Suing over an inheritance in Thailand: time limits

Inheritance disputes that reach court usually begin with reluctance to press. One heir holds the title deeds or runs the deceased's business. The other heirs do not want to push, because they are family. Years pass, some assets are transferred into the holder's name, and when the others finally ask, the holder raises the limitation period as a defence.

Succession law has several sets of time limits layered on top of one another. Which applies turns on two questions: is the heir who sues still in possession of the asset, and is the claim one for inheritance against fellow heirs, or a claim against an administrator who handled the estate wrongly. Answering those two questions correctly at the outset matters more than filing quickly.

Inheritance claims: when does the one-year limit start?

The general rule for inheritance claims is that they must be brought within one year. That year can start at different points depending on who is suing, and there is a further outer limit above it.

• A statutory heir must sue within one year of the death, or of the date the heir knew or ought to have known of the death.
• A beneficiary under a will must sue on the will within one year of the date the beneficiary knew or ought to have known of the rights under it.
• A creditor of the deceased whose claim originally had a limitation period longer than one year must sue within one year of knowing, or when it ought to have known, of the debtor's death.
• In every case, no claim may be brought more than ten years after the death.

Only an heir, a person entitled to exercise an heir's rights, or the estate administrator may raise the one-year limit as a defence, and a court cannot dismiss a claim for limitation on its own initiative if the defendant has not pleaded it. Something else heirs often do not realise: the court has no power to summon heirs who are not parties to take a share, nor to set a share aside for them. Each heir must therefore come forward and claim his or her own share, and cannot rely on a sibling who sued first to claim for them.

Still occupying inherited land: can you sue for partition after ten years?

Yes, if the asset has not yet been divided and the heir who sues is still in possession of it. The law allows an heir in possession to demand partition even after the inheritance limitation period has run. Possession includes the case where another heir or the administrator holds the asset on behalf of all the heirs. Until partition, the heirs hold the estate jointly and the rules on co-ownership apply. An agreement not to demand partition can be made for no more than ten years at a time.

The point to watch is that this rule applies asset by asset, not to the estate as a whole. The Supreme Court considered a case where the deceased owned two plots. The plot the suing heirs occupied could be partitioned even after more than ten years. The plot they had never occupied fell under the ordinary one-year or ten-year limits, and since they sued after ten years, the claim to that plot was time-barred.

• List every estate asset and note who occupies or uses each one.
• Keep evidence of possession: living there, collecting rent, paying land tax, or a document in which the other heir accepts holding the asset on behalf of the others.
• For any asset you do not possess, track the one-year and ten-year limits separately.

The administrator will not distribute, or transferred assets to himself: what can heirs do?

A claim by heirs against an administrator for handling the estate wrongly is a claim concerning the administration of the estate. It is a different category from an ordinary inheritance claim and has its own time limit: heirs may not sue more than five years after the administration has ended. An administrator is liable to the heirs in the same way an agent is liable to a principal, and must therefore hand over assets, render accounts and answer for loss caused.

The key question is whether the administration has actually ended. The Supreme Court has held that where an administrator concealed certain heirs from the start of the application, then transferred estate assets to himself alone without telling the heirs, that conduct was wrongful and the administration could not be treated as ended. The administrator still held the assets on behalf of the other heirs and still had the duty to distribute, so the claim was not time-barred, even though the transfer was more than five years earlier and the suit was filed more than ten years after the death.

That outcome depends heavily on the facts of each case. If the administrator has distributed the assets and delivered full accounts to the heirs, the five-year period begins to run, and an heir who waits past it can genuinely lose the claim.

Suing for partition or applying to remove the administrator: which route?

The two routes deal with different problems, and many cases need both at once.

• An application to remove the administrator is made in the court case in which the administrator was appointed. It suits a case where the assets are still in the estate but the administrator is neglecting the duties. It must be made before distribution is complete, and the result is a new administrator, not the return of assets as such.
• A claim concerning the administration suits a case where assets have already been transferred out, or the administrator distributed the wrong shares. It seeks revocation of the transfer, partition, or compensation.
• A partition claim between heirs suits a case where there is no administrator, or one heir holds the assets as an heir. The one-year and ten-year limits and the possession rule above must then be considered.

Heirs who can agree on a division should do it in the proper form. Division can be made by each heir taking possession of a defined portion, or by selling the assets and sharing the proceeds. If the division is made by agreement, there must be written evidence signed by the party to be held liable, or it cannot be enforced in court. The procedure for appointing an administrator and the administrator's duties are covered in the article on appointing an estate administrator, and the order of heirs and their shares in the article on inheritance where there is no will.

This note states the general position and is not advice on your own situation. How the limitation period runs in an inheritance case depends on when the death became known, who possesses each asset, and the state of the administration, all of which differ from family to family. Send the firm the date of death, a list of the assets and a copy of any court order, and it will set out which time limit applies and which route to start with.