Reviewed by Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556, for ThaiLawOnline, a Thai law firm acting for foreigners since 2006.
Update log
- 4 November 2026: Added the statute box with Thai, English and French text and checked the page against the official text
We analyzed more than 75 Supreme Court of Thailand (ศาลฎีกา) decisions on wills and succession from our full-text database of Thai case law, from 1936 to 2025. Most of them matter only to lawyers. These ten matter to you. Each one is a real family’s story, and each one ends in a rule that can save, or sink, your estate plan in Thailand. Our full guide: last will in Thailand.
Table of Contents
New to the subject? Start with our complete guide to making a last will in Thailand (from 3,900 THB, bilingual). For what happens after death, see probate in Thailand.
How to read the citations: “Dika 7200/2540” means Supreme Court decision no. 7200 of Buddhist Era 2540, subtract 543 for the Western year (1997). Thailand is a civil-law country, so these rulings are not formally binding precedent, but every Thai court follows them in practice.
1. Yes, your foreign heirs can inherit Thai land, Dika 7200/2540 (1997)
The single most misunderstood point in expat estate planning. A Chinese national willed part of a land plot to his foreign nephew; the widow argued that leaving Thai land to a foreigner is void. The Supreme Court disagreed: the Land Code does not absolutely prohibit foreign ownership. The foreign heir inherits the land, and must then either obtain permission or sell it within the statutory disposal period under Section 94 of the Land Code, a period the Director-General of Lands fixes at not less than 180 days and not more than one year. The Court added that even without permission the heir may still sell the land under Section 94, so the gift is not void.
The rule: never write your foreign family out of Thai property. They inherit first, sell later, and a good will plans that window, for example by pairing the gift with a registered usufruct for a surviving spouse.
The law behind this page
English
Section 1656
An ordinary written will must be made in writing, dated at the time it is made, and signed by the testator before at least two witnesses present at the same time, who must then and there sign to certify the testator's signature. An erasure, addition or other alteration is valid only if made in the same form.
Full text
A will may be made in the following form, namely: it must be made in writing and dated at the time of its making, and the testator must sign it before at least two witnesses present at the same time, who must then and there sign their names certifying the signature of the testator. No erasure, omission, addition or other alteration to such a will is valid unless it is made in the same form as is required by this section for the making of the will.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 1657
A holographic will must be written entirely in the testator's own hand: the whole text, the date and the signature. No witnesses are required, and an alteration is valid only if the testator makes it by hand and signs beside it.
Full text
A will may be made as a document written entirely by the testator, that is to say, the testator must write with their own hand the whole of the text, the date (day, month and year) and their signature. No erasure, omission, addition or other alteration of such a will is valid unless the testator has made it with their own hand and has signed beside it. Section 9 of this Code does not apply to a will made under this section.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 1705
A will, or any clause in it, is void if it contravenes Section 1652, 1653, 1656, 1657, 1658, 1660, 1661 or 1663. The list is closed and covers the bar on a ward making a will in favour of the guardian or the guardian's close relatives before the guardianship account is rendered (Section 1652), the bar on the writer, the witnesses and their spouses taking a benefit (Section 1653), and the formal requirements for each type of will. Because the section applies to a clause as well as to a whole will, a single offending gift can fail while the rest of the will stands.
Full text
A will or a testamentary disposition made contrary to the provisions of section 1652, 1653, 1656, 1657, 1658, 1660, 1661 or 1663 is void.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 1653
A person who writes a will, or who witnesses it, cannot take a benefit under that will, and the same bar applies to that person's spouse. Where a will is made orally under Section 1663, the competent official who records what the witnesses declare counts as the writer for this purpose. This is the rule most often overlooked when a family member writes out or witnesses a will: doing so defeats the gift intended for them or for their spouse.
