Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Wills. We are also discussing foreign trusts and multi-jurisdictional Tax Matters. So for those who are unaware, Thailand does not subscribe to the Common Law tradition. Thailand was never colonized by for example the British; it just doesn't have that legal tradition. On top of that, Thailand has its own legal tradition going back to things like I made videos on, the Three Seals Law and other bodies of Law and basically the adjudication of matters through Thailand's Court System. A Civil and Commercial Code was promulgated toward the beginning of the 20th century and a lot of the law that we see that has to be abided by here in Thailand stems from that Civil and Commercial Code that arose back during that time period. So that's the thing to understand. There is no Common Law tradition in Thailand and therefore, Trusts are really something, basically they are just not done in Thailand. There are no Trusts because Trusts get down to the bifurcation of title between legal and beneficial ownership and Thailand does not make that type of distinction in their legal system; that's why Trusts do not exist here. 

That said, for those doing estate planning, as we have discussed in other videos, it is possible to draft a Will in Thailand and basically set up one's estate planning structure if you will around a Will. There are other structures that might be used depending on the circumstances in your case. 

Now the point of this video is, as we have discussed in many other videos, the issue of tax has come up and more and more, with I think it's a result of what I can only describe as undue foreign influence on Thailand, there is getting to be a lot more talk of Tax Matters in other jurisdictions, how that interacts with Thailand and an estate in Thailand. Long story short, whether or not foreign tax issues are going to arise, whether or not there is any connection with a Thai Will, and a Trust offshore and how there might be tax implications for that, for somebody for example inheriting funds in Thailand, all of that is going to require a really deep analysis of the underlying facts in a given case. For that reason, those who are interested in this stuff yeah, you are really going to want to contact a legal professional because it gets very nuanced in the analysis. The other thing to understand is for example, foreign Trusts just really aren't even recognized under Thai Law, again depends on the facts of the case. They may recognize it for what it is as a foreign entity, but they may not, for example a Court in what we would call Probate in the Common Law vernacular, probably will not look at that type of entity in much the same way that it would be viewed by a Court in a Common Law jurisdiction for example. 

So the thing to take away from this video is this stuff gets quite complex when you are talking about offshore Trusts and the interaction with it an onshore estate and what the possible tax implications might be for that. For those who again feel a bit overwhelmed by all of this, it may not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.