Retirement visa · Non-O · Thai banks
Thai banks have no payable-on-death (POD) or transfer-on-death (TOD) beneficiary on a deposit account. On your death the account freezes, and the bank pays the estate administrator (ผู้จัดการมรดก, the person a Thai court puts in charge of your estate). A Thai will chooses that person. It does not skip the court.
Referred by
In Thai and English. It names your heirs, your executor and a second executor. It covers assets in Thailand only, and says it does not revoke your home will; your home will says the same back.
Keep in Thailand what the visa asks for and no more. The rest stays at home, where POD and TOD exist.
The bank, the branch, the account number, the will, and who to call, where your executor can find them.
The order things happen in, read 22 October 2026.
Published figures for an uncontested estate. Source: Expat Tax Thailand, 2026.
Thai Civil and Commercial Code, sections as numbered.
For a bank deposit, the law of the place you were domiciled decides who inherits (Conflict of Laws Act B.E. 2481, s.38). Where that is Thailand, a spouse, children and living parents share it (s.1629, s.1630, s.1635); with none of them, brothers and sisters, then half brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts. A spouse you have separated from is a spouse until the divorce is registered.
Your choice, named in the will (s.1712), with a second in case the first cannot act. The court appoints the person named unless they are a minor, legally incapacitated or bankrupt (s.1718). Any nationality. Someone who can come to Thailand, or will hire a Thai lawyer, makes it quicker.
Written, dated, signed by you in front of two witnesses present together, who sign too (s.1656). A witness, or a witness's spouse, who is left something loses that gift (s.1653). Pick witnesses who inherit nothing.
A Thai court can work from a US or other foreign will, translated and authenticated, and the bank still waits for the Thai court. A Thai will for Thai assets is the shorter road. Each will names its own assets and leaves the other standing.
Retirement extension of stay, the three money routes.
One copy at home, one with your executor.
Tell us your visa route, your bank, what you keep in Thailand, who you want to inherit and who you would name to act. A written plan comes back: what to keep here, what the Thai will says, your folder filled in, and a written price for drafting and signing the will.
Scan with any Thai banking app. The app shows the name the money goes to before you pay. Then send the form; the reply asks for the slip.
Read 22 October 2026. A Thai lawyer drafts and checks the will.
Not on deposit accounts. When the bank learns of the death it freezes the account and pays the estate administrator a Thai court appoints, on the court order and its certificate of finality.
Not at ฿400,000 to ฿800,000. Some branches pay small balances to heirs without a court order, reported at ฿50,000 to ฿200,000; that is the branch's choice and no published rule. Above it, the bank waits for a court order.
A Thai court can work from a foreign will, but it has to be translated and authenticated, and the bank still waits for a Thai court order. A second will, in Thai and English, for Thai assets only, is the shorter road. Each will says it does not revoke the other.
Yes. A will can name the executor (Civil and Commercial Code s.1712). The court then appoints that person unless they are a minor, legally incapacitated or bankrupt (s.1718). They need not be Thai.
For a bank deposit, the law of the place you were domiciled decides (Conflict of Laws Act B.E. 2481, s.38). If that is Thailand, a spouse, children and living parents share it (Civil and Commercial Code s.1629, s.1630, s.1635); with none of them, brothers and sisters, then half brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts. A registered spouse is a spouse until the divorce is registered.
Four to eight months in most uncontested cases. Court fees ฿200 to ฿2,000; lawyers' fees quoted ฿50,000 to ฿200,000; certified translation per page on top (Expat Tax Thailand, 2026).
Usually not. Most joint accounts freeze on the death of one holder and wait for the court order too.
For the deposit route, ฿800,000 sits in a Thai bank in your name for 2 months before you apply and 3 months after the extension, and stays at ฿400,000 or more for the rest of the year. Income of ฿65,000 a month, or a mix of income and deposit, are the other two routes.
Two adults, present together while you sign. A witness, or a witness's spouse, who is left something in the will loses that gift (Civil and Commercial Code s.1653), so pick witnesses who inherit nothing.