Legal Problems on Disinheritance under the Civil and Commercial Code

Abstract

The objectives of this research article were 1) to study the history, concepts, and principles of the problem of disinheritance under the Civil and Commercial Code; 2) to study the disinheritance under the laws of Thailand, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the United States; 3) to analyze and compare the laws of disinheritance in other countries to see if they were similar or different from Thai laws; and 4) to propose guidelines for amending and improving Thai laws on disinheritance under the Civil and Commercial Code. This was a qualitative research using documentary research by searching and collecting data from books, textbooks, articles, lectures, legal texts, research, case studies, as well as information from both Thai and foreign internet. The data were synthesized and analyzed using descriptive theory. The research results found that 1) Thai law provided the inheritor with the right to disqualify legal heirs from inheriting, which resulted in legal heirs and descendants losing their rights to inherit completely and cutting off the entire line, causing injustice to legal heirs of certain levels and spouses; 2) Thai law gave the inheritor the freedom to disqualify legal heirs from inheriting in their entirety without any law specifying the proportion of inheritance that must be reserved for legal heirs, which was different from the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the Commonwealth of Australia, and the United States, which had laws specifying the proportion of inheritance that must be reserved for all legal heirs; 3) Thai law did not provide any provisions on the reservation of inheritance and the division of inheritance for legal heirs of certain levels and spouses, which was different from the 4 countries in comparison; 4) Thailand should amend the provisions of the Civil and Commercial Code to provide protection for legal heirs of certain levels and spouses.