{"id":6563,"date":"2026-09-05T19:07:49","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:07:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/glossary\/classes-of-heirs\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T19:24:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T12:24:22","slug":"classes-of-heirs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/classes-of-heirs\/","title":{"rendered":"Six Classes of Statutory Heirs (Section 1629)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Le <strong>six classes of statutory heirs<\/strong> (\u0e25\u0e33\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e17\u0e32\u0e22\u0e32\u0e17\u0e42\u0e14\u0e22\u0e18\u0e23\u0e23\u0e21, <em>lamdap thayat doi tham<\/em>, the order of <em>heirs at law<\/em>) are the ranking in Section 1629 of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/thai-civil-and-commercial-code\/\">Code civil et commercial<\/a> that decides which relatives inherit when a person dies without a will. The classes run, in order, from descendants to parents, full-blood siblings, half-blood siblings, grandparents, and finally uncles and aunts, with the surviving spouse inheriting beside whichever class survives. The section is short, but the rules around it, exclusion, representation, the parents&#8217; exception and the spouse&#8217;s share, are what decide who actually receives what.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-rank-math-toc-block\" id=\"rank-math-toc\"><h2>Table des mati\u00e8res<\/h2><nav><ul><li><a href=\"#how-section-1629-ranks-the-relatives\">How Section 1629 ranks the relatives<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#proving-membership-of-a-class\">Proving membership of a class<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#worked-examples-of-the-order\">Worked examples of the order<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"how-section-1629-ranks-the-relatives\">How Section 1629 ranks the relatives<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Class 1 is descendants: children, grandchildren and further down, including adopted children and children whom a father has legitimated (Section 1627). Class 2 is parents. Class 3 is brothers and sisters of full blood, class 4 brothers and sisters of half blood, class 5 grandparents, and class 6 uncles and aunts. Under Section 1630 the existence of any heir in a higher class excludes every lower class entirely, with one exception: surviving parents inherit alongside descendants, each parent taking the same share as a child.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Within a class, heirs of the same degree take equal shares. Where a member of class 1, 3, 4 or 6 died before the deceased, that person&#8217;s own descendants step into the share by representation, so a predeceased son&#8217;s children divide what he would have taken. Classes 2 and 5, parents and grandparents, are not represented. The spouse is not in any class; Section 1635 gives them a child&#8217;s share with class 1, half the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/estate\/\">estate<\/a> with class 2 or 3, two thirds with class 4, 5 or 6, and everything when no class survives.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"proving-membership-of-a-class\">Proving membership of a class<\/h2>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The court appointing the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/estate-administrator\/\">administrateur de succession<\/a> wants documents, not family lore. A child proves class 1 by a birth certificate showing the deceased as parent; for a child born to unmarried parents that means the mother automatically, but the father only if he registered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/legitimation\/\">l\u00e9gitimation<\/a> at the district office, married the mother, or obtained a court judgment. Parents prove class 2 by the deceased&#8217;s birth certificate. Siblings prove class 3 or 4 by both birth certificates, and the difference between full and half blood turns on whether both parents are shared.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>For a foreigner who dies in Thailand, these documents usually come from abroad and must be legalised and translated before the Thai court accepts them, which is why an intestate estate with foreign relatives takes so much longer than one with a Thai will. A registered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/marriage-certificate\/\">certificat de mariage<\/a>, Thai or foreign, is what proves the spouse; an unregistered partner is in no class at all. Where a foreign heir in any class receives land, Section 93 of the Land Code requires ministerial permission or a sale within one year.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"worked-examples-of-the-order\">Worked examples of the order<\/h2>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><th>Who survives<\/th><th>R\u00e9sultat<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td>Wife, two children, both parents<\/td><td>Estate divided in five equal parts: wife, each child, each parent<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Wife and parents, no children<\/td><td>Wife one half; parents share the other half<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Wife and one full brother<\/td><td>Wife one half; brother one half<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Wife and a half-sister<\/td><td>Wife two thirds; half-sister one third<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Children only<\/td><td>Equal shares; a predeceased child&#8217;s share passes to that child&#8217;s own children<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>Nobody in any class, no spouse<\/td><td>Estate passes to the State under Section 1753<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>The order is a default that a valid will overrides in full, since Thai law has no forced share for any class. Foreigners are often surprised that a parent in Europe shares equally with a Thai child, or that a brother inherits ahead of a partner of twenty years. The guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/if-you-die-without-a-will-in-thailand\/\">Mourir sans testament en Tha\u00eflande<\/a> shows how a short will changes each of these outcomes.<\/p><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"frequently-asked-questions\">Foire aux questions<\/h2>\n\n<div id=\"rank-math-faq\" class=\"rank-math-block\">\n<div class=\"rank-math-list\">\n<div id=\"faq-question-1\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">What does Section 1629 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code say?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>It lists the six classes of statutory heirs in order: descendants, parents, full-blood siblings, half-blood siblings, grandparents, and uncles and aunts, and provides that the surviving spouse is also a statutory heir. A higher class excludes the lower ones, except that parents inherit alongside descendants.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-2\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Do parents inherit if the deceased had children in Thailand?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>Yes. Although parents are class 2, Section 1630 makes them an exception to the usual exclusion: surviving parents inherit alongside the children, each parent taking a share equal to one child&#8217;s share. Grandparents and siblings, by contrast, take nothing while any child survives.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"faq-question-3\" class=\"rank-math-list-item\">\n<h3 class=\"rank-math-question\">Does an adopted or illegitimate child count as a descendant under Section 1629?<\/h3>\n<div class=\"rank-math-answer\">\n\n<p>An adopted child counts as a descendant of the adoptive parent. A child born outside marriage is always a descendant of the mother, and becomes a descendant of the father once the father registers legitimation, marries the mother, or a court declares paternity.<\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><p>Voir aussi\u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/statutory-heir\/\">h\u00e9ritier l\u00e9gal<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/intestacy\/\">intestacy<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/legitimation\/\">l\u00e9gitimation<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/glossary\/adoption\/\">adoption<\/a>, and the guides on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/if-you-die-without-a-will-in-thailand\/\">Mourir sans testament en Tha\u00eflande<\/a> ET <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/can-a-foreigner-inherit-land-in-thailand\/\">whether a foreigner can inherit land<\/a>.<\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The six classes of statutory heirs (\u0e25\u0e33\u0e14\u0e31\u0e1a\u0e17\u0e32\u0e22\u0e32\u0e17\u0e42\u0e14\u0e22\u0e18\u0e23\u0e23\u0e21, lamdap thayat doi tham, the order of heirs at law) are the ranking [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":214,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":"","rank_math_focus_keyword":"section 1629 thailand","rank_math_title":"Section 1629 Thailand: Six Classes of Heirs | ThaiLawOnline","rank_math_description":"Section 1629 of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code ranks statutory heirs in six classes, descendants to uncles and aunts. How the order and spouse share work.","rank_math_breadcrumb_title":""},"class_list":["post-6563","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6563"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6730,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/6563\/revisions\/6730"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}