Who this is for
People who typically come to me about this.
Persona 1
British expats with Thai property
Own a Thai condo or have other Thai-situated assets, want to make sure your spouse or beneficiary receives them efficiently.
Persona 2
Long-term UK residents with global estates
Still within UK Inheritance Tax scope under the post-April-2025 long-term-residence test despite years in Thailand, exposed on the worldwide estate, want to plan around it.
Persona 3
Blended-family expats
Children from prior relationships, Thai spouse, want clarity on what will pass to whom.
What's involved
How the work actually plays out.
A British expat resident in Thailand for twenty years can still fall within the scope of UK inheritance tax. From 6 April 2025 that scope follows long-term residence, not domicile, and that single fact decides whether HMRC takes 40% of the worldwide estate or none of the Thai-situated one. The work is building the two-jurisdiction will set, the lifetime gifts strategy where it makes sense, and the documentation that makes the worst day procedurally clean for the family.
Long-term residence vs domicile
From 6 April 2025, the scope of UK inheritance tax follows long-term residence, not domicile. Broadly, ten of the previous twenty UK tax years of residence brings the worldwide estate into scope, and the exposure can persist for several years after you leave the UK.
Diagnosing where you genuinely sit under that test is the first task. Most of the value is in being honest about it early rather than finding it out through the estate.
Two-will drafting
A Thai will scoped to Thai-situated assets and a UK will scoped to UK-situated assets, drafted to talk to each other and not contradict. This is the structural fix to the 12-to-18-month probate delays that single-global-will expats routinely experience.
Common mistakes
Where this most often goes sideways.
Relying on a single global will.
Thai courts treat foreign wills inconsistently. A single document purporting to cover both UK and Thai assets is a recipe for years of administrative limbo. The fix is a two-will set drafted in coordination.
Treating departure as an automatic exit.
Long-term-resident status, not your current address, decides the inheritance-tax scope. The exposure can persist for several years after you leave the UK. Assuming departure ended it creates the worst kind of IHT surprise.
How I work on this
The process, in three steps.
01
Diagnose residence status
A written assessment of your long-term-resident position under the post-April-2025 test and the practical IHT exposure that follows.
02
Coordinate with the lawyers
I work with your UK and Thai solicitors on the drafting, I do not draft wills directly.
03
Document the estate plan
A written estate-plan summary for the family, with the executor sequence laid out clearly.
Fees and what to expect
Plain-English fee transparency.
I am paid through commission on the products arranged and an ongoing fee on the assets managed. Every cost, and what it pays, is set out in writing before you decide.
You may ask what any recommendation pays me, and the figures that apply are agreed in writing in the engagement letter before you proceed.
A first 30-minute consultation costs nothing and obliges you to nothing.
Client assets are held in your own name on FCA-regulated platforms or SEC-licensed brokers, never by me.
Writing
Related reading.
- Estate
Estate · 7 min
Do you need a Thai will?
For most British expats with Thai property, the answer is yes, and the cost of not having one falls squarely on the spouse you would have left it to.
Read article - Estate
Estate · 7 min
Inheritance law in Thailand for foreigners, the working version
Thai intestacy, how a foreigner’s estate passes, and what an executor actually has to do.
Read article - Estate
Estate · 9 min
Protecting a Thai spouse financially, the planning steps
Pension nominations, life insurance, property structuring, and the documents that make the difference at the worst moment.
Read article
Questions
Questions about this.
Begin a conversation.
Thirty minutes, by Zoom or in person at the Bangkok, Hua Hin or Pattaya office. Free, and without obligation. You leave with a clearer view of what is in front of you, whether or not the work proceeds.
Book a meeting
Choose a time that suits you.
Thirty minutes with Richard Knight, ACSI directly. By video, phone, or in person. No obligation.