Full text
The writer of a will, or a witness to it, cannot be a beneficiary under that will. The preceding paragraph applies equally to the spouse of the writer of, or a witness to, the will. The competent official who records the terms of a will notified to him by witnesses under Section 1663 is deemed to be the writer of the will for the purposes of this Section.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 1694
Full text
Where an earlier will is to be revoked, in whole or in part, by a later will, the revocation is valid only if the later will has been made in one of the forms prescribed by law.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 94 Limitation of Aliens Right in Land
Full text
Land acquired by an alien unlawfully or without permission shall be disposed of by that alien within the period prescribed by the Director-General, which shall be not less than one hundred and eighty days and not more than one year. If the land is not disposed of within the prescribed period, the Director-General shall have power to dispose of the land, and the provisions on forced disposal of land in Chapter 3 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
Unofficial translation by the Office of the Council of State
Section 1754
An inheritance claim is barred one year after the death, or after the statutory heir knew or ought to have known of the death. A claim under a will is barred one year after the legatee knew or ought to have known of the right. Subject to Section 193/27 (which preserves a secured creditor's right to enforce against the mortgaged, pledged or retained property), a creditor whose claim against the deceased has a prescription period longer than one year must sue within one year after he knew or ought to have known of the death. In every case no claim may be brought more than ten years after the death.
Full text
No action concerning an estate may be brought after one year from the death of the deceased, or from the time when the statutory heir knew or ought to have known of the death of the deceased. An action claiming under a provision of a will may not be brought after one year from the time when the legatee knew or ought to have known of the right that the legatee has under the will. Subject to section 193/27 of this Code, where a creditor's claim against the deceased has a prescription period longer than one year, that creditor may not bring an action after one year from the time when the creditor knew or ought to have known of the death of the deceased. In any event, the claims referred to in the preceding paragraphs may not be brought after ten years from the death of the deceased.
ThaiLawOnline translation
Section 1686
Full text
A trust created, whether directly or indirectly, by will or by any juristic act taking effect during lifetime or after death, has no effect, except by virtue of the provisions of a law enacted for the creation of trusts.
ThaiLawOnline translation
ไทย
มาตรา 1656
ข้อความเต็ม
พินัยกรรมนั้น จะทำตามแบบดังนี้ก็ได้ กล่าวคือต้องทำเป็นหนังสือลงวัน เดือน ปี ในขณะที่ทำขึ้น และผู้ทำพินัยกรรมต้องลงลายมือชื่อไว้ต่อหน้าพยานอย่างน้อยสองคนพร้อมกัน ซึ่งพยานสองคนนั้นต้องลงลายมือชื่อรับรองลายมือชื่อของผู้ทำพินัยกรรมไว้ในขณะนั้น การขูดลบ ตก เติม หรือการแก้ไขเปลี่ยนแปลงอย่างอื่นซึ่งพินัยกรรมนั้นย่อมไม่สมบูรณ์ เว้นแต่จะได้ปฏิบัติตามแบบอย่างเดียวกับการทำพินัยกรรมตามมาตรานี้
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 1657
ข้อความเต็ม
พินัยกรรมนั้น จะทำเป็นเอกสารเขียนเองทั้งฉบับก็ได้ กล่าวคือผู้ทำพินัยกรรมต้องเขียนด้วยมือตนเองซึ่งข้อความทั้งหมด วัน เดือน ปี และลายมือชื่อของตน การขูดลบ ตก เติม หรือการแก้ไขเปลี่ยนแปลงอย่างอื่นซึ่งพินัยกรรมนั้นย่อมไม่สมบูรณ์ เว้นแต่ผู้ทำพินัยกรรมจะได้ทำด้วยมือตนเอง และลงลายมือชื่อกำกับไว้ บทบัญญัติมาตรา ๙ แห่งประมวลกฎหมายนี้ มิให้ใช้บังคับแก่พินัยกรรมที่ทำขึ้นตามมาตรานี้
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 1705
ข้อความเต็ม
พินัยกรรมหรือข้อกำหนดพินัยกรรมนั้น ถ้าได้ทำขึ้นขัดต่อบทบัญญัติแห่งมาตรา ๑๖๕๒ ๑๖๕๓ ๑๖๕๖ ๑๖๕๗ ๑๖๕๘ ๑๖๖๐ ๑๖๖๑ หรือ ๑๖๖๓ ย่อมเป็นโมฆะ
ข้อความจากฐานข้อมูลประมวลกฎหมายของเรา โปรดตรวจสอบกับข้อความทางการ (Thai text from our annotated code. Check it against the official text.)
