Probate in Thailand: Estate Administration, Inheritance Laws and Process Step-by-Step

Last updated on September 7, 2026

Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.

Short answer: Thailand has no separate probate court and no self-executing executor. A regular provincial court appoints an estate administrator (ผู้จัดการมรดก), and until that order exists nobody can touch a Thai bank account, transfer a condominium, or re-register a car, even where there is a will naming an executor. A straightforward, uncontested appointment usually runs three to six months from filing to a usable court order. Contested estates, missing heirs, or documents that have to be legalised abroad take considerably longer.

The deadlines nobody mentions: the administrator must start the estate inventory within 15 days, finish the administration and accounts within one year, and an heir’s claim to the estate is barred one year after they knew of the death. Jump to the deadline table.

If the death has just happened, start with what to do when a foreigner dies in Thailand. If the will was made abroad, see probate of a foreign will in Thailand. This page is the Thai court process itself.

Probate in Thailand Is Not Probate as You Know It

The word “probate” imports expectations that Thai law does not meet, and most of the frustration families feel comes from that mismatch.

There is no probate registry and no probate court. Estate matters go to the ordinary provincial court with jurisdiction, and what the court does is not “prove the will” in the English sense. It appoints a person: the estate administrator. That appointment is the thing every bank, Land Office and transport office is waiting for.

Crucially, the court must appoint an administrator even where there is a valid will naming an executor. Section 1712 of the Civil and Commercial Code allows a will to designate an administrator, by the testator or by someone the will nominates to choose, but designation is not appointment. The named person still petitions, and the court still orders. What the will buys you is a short, uncontested hearing instead of a long argument about who should serve.

Which Court, Exactly?

Almost every English page on Thai probate, including an earlier version of this one, tells you to file “where the deceased was domiciled, or where the assets are”. That “or” is not the law, and it sends families to the wrong court.

Section 4 quater of the Civil Procedure Code sets a hierarchy with two steps:

1. The court for the place where the deceased was domiciled at the time of death. This is the rule. It applies even when every asset in the estate sits in a different province.
2. The court for the place where the estate property is situated, but only where the deceased had no domicile in the Kingdom.

Take the case that comes up most often in our practice. A retired foreigner lived for fifteen years in Udon Thani and owned one condominium in Bangkok. The family assumes Bangkok, because that is where the asset is. Section 4 quater says Udon Thani, because that is where he was domiciled. Filing in Bangkok does not usually destroy the case, but the court can decline it, and the family loses the weeks it takes to withdraw and refile in the right province.

The second limb catches the opposite situation: a foreigner who owned a Thai condominium but genuinely lived abroad and had no Thai domicile. There the asset court is correct, and it is correct because there is no domicile to point at, not because the family preferred it.

One practical warning. Domicile is a question of fact, and Thai courts look at where the person actually lived, not at what a visa or a lease says. Where a foreigner split the year between two provinces, or between Thailand and a home country, expect the court to want evidence: the house registration book, immigration records, utility accounts, and the address the person used with banks and hospitals. Assemble that before filing rather than after.

When Do You Actually Need a Court Order?

Whenever an asset sits in a register that someone official controls. In practice that means almost everything worth having.

Asset	Court order needed?	Why
Land, house, condominium	Yes	The Land Office will not register a transmission without it
Thai bank accounts	Yes	Frozen on notice of death; released only to the appointed administrator
Registered vehicles	Yes	Department of Land Transport requires the order
Company shares	Yes	Needed before the share register and DBD filings can be corrected
Government bonds and securities	Yes	Registrar requires the order
Household goods, cash in hand, personal effects	Usually not	No register, so the heirs deal with them among themselves
Life insurance with a named beneficiary	No	Paid to the named beneficiary and falls outside the estate. Where the policy names nobody and is payable simply to “my heirs”, section 897 puts the sum into the estate, which also means the deceased’s creditors can reach it

Who Can Be Estate Administrator?

