If you have not put together a last will and testament in place, it is a horrendous task for your Thai partner or, if you are not married, family back home to claim the right to your assets. Foreigners who pass away in Thailand without a will can lead to most cases ending up in a court appeal, leaving cases for family members contesting property, which is an expensive issue for your loved ones.
From experiences, appeals and court claims can be tied up for years, so basically, for a small cost to have a will drawn up can avoid any issue later. IT’S SO SIMPLE TO DO!
My advice is to take just a small piece of your time to arrange a Last Will and Testament for your own peace of mind. You can then carry on with your quality of life, knowing your assets are secure.
When dealing within the foreign ex-pat community in Thailand, the task of obtaining and making a last will and testament seems to be something that most do not wish to talk about; therefore, it’s not a priority issue for many foreign ex-pats; however, it should be of paramount priority for all the ex-pats living in Thailand.
It is easy to put important issues to the back of our minds and think, “I will do it later when I’m free.” But we believe it should be of utmost priority to complete when first coming to live here in Thailand. It is a must to do if you have assets within the kingdom.
For a small expense, you can safeguard your hard work and possessions. Don’t put off an easy job because of perceived unpleasantness.
All your assets and Thai bank accounts need protection for your beneficiaries, be they your family in your home country or your Thai partner over here. It doesn’t matter if you are married or unmarried – you need to make sure your property, both real and valued, goes where you want them distributed.
One of the main and many issues I have viewed is that when a foreigner dies in Thailand, there can be a conflict between the family in their home country and their Thai partner.
This is often due to the Thai partner wanting a Buddhist cremation ceremony and the family wishing the body to be sent to the home country.
It can be a very awkward situation for the foreigner’s embassy to deal with. So, in the last will and testament, the foreigner can state how they wish to be laid to rest. Then after that, the process is set in place without conflict.
