Attorney in Chiang Mai: Last Will & Testament

[Mekong Bob]

Need recommendation . Well-established and reputable law firm in Chiang Mai. Solid experience with setting up Last Will (Thailand) for expat and Thai wife. Documented successes in Thai courts. Fees not to exceed 5,000 Thai baht.

Personal, family experiences most appreciated. Thanks!

[eyecatcher]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

[worgeordie]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

Its enough to give the b#$t^ds,If you don't have an amount going in they will fleece you,

Lawyers,Bankers,Insurance co. they all use the fine print to their advantage and can

wriggle out of anything,and doesn't everyone want the best at the lowest price? I am sure

do.

regards Worgeordie

[Rotweiler]

I do agree with worgeordie.... but....

Do you realize that there is no need for a lawyer in creating a valid will in Thailand? Draw one up yourself stating exactly what you wish to be done. The go to one of the many translators and have it translated into Thai.

Then go to your nearest Amphur office and explain you wish to make a will.

Cost? About 30B plus whatever tips you wish to give the people at the Amphur Office.

[opalred]

i could do it for you free but have to tell you my great great grandfather was sent to oz for fordging a will in old dart got 7yrs

looking forward to your reply

[Mekong Bob]

I do agree with worgeordie.... but....

Do you realize that there is no need for a lawyer in creating a valid will in Thailand? Draw one up yourself stating exactly what you wish to be done. The go to one of the many translators and have it translated into Thai.

Then go to your nearest Amphur office and explain you wish to make a will.

Cost? About 30B plus whatever tips you wish to give the people at the Amphur Office.

Nope, don't want to rely on a DIY Will. Only get one chance to do it right. Can't afford to screw it up.

[Mekong Bob]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

I understand that 5,000 baht is "the going rate," but that 15,000 baht is exorbitant. Obviously, you disagree.

[MrBrad]

So now that the price has been sorted out, returning to the original poster's question, are there any legal firms that are recommended?

[elektrified]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

I understand that 5,000 baht is "the going rate," but that 15,000 baht is exorbitant. Obviously, you disagree.

You won't get a reputable lawyer for 5KTHB. They will laugh you out the door.

[beau thai]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

I understand that 5,000 baht is "the going rate," but that 15,000 baht is exorbitant. Obviously, you disagree.

You won't get a reputable lawyer for 5KTHB. They will laugh you out the door.

Not true. Khun Sumalee Jennapa is both a lawyer and barrister and highly rated. She charges 5k for a Will.

Find her via google- her offices are at Punna 1, behind macs cafe on Huay Kaew, just over Canal Road at Dunkin Donuts junction- about 1km down on the left.

[Mekong Bob]

Thanks for recommendation, beau thai. I'll check it out this week, post my findings.

Hopefully, I won't be "laughed out the door" !!

[dingdongrb]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

I understand that 5,000 baht is "the going rate," but that 15,000 baht is exorbitant. Obviously, you disagree.

You won't get a reputable lawyer for 5KTHB. They will laugh you out the door.

[dingdongrb]

'reputable lawyer'

That's an oxymoron for sure!!!

[jonwilly]

"Cost? About 30B plus whatever tips you wish to give the people at the Amphur Office."

Back in the days when I was married. On the few occasions we had to visit the Amphur, the wife insisted on B200 from me which she placed in a white envelope.

On arriving at Amphur she caught the eye of the official's secretary the went over and in front of all other waiting Thais presented the envelope to the secretary.

We would be called up as next to do business.

The wife insisted that this was accepted practice by all local Thais.

john

[Mekong Bob]

Thanks for recommendation, beau thai. I'll check it out this week, post my findings.

Hopefully, I won't be "laughed out the door" !!

5K for a Thai will - confirmed. No more, no less.

No laughing, just lots of smiles!

[chiang mai]

Sorry but something I never understand......you want the best of everything for your will yet you put a budget on the cost, which is actually a pittance.

I would be embarrassed to mention 5000bt but you have more brass neck than me, surprisingly.