Section 1713 says who may petition: an heir, any interested person, or the public prosecutor, in the cases it lists, which include the heirs being absent, abroad or minors, an administrator or heir being unable or unwilling to act, or a will’s appointment failing for any reason.

Section 1718 then says who cannot be appointed, and the wording is narrower than the usual summaries suggest:

• a person who has not attained legal majority (note this is majority, not simply age 20, since majority can also be reached by marriage);
• a person of unsound mind, or one the court has declared quasi-incompetent;
• a person the court has adjudged bankrupt.

Nothing there excludes a foreigner. A foreign spouse, adult child or sibling can be appointed and routinely is. You will read on several competing sites that the applicant “must be at least twenty years old”. That is a paraphrase, not the section, and it drops the quasi-incompetence limb entirely.

Nor does the administrator have to be an heir, and the two roles being combined is entirely normal in Thailand: the surviving spouse is very often both. The Supreme Court has repeatedly worked through what that dual role permits. In Dika 44/2568 the court held that an administrator transferring estate property to himself in his capacity as heir is not void for that reason alone, and in Dika 4746/2568 it accepted that the heirs’ tacit consent can support the administrator’s acquisition.

Once appointed, section 1719 gives the administrator the right and duty to do what is necessary to give effect to the will’s express or implied directions, to administer the estate generally, and to distribute it. That is a real fiduciary office, not a formality, which is why the deadlines below matter. The office also carries real power over assets: in Dika 5902/2567 the court addressed an administrator mortgaging estate property, which is a reminder that heirs who ignore an administrator for a year may find the estate has changed shape.

Choosing an administrator, not just qualifying as one

Eligibility is the easy half. Families ask us a harder question: which of us should actually do this? Four rules decide most of it, and none of them appears on the competing pages.

Two or more of you can serve together, and a majority then decides. Thai courts commonly appoint co-administrators, particularly in blended families where a Thai spouse and adult children from an earlier marriage both want a hand on the estate. Section 1726 governs what happens next: where there are several administrators, their duties are performed by majority vote, unless the will provides otherwise. On a tie, any interested person may apply to the court, and the court decides. Two co-administrators who fall out therefore deadlock by design, and every disputed decision becomes a court application. If you expect friction, appoint three, or appoint one and give the others information rights instead.

The administrator is not paid. Section 1721 is blunt: an administrator is not entitled to remuneration out of the estate unless the will permits it, or a majority of the heirs permit it. Families routinely assume the sibling who does the work is entitled to something for it. He is not, unless somebody says so, and the cleanest place to say so is the will.

A defective inventory can cost the administrator the job. Section 1731 lets the court discharge an administrator where no inventory is made in due time and form, or where the court finds the inventory unsatisfactory on the grounds of gross negligence, dishonesty or obvious incapability. This is what gives the 15-day and one-month deadlines below their teeth. Appointing the relative who is bad with paperwork is a real risk, not a social one.

Being in Thailand matters more than nationality. Nothing in the Code requires residence, but the administrator is the person who stands in front of the bank officer, the Land Office and the transport office, often repeatedly. An administrator living abroad works, and we run many of them, but budget for powers of attorney, courier time and at least one trip.

The Statutory Deadlines

This is the part that is almost never written down in English, and the part that most often causes a problem years later.

Deadline	What it requires	Section
15 days	The administrator must begin the estate inventory. The clock runs from the death if he already knew of his appointment under the will, from the day he takes up the office where the court appointed him, and otherwise from the day he accepts the office.	1728
One month	The inventory must be finished. It must be made in the presence of at least two witnesses who are themselves interested in the estate, and anyone disqualified from witnessing a will under section 1670 cannot witness it. The court can extend the month, but only on an application made before the month expires.	1729
Discharge	If no inventory is made in due time and form, or the court finds it unsatisfactory on grounds of gross negligence, dishonesty or obvious incapability, the court may discharge the administrator.	1731
One year	The administrator must complete the administration and the account of administration and distribution, running from the dates in section 1728, unless the testator, a majority of the heirs or the court fixes a different period.	1732
10 days	Approval of the accounts, or any release from liability, is only valid if the accounts were delivered to the heirs, with the supporting documents, at least ten days in advance.	1733
One year	An heir’s claim to the estate is barred one year after the heir knew, or ought to have known, of the death. A legatee’s claim under a will runs one year from learning of the right.	1754
Before distribution completes	An interested person can apply to remove an administrator for neglect of duty or other proper cause, but only before the distribution is finished. An administrator may also resign, with the court’s permission and for proper cause.	1727
Five years	Longstop: heirs cannot bring proceedings about the administration more than five years after the administration ends.	1733
Ten years	Absolute longstop on succession actions: in no case may a claim be brought more than ten years after the death.	1754 para 4

