Cost For Executor/Administrator Of Last Will

[erre191]

Good day

Does anybody know what the average, reasonable, to be expected cost for the executor/administrator (Thai lawyer, not private individual) of a Will is. The duties include: Transfer of 1 condo, transfer of 2 Thai bank accounts, transfer of 1 foreign bank-account to 1 sole heir, Thai national. Total assets incl. condo value around: 8 Mio Baht.

What do I have to expect to pay? Is it a fixed amount? A percentage? Is it based on value or on actual work involved, which would not be much. Thank you for any advise. Erre :jap:

[Richard4849]

I've heard that 5% of the estate value is typical.

[Chopper]

^

Or you could ask for a fixed price and get a few quotations.

[Richard4849]

^

Or you could ask for a fixed price and get a few quotations.

Naturally.

[kunash]

that is in fact a very important question to ask, which is often overlooked.

I can tell you what i paid in the UK ( may or may not be useful to you - but UK solicitors are more expensive ). My aunt died and i was a joint executor with a firm a solicitors and they charged about 500,000b on an estate of 70million baht. and they did all the work, and the estate was complicated.

[erre191]

Thanks so far, any actual experiences here in Thailand, by Thai lawyers? Thanks again. Great Forum and great help for many! Erre :jap:

[Richard4849]

My Thai lawyer has asked for 5%. I ended up appointing a friend to handle it.

[lovetotravel]

If it's a simple will, you can do it yourself. Save some money, do some research, and you will be fine.

Same applies to marriage visas. I got all kinds of expensive quotes from lawyers who offered to help. In the end, I did it myself and it worked out great.

[Richard4849]

He's talking about getting someone to be executor -- not to write up the document.

[erre191]

He's talking about getting someone to be executor -- not to write up the document.

Exactly, thank you. I think this is a subject that might be of interest to many of us. I became aware of this, as I have been warned by several foreigners that they had been charged up to 20% of the estate value by Thai lawyers and/or so called consulting and law firms for reasonably simple administrations of a will: 1 visit to the court to get the executor confirmed by the judge, then 1 visit to the land office to get a couple of condos transferred, 2 visits to the manager of your local bank to get 2 accounts transferred to the sole heir.

20% of 12 Mio >>>> 2.4 Mio in legal fees. In a couple of cases foreign intermediary (Thai Company) in the middle. Defintely, never name anybody in official capacity (i.e. lawyers,(foreign) consulatants etc.) to be your executor. Your (sole) heir can be named and if he needs any help or support with the will, then hire a "pro" by the hour. Over to you guys. Still hoping for some real life experiences. :jap:

[Chopper]

^ erre191, You seem to have a good grasp of what needs to be done.

There is no reason that the Thai lawyer should need to be privy to the value of an estate.

Several years ago I was the executioner/administrator to my friends’ estate. I paid ฿50,000 for the Thai lawyer as the fee. Once the court had provided Grant of Probate I took this to the banks and closed the accounts myself and received cheques. The vehicles were transferred to the beneficiaries. The house deed and condo deeds were transferred. The only extra costs involved were bringing the company accounts up to date and a small tax bill. Then dissolution of the company took place.

This probate had multiple beneficiaries, a house several condos, multiple banks, vehicles and a comapny.

The lawyer that wrote the Will does not need to be the lawyer acting in probate.

[erre191]

^ erre191, You seem to have a good grasp of what needs to be done.

There is no reason that the Thai lawyer should need to be privy to the value of an estate.

Several years ago I was the executioner/administrator to my friends’ estate. I paid ฿50,000 for the Thai lawyer as the fee. Once the court had provided Grant of Probate I took this to the banks and closed the accounts myself and received cheques. The vehicles were transferred to the beneficiaries. The house deed and condo deeds were transferred. The only extra costs involved were bringing the company accounts up to date and a small tax bill. Then dissolution of the company took place.

This probate had multiple beneficiaries, a house several condos, multiple banks, vehicles and a comapny.

The lawyer that wrote the Will does not need to be the lawyer acting in probate.

Thank you Chopper for this competent and complete description! Erre :jap:

[Nawtier]

My god....last person on Earth i would want to have control and execution of my Will is a Thai lawyer.

[Bagwan]

The lawyer that I have used for some minor work told me that he would never assent to act as the Executor of a Will. He strongly advised me to arrange for somebody that I could trust rather than any Thai legal beagle. He stated that he did not trust himself to act in the interest of those benefiting and that he knew that it was common practice for other lawyers to dip into the goodies pool. He said that he would never accept power of attorney either for the same reason.

My understand is that a Will executed in Thailand refers only to those assets within the Kingdom. Separate Wills should be made out in those countries where other assets are held.

[Chopper]

The Thai lawyer is not the executioner/administrator and has no capacity to dip into the estate. The lawyer sets up a court date (amongst other duties) where I was present and sworn in to become the administrator. Grant of probate is received some weeks later. When you go to the banks for example the bank want to see your passport, a copy of the Will, a copy of the grant of Probate and so on.

Again at the land office the lawyer is only there to facilitate the process.

Unless a lawyer has forged a new Will, obtained grant of probate in his own name then there is little chance of things going wrong. Best advice is to have someone recommend a lawyer for you.

Yes you should have a separate Will for each country one holds assets in.

edit: the banks/land office etc wish to see your original passport, Will and grant of probate issued by the court.

Edited June 19, 2011 by Chopper

[SolarOhm]

The smartest and most economic thing to do is to establish the holding structure NOW - before you die. You can not come back later on opnce you are dead to rule from the grave or alter things.

If you have investment assets that will be transferred later on at appreciated values the tax on that will be a killer - lucky you will already be gone and buried.

By setting up a structure now that will remain intact continuing to hold assets after you have gone will only require paying directors fees. Call them executors or administrators if you like - but the costs this way will be quite minimal.

Whatever you do best not to allow your estate to fall in to the hands of lawyers and administrators, as the opportunities to gouge will be tempting; and the tax impact devasting!