มาตรา 1653
ข้อความเต็ม
ผู้เขียน หรือพยานในพินัยกรรมจะเป็นผู้รับทรัพย์ตามพินัยกรรมนั้นไม่ได้ ให้ใช้บทบัญญัติในวรรคก่อนบังคับแก่คู่สมรสของผู้เขียนหรือพยานในพินัยกรรมด้วย พนักงานเจ้าหน้าที่ซึ่งได้จดข้อความแห่งพินัยกรรมที่พยานนำมาแจ้งตามมาตรา ๑๖๖๓ ให้ถือว่าเป็นผู้เขียนพินัยกรรมตามความหมายแห่งมาตรานี้
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 1694
ข้อความเต็ม
ถ้าจะเพิกถอนพินัยกรรมฉบับก่อนเสียทั้งหมด หรือแต่บางส่วนด้วยพินัยกรรมฉบับหลัง การเพิกถอนจะสมบูรณ์ต่อเมื่อพินัยกรรมฉบับหลังนั้นได้ทำตามแบบใดแบบหนึ่งที่กฎหมายบัญญัติไว้
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 94
ข้อความเต็ม
บรรดาที่ดินที่คนต่างด้าวได้มาโดยไม่ชอบด้วยกฎหมาย หรือไม่ได้รับอนุญาต ให้คนต่างด้าวนั้นจัดการจำหน่ายภายในเวลาที่อธิบดีกำหนดให้ ซึ่งไม่น้อยกว่าหนึ่งร้อยแปดสิบวัน แต่ไม่เกินหนึ่งปี ถ้าไม่จำหน่ายที่ดินภายในเวลาที่กำหนด ให้อธิบดีมีอำนาจจำหน่ายที่ดินนั้น และให้นำบทบัญญัติเรื่องการบังคับจำหน่ายที่ดินตามความในหมวด ๓ มาใช้บังคับโดยอนุโลม
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 1754
ข้อความเต็ม
ห้ามมิให้ฟ้องคดีมรดกเมื่อพ้นกำหนดหนึ่งปี นับแต่เมื่อเจ้ามรดกตาย หรือนับแต่เมื่อทายาทโดยธรรมได้รู้ หรือควรได้รู้ถึงความตายของเจ้ามรดก คดีฟ้องเรียกตามข้อกำหนดพินัยกรรม มิให้ฟ้องเมื่อพ้นกำหนดหนึ่งปีนับแต่เมื่อผู้รับพินัยกรรมได้รู้หรือควรได้รู้ถึงสิทธิซึ่งตนมีอยู่ตามพินัยกรรม ภายใต้บังคับแห่งมาตรา ๑๙๓/๒๗ แห่งประมวลกฎหมายนี้ ถ้าสิทธิเรียกร้องของเจ้าหนี้อันมีต่อเจ้ามรดกมีกำหนดอายุความยาวกว่าหนึ่งปี มิให้เจ้าหนี้นั้นฟ้องร้องเมื่อพ้นกำหนดหนึ่งปีนับแต่เมื่อเจ้าหนี้ได้รู้ หรือควรได้รู้ถึงความตายของเจ้ามรดก ถึงอย่างไรก็ดี สิทธิเรียกร้องตามที่ว่ามาในวรรคก่อน ๆ นั้น มิให้ฟ้องร้องเมื่อพ้นกำหนดสิบปีนับแต่เมื่อเจ้ามรดกตาย หมายเหตุ: [เลขมาตรา ๑๙๓/๒๗ แก้ไขเพิ่มเติมโดยมาตรา ๑๕ แห่งพระราชบัญญัติให้ใช้บทบัญญัติบรรพ ๑ แห่งประมวลกฎหมายแพ่งและพาณิชย์ที่ได้ตรวจชำระใหม่ พ.ศ. ๒๕๓๕]
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
มาตรา 1686
ข้อความเต็ม
อันว่าทรัสต์นั้น จะก่อตั้งขึ้นโดยตรงหรือโดยทางอ้อมด้วยพินัยกรรมหรือด้วยนิติกรรมใด ๆ ที่มีผลในระหว่างชีวิตก็ดีหรือเมื่อตายแล้วก็ดี หามีผลไม่ เว้นแต่โดยอาศัยอำนาจตามบทบัญญัติแห่งกฎหมายเพื่อการก่อตั้งทรัสต์เท่านั้น
ตรงตามข้อความในราชกิจจานุเบกษา / สำนักงานคณะกรรมการกฤษฎีกา (Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State)
Français
Article 1656
Le testament peut être fait dans la forme suivante, à savoir : il doit être fait par écrit et daté du jour, du mois et de l'année au moment de sa confection, et le testateur doit le signer devant au moins deux témoins présents simultanément, lesquels doivent alors, au même moment, apposer leur signature pour attester la signature du testateur. Tout grattage, omission, ajout ou autre modification apporté à ce testament est sans effet, à moins d'avoir été fait dans la même forme que celle prescrite par le présent article pour la confection du testament.
