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A typical situation assembled from practice; details are changed.
The request
A Thai relative of the client died. Under a Thai will, a condo in Phuket passes to the client, a British citizen living in the UK, and the will names an administrator. The client asked whether he could keep the condo and, if not, how long he had.
What we found
A foreigner can inherit a condo, by law or under a will, but does not always keep it. An heir with s. 19 status under the Condominium Act, such as a permanent resident, keeps the unit within the 49% quota. By the Act's text (ss. 19/5 and 19/7, English translation on Samui For Sale), other heirs notify the Land Department within 60 days and sell within a year. For heirs of a foreigner who bought with remitted currency (s. 19(5)) the sources disagree: a Tilleke & Gibbins analysis (1 November 2013) reports a Land Department clarification that such an heir steps into the deceased's rights, and we found no recent confirmation. The quota counts floor area, not units (Condominium Act B.E. 2522, s. 19), and it can change between a check and registration (terms.law, February 2026). The rules are stated as of 6 October 2026.
A fresh letter from the condominium's juristic person showed less area open to foreigners than the size of the inherited unit. While a Thai citizen owned the condo, it did not count toward the foreign quota; in the heir's name it would. He has no s. 19 status: no permanent residence in Thailand and no other ground we could find. The deceased was a Thai national, so the exception for heirs of a foreigner who bought with remitted currency did not apply. By the Act's text he has to sell, and on the looser reading, "keep it if the quota allows", the open area is not enough either, so we planned for a sale on both readings.
| What we checked | What we found | The decision |
|---|---|---|
| Status and quota | No s. 19 status; less open foreign area than the unit's size | We plan for a sale |
| Deadlines | By the Act's text, 60 days to notify and one year to sell | Count from the date of death, the earliest date |
| Court | The will names an administrator: 3 to 6 months to the court order, estimated | File in the first month |
| Inheritance tax | Only above THB 100 million from one deceased person | The unit is worth less; none due |
Table sources: Condominium Act, English translation on Samui For Sale; ThaiLawOnline (court timing, 3 October 2026; tax, 1 October 2026); terms.law (February 2026). The court timings are market estimates, not statutory deadlines: the 1 October 2026 guide on the same site gives close figures as the total time for the whole case.
What we did
- We asked the juristic person for a fresh letter on the open area and compared it with the Land Department's data.
- In the first month we filed the probate petition with the will, the death certificate, proof of relationship and the condo papers. His UK documents went through legalisation and a Thai translation. Whether a proposed administrator must attend the hearing in person is disputed: ThaiLawOnline's probate page (3 October 2026) says so, while its article of 31 October 2025 says a licensed Thai lawyer can act for a foreign executor. Here the administrator was a second Thai relative named in the will, not the heir abroad, so the question did not arise.
- In the same month we notified the Land Department that the condo was passing to a foreign heir.
- While the court worked, we found a Thai buyer, who does not count toward the quota, and agreed a price and a closing after the heir's title was registered.
- The court appointed the administrator. A month went on the no-appeal certificate (ThaiLawOnline, 3 October 2026); then the condo was registered to the heir and sold.
Foreign documents follow the general chain of notarisation, authentication by the foreign ministry and legalisation by the Thai embassy, plus a certified Thai translation (Bangkok Translation, 16 August 2026). The Apostille Convention enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027, but not for states that object by the end of the objection window (about 30 December 2026), and an apostille then replaces the embassy step. The HCCH status table listed no objection on 6 October 2026.
The result
The court appointed the administrator by the end of month five. After the no-appeal certificate and the transfer to the heir, the condo was sold to the Thai buyer in month ten, two months before the year ran out. Without a will, ThaiLawOnline's estimate (3 October 2026) for reaching the court order is more often 8 to 16 months, and the year could have ended before the heir became the owner. These are estimates, and another case depends on the court, the heir's status and the market.
The takeaway
A foreign heir should establish his s. 19 status in the first month and check the building's quota with a fresh juristic-person letter: without status, by the Act's text, the condo is sold within a year, and with status the quota decides.
Our approach is on the page Inheritance in Thailand. More on the rules: inheriting a condo as a foreign heir and checking the 49% quota. How a Thai will affects the court's timing: two wills without conflict.
