Questions?
We reply within 24 hours, free of charge.
A foreigner with assets in Thailand usually needs two wills: a Thai will for everything in Thailand and a home-country will for the rest (ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026). The two do not clash if each is expressly limited to its own assets and neither revokes the other. Rules are stated as of 6 October 2026.
In short
- The usual structure is a Thai will for Thai assets and a separate will for assets elsewhere (ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026).
- A Thai will shortens the wait: the estimate is 3 to 6 months to the court order against 12 to 24 or more with a foreign will (ThaiLawOnline, 3 October 2026). These are market estimates, not law.
- A later will revokes an earlier one only where they conflict, unless the testator said otherwise (Civil and Commercial Code s. 1697). A clause revoking "all earlier wills" can cancel the other will too.
- An ordinary will is signed before two witnesses present together (s. 1656), and the testator must be at least 15 (s. 1703). Heirs and their spouses cannot witness.
- By the Act's text, a foreign heir without s. 19 status must sell an inherited condo within a year, so write the sale plan into the will.
Why do you need two wills?
Thai assets go through the Thai Probate Court, and a foreign will must be legalised and translated first. A Thai will removes that step: the text is in Thai and the administrator is named in advance, so the court appoints one in 3 to 6 months against 12 to 24 or more with a foreign will (ThaiLawOnline, 3 October 2026).
| Thai will | Home-country will | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Condo, lease, usufruct, accounts and shares in Thai companies that sit in Thailand | Everything held in other countries |
| Checked by | The Thai Probate Court | The court or registry at home |
| Language and papers | Thai text; heirs' foreign documents are translated and legalised | Your country's language and forms |
| Executor | The administrator named in the will attends the Thai court | An executor under home law; a foreign grant has no force in Thailand |
| Situation | Time to the court order |
|---|---|
| Thai will naming an administrator | 3 to 6 months |
| No will | Often 8 to 16 months |
| Foreign will only | 12 to 24 months or more |
Add about a month for the no-appeal certificate and several months to transfer assets (ThaiLawOnline, 3 October 2026). Silk Legal describes what a Thai estate covers: real estate, bank deposits, vehicles, company shares and insurance policies in Thailand, while assets abroad follow the laws of their own countries.
How do you stop the two wills clashing?
Clashes come from revocation. A later will cancels an earlier one only where they conflict, unless the testator declared otherwise (s. 1697). So each will should say which assets it covers and state plainly that the other will stays in force. Six rules keep that tidy.
- Limit each will to its assets. State that the Thai will covers property in Thailand and the home will covers property elsewhere.
- Drop the blanket phrase "I revoke all earlier wills". Write "I revoke earlier wills as to property in [country]" and "my will in [other country] remains in force".
- Name the same heirs in both wills, or explain any difference. Unexplained differences invite a dispute.
- Coordinate executors. The administrator under the Thai will attends the court in Thailand (ThaiLawOnline, 3 October 2026), so name a back-up who lives here.
- Sign both wills at about the same time and keep the copies together.
- Review both after a marriage, a divorce, or a purchase or sale of property.
Your home-country will in the UK, US or Australia
Standard wills at home often open with a clause revoking all earlier wills. Ask your solicitor or attorney to limit that clause to assets in your home country and to say that the Thai will stands. An executor named at home still needs a Thai order, because a UK grant of probate or US letters testamentary has no force in Thailand (ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026).
Papers from home that the Thai court needs go through the legalisation chain: notary, foreign ministry, Thai embassy, then Thai translation. After 28 February 2027 an apostille replaces the embassy step for states that do not object (HCCH, 6 October 2026). Inheritance tax at home is a separate question we do not cover, so get advice there.
Example: a Phuket condo and a flat at home
Say you own a condo in Phuket, a lease on land under a villa and a flat at home. The Thai will covers the condo and the lease, names an heir and a back-up administrator in Thailand, and sets a sale plan in case the heir is a foreigner without s. 19 status. The home will covers the flat and your home accounts and says that the Thai will stays in force. Each has its own asset list and its own revocation sentence, so they cannot contradict each other. This is an illustration, not a client's case.
How do you make a Thai will?