Two practical consequences. First, the 15-day inventory is routinely missed, because families are still arranging a funeral and the appointment has not even been made. The realistic reading is that the clock runs from when the administrator takes office, which is why the appointment date matters. Second, the one-year bar in section 1754 is the one that actually destroys claims: a family abroad assumes there is no hurry, and there is. We have written up a recent decision on exactly that in Thai inheritance claims after one year, Dika 284/2569.

What if the year has already passed?

Most pages state the one-year bar and stop there, which is the harshest possible half of the rule and sends families away who still have a claim. Three provisions qualify it, and you should check all three before accepting that a claim is dead.

Section 1755: not everybody can raise the bar. The one-year prescription may be set up only by an heir, by a person entitled to exercise an heir’s rights, or by an administrator of the estate. A stranger sitting on estate property cannot hide behind it. If the person you are arguing with is a neighbour, a tenant, a business partner or anyone else outside that list, the year is not their defence to run.

Section 1748: possession changes the answer. An heir who is in possession of undivided estate property may demand its partition even after the section 1754 period has expired. The same section adds that the right to demand partition cannot be excluded by juristic act for more than ten years at a time. This matters most for the family living in the house: occupation of the property is not a reason the claim lapsed, it is a reason the claim survives.

Section 1754 paragraph 4: ten years is the real outer wall. No succession action may be brought more than ten years after the death, whatever the heir knew and when. So the honest position is a two-tier one. Inside one year of knowledge, you are safe. Between one and ten years, you need section 1755 or section 1748 or an argument about when you knew. After ten years, the door is shut.

The knowledge point deserves its own line, because it wins cases. The year runs from when the heir knew, or ought to have known, of the death, not from the death. A child who learned of a parent’s death two years later starts the clock on the day of learning, provided nothing put them on notice earlier. Get the evidence of that date into writing early, because it will be attacked.

A second clock runs against the administrator, and it is five years. Section 1733 paragraph 2 stops an heir suing about the administration more than five years after the administration ends. Three points decide how that bar actually works, and the Supreme Court has settled all three. In Dika 2715/2562 the court held that only heirs and the administrator can raise this five-year bar; a third party, such as someone who bought estate property from the administrator, cannot. In Dika 2160/2562 it fixed the starting point: the administration ends when the last estate asset is disposed of or registered, so the five years runs from that day and not from the day the heir discovered the problem. And in Dika 2239/2559 it held that the five year bar is written for an administration carried out normally, and does not apply at all where the administrator administered the estate unlawfully or improperly, or embezzled, misappropriated or concealed it without the heirs knowing. Put together: an heir who was kept in the dark is usually in a better position under section 1733 than the calendar suggests.

Two related traps. A guardian cannot renounce an inheritance on a minor heir’s behalf without the court, which the Supreme Court confirmed in Dika 1649/2567, so a renunciation made informally years ago may not have worked at all. And half-siblings are statutory heirs in their own class, as Dika 2742/2545 confirms, so an heir list drawn up from one household’s memory is often short.

