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Wills & Inheritance

thailand law and legal last will and testament & inheritance

Having a valid will ensures that upon death, property is disposed of in the manner that the deceased wishes. If a person dies without having a valid will (called "Intestacy") then the property may not be disposed in the manner that the deceased wished. For example The spouse does not automatically receive all the property under Thai law.

You must be 15 years old and capable as mentioned in clause 25 of CCCT to write a valid Will in Thailand.

The Will can be in either the English ( or other foreign) language or in the Thai language. However upon certification or at time of use it will need to be translated into the Thai language, which can slow proceedings so its a good idea to have a translated and registered copy made at the time of making a Will.

Their are several forms of Thai Wills:
  • Oral Will - Only in time of war with two witnesses. 
  • Holograph Will - The testator writes their own will & it may not be witnessed.
  • Unregistered, witnessed Last Will & Testament
  • Registered Will by secret document
  • Registered Will by Public document
  • Living Will**
**A "Living Will", also known as a "Physician's Directive" This is a separate document from the Will and dictates how you will be cared for while you are still alive, if you are admitted to hospital and cannot peak write or perform any functions independently. It has nothing to do with property.

There are six classes of statutory heirs in Thailand, each class is entitled to inherit in the following order: (section 1629 of the Civil and Commercial Code “CCC”)

  1. Descendants
  2. Parents
  3. Brothers and Sisters of full blood
  4. Brothers and Sisters of half blood
  5. Grandfathers and Grandmothers
  6. Uncles and Aunts

The surviving spouse is also a statutory heir (Section 1635 CCC). It must be a legal and registered marriage.

There is no inheritance tax in Thailand however their are taxes involved during the transfer of property to the heirs and these can be minimized through the crafting of a Will.


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Excerpts:

TITLE II

STATUTORY RIGHT OF INHERITANCE

CHAPTER I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1620. Where a person dies without having made a will, or if having made a will, his will has no effect, the whole of his estate shall be distributed among his statutory heirs according to the law.

Where a person dies having made a will which disposes of or has effect for a part only of his estate, the part which has not been disposed of or is not affected by the will shall be distributed among his statutory heirs according to the law.

Section 1620. Where a person dies without having made a will, or if having made a will, his will has no effect, the whole of his estate shall be distributed among his statutory heirs according to the law.

Where a person dies having made a will which disposes of or has effect for a part only of his estate, the part which has not been disposed of or is not affected by the will shall be distributed among his statutory heirs according to the law.

Section 1621. Unless otherwise provided by the testator in his will, although a statutory heir may have received any property under the will, such heir is still entitled to avail himself of his statutory right of inheritance up to the extent of his statutory share from the estate which has not been disposed of by the will.

Section 1622. A Buddhist monk cannot claim inheritance as a statutory heir, unless he leaves the monkhood and enforces his claim within the period of prescription specified in Section 1754.

However, a Buddhist monk can be a legatee.

Section 1623. Any property acquired by a Buddhist monk during his monkhood shall become, upon his death, property of the monastery which is his domicile, unless he has disposed of it during his life or by will.

Section 1624. Property belonging to a person before he entered the Buddhist monkhood shall not become property of the monastery, and shall devolve on his statutory heirs, or may be disposed of him by any way whatsoever according to the law.

Section 1625. If the deceased was married, the liquidation of property and the distribution of the estate between the deceased and the surviving spouse shall be as follows:

(1) as regards the share in the property of husband and wife, the provisions of this Code concerning divorce by mutual consent as supplemented by Sections 1637 and 1638 and especially Section 1513 to 1517 of this Code shall apply; however, such liquidation shall take effect as from the date of dissolution of the marriage by death;

(2) as regards the share in the estate of the deceased, the provisions of this Book other than Sections 1637 and 1638 shall apply.

Section 1626. After Section 1625 (1) has been complied with, the division of the estate between the statutory heirs shall be as follows:

(1) the estate will be divided between the several classes and degrees of heirs as provided in Chapter II of this Title;

(2) the proportion accruing to each class and degree shall be divided between the heirs of such class and degree, as provided in Chapter III of this Title.

Section 1627. An illegitimate child who has been legitimated by his father and an adopted child are deemed to be descendants in the same way as legitimate children within the meaning of this Code.


