I want to amend / re-write my oz Will and have been told that it will not be legally binding if my signature is witnessed in LOS. Obviously I thought it could be witnessed over here by a lawyer and then posted back to the executor but have been told that it might not be legally binding.

If you have any knowledge on this subject can you advise.

thanks

I looked into this for quite a while last year and received a different answer from everyone I talked to, including lawyers in both countries. Same thing for if it's possible to have a single Will for more than one country.

The only thing that was never disputed was that a Will made in Thailand is valid for Thai property, and a Will made in my home country is valid for my home country.

As a result, I executed a Will in each country and can sleep well at night.

How about if you get it witnessed by the Australian Consul or somebody at the Oz Embassy?

I am just going through this very same thing and like another poster, I have had differing viewpoints.

I already have a Will drawn up in New Zealand, and I want to change it, however I have no intention of going back to NZ any time in the near future, so I asked if it was possible to get the Will drawn up in NZ and witnessed over here.

My NZ lawyer said he didn't think it was feasible, yet the Public Trust said there was no problem if the Will was drawn up in NZ and witnessed in Thailand, because the witnessing was purely about witnessing the signature and ensuring that all pages were initialled, so that nothing untoward could happen to it.

My lawyer now seems to agree with this and has drawn up a Will, which will follow a typical New Zealand Will format, and he will courier it to me for witnessing here and to be returned to him.

I would imagine the same would be true of the situation in Australia as the countries follow very similar patterns as regard this aspect.

For what it's worth, I have also drawn up a separate Thai Will which will cover any assets I have here in Thailand and it specifically states that this Will only applies to my assets in Thailand, so in effect I have 2 separate Wills, one for my NZ assets, and one for my Thai assets and I'm led to believe this is okay.

I just had advice from a really experienced lawyer who specialises in Wills and he said ''Witnesses can be in Thailand. A none witnessed will could even be valid - but you should always get 2 witnesses who are not beneficiaries and preferrably 2 who could testify or provide evidence later if there is a dispute. You could probably find 2 Aussies over there''