The Process, Step by Step

Stage	What happens	Typical time
1. Jurisdiction	Identify the correct provincial court under Civil Procedure Code section 4 quater: the court for the deceased’s domicile at death, and only where there was no Thai domicile, the court where the estate property sits.	Immediate
2. Documents	Death certificate, the will if any, proof of the relationship of each heir, house registration and ID or passports, the asset list with supporting title documents. Foreign documents need certified translation and legalisation.	The long pole. 2 to 12 weeks, at the top of that range when documents come from abroad
3. Petition	Petition drafted, heirs’ consents obtained where possible. Consents from all heirs are what keep a hearing short.	1 to 2 weeks
4. Filing and scheduling	Filed with the court, which sets a hearing date.	4 to 8 weeks to the hearing date, by province
5. Public notice	The court requires notice so that anyone with a competing claim can appear.	Runs inside the period at stage 4
6. Hearing	Usually short and uncontested where there is a will and the heirs agree. The petitioner normally attends.	One appearance
7. Order	The court appoints the administrator.	Same day to a few weeks for the written order
8. Appeal window and certificate	An appeal period runs; afterwards the court issues a certificate that no appeal was filed. Banks and the Land Office generally want this certificate, not just the order.	About 30 days plus issuing time
9. Inventory and administration	Inventory within 15 days of taking office, then collecting assets, paying debts, dealing with the banks and registries.	Weeks to months
10. Distribution and discharge	Distribution under section 1750, then accounts to the heirs and discharge.	Within the one-year limit in section 1732, accounts under section 1733

Step 8 is the one that surprises people. Getting the order is not the end: most institutions want the certificate of no appeal before they will act, so budget another month after the hearing before the bank actually pays out.

On distribution, section 1750 is worth knowing. Distribution can be made by the heirs each taking possession of their portions, or by selling the estate and dividing the proceeds. If instead the heirs distribute by agreement, that agreement cannot be enforced unless there is written evidence signed by the party to be held liable, or their agent. The Supreme Court worked through the deed-or-occupation distinction in Dika 4273/2568. Family agreements about who gets what should be written and signed, not settled over a meal.

How Long Does Probate Take in Thailand?

Three to six months from filing to a usable court order where there is a Thai will, the heirs agree, and the documents are already in hand. Four to eight months without a will. Add one to three months on the front if foreign documents must be translated and legalised before you can file, and a year or more if anyone contests the appointment. Then add roughly one month after the hearing for the certificate of no appeal, which most banks want before releasing funds.

These are the firm’s own figures, corrected on 7 August 2026. They replace an earlier estimate on this page.

Feature	Straightforward case	Complex case
Total estimated timeline	3 to 6 months	8 to 24 months
Court processing	2 to 4 months	6 to 18 months
Asset transfers	1 to 2 months	2 to 6 months
Estimated legal fees	50,000 to 150,000 THB	200,000 THB and up
Key characteristics	No disputes between heirs, a clear will if any, and all documents readily available.	Disputed will, missing heirs, creditor claims, or assets in multiple jurisdictions.
Court fees	A small flat court fee (200 THB for the petition, plus minor delivery and announcement costs), which we pay on your behalf as part of our service	If the estate is disputed and monetary claims are litigated, ad valorem court fees apply to the contested amount (2%, capped by statute); the appointment petition itself remains a small flat fee

Two levers move that number, and neither of them is the court. The first is whether the documents proving who the heirs are exist, in the right form, translated and legalised. That is where the months go, and it is entirely front-loadable while the family is still arranging the funeral. The second is the court’s own calendar, which varies by province: a Bangkok list and an upcountry list do not run at the same speed, and nobody can shorten either.

Documents, Legalisation and the 2027 Apostille Change

Foreign documents are the long pole in every probate timetable on this page, so a change to how they are certified is a change to your timetable.

Thailand is joining the Apostille Convention, and the date is 28 February 2027. Thailand deposited its instrument of accession to the 1961 Hague Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026, and the Convention enters into force for Thailand on 28 February 2027. You will still find competing pages stating flatly that Thailand is not a party and that full legalisation is therefore essential. That was true when they wrote it and it stops being true on that date.

