Last will and testament is a vital legal document where its main purpose is to safe guard a person’s properties on the event of his demise. This document holds all the necessary information of who will inherit the property, when and how they will inherit it.
Your Last Will and Testament should be planned and prepared ahead in both your home country and in Thailand so that on the event of your passing, all your estate and legal rights would not be left blown in the wind. Through this document, it tells who will administrate the assets, pay the debts, and distribute what is left to the next of kin, as stated on the will.
In Thailand, your property becomes of importance once you sign the contract and make an initial deposit. Even before the transfer of the title you will have an asset to consider for your estate planning.
Drafting a Thai Will
Although it is horrid to think and talk about your time of passing, but if you really care about all your assets on who will inherit them, it is imperative to start planning ahead your estates. In the event of your death without having executed a will, your properties must be distributed in accordance with the laws of intestacy stipulated in the CCC article 1629 which are (in order of priority):
- descendants;
- parents;
- brothers and sisters of full blood;
- brothers and sisters of half blood;
- grandfathers and grandmothers;
- uncles and aunts
If you are married, half of your assets will go to your spouse before distributing them to your relatives. This is known as Sin Somros. The rest of your assets will be distributed to your relatives equally. In some cases where the intestate has no relatives and no Thai will, the estate will be transferred on to the Kingdom.
As such, we do strongly recommend estate planning to cover all of your properties and assets in Thailand. If you own freehold properties under a company, upon your passing, your property would not simply be passed on to your heirs. Instead, your heirs will receive them in a form of shares of the company as opposed to the actual property itself which can involve intricate legal procedures. If you don’t like this kind of distribution of your assets, it is very important to have your Thai will drafted ahead.
For more information, you can visit this resource page.