 CHAPTER II

DIVISION INTO PORTIONS BETWEEN SEVERAL CLASSES AND DEGREES OF STATUTORY HEIRS

Section 1629. There are only six classes of statutory heir; and subject to the provisions of Section 1630 paragraph 2, each class is entitled to inherit in the following order:

1) descendants; 
2) parents; 
3) brothers and sisters of full blood; 
4) brothers and sisters of half blood; 
5) grandparents; 
6) uncles and aunts.

The surviving spouse is also a statutory heir, subject to the special provisions of Section 1635.

Section 1630. So long as there is any heir surviving or represented in a class as specified in Section 1629 as the case may be, the heir of the lower class has no right at all to the estate of the deceased. 
However, the forgoing paragraph does not apply in the particular case where there is any descendant surviving or represented as the case may be, and also the parents or one of them are still surviving; in such case each parent is entitled to the same share as an heir in the degree of children.

Section 1631. As between descendants of different degrees, only the children of the de cujus who are entitled to inherit. The descendants of lower degree may receive the inheritance only by the right of representation.


CHAPTER III

DIVISION INTO SHARES BETWEEN THE STATUTORY HEIRS IN EACH CLASS AND DEGREE

Section 1632. Subject to the provisions of Section 1629 last paragraph, the distribution of inheritance to the statutory heirs in the several classes of relatives shall be in accordance with the provisions in Part I of this Chapter.

Section 1633. The statutory heirs of the same class in any of the classes as specified in Section 1629 are entitled to equal shares. If there is only one statutory heir in such class, he is entitled to the whole portion.

Section 1634. As between the descendants entitled by way of representative to the division per stirpes as provided in Chapter IV of Title II, the divisions shall be as follows:

(1) If there are descendants of different degrees, only the children of the deceased who are the nearest in degree are entitled to receive the inheritance. The descendants of lower degree may receive the inheritance only by virtue of the right of representation;

(2) descendants in the same degree are entitled to equal parts

(3) if in one degree there is only one descendants such descendant is entitled to the whole share.

PART II

Spouses

Section 1635. The surviving spouse is entitled to the inheritance of the deceased in the class and according to the division as hereunder provided:

(1) if there is an heir according to Section 1629 (1) surviving or having representatives as the case may be, such surviving spouse is entitled to the same share as an heir in the degree of children;

(2) if there is an heir according to Section 1629 (3) and such heir is surviving or has representatives, or if in default of an heir according to Section 1629 (1), there is an heir according to Section 1629 (2) as the case may be, such surviving spouse is entitled to one half of the inheritance;

(3) if there is an heir according to Section 1629 (4) or (6) and such heir is surviving or has representatives, or if there is an heir according to Section 1629 (5) as the case may be, such surviving spouse is entitled to two-thirds of the inheritance;

(4) if there is no heir as specified in Section 1629, such surviving spouse is entitled to the whole inheritance.

Section 1636. If the de cujus has left several wives surviving who acquired their legal status before the enforcement of the Civil and Commercial Code Book V, all those wives are jointly entitled to inherit in the class and according to the division as provided in Section1635. However, as between themselves each secondary wife is entitled to inherit one half of the share which the principal wife is entitled.

Section 1637. If any surviving spouse is the beneficiary of an insurance on life, such surviving spouse is entitled to receive the whole sum agreed with the insurer. But he or she shall be bound to compensate either the Sin Derm or the Sin Somros of the other spouse, as the case may be, by restoring such sums paid as premiums as may be proved to have been in excess of the amount of money which could be paid as premiums by the deceased having regard to the latter's income or usual station in life.

The amount of premiums to be restored under the forgoing provisions shall in no case be more than the sum paid by the insurer.

Section 1638. Where both spouses have invested money in a contract whereby an annuity is payable to both of them during their joint lives and afterwards to the survivor for life, the latter shall be bound to compensate either the Sin Derm or the Sin Somros of the other spouse as the case may be, in so much as such Sin Derm or Sin Somros has been used for such investment. Such compensation to the Sin Derm or Sin Somros shall be equal in the amount to the extra sum required by the grantor of the annuity is order to continue to pay the annuity to the surviving spouse.