What this means in practice:

• Filing before 28 February 2027: nothing changes. Foreign death, birth and marriage certificates still go through the issuing country’s authentication chain and then Thai embassy or consular legalisation, and the Thai translation still goes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Our document legalisation guide sets out the route and the current waiting times.
• Filing after that date: a single apostille from the issuing country’s competent authority should replace the consular leg for documents from the other contracting states. That removes weeks from stage 2 of the table above.
• If the death is recent and the estate is not urgent, this is worth a conversation rather than an assumption. Waiting is rarely the right answer, because the section 1754 year is running, but a family already twelve months into gathering paperwork from three countries may reasonably time the final push around the change.

Thai-side documents are unaffected. So is the requirement for certified Thai translation, which the apostille does not remove. If you need documents notarised inside Thailand, see notarial services in Thailand.

What Does It Cost?

Three separate things, and they are usually quoted as one, which is why estimates online vary so wildly.

Component	Typical range	Notes
Court fees and disbursements	200 THB petition fee, plus publication, service and delivery costs	The appointment petition is a small flat fee. Ad valorem fees (2%, capped by statute) apply only if monetary claims are litigated.
Translation and legalisation	Per document, and the largest surprise line for a cross-border family	Driven by how many foreign documents you need and from how many countries. Expected to fall for apostille-country documents after 28 February 2027.
Legal fees, uncontested	50,000 to 150,000 THB	Clear heirs, documents available, no dispute.
Legal fees, contested or complex	200,000 THB and up	Disputed will, missing heirs, creditor claims, or assets across jurisdictions.

We quote probate individually rather than as a flat fee, because an uncontested single-account estate and a contested estate with land in three provinces are not the same job. What we can commit to is the sequence: a first consultation at 2,000 THB per hour, and after it a written quote for the whole matter before any work starts. Our published legal fees and pricing are online.

For comparison, a Thai will costs 3,900 THB. It does not avoid the court, but it converts a contested factual enquiry into a short administrative hearing, and it is the cheapest thing in this entire process by two orders of magnitude. See what a will costs in Thailand.

Points That Only Affect Foreign Families

• A foreign will does not skip the Thai court. It can be recognised, but the executor it names has no power over Thai assets until a Thai court appoints them. See probate of a foreign will and how a Thai will and a foreign will work together.
• Proving heirship across borders is evidence, not law. Foreign marriage and birth certificates work, provided the issuing authority certifies them and a translator translates them. Get them early; legalisation takes weeks, at least until February 2027.
• A foreign heir cannot keep land. Land must be disposed of within the period the authorities allow, though a foreigner is not prohibited from owning the building. A condominium can be kept if the building’s 49% foreign quota allows it. See can a foreigner inherit land in Thailand and inheriting property as a foreign heir.
• The bank is a separate negotiation. An administrator with the order and the certificate still has to satisfy the branch. See Thai bank accounts for how the banks handle identity and authority.
• You do not necessarily have to be here. Much of the preparation runs under a power of attorney, though the petitioner normally attends the hearing. If you have never been in a Thai courtroom, read what to know before you go to court in Thailand first.
• Inheritance tax is a separate question from probate. It applies above a threshold and to specified asset classes. See inheritance tax in Thailand.

What If There Is No Will?

The estate still devolves on the heirs at the moment of death under section 1599, but who those heirs are is now the court’s problem rather than the testator’s decision. Section 1629 sets six classes of statutory heirs in order, and section 1635 gives the surviving spouse a share alongside them that varies with which class exists.

That is where intestate estates lose their months: the court has to be satisfied about family composition, and in a blended or cross-border family that can mean tracking down children from an earlier marriage in another country. What happens in detail is set out in dying without a will in Thailand and in our inheritance law guide.

The comparison is stark enough to be worth stating plainly: a Thai will does not avoid the court, but it converts a contested factual enquiry into a short administrative hearing. See making a Thai will, or start from our free Thai will template.

Common Questions

How long does probate take in Thailand?

Three to six months to a usable court order where there is a Thai will, the heirs agree and the documents are to hand. Four to eight months without a will. Add one to three months if documents must be translated and legalised abroad before filing, and a year or more if the appointment is contested. Budget roughly another month after the hearing for the certificate of no appeal, which most banks want before releasing funds.

