Révisé par ThaiLawOnline, un cabinet d'avocats thaïlandais agréé exerçant en Thaïlande depuis 2006. Avocate thaïlandaise en charge du dossier : Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., licence du barreau thaïlandais 3149/2556.
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Ab intestat (การตายโดยไม่มีพินัยกรรม, kan tai doi mai mi phinaikam; a person who dies this way is said to die ab intestat) is the situation in which someone dies without a valid will, or with a will that does not dispose of the whole domaine. Le Code civil et commercial 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 des matières
Comment le Code répartit une succession ab intestat
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.
Où l'absence de testament nuit aux étrangers
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 légitimation 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 actes de mariage 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 Code foncier or must sell within a year. The cure is cheap: a bilingual Le testament thaïlandais naming an administrator removes almost all of this.
Absence de testament comparée à un testament
| Question | Ab intestat | Valid Thai will |
|---|---|---|
| Qui hérite | 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 | Souvent 8 à 16 mois | 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.
Foire aux questions
Que se passe-t-il si un étranger décède en Thaïlande sans testament ?
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.
Une petite amie thaïlandaise ou une épouse non enregistrée hérite-t-elle en cas de succession ab intestat ?
Non. Seul un conjoint issu d'un mariage enregistré est un héritier légal. Un partenaire non enregistré ne reçoit rien en cas d'intestat, quelle qu'ait été la durée de la relation, et ne peut hériter que si un testament valide le nomme.
Quel est le délai dont disposent les héritiers pour réclamer une succession ab intestat en Thaïlande ?
Un an à compter de la date à laquelle l'héritier a eu connaissance ou aurait dû avoir connaissance du décès, en vertu de l'article 1754, avec une limite absolue de dix ans. La situation est différente lorsqu'un administrateur de succession détient déjà les biens pour le compte des héritiers, de sorte qu'une réclamation qui semble tardive mérite d'être vérifiée.
Voir aussi : héritier légal, six classes d'héritiers légaux, administrateur de succession, biens matrimoniaux, et les guides sur Mourir sans testament en Thaïlande ET making a last will.
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