Thai Will vs Foreign Will for Expats — Which One Actually Governs Your Phuket Villa?

Why a single foreign will fails your Thai heirs

When a foreigner dies owning a Thai condo, a leasehold on Phuket land, or a Thai bank account, the assets are frozen at the moment of death. To unfreeze, someone must obtain a Thai grant of administration from the Provincial Court (for Phuket, this is Phuket Provincial Court in Talat Yai). The court will not accept a foreign will as a self-executing instrument — it must be probated abroad first, then that foreign grant translated into Thai, legalized by the Department of Consular Affairs (or, from 28 February 2027, Apostilled), and submitted as evidence. Only then does the Thai court issue its own grant. Elapsed time commonly runs past a year, during which the surviving spouse cannot access the Thai bank account.

The two-will structure

Will #1 — Thai will, executed in Thailand, in Thai language, covering only Thai-situs assets: condo unit, leasehold, Thai bank accounts, Thai vehicles, Thai company shares. Executed under Thai Civil and Commercial Code s.1656 (ordinary written will, two witnesses) or s.1658 (public document at the amphoe). Expected Phuket court processing: 2–4 months.

Will #2 — Home-country will, covering all worldwide assets except Thai-situs (UK real estate, US brokerage, EU pension, IP rights). Each will contains a mutual non-revocation clause: 'This will does not revoke, and is not revoked by, my Thai will executed on [date] in Phuket.' Without this clause, later-dated wills can accidentally revoke earlier ones.

Forced-heirship traps you inherit by nationality

French nationals: Code civil réserve héréditaire cannot be defeated by choice-of-law under EU Succession Regulation 650/2012 — but Thailand is not an EU member, so a Thai will disposing of Thai-situs assets is unaffected. Home-country French assets remain subject to réserve.

German nationals: Pflichtteil (compulsory share) applies to worldwide estate under German law, but Thai courts distributing Thai-situs assets apply Thai law — no Pflichtteil. Family agreement (Pflichtteilsverzicht) executed before death can waive it.

Muslim nationals from GCC states: Sharia forced heirship attaches to all assets globally under the personal-status law of the deceased. Thai courts respect a Thai will but the receiving family may face home-country claims.

Executing a Thai will — the exact 4-step process

Step 1 — Draft in bilingual Thai/English by a licensed Thai attorney. Common structure: preamble, revocation clause (Thai-situs only), specific bequests, residuary clause, executor appointment, signature block.

Step 2 — Sign in the presence of two witnesses who are not beneficiaries and not spouses of beneficiaries (s.1653). Witnesses sign, print name, and provide ID number.

Step 3 — Optional but recommended: register at the Phuket Provincial Legal Execution Office or file with the amphoe as a public document (s.1658) — this creates a court-recognized copy that cannot be lost.

Step 4 — Store one original with the executor, one with the attorney, one in a Thai bank safe deposit box (Bangkok Bank Phuket main branch offers this).

What happens if you die intestate in Phuket

No Thai will and no foreign will means intestate succession under CCC s.1629: statutory heirs in six classes — descendants, parents, full-blood siblings, half-blood siblings, grandparents, uncles/aunts — with the surviving spouse taking alongside. A foreigner-owned Phuket condo would pass to the statutory heirs; where no heir comes forward, the estate can ultimately vest in the State under CCC s.1753.

The five valid forms of a Thai will — and which one to use

The Civil and Commercial Code recognises five forms. A will that does not fit one of them is void, no matter how clearly it expresses your wishes, and the defect is usually only discovered after death when it cannot be cured.

• Ordinary written will (s.1656) — written, dated, signed by the testator in front of at least two witnesses present at the same time, who then sign. The standard choice for expats.
• Holograph will (s.1657) — entirely in the testator's own handwriting, dated and signed. No witnesses. Fragile in practice because handwriting must be proved and the text must be in a language the court can read.
• Public document will (s.1658) — declared before the District Officer (amphoe) with two witnesses; the officer records and certifies it. Slowest to make, hardest to challenge.
• Secret document will (s.1660) — sealed and delivered to the District Officer. Rarely used; a sealing defect voids it.
• Oral will (s.1663) — only in exceptional circumstances such as imminent danger of death, and it lapses one month after normal circumstances resume.

Where the two-will structure goes wrong

The structure itself is sound. The failures are almost always drafting and administration failures rather than conceptual ones.

• A general revocation clause in the later will ('I revoke all former wills') that wipes out the other will. Each will must revoke only wills covering the same territory of assets.
• Overlapping asset definitions — a residuary clause in the foreign will that sweeps in 'all my property wherever situated' collides with the Thai will.
• Witnesses who are beneficiaries or spouses of beneficiaries. Under s.1653 the bequest to that person fails, even though the will survives.
• No one knows where the original is. A copy is not a will; the Thai court works from the original document.
• Executor named who cannot or will not act. Name a substitute executor in the same clause to avoid a separate court application.
• The will is never updated after a divorce, a remarriage, a new child, or the sale of the asset it was written around.

Sources and scope

This is general information about a process, not legal advice on your estate. Succession outcomes depend on your nationality, your domicile, the exact form of ownership of each asset, and the law of every country where you hold property. Take advice from a licensed Thai lawyer and from a lawyer in your home jurisdiction before executing anything; the two wills must be drafted with sight of each other.

Primary sources: Civil and Commercial Code, Book VI (Succession), particularly Sections 1599–1755 for succession generally, 1629 for statutory heirs, 1653 and 1656–1663 for form and witnesses, and 1753 for bona vacantia; the Inheritance Tax Act B.E. 2558; the Legal Execution Department (led.go.th) and the Courts of Justice (coj.go.th) for probate procedure; the Department of Consular Affairs (consular.mfa.go.th) for legalization and, from 28 February 2027, Apostille of foreign grants.