I understand that 5,000 baht is "the going rate," but that 15,000 baht is exorbitant. Obviously, you disagree.

You won't get a reputable lawyer for 5KTHB. They will laugh you out the door.

Not true. Khun Sumalee Jennapa is both a lawyer and barrister and highly rated. She charges 5k for a Will.

Find her via google- her offices are at Punna 1, behind macs cafe on Huay Kaew, just over Canal Road at Dunkin Donuts junction- about 1km down on the left.

+1, she charges 5k baht to write the Will and she is one of the best lawyers in Chiang Mai, I've used her many times for various pieces of work and she has always impressed.

Edited July 30, 2014 by chiang mai

[amexpat]

+2

[cusanus]

Quite sorry I hadn't researched this subject years ago. The negligence and corruption in Thailand can catch you unaware, and if you don't have an excellent attorney right out of the chute you could end up severely broke and in prison as well. It's probably more dangerous for Thais than farangs. Hear ye hear ye. The dogs have been raping my wife financially for several years and are now trying to take a grand sum of 3 million baht, strip her of the pension and send her to prison. Oh yeah. In 2007 my (now) good little wife was going through a divorce, in part because of issues surrounding her teen son's motorcycle accident that had left him badly disabled. A woman latched on and convinced Meaw that she was her best friend. Meaw now has 34 years as a government English teacher and is adored by more people than you could count. This woman sucked her into a Ponzi scam, convincing her that the high returns from her special stocks could take care of Meaw's son for life. Well, yeah, few people are that dumb, but some are and that's why we have laws against investment scams and bank fraud and standard procedures in all countries for investigating and prosecuting such crimes. She ended up giving this woman 500,000 baht initially in five payments, two being direct ATM transfers, one 20,000 baht in cash withdrawn the same day, and a 400,000 baht withdrawal from the teacher's bank deposited in person the same day in the slut's account.

When I first met Meaw in 2008 she was still excited about her friend and the stock investments. Her "friend" had returned about 28,000 baht in bogus dividends. I said no way, that woman is a thief and a liar and intends to do as damage as she can. Shortly after that, the witch also asked Meaw to cosign for a house she wanted to buy, 400,000 baht down (uh huh) and a 500,000 baht mortgage. She said this was because she was afraid her husband would steal the property, but it was more likely because she couldn't get credit. Then she also had her sign an undated agreement that Meaw would later sign back the land w/o condition. Yes, I know, don't say it. So, by 2010 I had convinced Meaw that this was all a scam and had her get a voice recording admitting to the money being taken for stocks, though we know this was a lie. Shortly after, she asked Meaw to sign back the property, and of course, Meaw said, no, first give me back my 500,000 baht.

Well, the papers might have you convinced that the police will investigate and prosecute bank fraud, and it is their solemn duty, but the reality in Thailand is a cruel betrayal. The police in most places (this is the Chiang Mai area) will NEVER investigate white collar crime, nor do they express the slightest shame. We tried several times between April 2010 and July 2014 and got nowhere. The first hearing on the property about june 2010 gave the property to Meaw because her friends gave strong testimony, and Meaw also explained how the woman had stolen her money. On the strength of that, she paid off the mortgage balance of 500,000 baht and thought that was it. But the witch appealed. At the 2nd hearing, with NO explanation or opportunity for anyone to speak, the judge ruled against Meaw. The only people there besides us and the judge was the other attorney, bang went the gavel, the tears rolled down Meaw's cheeks, while the attorney stared at Meaw in a vulgar way. Her own attorney didn't even bother to show, though he had promised to do the job. We generally thought he was just an incompetent man, but I'm convinced now that something scared him and he peed his pants.

