Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.
Last updated on September 5, 2026
Intestacy (การตายโดยไม่มีพินัยกรรม, kan tai doi mai mi phinaikam; a person who dies this way is said to die intestate) is the situation in which someone dies without a valid will, or with a will that does not dispose of the whole estate. The Civil and Commercial Code then distributes the estate, or the part the will did not cover, to the statutory heirs in the order fixed by Section 1629, with the surviving spouse taking the share set by Section 1635. The rules are mechanical and take no account of who was close to the deceased, who was dependent on them, or what they said they wanted.
Table of Contents
How the Code distributes an intestate estate
Section 1620 sends the estate to the statutory heirs whenever there is no will, the will is void, or the will leaves part of the property undisposed. The estate is first reduced by dividing the marital property, so a surviving spouse keeps their own half of the sin somros before inheriting anything. The remainder then goes to the nearest surviving class: descendants first, then parents, full-blood siblings, half-blood siblings, grandparents, and uncles and aunts. Parents inherit alongside children, each taking a child’s share; every other class is excluded by the class above it.
The spouse’s share depends on who else survives: an equal share with each child; half the estate where the deceased left only parents or full-blood siblings; two thirds against half-siblings, grandparents or uncles and aunts; and the whole estate where no relative in any class is alive. Where there is neither spouse nor relative, the estate passes to the State (Section 1753). An heir’s claim must be brought within one year of learning of the death (Section 1754), and a court must still appoint an estate administrator before anything is transferred.
Where intestacy hurts foreigners
The unregistered partner. A Thai partner of many years who never registered the marriage at a district office is not a statutory heir and receives nothing. A child the deceased never legally acknowledged inherits from a Thai mother but from a foreign father only after legitimation or a court order. In both cases the estate goes to parents or siblings abroad who may never have visited Thailand.
The estate nobody administers. Without a will, the family must agree who applies to the court, gather birth and marriage certificates from the home country, have them legalised and translated, and prove the family tree; an intestate estate with foreign relatives commonly takes 8 to 16 months to a usable court order, against 3 to 6 with a Thai will. A foreign heir who receives land needs ministerial permission under Section 93 of the Land Code or must sell within a year. The cure is cheap: a bilingual Thai will naming an administrator removes almost all of this.
Intestacy compared with a will
| Question | Intestacy | Valid Thai will |
|---|---|---|
| Who inherits | Statutory heirs in the order of Section 1629 | Anyone the testator names, related or not |
| Unregistered partner | Nothing | Whatever the will gives |
| Who administers | Whoever the heirs agree on and the court accepts | The administrator the will names, confirmed by the court |
| Time to court order | Often 8 to 16 months | About 3 to 6 months |
Partial intestacy is the version people do not see coming. A will that leaves “my condominium” to one person and says nothing about the bank accounts leaves those accounts to the statutory heirs, and a will that names a beneficiary who has since died, without a substitute, sends that gift into intestacy too. A residuary clause covering everything not otherwise mentioned closes the gap.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if a foreigner dies in Thailand without a will?
The Thai assets pass to the statutory heirs under Section 1629: children first (with parents taking a child’s share), then parents, siblings, grandparents and uncles and aunts, with a registered spouse sharing under Section 1635. A court must appoint an estate administrator before banks or the Land Office release anything.
Does a Thai girlfriend or unregistered wife inherit under intestacy?
No. Only a spouse from a registered marriage is a statutory heir. An unregistered partner receives nothing under intestacy, however long the relationship lasted, and can inherit only if a valid will names them.
How long do heirs have to claim an intestate estate in Thailand?
One year from the date the heir knew or should have known of the death, under Section 1754, with an absolute limit of ten years. The position is different where an estate administrator already holds the assets for the heirs, so a claim that looks late is worth checking.
See also: statutory heir, six classes of statutory heirs, estate administrator, marital property, and the guides on dying without a will in Thailand and making a last will.
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