Will For Thai Woman

[paulfr]

My wife's sister is estranged from her husband for half a year now.

They own a big house on land that has been in the family for 100 years.

There is a 2nd house where her mother and father live.

If anything happens to her, the husband will get the house and half the land.

What does a Thai woman have to do to execute a will to leave her share

of the property to her mother or sister in case anythiing should happen to

her before the divorce settlement ?

Is it as simple as going to the Ampur with a signed will including

witnesses as it is in the US ?

Or is Thai law here very different and if so, how so ?

Thanks for the help.

[paulfr]

Dont think a bump will do much good, so .... I guess it is time to see an attorney here in Bkk.

[Pattaya46]

Hi,

If anything happens to her, the husband will get the house and half the land.

Why ? How ?

I do not think there is such a law in Thailand,

and don't forget a farang can't own land here...

[paulfr]

Hi,

If anything happens to her, the husband will get the house and half the land.

Why ? How ?

I do not think there is such a law in Thailand,

and don't forget a farang can't own land here...

First, the husband is Thai as is my sister-in-law.

I assume that without a will, the husband inherits the wife's assets.

I am sure it is true in the US but LOS may be different.

Edited February 9, 2009 by paulfr

[kamalabob2]

It certainly is possible and I think advisable for the Thai woman to have a will drawn up by an attorney. It is NOT expensive. Several years ago William White drew up custom wills in Bangkok for myself, my Thai wife and my Thai daughter. He (and perhaps other Farang lawyers based in Thailand) is able to speak and understand, read and write Thai as well as English. The wills were drawn up in both Thai and English and notarized are for a very reasonable sum. This was in two meetings at his law office in Bangkok that was easy to visit via BTS. From what I have read on various Thai web sites, there are statutory heirs UNLESS a will is drawn up. Before i visited this office www.usfamilyvisa.com I received price quotes from several law offices for wills and other legal work. He made my wife very comfortable with why and how the will works. Speaking in her native language was perhaps a help and I fully understood the wills since they were also in English.

[patklang]

Hi,

If anything happens to her, the husband will get the house and half the land.

Why ? How ?

I do not think there is such a law in Thailand,

and don't forget a farang can't own land here...

There is no mention in the post to suggest the guy is a farang.have i missed something here

[kamalabob2]

In Issan the local Amphur Office has a very simple, boiler plate type will in Thai, that Thai citizens can have filled out and put on file for a very nominal sum. This process certainly is a low cost solution with a non complicated estate. If the Thai woman married to a Thai (or Farang husband) dies with NO WILL, then statutory heirs fall into place for assets. Seems to me when I looked into this type of will for my wife it was under 200 baht and the will is kept on file at the Amphur office. My wife and I also visited a local Thai attorney and his price and questions were uncomfortable. He was grinding my wife for specific bank account numbers, etc.. so we passed on his services. His price quote was not in keeping with his educational and professional experience in my opinion.

In a way two answers for the original poster. They can go to the Amphur office and use the "Government form" OR hire a real attorney and have a custom will drawn up and use a LICENSED notary. Thailand has a probate process, so to avoid "troubles" and higher expenses down the line, not to mention serious "family conflicts" the small expense of a proper will is very advisable. Thailand and USA are NOT the same, but family situations can be identical, both good and not so good. The difference is that in Thailand you do not have to use an online service such as www.legalzoom.com to obtain a reasonable cost on a will or other legal documents.

[chiangmaibruce]

Paul, you can find details concerning thai wills and the relevant laws just by using google or yahoo with keywords "making thai will" or similar. Most of the links will be to the web sites of thai law firms, some better than others. You will soon come across extracts from the relevant thai law including for the example the formula used to determine who gets what (when there is no valid Will).

Not surprisingly you will also find relevant threads in Thaivisa using the search function (see top right this page). I would suggest marking the "search thread titles only" button - this reduces the amount of material you have to wade through.

[ballbreaker]

My wife's sister is estranged from her husband for half a year now.

They own a big house on land that has been in the family for 100 years.

There is a 2nd house where her mother and father live.

If anything happens to her, the husband will get the house and half the land.

What does a Thai woman have to do to execute a will to leave her share

of the property to her mother or sister in case anythiing should happen to

her before the divorce settlement ?

Is it as simple as going to the Ampur with a signed will including

witnesses as it is in the US ?

Or is Thai law here very different and if so, how so ?

Thanks for the help.

Will would provide best protection.

Wills can be be done as you say but make sure witnesses ARE NOT named as beneficiary.

Thai law is not same as US law. There is a pecking order on how assets are divided in this country when a will does not exist.

You did not say if land is in wife's name.

Edited February 9, 2009 by ballbreaker