Most advice online tells you the same thing. If your foreign heir does not qualify to own a condo in Thailand, they inherit the unit and then have one year to sell it. That comes from Section 19 septem of the Condominium Act, and if you only read the Act, it is a fair reading.
The Land Department does not read it that way. In a published ruling on exactly this question, the department said a foreign heir steps into the deceased owner’s shoes, counts as a qualified owner in their own right, and does not have to sell the unit at all.
That is a large difference for your family. Here is where it comes from and how far you can rely on it. We have published the ruling itself in full, in English and in Thai, so you can read it rather than take our word for it. See Land Department Ruling No. 12, Inheritance of a Condominium Unit by a Foreigner.
First, the estate has to be opened
Your condo is part of your estate when you die (Sections 1599 and 1600 of the Civil and Commercial Code). It goes to the person named in your will, or to your statutory heirs under Section 1629 if you left no will.
The unit does not move by itself. A Thai court must appoint an estate administrator under Section 1713. Only that person can deal with the Land Office and the condominium juristic person. Our post on transferring a condo after a death walks through those steps.
Section 19, who is allowed to own a unit
Section 19 lists the foreigners who may hold ownership of a condo unit. For an individual, three categories matter.
Section 19(1), a foreigner with permission to reside in Thailand under the immigration law.
Section 19(2), a foreigner permitted to enter under the investment promotion law.
Section 19(5), a foreigner who brings foreign currency into Thailand, or draws from a non-resident baht account or a foreign currency account, in an amount not less than the price of the unit.
Section 19(5) is the route almost every foreign buyer uses. It is also the route that looks closed to an heir, because an heir does not pay a price and does not transfer any money in. That apparent gap is the whole issue.
Section 19 bis adds a separate limit. Foreigners together may hold no more than 49 percent of the total unit floor space in the building. That is a limit on the building, not on the person.
What Section 19 septem says on its face
Section 19 septem covers a foreigner outside the Section 19 categories who acquires a unit by inheritance as a statutory heir, as a legatee under a will, or by any other means.
Two duties follow. Notify the competent official in writing within sixty days from the date of acquiring ownership of the unit. Dispose of the unit within one year from that date. If the heir does not, the Director-General of the Land Department has the power to sell it.
Read alone, that section is where the one year deadline in every online article comes from.
What the Land Department actually ruled
A foreigner asked the Land Department two questions. What does the heir have to do at the Land Office when a foreign condo owner dies, and does the heir then have to sell within one year under Section 19 septem?
The department worked through it in the open. It accepted that on the face of the Condominium Act, a foreign heir entitled to take a transfer would have to be a foreigner under Section 19(1) or (2), which are the categories not caught by Section 19 septem.
Then it applied the succession rules. Under Section 1599 read with Section 1600, when a person dies the estate devolves on the heirs, and the estate is all of the deceased’s property, rights, duties and liabilities. So the heir is a successor in right of the deceased. Applying that to Section 19(5), the department held that the foreign heir of a Section 19(5) owner holds that same right as a matter of civil law.
The conclusion is short and clear. The foreign heir is to be treated as a person under Section 19(5). The heir has the right to inherit the condo unit under the Condominium Act. And the heir does not have to dispose of the unit under Section 19 septem in any way.
The department set that out in บันทึก สมท. ที่ มท 0515.2/36 dated 30 January 2552, on transfers of condo units by inheritance to foreign co-owners, and published it as ruling number 12 on inheritance of condo units by foreigners. The words that matter are ไม่ต้องจำหน่ายห้องชุดตามมาตรา 19 สัตต แต่อย่างใด, the heir does not have to dispose of the unit under Section 19 septem in any way. The full text is here, English first and then the Thai original.
What the Land Office will ask you for
The same ruling lists the documents. The foreign heir applies at the Land Office where the unit is located, and brings
the heir’s passport showing nationality, the death certificate, the deceased’s marriage certificate if there is one, a copy of the house registration, and evidence that the applicant is an heir of the deceased under the Civil and Commercial Code, or under the will if there is one.
The official then investigates. If the official is satisfied that the applicant is entitled to inherit, the office proceeds under its regulations. Once the transfer is registered, the ruling says plainly that the heir does not have to sell.
Why some offices still push back
Land and condo units sit under different statutes, and the land rule is much harder.
For land, the Land Department has ruled that a foreign heir who is not a statutory heir cannot be registered at all. In a 2531 ruling, an Indian national who inherited land under a will asked to be registered and to sell on the same day. The department refused. Registering him would breach Section 86 of the Land Code and expose the official. The correct route was to appoint an administrator, have the administrator sell, and hand the money to the heir. The department called the register-then-sell request an attempt to avoid the law.
Officials handle land constantly and foreign condo inheritance rarely. The land instinct travels. If you are told a foreign heir cannot go on the title, or that a sale within a year is compulsory, that is the land rule speaking, not the condo ruling.
How far you can rely on this
Be clear-eyed about what the ruling is. It is a departmental opinion that guides officials. It is not a statute and it is not a Supreme Court judgment. A court could take the narrower reading of Section 19 septem.
The reasoning also rests on the deceased having held under Section 19(5). It says the heir inherits that status. It does not say what happens where the deceased was a Thai national, or held under a residence permit, and the heir has no such status to inherit. Treat those as open.
