendants? 

I'm not sure why the first part of this indicates that I posted that. 

 

Thai law is written in Thai. The English translation may vary depending on who does the translation. "children" or "descendants" are most likely translations of the same word in Thai and imply the same thing. 

 

From Thai dictionary "descendant:" I've removed the Thai words since we're not allowed to post in Thai. 

 

So "offspring," and "heir" come up when searching for descendant.

 

descendant n. (heir)
taa-yâat 

descendant n. (later generation)
kon-rûn-lǎng 

descendant n. (offspring)
 lûuk-lǎan 
 

 

And the English definition of "descendant" includes, basically, your offspring or children.

 

de·scend·ant

dəˈsendənt/

noun

plural noun: descendants

1. a person, plant, or animal that is descended from a particular ancestor.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2018 by Suradit69

[khunPer]

5 hours ago, manchestermike said:

On the same topic can anybody give a guide on approx cost of a will in Thailand.

Does it have to be certified by a laywer ?

According to "Thai Law for Foreigners" page 78-81, you can just write a will yourself.

 

There 5 types of wills:

A Handwritten Will in testator handwriting, dated and signed, but don't need witness;

A Regular Will, which can be handwritten or typed, dated and signed in presence of two witnesses;

A Civil Document Will signed in front of two witnesses at a district office (amphur), that also sign and stamp, the will can be left on file in the amphur;

A Secret Will that can be handwritten by testator or dictated, but signed, and placed in a sealed envelope brought to a district office by testator and two witnesses, where ownership of the will is confirmed and the envelope stamped by the amphur, the will can be kept on file at amphur;

A Special Case Oral Will, where under certain circumstances, there are no other possibilities.

[jayceenik]

I have made wills covering all my assets in favor of my live-in TGF.

In addition I have made a short document in Thai-English-French telling my Embassy to not bother to look for any relative to notify in my citizenship country,  Belgium.

This document notarized at the Embassy which keeps a copy.

The officials there seemed very pleased with my initiative as it will take work of them when I go.

 

 

[Oztruckie]

I had a will drawn up about 1 year ago by an ex Melbourne lawyer,now based here in Jomtien with his own business,cost 5000 thb.

[keithpa]

23 hours ago, jackdd said:

... and if you don't know who you should give it to i can pm you my details

My experience has shown that you will have difficulty getting a deceased person to sign anything. in

[livram]

A person that is descended from a particular ancestor would also include grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 

So I am still not sure if Thai law means "children" or "descendants". Can be quite a big difference.

 

Does anybody know for sure?

[Justfine]

18 hours ago, khunPer said:

According to "Thai Law for Foreigners" page 78-81, you can just write a will yourself.

 

There 5 types of wills:

A Handwritten Will in testator handwriting, dated and signed, but don't need witness;

A Regular Will, which can be handwritten or typed, dated and signed in presence of two witnesses;

A Civil Document Will signed in front of two witnesses at a district office (amphur), that also sign and stamp, the will can be left on file in the amphur;

A Secret Will that can be handwritten by testator or dictated, but signed, and placed in a sealed envelope brought to a district office by testator and two witnesses, where ownership of the will is confirmed and the envelope stamped by the amphur, the will can be kept on file at amphur;

A Special Case Oral Will, where under certain circumstances, there are no other possibilities.

No witness? Must be lots of forged ones.