Book 6: Succession
Inheritance, wills, statutory heirs, executors, probate.
Sections 1599 to 1755
Annotated sections in this Book
- §1599 Inheritance, opening on death Succession opens at the moment of death. The estate of the deceased passes immediately to the heirs by operation of law, subject to administration of…
- §1600 What an estate consists of The estate of a deceased person includes property of every kind, together with the deceased's rights, duties and liabilities. The one exception is anything that…
- §1601 An heir's liability for the debts of the estate is strictly limited to the value of the property that devolved on that heir; personal assets…
- §1602
- §1603
- §1604 Only a natural person who has legal personality at the time of the deceased's death may be an heir. An unborn child conceived before the…
- §1605
- §1606 Exclusion from an inheritance for unworthiness
- §1607
- §1608
- §1609
- §1610
- §1611
- §1612
- §1613
- §1614
- §1615
- §1616
- §1617
- §1618
- §1619
- §1620 Statutory heirs, six classes order Where there is no will, the estate descends to statutory heirs in six classes. Higher classes exclude lower; within each class, heirs share equally.
- §1621
- §1622
- §1623 Property acquired by a Buddhist monk during his time in the monkhood passes, on his death, to the monastery that is his domicile, unless he…
- §1624
- §1625 Dividing property between the deceased and the surviving spouse Where the deceased was married, the marital property must first be liquidated, the surviving spouse takes their half of joint marital property (sinsomros), before the…
- §1626
- §1627 Adopted child as statutory heir An adopted child has the same statutory inheritance rights as a biological child of the adoptive parents.
- §1628 Separated spouses still inherit
- §1629 Six classes of statutory heirs detailed (1) Descendants; (2) parents; (3) full-blood siblings; (4) half-blood siblings; (5) grandparents; (6) uncles and aunts.
- §1630
- §1631
- §1632
- §1633 Statutory heirs of the same class share equally among themselves. If only one heir in a class exists, that heir takes the entire portion available…
- §1634
- §1635 Surviving spouse's share The surviving spouse inherits alongside whatever class of statutory heir takes, taking different fractions depending on which class.
- §1636
- §1637
- §1638
- §1639
- §1640
- §1641
- §1642
- §1643
- §1644
- §1645
- §1646 Right to make a will Any person may make a will directing what is to happen to their property, and other matters, on their death. This section fixes no minimum…
- §1647
- §1648
- §1649 The estate administrator appointed by the will has the duty to arrange the funeral. In the absence of such an administrator, the heir who receives…
- §1650
- §1651
- §1652
- §1653 The writer of a will and its witnesses cannot benefit under it 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…
- §1654 When capacity is assessed for the testator and the beneficiary Two different moments apply. The testator's capacity is judged only as at the time the will was made, so a testator who later loses capacity…
- §1655 A will must take one of the prescribed forms A will may be made only in one of the forms prescribed in this Chapter. There is no valid will outside those forms, so a…
- §1656 Will, ordinary written form (2 witnesses) An ordinary written will must be made in writing, dated, signed by the testator before at least two witnesses who must then sign in the…
- §1657 Holographic will A holographic will must be entirely handwritten by the testator and signed. No witnesses required.
- §1658 Will, public document at District Office A public-document will is made before the District Officer who records the testator's wishes and registers the will in the official records.
- §1659
- §1660 Will, secret form A secret will is written, sealed, signed across the seal, and delivered to the District Officer who records the delivery while keeping the contents secret.
