Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing reciprocal Thai Wills. What are we talking about here with regard to reciprocals Wills? 

Generally speaking, I generally see these types of Wills in the context of married couples here in Thailand or couples that have a very long-term relationship even though they may not actually have a registered marriage. So what we are talking about here is exactly what the name implies, that there is some level of reciprocity between the terms of the two Wills i.e. one spouse in their Will says "hey in the event that I pass away, all of my belongings I bequest to or I bequeath to my other spouse", meanwhile it is vice versa; basically the other spouse has a Will that says the same thing. So just in case one pre-deceases the other, the other member or the other component of that couple will go ahead and inherit from the person who passed away and vice versa. 

For many reasons this can be a very effective estate planning tool especially here in Thailand, especially in a jurisdiction like Thailand which does not have things like trusts, a reciprocal Will may ultimately be the most optimal way in which to go ahead and plan an estate so as to provide for pretty much as many contingencies as one can with regard to estate planning within a marital context. So again this may not necessarily apply to everyone as again in the vast majority of cases where I see reciprocal Wills, you are looking at a sort of a marriage as being sort of one of the underlying components associated with it. Again I have assisted in reciprocal Wills for a number of same sex couples over the years notwithstanding the fact that at least as of the time of this video, it is not possible for same-sex couples to marry here in the Kingdom of Thailand but they still want to have an estate planning tool such as a reciprocal Will set up which will allow them to basically have the same type of protections as if they were in fact married or effectively or as close as you can get to it. 

Now as we have discussed in other videos, there are serious discussion about changes to the Marriage Laws here in Thailand which would allow for same thing marriage and that may actually change the analysis down the road with regard to reciprocal Wills. That said as of the time of this video, reciprocal Wills may be an effective means of making certain that both parties in a relationship are effectively covered from an estate planning standpoint.