Section 1734 — Estate debts — limit of heirs' liability
Statutory text (Thai original)
เจ้าหนี้กองมรดกชอบแต่จะได้รับการชำระหนี้จากทรัพย์สินในกองมรดกเท่านั้น
Verbatim from the Royal Gazette / Office of the Council of State
คำแปลภาษาอังกฤษ
The creditors of an estate are entitled to be paid only out of the property of an estate.
This English translation is provided for reference only and has not yet been firm-verified — always rely on the Thai original.
Firm annotation
Section 1734 is the cornerstone protection for heirs: you cannot inherit debt beyond the asset value. If the deceased had ฿10M of assets and ฿15M of debt, heirs surrender the ฿10M and walk away — their own personal property is untouchable. This is automatic, not a renunciation; the heirs need not formally renounce. However, if assets are commingled with the heir's own property before debts are settled, the protection may be lost (creditors can argue the heir converted estate property to personal). Best practice: pay debts before distributing.