This information is for reference only and is not legal advice. Consult a licensed lawyer before any transaction.
Civil and Commercial Code - Succession
Civil and Commercial Code, Book VI
The information is reviewed and updated monthly against official sources.
In short
Book VI of Thailand's Civil and Commercial Code governs how a deceased person's estate passes to statutory heirs (six ranked classes plus the spouse) or by will, with foreigners able to inherit condominiums and leaseholds subject to ownership-quota and disposal rules, making a separate Thai-law will advisable.
1599: Estate passes to heirs at the moment of death
Succession opens automatically when a person dies, and at that instant the whole estate (assets, rights and liabilities) devolves on the heirs. No court order is needed for devolution itself. An heir can lose entitlement only on grounds set out in this Code or another statute, for example disqualification or valid disinheritance.
1600: What the estate includes
The estate covers every property of the deceased plus their rights, duties and liabilities, except those that by law or by their own nature attach personally to the deceased and end at death. Thus most ownership rights and contractual claims pass on, while purely personal rights expire.
1629: Six classes of statutory heirs
Where there is no will, the law calls statutory heirs in six ranked classes: descendants; parents; full-blood siblings; half-blood siblings; grandparents; and uncles and aunts. The surviving spouse is also a statutory heir whose share is fixed separately. A higher class generally excludes lower ones from inheriting.
1630: Priority between classes; parents share with children
As long as any heir survives in a higher class, heirs of lower classes take nothing. The key exception: when the deceased leaves descendants, surviving parents are not excluded but inherit alongside the children, each parent counted as one child receiving an equal share.
1631-1633: Representation among descendants; equal shares
Among descendants only the deceased's own children inherit in their own right; grandchildren and lower descendants take only by representation of a parent who has died, is excluded or disclaims. Heirs standing in the same class and degree divide their part of the estate in equal shares.
1635: Share of the surviving spouse
The surviving spouse's portion depends on which other heirs exist: with descendants the spouse takes a share equal to one child; with parents or full siblings (class 2 or 3) the spouse takes one-half; with classes 4 to 6 the spouse takes two-thirds; and if no other statutory heir survives, the spouse inherits the entire estate.
1625: Division of marital property before succession
Before the estate is shared out, the marriage is treated as dissolved by death and the common (marital) property is divided between the spouses. The surviving spouse first keeps their own half of the joint property; only the deceased's half enters the estate to be inherited under the rules above.
1646: Right to make a will
Any person may, by will, dispose of their property and arrange other matters to take effect after death, provided the will complies with the legal forms. A will lets the testator depart from the statutory order of heirs, subject to formal validity and to limits such as the rights of a disinherited heir.
1656: Ordinary will in writing
The most common form: the will is made in writing, dated when executed, and signed by the testator in the simultaneous presence of at least two witnesses, who then sign to attest the signature. Any later erasure or alteration is valid only if made and attested in the same manner.
1657: Holograph will
A testator may instead write the entire will by hand: the whole text, the date and the signature must all be in the testator's own handwriting. No witnesses are required. Any correction must likewise be written and signed by the testator's own hand to be effective.
1658: Will by public document at the district office
The testator declares their wishes to a district officer (Amphur) before at least two witnesses; the officer records the statement, reads it back, and all sign. This officially recorded form is well suited to foreigners because it creates strong proof and reduces the risk of later dispute over authenticity.
1663-1664: Oral will in exceptional danger
Only where ordinary forms are impossible (imminent death, epidemic, war) may a testator declare an oral will before at least two witnesses, who report it promptly to a district officer. Such a will lapses about one month after the testator regains the ability to use an ordinary form.
foreigner-condominium-inheritance: Foreigner inheriting a condominium unit
A foreign heir may inherit a Thai condominium unit, but to keep registered freehold ownership the building's foreign quota (foreigners may hold up to 49 percent of total unit area) must still allow it and the heir must qualify under the Condominium Act. If not, the heir must sell the unit, generally within one year.
foreigner-leasehold-inheritance: Inheriting leasehold and land rights
Foreigners cannot inherit land freehold and would have to dispose of inherited land. A registered lease, by contrast, is treated as a personal right that ends on the lessee's death unless the lease contract expressly allows transfer to heirs; well-drafted long leases therefore include inheritance and renewal clauses to protect the family.
separate-thai-will: Why a separate Thai-law will is advisable
Thai courts apply Thai succession rules to assets located in Thailand. A separate will drafted under Thai law, covering only Thai property, speeds up probate, avoids slow recognition of a foreign will, and prevents conflicts with a home-country will, provided the two documents are worded so they do not revoke each other.