Transcript of the above video: 

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing property being frozen after death or disputed after death. What are we talking about here? Well I thought of making this video after reading a recent article from the Pattaya Mail, that is 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. Under The Legal Blind Spots. Frank's story highlights three common oversights: Under Section 2 it states: 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 that's just strictly speaking not strictly speaking true, okay. It just isn’t. I've seen situations where property in Thailand has been dealt with in "Probate" and understand probate is a Common Law term. Thailand uses a Civil Law System. In Thailand, the best English translation for their system is Succession but again it is kind of a semantic thing. I mean at the end of the day it's basically what happens to your stuff after you pass away. But long story short, first of all yeah a US Will, I have seen a US Will be utilized by the Thai Courts to make determinations regarding succession, regarding bequeathing of property pursuant to Thai Law. They basically say, again it's going to depend on the formalities of the Will; it's going to depend on the underlying facts in the case, but I have seen Wills that were primarily designed for a foreign jurisdiction be utilized in Thailand; that is possible. To be clear, I am not a Thai Attorney. I have seen Thai Attorneys process these things through Court. 

Meanwhile, the whole notion that "property can be frozen or disputed." That's not what's going on. Even if you pass away without a Will in Thailand, your property is not frozen. It's in a similar situation as it would be for example in the United States. If you die intestate, which means to die without a Will, the Court has to determine who your heirs are at that point, in order to determine who gets title. It's not "frozen", it's just the Court has to make a determination. Meanwhile, "disputed". Well I mean yeah, if you have multiple heirs and you have no Will, then maybe there could be disputes that would arise. That said, Thai Law has provisions for that. Spouses tend to be sort of the number one inheritor; children seem to be sort of along the same lines. They are kind of concomitant if you will with the spouse. There are rules regarding the division of property regarding those two heirs or those two categories of heirs and then past that there are rules regarding that. In much the same way as we have rules regarding intestate succession in the United States. 

So again the notion that property is "frozen" in the event of your death is very much in my opinion, very much a misnomer.