résumé non officiel
Article 1657
Le testament peut être fait sous la forme d'un acte entièrement écrit par le testateur, c'est-à-dire que le testateur doit écrire de sa propre main la totalité du texte, la date (jour, mois et année) et sa signature. Aucun grattage, retranchement, ajout ou autre modification apporté à ce testament n'est valable, à moins que le testateur ne l'ait fait de sa propre main et ne l'ait contresigné. L'article 9 du présent Code ne s'applique pas au testament fait conformément au présent article.
résumé non officiel
Article 1705
Le testament ou la disposition testamentaire fait en violation des articles 1652, 1653, 1656, 1657, 1658, 1660, 1661 ou 1663 est nul.
résumé non officiel
Article 1653
Le rédacteur ou un témoin du testament, ainsi que leur conjoint, ne peuvent en être bénéficiaires. L'agent qui a consigné les dispositions rapportées par les témoins selon l'article 1663 est réputé rédacteur.
résumé non officiel
Article 1694
La révocation totale ou partielle d'un testament antérieur par un testament postérieur n'est valable que si ce dernier a été établi selon l'une des formes prévues par la loi.
résumé non officiel
Article 94
Tout terrain acquis par un étranger de manière illicite ou sans autorisation doit être aliéné par cet étranger dans le délai fixé par le Directeur général, qui ne peut être inférieur à cent quatre-vingts jours ni supérieur à un an. Si le terrain n'est pas aliéné dans le délai fixé, le Directeur général a le pouvoir d'aliéner ce terrain, et les dispositions relatives à l'aliénation forcée de terrains prévues au chapitre 3 s'appliquent mutatis mutandis.
résumé non officiel
Article 1754
Aucune action successorale ne peut être intentée après l'expiration d'un délai d'un an à compter du décès du de cujus, ou à compter du moment où l'héritier légal a eu connaissance ou aurait dû avoir connaissance du décès du de cujus. L'action fondée sur une disposition testamentaire ne peut être intentée après l'expiration d'un délai d'un an à compter du moment où le légataire a eu connaissance ou aurait dû avoir connaissance du droit qu'il tient du testament. Sous réserve de l'article 193/27 du présent Code, lorsque la créance d'un créancier contre le de cujus est soumise à un délai de prescription supérieur à un an, ce créancier ne peut agir en justice après l'expiration d'un délai d'un an à compter du moment où il a eu connaissance ou aurait dû avoir connaissance du décès du de cujus. En tout état de cause, les droits visés aux alinéas précédents ne peuvent être exercés en justice après l'expiration d'un délai de dix ans à compter du décès du de cujus.
résumé non officiel
Article 1686
Un trust constitué directement ou indirectement par testament, ou par tout acte juridique produisant effet du vivant de son auteur ou après son décès, est sans effet, sauf s'il est constitué en vertu d'une disposition légale autorisant la création de trusts.
résumé non officiel
Supreme Court decisions
Sources
- Civil and Commercial Code, Office of the Council of State, retrieved 31 October 2026
- Land Code, Office of the Council of State, retrieved 31 October 2026
- deka.supremecourt.or.th, Supreme Court of Thailand decisions database (copy held in our library), retrieved 19 February 2026
2. Your unmarried Thai partner inherits nothing, Dika 2102/2551 (2008)
A man lived for years with his partner without registering the marriage. He typed a will leaving her his house, land and guns. After his death, his mother took everything. The typed document could not be a holographic will (Section 1657 requires the testator‘s handwriting throughout), and the two witnesses had signed five years after the testator, so it was void under Section 1705. Without a valid will, an unregistered partner is not an heir at all: property acquired during an unregistered union is not marital property, though an asset bought with money the couple earned together can be co-owned; here the land was the man’s own by inheritance and gift.