The ruling is silent on the 49 percent limit. It does not tell you what happens when the building is already over quota at the date of death.
And it does not expressly release the sixty day written notice. It releases the duty to sell. File the notice anyway. It costs nothing and it protects the heir if anyone later argues the narrow reading.
What to do about it now
Keep the money trail. If you bought under Section 19(5), the foreign exchange document from your bank is the single most valuable paper in your estate file. The ruling makes your heir the successor to that status. Your heir will need to show what you held.
Ask the juristic person for the building’s current foreign percentage in writing, and refresh it.
Bring the ruling with you. If the Land Office says the unit must be sold, ask them to check บันทึก สมท. ที่ มท 0515.2/36 dated 30 January 2552 before you accept a deadline. Our page carries the Thai text, so you can open it on your phone at the counter. Ask for any refusal in writing.
Do not miss the sixty days. Count from death, not from registration.
Write a Thai will. It names the heir and the administrator, which shortens the court stage and puts your heir in front of the Land Office sooner.
A short example
A foreign owner in Chiang Mai bought his unit with money transferred from abroad and kept the bank document in a drawer. He left the unit to his adult son, who lives overseas and has no Thai residence permit.
At the Land Office the family was told the son could take the transfer but would have to sell within a year. They asked the office to look at the department’s ruling on inheritance of condo units by foreigners. The office confirmed the position and registered the transfer with no disposal condition. The son kept the unit and rents it out. Had the father’s bank document been lost, the conversation would have been much harder. This story is a made-up example, not a real client.
Frequently asked questions
Does my foreign heir have to sell the condo within one year? On the Land Department’s published ruling, no. The heir is treated as a person under Section 19(5) by succeeding to the deceased’s right, and does not have to dispose of the unit under Section 19 septem.
Then what is the one year rule people keep citing? It is Section 19 septem read on its own. It applies to a foreigner outside the Section 19 categories. The department’s ruling is that an heir is not outside those categories, because the heir inherits the deceased’s status.
Is the ruling binding? It guides Land Office practice, which is what matters at the counter. It is not a statute and not a court judgment. A court could read Section 19 septem more narrowly.
Where can I read the ruling itself? We publish it in full, English and Thai, at Land Department Ruling No. 12, Inheritance of a Condominium Unit by a Foreigner.
Should my heir still file the sixty day notice? Yes. The ruling removes the duty to sell. It does not expressly remove the notice. Filing it costs nothing.
What if the building is already at 49 percent? The ruling does not deal with that. Get the building’s current figure in writing and take advice before you rely on anything.
What does my heir need to bring to the Land Office? Passport, death certificate, the deceased’s marriage certificate if any, a copy of the house registration, and proof of being an heir under the Code or under the will.
The Land Office told us the heir cannot be registered at all. Is that right? That is the rule for land under the Land Code, not for condo units. Ask the office to confirm its position in writing.
Legal basis
- Condominium Act B.E. 2522 Section 19, the categories of foreigners who may hold ownership of a condominium unit, as amended by Act (No. 2) B.E. 2534 and (No. 3) B.E. 2542. Section 19(1) residence permit, (2) entry under the investment promotion law, (5) bringing in foreign currency or drawing from a non-resident baht or foreign currency account.
- Section 19 bis, foreigners together may hold not more than 49 percent of the total unit floor space in a building.
- Section 19 ter, the evidence to be produced to the competent official on registration.
- Section 19 septem, a foreigner outside Section 19 who acquires a unit by inheritance as statutory heir, legatee, or by other means must notify the competent official in writing within sixty days of acquiring ownership and dispose of the unit within one year, failing which the Director-General may dispose of it.
- Land Department ruling no. 12, การรับมรดกห้องชุดของคนต่างด้าว, ส่วนกำหนดสิทธิในที่ดินและควบคุมทะเบียนที่ดิน สำนักมาตรฐานการทะเบียนที่ดิน, approving บันทึก สมท. ที่ มท 0515.2/36 ลงวันที่ 30 มกราคม 2552. A foreign heir is a successor in right of the deceased under Civil and Commercial Code Sections 1599 and 1600, is therefore a person under Section 19(5) of the Condominium Act, may take the inheritance of the unit, and does not have to dispose of it under Section 19 septem. Full text, English and Thai, at Land Department Ruling No. 12, Inheritance of a Condominium Unit by a Foreigner.
- Civil and Commercial Code Section 1599, the estate passes to the heirs at the moment of death.
- Section 1600, the estate is the deceased’s assets, rights, and duties.
- Section 1629, with no will the estate passes to the statutory heirs.
- Section 1713, the court appoints the estate administrator on application by an heir or interested person.
- Land Department ruling, บันทึกกองทะเบียนที่ดิน ที่ มท 0708.4/311 ลงวันที่ 26 กุมภาพันธ์ 2531, a foreign legatee of land cannot be registered as heir, the administrator must sell and hand over the proceeds. Land Code Sections 86, 93 and 94 are cited within it. This ruling concerns land, not condominium units, and is used here only to show why Land Office practice on land differs.
Aphiwat Bualoi Law Office 
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