Inheritance and Probate in Thailand (Executor of the Estate)
If your family member died in Thailand TFL can help you through the inheritance and probate process so you can become executor of the estate.
Death of a family member is one of the hardest things we will ever have to go through. This difficult experience is only made more challenging when your family member dies in a foreign country like Thailand, where the laws are quite different from what they are in your home country. TFL knows this first-hand, having helped over 1,000 people whose family members died in Thailand. You can read more from TFL about what to do if your family member dies in Thailand here.
If your family member had property in Thailand, you will need to engage a law firm like TFL to assist with making you the executor of the estate. The first step is to take note of if your father, brother, mother, son, daughter, uncle, or other family member had a last will and testament in Thailand or not. For more details about making a last will and testament in Thailand, please read the TFL page here.
All inheritance matters must go through a court process. Some people will refer to this as probate, but probate has a different meaning in different countries. Thus, we will refer to it as becoming the executor of the estate of your family or an inheritance case. TFL does not (unless you need us to) become executor of the estate of your late family member. We want you to have the legal right to hold onto or sell the property of your deceased family member, as is your right in Thailand. TFL will, however, assist with every step of the inheritance process.
Inheritance in Thailand is more complicated than in many Western countries, but TFL knows each step of the process to make it simple and straightforward for you. Did you know that you can legally inherit all property (including condo ownership, cash in bank accounts, shares in companies, cars, motorcycles, and other items) from your dead relative, even if there is no last will and testament? The Civil and Commercial Code of Thailand details your rights. TFL can help make sure you get control of your relative’s property in Thailand.
Below are some questions that we frequently get, as well as TFL’s answers, in order to help you get a better understanding of inheritance in Thailand.
A: As the wife of someone who has died, you get the first 50% share of the estate, as well as another share of the remaining 50%, which will depend on the other heirs.
A: This depends on what documents are ready, if TFL handled the funeral arrangements, and the amount and variety of property included in the estate. However, on average, this process is expected to take around 3 months from start to finish.
A: The first step is to contact TFL for guidance on dealing with the body. You can read more about dealing with a dead body in Thailand here – During this process and our work as funeral director, we will get official copies of the documents needed in the inheritance court case process / probate.
A: If you have details of the account, TFL can have you assigned executor of the estate of your brother, which will give you the right to withdraw the funds from your brother’s bank account. The bank will issue the funds in your name. The relevant court for this jurisdiction is the Koh Samui Provincial Court, where we have a lot of experience.
A: TFL can utilise our contacts in order to find out how much money was in the bank accounts of your late father and see if it is worth going through the probate process in the Pattaya Provincial Court or not.
A: Usually this is possible. TFL has helped many of our clients appear via video conference system for the inheritance court case hearing. During COVID, we were able to do 100% of our inheritance court case hearings via video link.
A: No, it is not too late, and you can still gain access to the assets of your late uncle through the inheritance process in Thailand. TFL can help check to see if someone else (another family member usually) has tried to claim executorship for your uncle’s estate yet or not.
A: Yes, TFL has many clients in the areas of Pattaya and Banglamung (Chonburi). For the condos, first TFL will check the status of ownership in the condos, and then will notify you of your rights. Foreigners can own most condos in Thailand (as long as they are legally classified as such and there are no quote restrictions), and Pattaya is very friendly to foreign ownership of condos. Thus, we can help you become executor of the estate so that you can sell the condos.
A: Yes, TFL can help with the probate or inheritance process as well as marketing and selling the property in Udon Thani. We can execute this through use of power of attorney.
A: First we will check the ownership of the company limited. That is, we will see who the directors and shareholders in the company are. Thailand usually allows a maximum of 49% foreign ownership of a company, so it is possible that your dad only had 49% ownership of the company that owned the property. However, we can help regain control of the company, so that you can gain ownership of the company (and the property) to keep it or sell it.
A: TFL provides very fast responses to all inquiries. We are fluent in both Thai and English languages and can provide support for other languages including Russian. We have over 30 years of experience helping our clients get access to property in Thailand through the inheritance and probate process. Most importantly. TFL is trusted – we will make sure that you and only you are named as executor, so that you have the legal right to do what you want with your relative’s property in Thailand. Trusted by the British Embassy and many others, TFL is the best choice for fast, professional legal support in Thailand.