The rule: if your marriage is not registered at the district office, your partner’s only protection is a properly executed will. This is the most common, and most preventable, disaster we see among expats.
3. Everyone signs together, in one sitting, Dika 997/2549 (2006)
A will circulated for signatures: the testator signed, then it traveled to each witness separately, the doctor-witness testified the testator was not even present when he signed. Void. Section 1656 demands the testator sign before both witnesses simultaneously, and the witnesses certify the signature then and there. And per Dika 11034/2553, a will void for this reason can never be “confirmed” back to life afterwards.
The rule: one room, one ceremony, everyone present, everyone signs. In our analysis of 75+ disputes, this formality killed more wills than forgery ever did.
4. Your beneficiary’s spouse must not witness, Dika 4001/2545 (2002)
An elderly couple’s will was witnessed by the husband of one beneficiary. Under Section 1653, a witness, or the spouse of a witness, cannot take under the will: the gift to that beneficiary was struck out, though the rest of the will survived. (Merely being present in the room is harmless, Dika 5404/2533, but signing is fatal.)
The rule: witnesses must be adults who take nothing under the will and are married to no one who does. Use neighbors or colleagues, never family of your heirs.
5. You cannot cancel a will by letter, Dika 6981/2545 (2002)
The day before he died, a man signed a letter confirming his first will and “cancelling” two later ones. The Supreme Court held the letter legally worthless: a will can be revoked only by the methods the Code prescribes, chiefly a new will, or intentional destruction of the old document. However clear the letter, however sound his mind, it revoked nothing.
The rule: to change your Thai will, make a new Thai will, and open it with an express clause revoking all earlier wills. Without that clause, an old will survives wherever it does not directly conflict with the new one (Dika 2832-2833/2558).
6. Couples: make two mirror wills, never one joint will, Dika 1243/2563 (2020)
A husband and wife made one joint will forbidding either spouse from changing it after the other’s death. After the husband died, the widow made a new will anyway, cutting out one son. The Supreme Court upheld her: no clause can take away a person’s freedom to revoke their own will; the “irrevocability” promise was one testator’s stipulation about another person’s property, and void.
The rule: joint wills promise a permanence Thai law refuses to enforce. We draft separate mirror wills for couples, two documents, same day, reciprocal terms (in Dika 7057/2554 the Supreme Court upheld two district-office wills made the same day in which two women each left part of her property to the other).
7. Married? You can only give away your half, Dika 899-900/2509 (1966)
A husband willed marital assets in full to his chosen beneficiary. His wife had not known of or consented to the gift. The full Supreme Court held that, until the marital property has been divided, a spouse cannot will away the whole of it without the other spouse’s knowledge and consent: the gift took effect only over the husband’s own share (two thirds under the marital-property rules of that time), and the wife kept hers.
The rule: for a foreigner married to a Thai (or vice versa), the will covers only your 50% of marital assets. That is why we always ask about the marriage, the prenuptial, and both spouses’ wills together, see our prenuptial agreement guide.
8. A doctor’s certificate can save your will, Dika 6522/2561 (2018)
Children attacked their mother’s will because she was diagnosed with a psychiatric illness months after signing. The Court refused: capacity is judged only at the moment of execution (Section 1654), and a doctor’s certificate of sound mind issued 17 days before the will was treated as decisive. The will stood.
The rule: if you are over 65, seriously ill, or expect a family fight, get a doctor’s certificate of sound mind dated the same week you sign. It costs a few hundred baht and has won real cases.
9. Deathbed wills controlled by a beneficiary get destroyed, Dika 574-575/2567 (2024)
Four days after being taken from hospital into the home of a family she had been in litigation against, an 89-year-old widow with terminal cancer and dementia-like confusion thumbprinted a will leaving everything to her caretaker, who then petitioned to have her declared incompetent, and later bought a house for a witness’s daughter. The Supreme Court voided the will: she could neither resist nor understand the document, so she never made a will at all. In the criminal mirror-image, Dika 4337/2565 (2022), procuring a dementia patient’s thumbprint on a prepared will brought criminal forgery convictions.
