Inheritance law in Thailand for foreigners, the working version

When a foreign national dies in Thailand without a Thai will, their Thai-situated assets, most commonly a condominium, Thai bank accounts, and any Thai-domiciled investments, pass under Thai intestacy law. The Thai Civil and Commercial Code sets out the order of statutory heirs: descendants, then parents, then siblings, then more remote relatives. A spouse is entitled to a share that depends on which other classes of heir survive.

For most British expats in a long partnership or marriage, the concern is not the order of heirs. It is the procedural weight of administering a Thai estate with no Thai will in place: court-appointed administrators, translation, notarisation, and waiting periods that can stretch to a year or longer. The assets are not lost, but they are frozen while the process runs.

A constraint for foreigners in Thailand is that freehold land ownership is generally not permitted. Most British expats hold property in one of three ways: a condominium in their own name within the building’s foreign-ownership quota, a long-term leasehold, or a structure involving a Thai-registered company.

Each structure has different inheritance consequences. A condominium in the owner’s name can be passed on, subject to estate administration. A leasehold may or may not be transferable, depending on its terms. A company structure brings company law into the question alongside estate law. The starting point for any estate plan is a clear picture of exactly what is owned and how.

The standard approach for a British expat with both Thai and UK assets is to hold two separate wills, each drafted by qualified lawyers in its own jurisdiction and each explicitly scoped to that jurisdiction’s assets.

The Thai will covers Thai-situated assets and is drafted in Thai, with an English translation or bilingually, by a Thai lawyer familiar with local requirements. The UK will covers UK-situated assets and is drafted by a solicitor qualified in English law. Each should state that it covers only its own jurisdiction and does not revoke the other. The most common error is a single global will that purports to cover everything everywhere; Thai courts treat such wills inconsistently, and the family can end up navigating two jurisdictions with a document that satisfies neither.

Administering a Thai estate without a will typically takes longer than most families expect. With a properly drafted Thai will the process is faster, but it is not instant. An administrator must file with the Thai courts, satisfy the court that the will is valid, and then distribute according to its terms.

Bank accounts are particularly susceptible to being frozen once the account holder’s death is notified. If a surviving spouse relies on a joint account, the cash-flow consequences can be immediate. Structuring accounts and keeping accessible liquidity in both jurisdictions is part of estate planning, not an afterthought to it.

A common misconception is that living in Thailand resolves UK inheritance tax exposure. It does not, at least not automatically. UK inheritance tax is assessed on the basis of domicile, not residence. A British national who has lived in Thailand for many years may still be UK-domiciled in the legal sense, and HMRC will assess the worldwide estate on that basis.

Domicile is a complex legal concept. It is not the same as tax residency, not the same as nationality, and not the same as where you currently live. Acquiring a domicile of choice in Thailand requires not only physical presence but a settled intention to remain permanently and an abandonment of the prior UK domicile. The bar is higher than most expats assume, and the burden of proof rests with the estate.

A structured approach for a British expat in Thailand addresses four things: what is owned and in which jurisdiction, what happens to each asset under the relevant intestacy rules if no will exists, what each will needs to say to achieve the intended outcome, and what the UK inheritance tax position is and whether any planning is appropriate.

None of these questions is insurmountable. All of them take longer to resolve if left until the moment they become urgent.

This article describes the framework of Thai inheritance law and UK inheritance tax as they apply to British expats. It is general information. The position depends on the specific facts of each estate, and the work should be done with qualified lawyers in both jurisdictions.

The estate planning service at /en/services/estate-planning describes the advisory process, and the guide at /en/guides/expat-estate-planning-thailand covers the documentation and decisions in more detail. For a 30-minute conversation about your situation, book at /en/book.