A Thai will
If you own a condo, a car or a bank account here, make a Thai will for your Thai assets. It's simple: written (in Thai, or bilingual), signed in front of two witnesses who don't benefit, and naming an executor. Without one, your heirs need a court order, which takes months and a lawyer's fees, before a bank or the Land Office will act.
Keep your home-country will for your other assets and make sure the two don't contradict each other. A lawyer drafts both in one conversation.
Translation and legalisation
- Get the original document (birth, marriage, divorce or degree certificate) and have it certified in the country that issued it.
- Have it legalised by that country's embassy in Thailand, or apostilled at home where accepted.
- Get a certified Thai translation.
- Have the translation legalised at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of Consular Affairs.
This chain is needed for marriage registration, family visas, some bank and land office steps, and school enrolment.
Finding a lawyer
- Ask for the lawyer's licence from the Lawyers Council of Thailand, and check it.
- Get the scope and the fee in writing before work starts.
- Be wary of anyone offering to make illegal structures 'work'. That advice costs more than the fee.