Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing the notion of "Is there a standard Will in Thailand? Is there a standard type of Will?" Before I get very deep into this, something needs to be noted. There are some times folks tend to be of the belief and I think this is a byproduct of the internet era, that there are boilerplate documents, just a one size fits-all document out there that is always going to work. I am here to tell you, I have seen it from personal experience both in Thailand and the United States, folks trying to use some sort of form documentation without really understanding the underlying legal implications can get themselves in real trouble or they can find in the case when we are talking about estate planning, they can find their heirs effectively disinherited or put into a position where it is such a difficulty to deal with the formalities of dealing with the closure of their estate and the organization of affairs that it almost becomes a futile enterprise. I am not saying this to just say, well everybody needs a lawyer all the time, but what I am saying is there seems to be a lot of folks out there that think that there is a one size fits-all approach with respect to legal documentation which brings me to the point of this video, the notion of a standard Will. 

I was reading in recent article from the Bangkok Post, bangkokpost.com, the article is titled: Protecting your assets: How to create an effective will in Thailand. Quoting directly: "A Will in standard form is one that is made in writing, is dated at the time of making the Will and is signed by the testator in the presence of at least two witnesses who shall then and there sign their name certifying the signature of the testator." Yeah. I would maybe say "standard" might not be the right word. "Properly formalized" is probably the better terminology or the more precise terminology with respect to that, and there is more associated with that. There is a great deal of supporting documentation that goes into having a Will on hand that is going to be properly processed in the event of one's passing. What am I talking about here? Well the name of the game with respect to this is not so much just getting the document created and formalized, it is ensuring a certain level of certainty, I don't mean to be redundant there, that the document will actually move through the Court System in a timely manner. By Court System, the Thai system refers to this as "succession". We refer to it in the Common Law context as "probate" but basically a Court looking at the instrument, analyzing it, making sure that it meets the proper formalities and ensuring the person was of sound mind at the time that they made the document and then basically following the instructions of the will; naming the executor and that executor making the relevant bequests. These are the primary issues associated with processing a Will in Thailand and it should be the primary concern of those looking to make a Will. It is not so much, how do I do it or any type of one size fits old form, it is “is this thing going to move through the system in a timely manner, in a smooth manner in the event that it is called for”, and again proper formalization and doing it right and there is no one size fits all. Depending on the type of a person's estate, again in an international context there maybe multiple instruments involved, it really depends on circumstances or the document may be created and formalized in such a way that it can be used in multiple venues.

Again these are all concerns that probably should be taken up with an Attorney when you are doing your estate planning and again it might not be a terrible idea to contact a legal professional, gain some insight and guidance into how best to proceed.