Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing documentation associated with the formalization of a Will. By formalization I mean drafting of a Will and formalizing it to the point where it will be rather smoothly processed through what is called Succession in Thailand, what we often refer to as probate in the Common Law System but basically processing of a Will through the judicial branch so as to have an executor named and be able to go ahead, disperse bequests and close the estate so you are going to want to have that Will fully formalized per Thai Law.

Something that has really been vexing to me lately is we have had a number of folks who we have been dealing with in drafting their Will etc., this wasn't so much recently but I particularly recall it happening a couple of times almost a year ago and people wondered, "Why do you need me this, why do you need that?" We are not coming up with it out of thin air, we need, oftentimes for example documentation pertaining to a bank account, documentation pertaining to any owned property. You want to have that stuff in the Will, you want to have it on hand so that it is all very much packaged, you have got a bow on it if you will to take it to the Thai probate court and they are going to move that thing through. If you don't take those prior steps, if you don't sort of front load that documentation, you could end up with a situation where it either delays or even possibly jeopardizes the instructions to be carried out any underlying Will. 

Now I do understand and we have had a lot of clients, especially American clients, who are used to deal with dealing with Wills in an American context and it can be a very informal process to deal with that. Well in Thailand there are a number of formalities associated with testamentary instruments and you need to go ahead and adhere to those formalities in order to ensure that your wishes are carried out in the end.