The 2nd court had apparently never heard that the key responsibilities of a court and the moral imperatives of the justice system in any civilized country are to hear all material witnesses and reference evidence, it simply decided on its own well in advance that Meaw was lying. No court ever reverses a prior ruling without good reason. My own pleas to include my testimony and a bank subpoena to prove who was lying and who not were ignored. In any decent country such conduct of the court would have never been permitted and a retrial would be necessary, but in Thailand the court's decisions are locked in a box with the bones of innocent children and women bound in a matrix of mucous called mai pen rai, so it seems. After getting banged for a million baht, this was soon followed by criminal charges of perjury and demands for another 2 million baht citing 60 pages of incredible fantasy. The Sanpatong police officer who said he would try to have the other attorney dismiss criminal charges if Meaw pays up (now 1 million baht and they want another 2 million) should rightly be charged with conspiracy and extortion along with his buddy. but this is Thailand, baby. He refused to investigate the crime of bank fraud and determine who had committed the real perjury, but just told Meaw that based on the final court decision she could lose her job, pension and end up in prison for up to five years if she doesn't fork over 3 million baht - unless he can convince his friend not to pursue the criminal charge.

None of the men involved in this charade rightly deserve to be called men, they belong more in the category of rapists, but this is the dark side of Thailand. After these criminal charges were filed last fall, we hired Dr. Kiettisak and ICO. This is a really nice man, he seems very competent, but despite charging some pretty high sums, his assurances of getting a dismissal of the criminal charge and 2 million baht suit (60 pages of raw fiction) haven't panned out very well. and he recovered only 100,000 baht from the mortgage payoff. It seems quite clear to me now that the court made no mistakes and knows very well that the woman stole Meaw's money, but deliberately has chosen to ignore the evidence which is solid proof in any competent court. I'm now pretty sure that Meaw will end losing her pension and go to prison, but we will know next month what kind of "men" really run the show in Thailand. We have one more court hearing June 25th. That is Meaw's last ditch attempt to recover the stolen money and prove that she wasn't lying. The evidence (as brief as possible) that should be presented to the court can be seen at this link: http://bit.ly/1KgFVuo (names changed) The graph on page 10 summarizes the results of the subpoena recently obtained after five years of effort. I have several other 1-3 page testimonies (real names) in both English and Thai that are not usable because is is forbidden since the final court judgment to mention the property which Meaw had to forfeit last week. These and the court documents are accessible on a single private web link if you have a good reason to see it. The court records are over 300 pages with no evidence or testimony on Meaw's behalf.

The best attorney in Thailand at a price? That would be the witch's attorney no doubt. By now he has to be well aware of the facts, so he's an accomplice to bank fraud, perjury and extortion, but the police and the judges love the guy, he has a lengthy winning streak, and he's the cheapest piece of dirt you'll ever find. June 25 will make or break it for someone, I guess.

Edited May 15, 2015 by cusanus

[cusanus]

Ok, where are we now? Except for inexcusable negligence on the part of the police and courts, this witch should have been behind bars for bank fraud five years ago, but instead she's been using the court to eviscerate Meaw. I'm glad to have Dr. K, but I'm at a total loss as to why the criminal charges haven't been reversed. HELP me out here. I need a very efficient attorney who will prosecute this woman based on very solid evidence for bank fraud, perjury and extortion. I'll pay a decent sum to have the charges filed, double it once the court hearing on it is held, and double it once more once the witch checks into her prison cell.

[onthedarkside]

3 4 unhelpful posts have been removed.

Edited May 19, 2015 by onthedarkside
updated

[TheFishman1]

I sent you a pm

[cusanus]

I sent you a pm

Thanks, but I see no PM. Darn nice fish you got there though!

[namatjira]

3 for Khun Sumalee Jennapa, she is an old school lawyer and barrister of great skill, extremely pleasant , her fees are more than reasonable....she is impeccable.....be hard to find a better legal proffesional than Khun Sumalee Jennapa,

Make no mistake, take the advice, you will be glad you did.......she is highly regarded, and rightly so

[mesquite]

I hope she's better than her website.

http://29tanin.com/

Every link comes up "URL not found"

[cusanus]

3 for Khun Sumalee Jennapa, she is an old school lawyer and barrister of great skill, extremely pleasant , her fees are more than reasonable....she is impeccable.....be hard to find a better legal proffesional than Khun Sumalee Jennapa,

Make no mistake, take the advice, you will be glad you did.......she is highly regarded, and rightly so

Thank YOU SO MUCH! I think I'll get ahold of her tomorrow. I wouldn't weigh the website that much. You can do a terrific website with Weebly for free in an hour or two if you know what you're doing, but there is a mild learning curve. I wrote to a guy today but he didn't answer. Bed time, fellas, thanks for a few ideas. For the rest of you, I said I needed a mouthpiece, not a loudmouth!

