Inheritance and wills in Thailand
If you own anything in Thailand — a condo, a bank account, a vehicle — a Thai will saves your heirs months of difficulty. Here is how succession works.
No will? The statutory order applies
Without a will, the Civil and Commercial Code distributes the estate among six classes of statutory heirs, in order of priority:
- Descendants (children, grandchildren)
- Parents
- Full-blood brothers and sisters
- Half-blood brothers and sisters
- Grandparents
- Uncles and aunts
A surviving spouse is always an heir, taking a share alongside whichever class inherits (and the spouse first takes their half of the marital property — see family law). Children and parents in class 1 and 2 share together in many situations; the exact split depends on who survives.
Making a valid Thai will
- Standard written will: in writing, dated, signed before at least two witnesses who sign too. The most common form.
- Holographic will: entirely handwritten, dated and signed by the testator — no witnesses needed.
- Official will at the amphur: declared before the district officer with witnesses — harder to challenge later.
- Beneficiaries (and their spouses) should not act as witnesses, or their gift can fail.
Foreign wills and foreign assets
Thailand can recognise a foreign will, but using one here means certified translation, legalisation and slower probate. The practical pattern most lawyers recommend: a Thai will for Thai assets and a home-country will for everything else, each carefully worded so neither revokes the other.
Probate is usually required
Banks, the Land Office and vehicle registries will generally not release or transfer a deceased person’s assets without a court-appointed estate administrator. That means a petition to the court, a hearing, and then administration of the estate — straightforward when documents are in order, painful when they are not. Inheritance tax currently applies only to large estates above a high threshold, with close relatives taxed at reduced rates; check current thresholds when planning.