atst wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 1:35 pm

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 1:30 pm $1,000 for what?

I made a will here in Thailand, cost zip, and its fully legal.
only assets are $$ in bank and personal property.. land and house already in gf name

$1000 to make legal will in Cambodia read link provided by Kiwi
This isn't Thailand apparently

so he is charging u $1,000 to notarize it?

Basically this is the one i have which seems fully legal in Cambodia as well as Thailand

In a will by private document the testator writes the whole text by himself – by hand – and affixes his signature. This type of will is more susceptible to fraudulency, since it doesn’t involve a notary or an attorney, explains Hib. He says that, even more so than with a notarised document, this type of testament should be taken to a court by the executor of the successors for the application of probate.

Note it says should be, not necessary to be. Mine is witnessed by 4 people
if there is no problem with whomever your leaving ur property to, and the will is NOT contested, i think such a will is fine an legal
or am i wrong?

Depends if you’ve got dependents in the west. It’s fine for making sure your loved ones are looked after here but it won’t cut the mustard if your sister/mother/uncle comes over demanding to see bank accounts and other stuff, which they are entitled too.

It’s not as easy as simply writing a DIY letter but then as you’re not dead yet you don’t know if your letter will work!

davegorman wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 2:03 pm Depends if you’ve got dependents in the west. It’s fine for making sure your loved ones are looked after here but it won’t cut the mustard if your sister/mother/uncle comes over demanding to see bank accounts and other stuff, which they are entitled too.

It’s not as easy as simply writing a DIY letter but then as you’re not dead yet you don’t know if your letter will work!

for me, I believe its quite easy and laid out in my will
all accounts and property in the states goes to my daughter
all property, accounts in Thailand, (or Cambodia once i move back) will go to GF<
'both parties know each other very well and agree.

I think it is as easy as writing it up, its only if one or more of the parties contests the will that shit could happen
PLUS my sister has access to my bank accounts in the states so she can just go online, once she hears im gone and transfer all funds out of my US account and onto my daughter.

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 2:47 pm

davegorman wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 2:03 pm Depends if you’ve got dependents in the west. It’s fine for making sure your loved ones are looked after here but it won’t cut the mustard if your sister/mother/uncle comes over demanding to see bank accounts and other stuff, which they are entitled too.

It’s not as easy as simply writing a DIY letter but then as you’re not dead yet you don’t know if your letter will work!

for me, I believe its quite easy and laid out in my will
all accounts and property in the states goes to my daughter
all property, accounts in Thailand, (or Cambodia once i move back) will go to GF<
'both parties know each other very well and agree.

I think it is as easy as writing it up, its only if one or more of the parties contests the will that shit could happen
PLUS my sister has access to my bank accounts in the states so she can just go online, once she hears im gone and transfer all funds out of my US account and onto my daughter.

Your situation isn’t the same as everyone else’s.

I did discuss just writing and having witnesses but if my kids arrived in Cambodia with this it may take a month to get it approved so they can go to the banks
I was in the lawyers office about hour and half discussing wills the law here is somewhat new regarding foreigner from what I understood
having my adult kids arrived in Cambodia after dealing with my death and trying to jump through hoops of Cambodia law I'd prefer not to put them through this

atst wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:05 pm I did discuss just writing and having witnesses but if my kids arrived in Cambodia with this it may take a month to get it approved so they can go to the banks
I was in the lawyers office about hour and half discussing wills the law here is somewhat new regarding foreigner from what I understood
having my adult kids arrived in Cambodia after dealing with my death and trying to jump through hoops of Cambodia law I'd prefer not to put them through this

Easy solution. Don’t die.

Simple.

davegorman wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:14 pm

atst wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2019 4:05 pm I did discuss just writing and having witnesses but if my kids arrived in Cambodia with this it may take a month to get it approved so they can go to the banks
I was in the lawyers office about hour and half discussing wills the law here is somewhat new regarding foreigner from what I understood
having my adult kids arrived in Cambodia after dealing with my death and trying to jump through hoops of Cambodia law I'd prefer not to put them through this

Easy solution. Don’t die.

Simple.

Hahaha good idea
yep if I'm still around in 30 odd years there will be nothing left anyway

I believe that most banks in Cambodia would nowadays require a notarised Cambodian Will, written in Khmer. The notarisation process is more than just witnessing and would take 1.5 hours+, as OP said, and would cost $1000+, as OP says.
A few years back, Canadia Bank offered a service that would deal with succession to all accounts with them. It cost $100. It did not cover other assets. They may still offer this.

If you don't die a sudden death, you can of course withdraw the cash from your bank accounts before you die and distribute it as you choose. If there is nothing left in the accounts, it doesn't matter if there is no Will.
An alternative with bank accounts is to put the accounts in joint names and declare a right of survivorship in favour of the joint account holder. Check with your bank but this should do the job. However, your joint account holder may be able to empty the account before your death.

Failing all else, banks may be willing to pay out to proven next of kin, even those based in another country (they would need to come to Cambodia to claim), but this should not be relied upon.

Your Cambodian Will should deal only with your assets located in Cambodia. Make further Wills as appropriate.

Failing all else, banks may be willing to pay out to proven next of kin, even those based in another country (they would need to come to Cambodia to claim), but this should not be relied upon.

No, this should not be relied upon. When a close relative of mine (a foreigner) died suddenly in Cambodia without a will, we (the family, including the person with power of attorney for the deceased) were not able to even access his bank account, so never even knew what was in it. (Hopefully, not much.) It was Canadia bank btw, and they said that they could give us no information about whether there was any money in the account or how much, even with the death certificate and proof of kinship. We could have contacted the embassy and got a lawyer on to it, but it didn't seem worth it, so we let it go.

In my case, I want to make a will in Cambodia to leave my assets in Cambodia to Cambodians who are not blood relatives, or relatives by marriage.
If I want to leave my Cambodian bank account and property to a Cambodian, would it be enough to sign a statement and have it witnessed and finger-printed ? Would it have to be registered somewhere ? Nobody will contest it (as in western family.)

This is strictly Cambodian assets and we are not talking big sums in real terms, but I'd just like to be sure that if I die unexpectedly my assets in Cambodia will go to the right person in Cambodia, and not to the Cambodian state or ABA bank.
Anyone have experience or ideas on this ?

The advice on this thread so far seems rather contradictory. Book 8 of the Cambodian Civil Code (available online in English) applies but also see this article below for a good explanation:

https://www.b2b-cambodia.com/articles/g ... -cambodia/

This has quite a good description of the various kinds of wills in Cambodia including a caveat about Article 1230.

My lawyer advised me that the only type valid for a foreigner in Cambodia is the third option (1st option too expensive). The foreigner has to hand-write his will (3 original copies) then seal it in an envelope sealed with a lawyer's seal. The will can be in any language. It MUST be dated. One copy to the executor, one copy to the testator, and one copy for the lawyer. On death one of the copies has to be brought to the court STILL SEALED and is opened there. Caution: the lawyer needs to be an actual certified lawyer.