The rule: plan while healthy. A will signed in the last weeks of life, arranged by the person who benefits from it, is presumptively doomed, and possibly a crime.
10. The DIY handwritten will that survived, Dika 4044/2567 (2024)
A man filled a pre-printed will form with nearly three pages of handwritten dispositions, dated and signed it. The Court of Appeal held it void; the Supreme Court reversed: because every operative word, date, dispositions, signature, was in his own hand, it qualified as a holographic will under Section 1657, printed frame notwithstanding. Contrast Dika 1223/2551, where a pre-printed military will form failed: only one of the two witnesses had signed, so it was void as an ordinary will, and the handwritten fragments (names and blanks) could not make it a holographic one.
The rule: a fully handwritten, dated, signed will is a legitimate emergency option that needs no witnesses at all (Dika 8018/2547), but one typed word in the operative text, or one witnessing slip on a form, and it dies. For anything you care about, execute a witnessed or district-office will properly.
New for 2026: your foreign marriage makes you an heir, Dika 170/2569 (2026)
A couple married in Florida in 1990. When the husband died in Thailand, the person who had cared for him opposed the widow’s appointment as administrator, and the Court of Appeal found her unfit. The Supreme Court (black case no. พ.630/2568, on appeal from the Court of Appeal Region 6) disagreed: under Section 1459 paragraph 1 of the Civil and Commercial Code (a marriage abroad where a spouse is Thai may follow the local form) and Section 20 of the Conflict of Laws Act B.E. 2481, the Florida marriage was valid in Thailand, no Thai registration or re-registration required, and the widow inherited as a statutory heir. To prove the marriage of more than 33 years, the court accepted just three documents: the foreign marriage record, an authentication from the issuing office (the Clerk of Court of Miami-Dade County), and a Thai translation. In the same case the deceased’s district-office will had already been held void, for failing the formalities of Section 1658 and therefore void under Section 1705, but that was decided by the Court of First Instance and not appealed, so it was final before the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court never ruled on it. One more reminder that even an “official” will can die on formalities.
The rule: a marriage validly celebrated where it took place is valid in Thailand and makes the surviving spouse a statutory heir, without Thai registration. Keep your foreign marriage record, an authentication and a certified translation on file. Read our full analysis of Dika 170/2569 on foreign marriages and inheritance.
New for 2026: your executor cannot keep the estate, and the one-year deadline will not protect them, Dika 284/2569 (2026)
A man died in 1993 leaving land to seven heirs. The court appointed one of the heirs as estate administrator. Instead of distributing the land, she registered it in her own name, gave it to a relative, and the relative gave it to another heir, who subdivided the plot and sold part of it for 3,000,000 baht. When the other heirs sued, decades after the death, the defendant pleaded Section 1754 of the Civil and Commercial Code: an heir must bring an inheritance claim within one year of the death (or of learning of it), and never more than ten years after the death.
The Supreme Court (published July 2026) rejected the defence. Under Section 1748, an heir in possession of estate property that has not yet been distributed can demand partition even after the one-year period has run. An administrator who registers estate land in her own name and passes it on by gift has not completed the administration; the land remains undistributed estate property, held for all the heirs (Section 1719; the published judgment also cites a section 1784, which does not exist in the Code). The Court ordered the remaining land back into the estate and made the defendant return 2,500,000 baht, five sixths of the sale price. It declined to strip him of his own share under Section 1605 (exclusion of an heir who misappropriates estate property), because he believed the land had become his own and so lacked the fraudulent intent that section requires.
The rule: choose your executor as carefully as your heirs. An executor who treats estate property as their own gains no shelter from the one-year rule, and an heir who ends up holding the property by gift has to return it to the estate. If you are an heir living abroad and the paperwork has gone quiet, check the title deed at the Land Office; discovering the problem years later is not necessarily fatal. Read our full analysis of Dika 284/2569 on inheritance claims after one year.
The new 2026 rules for wills in Thailand
A new Ministerial Regulation, published in the Government Gazette in January 2026 and effective 24 March 2026, replaced the 1960-era rules on wills made at district offices (อำเภอ). It does not change who inherits, the Civil and Commercial Code still governs, but it standardizes procedure nationwide:
- Official forms. The regulation annexes standard forms for official-document wills, secret wills and oral wills, and they can be made at any district office in the country.
