Transcript of the above video:

As the title of this video suggests, we are discussing Thai Wills. For those who are unaware, yes it is possible to have a Will drafted in Thailand. For most folks, especially many of our clients, we oftentimes have it drafted in both Thai and English just to sort of cover all bases. The Will can operate in multiple jurisdictions. Some folks choose to have a Will specifically for Thailand which only operates with regards to assets and bequests to be made in Thailand, so that is something to be aware of. 

What are we talking about when we are talking about a residuary? Well in any kind of Will you can have what is called a residuary or residual clause, and this can happen a lot. Times may change, there may not be provisions made to property which is acquired later after a Will is created and again depending on the facts of the case, it may be possible to have a catch-all provision or a residuary, a residual provision in the actual document which provides for the specific bequest as well as anything that wasn't mentioned or wasn't thought of or didn't exist at the time that the Will was drafted. 

Now if you make major changes with respect to your assets, with respect to your estate, it is probably a good idea to go ahead and either redraft a Will or have a new codicil written and just sort of tacked on to the old Will. In either case, again it is something to think about the fact that one's estate can change over time. A residuary though, a residual clause which basically states look anything that is not mentioned specifically in here, I am going to go ahead and give that to this person or these people, whatever. Now in an American context you may have a residuary which essentially pours over into a Trust. Thailand doesn't have Trusts so the residuary issue is not so much designed to pour into a Trust but it may not be a bad idea sort of as a backstop especially if there is only one beneficiary or proposed beneficiary or one person somebody is thinking of but there may be other possible legal heirs when it is not spoken to in a testamentary instrument. So what I am saying here is there may be property out there that is not mentioned in a Will and there may be other heirs out there that aren't specifically mentioned in a Will and where there is silence, it could lead to a situation where the Court takes over and says look this is what we are going to do. That may not be what the deceased would have wanted to occur. In those cases, a residuary clause, basically something that sort of a catch all, that can be very useful in preventing an issue where bequests can be made or inheritances can be conveyed that basically the person whose property it was, wouldn't really want that to happen.