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Certification of Foreign Wills for Probate in Thailand

Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Probate of Wills in Thailand. We are specifically discussing this in the context of a possible foreign document. A document that might have been solemnized, certified whatever you want to call it, in a jurisdiction that is not Thailand but it may pertain to Thailand. Oftentimes we see this with respect to property that is here in the Kingdom. 

Now I should note I am not a Thai Attorney. I have put this in front of Thai Attorneys; they have vetted it. I am talking about this in a very general manner to provide information about this topic in a general sense to give foreign nationals an idea of what they might be dealing with respect to Probate of a Foreign Will. 

Long story short, we usually see this in the context of condos here in Thailand where you have got a foreign national who has got a condo here. They may have a Will from another jurisdiction. We have seen it a lot from the US and it mentions the condo and it says to whom it should go to. Now that foreign documentation, that Will may have been probated or it may not have depending on the circumstances but it may be written in accordance with another jurisdiction's laws etc. There may be a way to have that document probated in Thailand. Probate isn't quite the right word. I have had some of the attorneys in the office say "you use probate all the time. That is your word, we have our own word for it. It is slightly different", but long story short, adjudicating the disbursement of the deceased's estate might be a better way to put it to be a little less specifically on point to this common law tradition. 

But long story short, it may be possible to get that foreign will probated in Thailand or sections of it but that is going to be very case specific, very fact dependent. Definitely a good idea to contact a licensed Thai lawyer, a law firm, in order to get some insight and guidance into how best to proceed with that. Yes it is possible. We do deal with that from time to time.

That said, certification of that documentation may prove to be rather cumbersome and you may be dealing with a lot of what some may consider to be rather nettlesome, if not may be seemingly unnecessary formality but it is necessary in order to get your goal achieved through the Thai Courts oftentimes. For this reason, again it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional to gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.