Which court do I file in for an estate administrator in Thailand?

The provincial court for the place where the deceased was domiciled at the time of death. Civil Procedure Code section 4 quater makes this a hierarchy, not a choice: only where the deceased had no domicile in the Kingdom do you file where the estate property is situated. A man who lived in Udon Thani and owned a Bangkok condominium is an Udon Thani filing, not a Bangkok one.

Can two people be estate administrators at the same time?

Yes, and Thai courts appoint co-administrators regularly, particularly in blended families. Section 1726 then decides how they act: by majority vote, unless the will provides otherwise. On a tie, any interested person may apply to the court and the court decides. Two co-administrators who disagree therefore deadlock, so consider appointing three, or one with information rights for the others.

Does the estate administrator get paid?

Not by default. Section 1721 says an administrator is not entitled to remuneration out of the estate unless the will permits it or a majority of the heirs permit it. If you want the family member who does the work to be paid, say so in the will, or obtain the heirs’ agreement in writing.

The one year has passed. Is my inheritance claim dead?

Not necessarily. Three provisions qualify the section 1754 bar. Section 1755 means only an heir, a person entitled to exercise an heir’s rights, or an estate administrator can raise the one-year prescription at all. Section 1748 lets an heir who is in possession of undivided estate property demand partition even after the year has run. And the year runs from when you knew or ought to have known of the death, not from the death itself. The absolute outer limit is ten years from the death under section 1754 paragraph 4.

How long do I have to sue the estate administrator?

Five years from the end of the administration, under section 1733 paragraph 2, which is a separate clock from the one-year bar in section 1754. The Supreme Court has held that the administration ends when the last estate asset is disposed of or registered (Dika 2160/2562), that only heirs and the administrator can raise this bar and not a third party who bought estate property (Dika 2715/2562), and that the five year bar does not apply at all where the administrator administered the estate unlawfully, or embezzled, misappropriated or concealed it without the heirs knowing (Dika 2239/2559).

Will the apostille change anything for my probate case?

Yes, from 28 February 2027. Thailand deposited its accession to the 1961 Apostille Convention on 30 June 2026 and the Convention enters into force for Thailand eight months later, on 28 February 2027. Until then, foreign documents still need the full legalisation chain. After it, a single apostille from the issuing country should replace the consular leg, which removes weeks from the document stage. Certified Thai translation is still required either way.

Is there a probate court in Thailand?

No. There is no separate probate court and no probate registry. The ordinary provincial court with jurisdiction under Civil Procedure Code section 4 quater hears the petition and appoints an estate administrator.

Do I need a court order if there is a will?

Yes. A will may designate an administrator under section 1712, but designation is not appointment. The named person must still petition and the court must still order. What the will does is make the hearing short and uncontested.

Can a foreigner be an estate administrator in Thailand?

Yes. Section 1718 excludes only a person who has not attained legal majority, a person of unsound mind or declared quasi-incompetent, and a person adjudged bankrupt. Nationality is not a disqualification, and foreign spouses and children are appointed routinely. The administrator also does not have to be a non-heir; in Thailand the surviving spouse is commonly both.

What are the estate administrator’s deadlines?

The inventory must be started within 15 days of taking office (section 1728) and finished within one month, before at least two witnesses who are themselves interested in the estate, with any extension applied for before that month expires (section 1729). The administration and accounts must be completed within one year (section 1732), and accounts must reach the heirs with supporting documents at least ten days before they are approved (section 1733). Section 1731 lets the court discharge an administrator who fails on the inventory.

Can an estate administrator be removed?

Yes, by two routes. Under section 1727 any interested person may apply to the court to remove an administrator for neglect of duty or other proper cause, but the application must be made before the distribution of the estate is complete. Separately, section 1731 allows the court to discharge an administrator where the inventory is not made in due time and form, or is unsatisfactory through gross negligence, dishonesty or obvious incapability. An administrator may also resign for proper cause with the court’s permission.

What assets can be transferred without a court order?