Thai law knows five forms: ordinary, handwritten, public, secret and oral (ss. 1655 to 1663). Foreigners usually choose an ordinary will: written, dated and signed by the testator before two witnesses present together (s. 1656). The testator must be at least 15 (s. 1703) and of sound mind (ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026).
| Form | Witnesses | What to know |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary | Two, present together | The usual form for foreigners |
| Handwritten | None | Written by hand, with a higher risk of challenge |
| Public, at a district office | Two | The lowest risk of challenge by ThaiLawOnline's rating, though no full protection from a claim. ThaiLawOnline reports that since 24 March 2026 it can be made at any district office, not only where you are registered; we have not read the official text |
| Secret | Two | The contents stay private |
| Oral | Two or more | For exceptional circumstances, with a very high risk |
- Witnesses. Two adults who are not heirs or heirs' spouses, because a gift to a witness is void (ss. 1705 and 1653; ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026).
- Executor. Almost any adult can serve, a foreigner included. The Code excludes only minors, people of unsound mind and bankrupts (s. 1718). An executor who lives only abroad slows the case. Whether the person must attend court in person is disputed: ThaiLawOnline's probate page (3 October 2026) says the proposed administrator attends the hearing, while its article of 31 October 2025 says a licensed Thai lawyer can act for a foreign executor.
- Language. We draft a bilingual text so that, as ThaiLawOnline puts it (3 October 2026), the court has nothing to translate.
What happens after a death, and how long does it take?
After a death the will does not execute itself: an heir, the executor or a creditor petitions the Probate Court, the court appoints an administrator, and only then are assets transferred. A Thai will shortens the path because the document is already in Thai and the administrator is named (ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026).
| Step | What happens | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The death is registered at the district office; the will and documents are gathered | 2 to 4 weeks with a Thai will, 4 to 8 weeks without |
| 2 | Petition to the Probate Court (s. 1713) | Filed by an heir, the executor, a creditor or another interested person |
| 3 | Hearing and appointment of the administrator | Usually 1 to 3 months after filing |
| 4 | No-appeal certificate | About a month |
| 5 | Assets collected, debts paid, transfer to heirs | Several months |
The step guides come from ThaiLawOnline's inheritance guide (1 October 2026). The estimate of 3 to 6 months to the court order with a Thai will, about a month for the no-appeal certificate and 2 to 6 months to transfer the assets comes from the same site's probate page (3 October 2026). They are practice estimates, not statutory deadlines.
Which law applies, and what to write about condo, land and leases?
Thai real estate passes under Thai law, while movables such as bank accounts pass under the law of the country where the deceased was domiciled at death (Conflict of Laws Act B.E. 2481, ss. 37 and 38; ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026). The place of death decides nothing, and domicile is assessed separately for accounts and other movables.
| Asset | What to write in the will |
|---|---|
| Condo | By the Act's text, an heir without s. 19 status notifies the Land Department within 60 days and sells within a year (for heirs of a foreigner who bought with remitted currency the sources disagree). Say who sells and who receives the money, or name an heir with status or a Thai national. See Inheriting a condo in Thailand as a foreign heir |
| Land | A foreigner cannot own land. A foreign heir receives it only with Interior Minister permission, otherwise sells within a year (Land Code s. 93) |
| Lease | Sources disagree on whether a lease passes to heirs, so name the heirs in the contract |
| Usufruct | Ends when the holder dies, and a will cannot extend it |
| Superficies | Passes to heirs unless the contract says otherwise |
Spouse, marital property and tax
Only a registered spouse is a statutory heir, and marital property (sin somros) is divided in half first, so only the deceased's half enters the estate (ss. 1457, 1474 and 1625; ThaiLawOnline, 1 October 2026). Inheritance tax applies only above THB 100 million: 5% for descendants and ascendants, 10% for others, spouse exempt.
Same-sex spouses inherit the same way since 23 January 2025. A spouse's share is a child's share beside descendants, half beside parents or full siblings, and two thirds beside other relatives (s. 1635). More on intestacy: Inheritance in Thailand.
What next
Describe in the form below which assets you hold in Thailand and which wills you already have, and we will tell you whether they cancel each other. How a Thai will is made: Make a will in Thailand. A worked example: Two wills without conflict. What to do about a condo: Inheriting a condo in Thailand as a foreign heir.
Rules checked on 6 October 2026.