[northernjohn]

I do agree with worgeordie.... but....

Do you realize that there is no need for a lawyer in creating a valid will in Thailand? Draw one up yourself stating exactly what you wish to be done. The go to one of the many translators and have it translated into Thai.

Then go to your nearest Amphur office and explain you wish to make a will.

Cost? About 30B plus whatever tips you wish to give the people at the Amphur Office.

a friend of mine who has passed away wrote up a simple will leaving every thing he owned in Thailand to his live in Girl Friend. He then took it over to the American consulate and had them stamp it as valid. Not sure of the terminology.

But it was sufficient. He never married her as she would have lost out on a survivors benefit from her last husband from the Vets.

[northernjohn]

Ok, where are we now? Except for inexcusable negligence on the part of the police and courts, this witch should have been behind bars for bank fraud five years ago, but instead she's been using the court to eviscerate Meaw. I'm glad to have Dr. K, but I'm at a total loss as to why the criminal charges haven't been reversed. HELP me out here. I need a very efficient attorney who will prosecute this woman based on very solid evidence for bank fraud, perjury and extortion. I'll pay a decent sum to have the charges filed, double it once the court hearing on it is held, and double it once more once the witch checks into her prison cell.

I think a lawyer to write wills is not exactly who you are looking for. They may be lousy at some thing else.

I hope she's better than her website.

http://29tanin.com/

Every link comes up "URL not found"

Worked good for me

[mesquite]

Ok, where are we now? Except for inexcusable negligence on the part of the police and courts, this witch should have been behind bars for bank fraud five years ago, but instead she's been using the court to eviscerate Meaw. I'm glad to have Dr. K, but I'm at a total loss as to why the criminal charges haven't been reversed. HELP me out here. I need a very efficient attorney who will prosecute this woman based on very solid evidence for bank fraud, perjury and extortion. I'll pay a decent sum to have the charges filed, double it once the court hearing on it is held, and double it once more once the witch checks into her prison cell.

I think a lawyer to write wills is not exactly who you are looking for. They may be lousy at some thing else.

I hope she's better than her website.

http://29tanin.com/

Every link comes up "URL not found"

Worked good for me

Click on Meet the team for example:

Not Found

The requested URL /meet-the-team/ was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

[cusanus]

Yes, my problem is somewhat off topic, my apology to all. Let me comment on the matter of wills from the perspective of age 67 and having been through all this many times in the past. You do NOT need to use an attorney for a will. All that is needed is a written and signed statement (the last if more than one). A matchbook cover might do, the problem is that unless notarized the validity is too easily challenged. In the states, you just go to a local bank and have it notarized and file it in a secure place. In Thailand, only attorneys can notarized, but you can of course go to the consulate and have them do it (probably cheaper). This is very routine for most attorneys in Thailand, shouldn't be any reason to shop around or expect to pay all that much. It's just a stamp of validation, nothing more.

I do agree with worgeordie.... but....

Do you realize that there is no need for a lawyer in creating a valid will in Thailand? Draw one up yourself stating exactly what you wish to be done. The go to one of the many translators and have it translated into Thai.

Then go to your nearest Amphur office and explain you wish to make a will.

Cost? About 30B plus whatever tips you wish to give the people at the Amphur Office.

a friend of mine who has passed away wrote up a simple will leaving every thing he owned in Thailand to his live in Girl Friend. He then took it over to the American consulate and had them stamp it as valid. Not sure of the terminology.

But it was sufficient. He never married her as she would have lost out on a survivors benefit from her last husband from the Vets.

[Langsuan Man]

First things first. Ask you wife how she feels about trusting her future to a Thai lawyer

You might just be surprised at her answer