Only assets that sit in no official register: household goods, personal effects and cash in hand. Land, condominiums, bank accounts, registered vehicles, company shares and government securities all require the order. Life insurance paid to a named beneficiary is outside the estate and needs no order; a policy payable simply to “my heirs” falls into the estate under section 897.

Can heirs just agree who gets what?

They can distribute by each taking possession of their portions, or by selling and dividing the proceeds, under section 1750. But if they distribute by agreement instead, that agreement is unenforceable unless there is written evidence signed by the party to be held liable or their agent. Put family agreements in writing and sign them.

What does probate cost in Thailand?

Court fees are small: 200 THB for the appointment petition plus publication and service costs. Translation and legalisation is charged per document and is often the largest surprise for a cross-border family. Legal fees run 50,000 to 150,000 THB for an uncontested estate and 200,000 THB and up where the will is disputed, heirs are missing, or assets sit in several jurisdictions. A first consultation is 2,000 THB per hour and produces a written quote for the whole matter before any work begins.

Try It Yourself First, Free

You do not have to book anything to get started. These run in your browser, and you only pay us if you decide you want a lawyer involved.

• Legal health check for expats, which flags the documents a family in Thailand is usually missing.
• Free Thai will template, if the person who has died was not the only one in the family without a will.
• Our Supreme Court decision library, checked against 84,000 decisions.

How We Help

We handle Thai probate for families who are frequently not in Thailand: identifying the right court under section 4 quater, assembling and legalising the documents, drafting the petition and heirs’ consents, appearing at the hearing, obtaining the certificate of no appeal, and then the part that actually matters to the family, dealing with the banks, the Land Office, the Department of Land Transport and any company shares. Where property has to move afterwards, see transferring property in Thailand.

If the death is recent, the useful first step is a consultation at 2,000 THB per hour so that someone tells you which documents to start collecting now, because that is what sets the timetable. Contact us in English, French or Thai, or book a consultation.

Email: info.thailaw@gmail.com | Phone: +66 87 225 1340 (English and French), +66 87 414 9288 (Thai and English).

This page states the position as at September 2026 and is general information, not advice on your estate. Statutory references are to the Thai Civil and Commercial Code unless the text says Civil Procedure Code. Timescales are our practical experience, not guarantees; court schedules vary by province.

Related Guides

• What to do when a foreigner dies in Thailand, the first-week checklist
• Inheritance law in Thailand, the full guide
• Dying without a will in Thailand
• Our will drafting service
• What to know before going to court in Thailand
• Thai bank accounts, which an administrator must deal with before any balance is released
• Legalisation of documents in Thailand
• Inheritance tax in Thailand

Last reviewed: 7 September 2026. Every legal statement on this page was read against the primary text, not against a summary. Civil and Commercial Code sections 1712, 1719, 1721, 1726, 1727, 1728, 1729, 1731, 1732, 1733, 1748, 1750, 1754 and 1755, and Civil Procedure Code section 4 quater, were read from our own bilingual statute library. Section 4 quater confirms the point the whole English-language search result gets wrong: filing is a hierarchy, the court of the deceased’s domicile at death, and the court where the property lies only where there was no domicile in the Kingdom. The Supreme Court decisions cited were checked individually: 2160/2562, 2239/2559 and 2715/2562 were read in Thai in full, to the disposition, from the judgment text; 1649/2567, 2742/2545, 44/2568, 4273/2568, 4746/2568 and 5902/2567 were checked against our own published record of each decision. One gloss was corrected as a result, on 2239/2559: the court held that the five year bar in section 1733 paragraph 2 is written for an administration carried out normally and does not apply to an unlawful or concealed one, which is a different mechanism from the one this page had described. The apostille dates were taken from the Hague Conference status table for the 1961 Convention, which records Thailand’s accession on 30 June 2026 and entry into force on 28 February 2027; a sentence that had collapsed those two dates into one was corrected. Not certified here: the court fee figures, which come from the Civil Procedure Code’s annexed fee table rather than from its sections and so are outside the library we read, and our own fee ranges, which are commercial and not legal.