- Capacity screening. Where there is reasonable doubt that the testator is under 15 or of unsound mind, the officer must look into it and record the grounds and the result in the register (the regulation gives no power to refuse, and says nothing about coercion), a written trail that makes the amphur will even harder to attack (recall Dika 1518/2561: the challenger already bears the burden of proof).
- Registration and sealing. The testator receives a receipt, every will is entered in a register, and the will is kept at the district office; the testator may take it back at any time, and for an official-document will the office first keeps a certified copy.
- Low fee. The official fee is 250 baht, making the district-office will the cheapest professionally supervised will in Thailand.
- Disinheritance and renunciation. Formal procedures now exist for registering a disinheritance, its revocation, and renunciation of inheritance at the district office.
Since 24 March 2026, we recommend the official-document will more often than before, especially for elderly testators, usually alongside a bilingual lawyer-drafted will covering the details district forms cannot handle (foreign assets, disposal windows for land passing to foreign heirs, digital assets, executor powers).
Planning to use a trust? Thai law says no, Section 1686
Clients from common-law countries constantly ask us to put a testamentary trust in their Thai will. Thai law is blunt: under Section 1686 of the Civil and Commercial Code, a trust created directly or indirectly by will has no effect whatsoever. The only exception, capital-market trusts under the Trust for Transactions in Capital Market Act B.E. 2550 (2007), is for REITs and securitization, not families.
What works instead: a foreign trust for your non-Thai assets (never for Thai land, there is no way to register trustee title here), a Thai will for Thai assets, a registered usufruct or right of habitation for a surviving spouse, a foundation (มูลนิธิ) for charitable aims under Sections 1676-1677, and a “controller of property” (ผู้ปกครองทรัพย์) under Section 1687 for minor heirs. Full analysis: trusts in Thailand via foreign jurisdictions.
Before you buy any Thai will, check five things
The internet sells many “Thailand will templates.” Before trusting your estate to one, ask:
- Is a licensed Thai lawyer’s name on it? Wills are litigated in Thai, before Thai judges, under Thai case law. A drafter who cannot appear in a Thai courtroom cannot stand behind the document.
- Is the drafter physically in Thailand? Execution is where wills die (see rules 3, 4 and 9 above). Someone must be able to supervise the signing ceremony, or fix it when the amphur asks questions.
- Does it reflect the 2026 regulation? A template last updated years ago knows nothing about the regulation’s standard forms, the 250-baht amphur option, or registered disinheritance.
- Does it cite any actual court decisions? Every warning on this page carries a Dika number you can verify. If a provider cannot show you the case law, they are guessing.
- Who keeps the will, and who will still exist at your death? A will nobody can find is a will that never existed. We store clients’ wills and our firm has operated in Thailand since 2006, more than 300 wills drafted, none invalidated by a court.
Our bilingual last will service (3,900 THB) is drafted by Thai lawyers against the case law above, or send us your existing will and we will check it against these ten decisions.
The legal instruments behind this article
Every citation above can be checked against the primary sources we maintain, built and updated by our own lawyers:
- The Thai Civil and Commercial Code in English, including Book VI: Succession and the key will provisions Section 1656, Section 1657 and Section 1658
- The Thai Land Code, for the foreign-heir disposal rules in Sections 93-94
- Our Supreme Court decisions collection, curated Dika rulings in English
- Our will drafting service, a bilingual Thai will drafted by a Thai lawyer
- What happens if you die without a will in Thailand
- Thai legal glossary and the Thai Law Library
- Our AI legal assistant, trained on the same database of laws and decisions used for this analysis
Last reviewed: 28 September 2026. Every decision cited on this page was checked in Thai against the point drawn from it: 7200/2540, 2102/2551, 997/2549, 11034/2553, 4001/2545, 5404/2533, 6981/2545, 2832-2833/2558, 1243/2563, 7057/2554, 899-900/2509, 6522/2561, 574-575/2567, 4337/2565, 4044/2567, 1223/2551, 8018/2547, 1518/2561, 170/2569 and 284/2569. Also read: Civil and Commercial Code sections 1608, 1654, 1676, 1677, 1686, 1687 and 1697, and the Ministerial Regulation on Wills B.E. 2569. The Land Code disposal period in section 94 and the firm’s own statistics were not re-checked. Re-checked on 10 October 2026: Land Code sections 93 and 94 read in Thai (Council of State consolidated text) and Supreme Court Decision 7200/2540 re-read; the section 94 period, set by the Director-General at not less than 180 days and not more than one year, had been described as practice and is now stated as the statute gives it; the firm’s own statistics remain unverified.
