Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing "probate". Now probate is in quotes because "probate" is frankly a Common Law term; it's not what we would call a Civil Law term. So there's two different, if you want to get deep into Comparative Law and different countries have different legal systems, but two of the major legal systems that tend to permeate most of the globe are the Common Law System which tends to go throughout the Anglosphere, or the old British Empire frankly because basically it emanates from England, it's Common Law from that jurisdiction originally; some people sometimes call it the Westminster Law. And then there's Civil Law which was basically promulgated on the continent. Now if you go far enough back, they have common ancestry. Basically the big split was under Henry VIII when he split with the Roman Catholic church and then set up basically what used to be the Ecclesiastical Courts, became the Court of the Kings Conscience, and you saw sort of a different body of law begin to evolve away from the old system up to that point which had evolved going all the way back to The Twelve Tables, going back to the Romans if you want to go all the way back. Where does that bring us with regard to Thailand? Well Thailand adopted certain aspects in their Civil and Commercial Code. So they have sort of an adopted Civil Law system that they voluntarily adopted and they kind of picked and chose different aspects of different country's laws but the main body of the Civil and Commercial Code is very shall we say, reminiscent of sort of German and French Civil Code. It's important to note that it's uniquely Thai though. There are things like we have mentioned the Three Seals Law which predate all of that and are uniquely Thai unto themselves. So there is a body of Thai Law which is unique unto itself but then sort of grafted on to that is a sort of Civil Law tradition now that has been around for some time.

Now that said, understand that Probate is different from, well as a practical matter it kind of ends up the same way where you pass away and they decide what to do with your estate, but probate is a Common Law term. I've heard what the Thais call their if you will Probate System Succession; that's the English translation. I don't like to get into the Thai terminology because quite frankly it is beyond my bailiwick. My job in my opinion on this channel, is to provide information in English regarding the Thai system so it's kind of an outsider's perspective looking in. But understand the reason and the title for the quotes around "probate" is because there strictly speaking isn't probate in Thailand. They just adjudicate Succession matters. 

That said, I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, pattayamail.com, the article is titled: Retiring abroad in an uncertain world: What Frank's story in Pattaya teaches us about global policy and local risk. I've done some prior videos on this and I did some long-form videos discussing this article as well via our paid news service which is Integrity News Service. If you are interested in that, you can email us, [email protected]. The promotional price if you will for the remainder of 2025 is 2,000 baht plus vat for the remainder of 2025, and I'm doing long form videos. Most of them are coming out to about 30-40 minutes. We did one episode last week. I have just wrapped up on another one; we are finishing editing on that. We should have that up shortly for those subscribers but that's being sent out via email. 

In any event, quoting directly: "The Legal Blind Spots, then under subsection 2, I should say: Frank's story highlights three common oversights: Subsection 2: Overlooking cross-border estate issues: Without a Thai Will, local property can be frozen or disputed after death - even if there is a U.S. one." Well this is one of those examples where for whatever reason, writers out there, they are talking beyond their depth frankly; they don't exactly know what they are talking about. First of all, if you don't have a Thai Will and you own local property" - let's say you own a condo in Thailand as a foreigner - "can be frozen or disputed in death." No, that's not what's going on. If you pass away in what we would call in a Common Law vernacular, "intestate" or without some kind of instrument, Will namely, that stipulates where your property goes, then at the end of the day, it's not frozen, it's just the Court has to make a determination as to where it goes and they don't have a Will in order to do that. So to say that it's frozen is not correct. Meanwhile "disputed". Okay, yes there can always be disputes in Probate or what we call succession here in Thailand, and even if a Will exists, there could be a dispute. So the notion that without a Thai Will strictly speaking it could all be frozen or disputed, is not strictly speaking true. Now it's better to have one because intestate succession can be difficult to say the least, because you could get into a situation where you have got multiple heirs running around or the Court may decide that they don't know who the heirs are; I mean there's all sorts of uncertainty. Meanwhile, on top of that, US Wills are not exclusive of Thailand. Depending on the nature, and again the underlying circumstances are going to drive the analysis, but you could have a US Will that could be processed through the Thai Courts depending on how it's drafted, the formalities associated with it, the terms of it, but bear in mind, the Court here has final authority with regard to adjudicating how that Will is going to be applied. 

So the thing to take away from this video is one, don't believe everything you read especially out there on the internet regarding really complex legal matters like dying intestate in Thailand, or dying without a Will, or dying with only a U.S. Will. These folks on the internet oftentimes don't know what they are talking about, or again I am not trying to cast aspersions here, but they are talking beyond their depth. I have dealt with US Wills that have been probated in the U.S. and then have been processed through, me myself didn't process them through, but I have worked with Thai Attorneys who had to process them through the Thai System; it can be done; it's not a zero-sum thing. They are not mutually exclusive. If you have a U.S. Will, it doesn't mean you can't use it in Thailand. That said, again it's going to depend on the underlying circumstances. But the first thing to take away from this video, don't believe everything you read regarding that. That being said, generally speaking yeah, it's better to have a Will, especially if you have property here in Thailand, than to not have one.