Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing “What is a Holographic Will?” I am going to go ahead and read from an article from the Bangkok Post which I thought some shed some light on this and then I will go into some analysis. The article is: Protecting your assets- how to create an effective Will in Thailand. Again bangkokpost.com and just a small excerpt, I urge those who are watching this video, check that article out in detail. Quoting directly: "A Will in holographic form is one in which the testator uses his or her own hand to write the whole text of the document and which includes the date and their signature. A Holographic Will has the key advantage of not requiring any witnesses to be valid." Fair point. I am not a huge fan of Holographic Wills. I have actually seen them in an American context be thrown out. So to be clear I did not see this in a in a Thai context. 

One of the major issues with respect to a holographic will, again as they note okay the key advantage is it does not require a witness. Well it is kind of one of those situations, "if a tree falls in the forest and no one's around does it make a sound?" It is kind of that old parable and I think that is analogous to this situation or at least to the possible negative analysis which may be undertaken by a Thai Court in the future with respect to a Holographic Will. Okay, it is done by hand and it is signed and there is no witness. Okay that can be used but what if the Court has doubts that the whole thing is valid? Without a witness there is no one to corroborate. So again Holographic Wills may be useful under certain circumstances but in my opinion in a general context, it is probably a better idea to go ahead and have a properly formalized Will, because the name of the game with respect to what the Thai Court system calls succession, what is called probate in the common law context, basically the processing of a will so as to distribute assets and to name an executor or to name an executor in order to distribute assets and bequests. What you are wanting is for the thing to move through the Courts as smoothly as possible and a Holographic Will in my opinion can lead to questions as to authenticity which just don't arise where you have got multiple, one or more witnesses; where you have got formalities maintained within the four corners of the document which are in line with Thai public policy and Law. Again these issues don't arise in that context and that is what you are looking for. You are looking for a situation where the case processes smoothly, you are not looking to break new legal ground. In fact that's far from what you are looking to do. 

Now Holographic Wills again where it may be expedient or under exigent circumstances it is just required it is understandable, but under most circumstances in my opinion and the opinion of the Thai Attorneys in our firm, a more formalized Will is probably a better way to go.