- §1661
- §1662
- §1663 Oral wills in special circumstances Where special circumstances make it impossible to use any other form, such as imminent danger of death, an epidemic or a war, a will may…
- §1664
- §1665
- §1666
- §1667 Will made abroad by a Thai national คนในบังคับไทยที่จะทำพินัยกรรมในต่างประเทศ อาจทำตามแบบซึ่งกฎหมายของประเทศที่ทำพินัยกรรมบัญญัติไว้ หรือตามแบบที่กฎหมายไทยบัญญัติไว้ก็ได้ เมื่อทำตามแบบที่กฎหมายไทยบัญญัติไว้ อำนาจและหน้าที่ของกรมการอำเภอตามมาตรา 1658 1660 1661 1662 และ 1663 ให้ตกแก่พนักงานทูตหรือกงสุลฝ่ายไทยซึ่งกระทำการตามขอบอำนาจของตน หรือพนักงานซึ่งมีอำนาจตามกฎหมายของต่างประเทศนั้น
- §1668
- §1669
- §1670
- §1671
- §1672 Ministerial regulations under this Book The Ministers of Interior, Defence and Foreign Affairs have the power and duty, each so far as concerns them, to issue Ministerial Regulations to carry…
- §1673
- §1674
- §1675
- §1676
- §1677
- §1678
- §1679
- §1680
- §1681
- §1682
- §1683
- §1684
- §1685
- §1686 Trusts have no effect except under a trust statute
- §1687
- §1688
- §1689
- §1690
- §1691
- §1692
- §1693 Revocation of will A testator may revoke their will at any time during their lifetime, by a new will, by destruction of the document with revocatory intent, or…
- §1694
- §1695
- §1696
- §1697 A later will revokes an earlier one only where they conflict Unless the testator has declared otherwise in the will, where an earlier and a later will conflict, the earlier is treated as revoked by the…
- §1698
- §1699 Where a will or a clause in a will has no effect for any reason, the property covered by that clause falls to the statutory…
- §1700
- §1701
- §1702
- §1703 A will made before the age of fifteen is void A will made by a person who has not completed his fifteenth year of age is void. Fifteen is therefore the age of testamentary capacity…
- §1704 Wills made by incompetent or mentally unsound persons A will made by a person the court has adjudged incompetent is void outright. Where a person is alleged to have been of unsound mind…
- §1705 A will contrary to the listed form provisions is void 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…
- §1706
- §1707
- §1708
- §1709
- §1710
- §1711 Estate administrator, appointment Estate administrator, appointment.
- §1712
- §1713 Court order required to appoint estate administrator Where there is no executor named in the will, or the will is silent, an heir, an interested person or the public prosecutor may apply…
- §1714
- §1715 A testator may appoint one or more administrators. Where multiple are appointed and all but one are unable or unwilling to act, the remaining one…
- §1716
- §1717
- §1718 Who cannot be an estate administrator Three classes of person cannot be an administrator of an estate: those who have not yet reached majority, those of unsound mind or whom the…
- §1719 Powers and duties of the estate administrator The estate administrator (court-appointed or named in the will) has both the power and the duty to carry out the will's instructions, manage the estate's…
- §1720 Liability of an estate administrator
- §1721
- §1722
- §1723
- §1724
- §1725 The estate administrator must take proper steps to locate interested persons and notify them within a reasonable time of the testamentary dispositions that concern them.
- §1726
- §1727 Removal of estate administrator The court may remove an administrator for misconduct, mismanagement, or refusal to act, on petition by any heir or interested party.
- §1728 When the administrator must begin the inventory
- §1729 Time limit and witnesses for the inventory of an estate The administrator must finish the inventory of the estate within one month from the time prescribed in Section 1728, though the court may extend that…
- §1730
- §1731
- §1732
- §1733 An approval of the administrator's accounts, or any release from liability, only binds the heirs if they were given the accounts and supporting documents at…
- §1734 Estate debts, limit of heirs' liability Heirs are not personally liable for the deceased's debts beyond the value of the estate property they received.
- §1735
- §1736
- §1737
- §1738
- §1739
- §1740
- §1741
- §1742
- §1743
- §1744
- §1745
- §1746
- §1747
- §1748
- §1749
- §1750 How an estate is divided among the heirs
- §1751
- §1752
- §1753
- §1754 Prescription on inheritance claims Inheritance claims are barred by prescription one year from when the heir knew of the right, and ten years from the death.
- §1755 The one-year prescription on inheritance claims may be raised only by an heir, by a person entitled to exercise an heir's rights, or by an…