Wills and inheritance: statutory heirs, the spouse's half, and why a Thai will pays off

Foreigners can inherit in Thailand and can make Thai wills. When a married person dies, the marital property is divided first as if on divorce — the surviving spouse takes their own half of the sin somros — and only the deceased's half plus personal property forms the estate (CCC s. 1625). Without a will, the estate passes to statutory heirs in six classes (s. 1629): descendants; parents; full siblings; half siblings; grandparents; uncles and aunts. The surviving spouse is a statutory heir alongside them, with a share that depends on which class survives (s. 1635). The folklore correction that matters most: only a registered spouse inherits. A partner of twenty years without a marriage certificate is not an heir at all, and spouses merely separated without registering a divorce still inherit from each other (s. 1628).

A will fixes all of this. The common form is a written will signed before two witnesses (s. 1656); the district office also offers an 'official document' will made before the registrar (s. 1658) for a fixed 50 baht fee, plus secret wills and safekeeping for small fixed fees — cheap insurance that also spares heirs a fight over foreign documents in a Thai probate court.

Land is the exception: a foreigner who is a statutory heir may apply for the Interior Minister's permission (delegated to the Director-General of Lands or the provincial governor) to keep inherited land under Land Code s. 93, within the s. 87 ceilings (for example one rai of residential land per family); anything beyond the limits must be sold within roughly 180 days to one year.