More rulings every will maker should know
- Witnesses must sign, never thumbprint. The testator may sign by thumbprint before two certifying witnesses, but a witness who thumbprints does not count at all (Dika 359/2521; Dika 4136/2529).
- A typed will can never be a holographic will. Section 1657 demands the testator’s handwriting throughout, though in 2024 the Court upheld handwritten dispositions on a printed form (Dika 4044/2567; contrast Dika 2102/2551).
- You cannot revoke a will by letter. Only a new will, physical destruction, or transfer of the property revokes a will (Dika 6981/2545), and without an express revocation clause, an old will survives wherever it does not conflict with the new one (Dika 2832-2833/2558).
- Deathbed wills invite destruction. Courts void wills made by gravely ill testators under a beneficiary’s control (Dika 574-575/2567, decided 2024), while a doctor’s certificate of sound mind dated near the signing has saved wills outright (Dika 6522/2561).
- Your executor cannot keep the estate, and the one-year deadline will not protect them. An administrator who registers estate land in her own name has not distributed it, so the heirs can still demand their shares under Section 1748 after the one-year limit in Section 1754 has run, and the heir who ended up with the land by gift had to return it to the estate, with most of the money from a part he had sold (Dika 284/2569, decided 2026). Choose your executor as carefully as your heirs.
Frequently asked questions
Are Supreme Court decisions binding in Thailand?
Thailand is a civil-law country, so precedent is not formally binding, but lower courts follow Dika rulings in practice, and they are the authoritative interpretation of Sections 1646-1710 of the Civil and Commercial Code.
What is the most common reason Thai wills fail?
Defective signing formalities, above all, the testator and both witnesses failing to sign in one another’s simultaneous presence. In the 75+ disputes we analyzed, form failures voided more wills than forgery claims succeeded.
Can a foreigner inherit a house or land in Thailand?
Yes. Dika 7200/2540 confirms a testamentary gift of land to a foreigner is valid; the foreign heir must then obtain permission or sell within the period set under Land Code Section 94, which is not less than 180 days and not more than one year. Condominium units have their own quota rules under the Condominium Act.
Can I put a trust in my Thai will?
No, Section 1686 of the Civil and Commercial Code makes trusts created by will void in Thailand. Use a Thai will for Thai assets and, where appropriate, a foreign trust for foreign assets.
What changed for wills in 2026?
A Ministerial Regulation effective 24 March 2026 standardized district-office will procedures nationwide: standard forms usable at any district office, a recorded check where age or sanity is in doubt, a will register, a 250-baht fee, and formal procedures for disinheritance and renunciation.
Do I need separate wills for Thailand and my home country?
Usually yes, one Thai will for Thai assets and one will per other jurisdiction, each carefully drafted not to revoke the others. A generic “all my worldwide assets” will forces your Thai heirs through translation, legalization and slower probate.
Is a marriage celebrated abroad valid for inheritance in Thailand?
Yes. In Dika 170/2569 (2026) the Supreme Court held a 1990 Florida marriage valid in Thailand without any Thai registration, making the surviving spouse a statutory heir. Proof required only the foreign marriage record, an authentication from the issuing office and a Thai translation.
Is it too late to claim a Thai inheritance after one year?
Not always. Section 1754 sets a one-year limit (ten years at the outside), but in Dika 284/2569 (2026) the Supreme Court let heirs recover land more than twenty years after the death because the estate administrator had registered it in her own name instead of distributing it. Undistributed estate property stays open to a partition claim under Section 1748.
Author: Sebastien H. Brousseau, LL.B., B.Sc., editor of ThaiLawOnline, working in Thai law since 2006. Case digests are based on the full Thai texts of the cited decisions in ThaiLawOnline’s database of Supreme Court judgments (1920-2026). This article is information, not legal advice. Last updated August 2026; new decisions added as published.
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