Inheriting Property in Thailand: Wills, Heirs and What Happens to a Phuket Home

Inheritance is the part of a Phuket purchase people postpone, and it is the part that is hardest to fix afterwards. The legal form you buy decides what can pass to your family:

Three decisions at purchase make inheritance simple: the ownership form, a lease clause on succession, and a Thai will signed soon after transfer.

A freehold condo unit passes through your estate like any other asset. Whether a foreign heir may keep it depends on the Condominium Act and on Land Office practice.

• A foreign heir who holds Thai permanent residence, or who lives in Thailand under investment-promotion (BOI) rules, can register an inherited unit within the foreign quota and keep it.
• Where the deceased bought with foreign currency brought in from abroad (section 19(5)), Tilleke & Gibbins reports a Land Department clarification that a foreign heir may inherit that eligibility and keep the unit. This is an interpretation, not a statutory guarantee, so get current confirmation from the responsible Land Office.
• A one-year disposal requirement can apply to heirs who do not qualify, and a notification deadline (reported as 60 days) may apply. Your lawyer should confirm both before the estate is registered.
• Registering an inheritance at the Land Office carries a fee and may involve taxes based on the assessed value. Without a court-appointed administrator, a 30-day public notice period applies.

Practical options

• Keep the original FET and purchase documents with the will: they evidence the deceased's eligibility and help any later sale or transfer abroad.
• If one heir lives in Thailand with qualifying status, consider naming that person for the condo.
• Leaving a unit to a Thai spouse or Thai child avoids the quota question entirely.

Thai law treats a lease as personal to the lessee. Unless the contract says otherwise, the lessee's death can end it. For a villa bought on a 30-year lease, that is the single most important clause to check.

What a good lease says

• The lease passes to the lessee's heirs or to persons named by the lessee for the remaining term.
• The lessee may assign or sublease without the landowner's further consent.
• The landowner and their heirs must cooperate in registering the transfer to the lessee's heirs, at the lessee's cost.

Whether these promises bind a later owner of the land, and how they are registered, is for your lawyer to confirm; a clause in the contract is not the same as a registered right.

The house

The house is a separate question from the lease. If you own the building, it passes through your estate. If you hold a superficies, check its term: a superficies granted for the holder's lifetime ends when that person dies, while a fixed-term superficies is generally inheritable for its remaining term unless the deed says otherwise. Have your lawyer analyse the lease, the building and any superficies separately.

Land

A foreign statutory heir of land, for example the foreign spouse of a Thai owner, may apply for ministerial permission to keep it under section 93 of the Land Code, subject to limits and conditions. This is not automatic and does not cover every beneficiary under a will. Where permission is not available, the land must be disposed of under the procedure and deadline your lawyer confirms.

A will made at home may be recognised in Thailand, but heirs then need translations, legalisation and sometimes proof of foreign law, which adds months. A separate Thai will covering only your Thai assets is faster and cheaper to use.

A sound Thai will

• Is in writing, dated and signed in front of two witnesses who are not beneficiaries. A Thai lawyer usually prepares it in Thai and English.
• Covers Thai assets only and says so, so it does not accidentally revoke your will at home. Ask your home lawyer to add the mirror wording.
• Names an executor who can act in Thailand: a trusted person or a law firm.
• Lists the assets: title deed numbers, lease registration numbers, bank accounts, company shares.

How the estate is handled

1. The executor or an heir applies to the Thai court to be appointed administrator. With a clear will and documents this usually takes a few months.
2. The administrator registers the inheritance at the Land Office for each property.
3. Assets are transferred to heirs or sold, and money can be sent abroad with the right documents.

Thai inheritance tax can apply to non-Thai heirs on Thai assets even if they are not Thai tax residents. It generally applies to the part of a net taxable inheritance above 100 m THB received by one heir from one person: 5% for ascendants and descendants, 10% for other heirs; a surviving spouse is exempt. Most families inheriting one home stay below the threshold, but registration charges apply regardless.

Do these within three months of buying.

1. Sign a Thai will covering Thai assets, with mirror wording in your home will.
2. Check your lease names heirs and allows succession and assignment; register it where possible.
3. Store copies of the title deed, lease, sale contract, FET or credit advice, and receipts for the purchase price.
4. Write down your Thai bank accounts, the juristic person or estate manager's contacts, and your lawyer's details.
5. Tell your executor where the originals are kept.
6. Review everything when your family situation changes or the law changes.

If you are still choosing a property, put the inheritance question to the seller's paperwork before you commit. Our due diligence guide lists what your lawyer should check, and we are happy to talk it through.