As a non Thai, would my will written in English by a Thai lawyer be legal or must it be written in Thai?

Non-Thai wills have to be translated into Thai for submission to the Thai courts.

 

Best would be to make the will in Thai, with an English translation.

As trogers says, after your death the will will need to be officially translated into Thai to be acted upon.

 

It's also usually recommended to have two wills:  one for your assets in Thailand, the other for your assets in your home country.  This avoids some complexity for your executor(s) and makes sure that each will fully meets the relevant country's legal requirements.

5 hours ago, Oxx said:

 

 

It's also usually recommended to have two wills:  one for your assets in Thailand, the other for your assets in your home country.  This avoids some complexity for your executor(s) and makes sure that each will fully meets the relevant country's legal requirements.

 

 The most important  consideration with respect to a will in your home country is the choice of  the executors.

 

 it is the responsibility  of the executor to carry out to the letter your wishes.

 

For that reason the choice of executors should be chosen with care.

 

In my case I have already ensured that my executor is financed to deal with the cost of probate etc. etc.

 

Also

 

There is nothing to stop you having multiple  original wills. All identical . All signed and witnessed on the same day.

That way all involved i.e executors and beneficiaries  can each have an original

 

 

21 minutes ago, Delight said:

There is nothing to stop you having multiple  original wills. All identical . All signed and witnessed on the same day.

That way all involved i.e executors and beneficiaries  can each have an original

 

(1) I certainly wouldn't want beneficiaries to receive a copy of my will in advance of the fateful day.  It could give an incentive to bump me off.

 

(2) Multiple original will copies is OK in Thailand, but not in some (most?) other countries.

 

(3) Thai wills (specifically holographic wills) don't need to be witnessed.

23 minutes ago, Oxx said:

 

(1) I certainly wouldn't want beneficiaries to receive a copy of my will in advance of the fateful day.  It could give an incentive to bump me off.

 

 

 I can only suggest that you review your selection of beneficiaries

 

Possibly exclude those with murderous tendencies

2 minutes ago, Delight said:

 

 I can only suggest that you review your selection of beneficiaries

 

One never knows how the prospect of receiving a few million will affect the character of even the closest of friends.  Remember the old cartoons where the characters pupils would change to dollar signs? It can be like that.

When my wife makes wills for farangs she uses both languages. As I am sure you know a will has many different paragraphs so number 1 in Thai then number 1 in English, number 2 in Thai and number 2 in English, and so on for the whole will. Then at the end there is an extra paragraph stating that in the case of a discrepancy due to translation then the English version is to be used.

This is by far the best way rather than having separate wills for each language. Absolutely no arguments on the meaning of any part of it.

HL