Cambodia Property Succession and the 2019 Trust Law

Most foreign-held condominium units in Phnom Penh are registered in a single name. At the point of purchase that is a clean and sensible choice. What many buyers do not realise is that, with no further planning, it is also their succession plan. The ownership structure chosen at purchase decides how the property passes on, and most investors make that decision without knowing they have made it.

The two-jurisdiction problem

When a foreign national dies holding a Cambodian strata title, the asset sits in two legal systems at once. The home country's succession law decides who inherits. Cambodian law decides how that inheritance is recorded and transferred. The two do not talk to each other automatically. A grant of probate issued abroad is not self-executing at the Ministry of Land, and the Cambodian side needs its own proof of death, proof of relationship and evidence of the beneficiary's standing. A foreign will can be used, but it must be authenticated for Cambodian use, usually apostilled, certified and supported by local counsel.

Succession under the Civil Code

Cambodia's Civil Code governs how a strata title moves on the owner's death. Foreign heirs can inherit, but they step into the same restrictions that applied to the original owner. The 70 percent foreign ownership cap per building is assessed again at the point of transfer registration, so a building that has since filled its foreign quota can create a problem the first buyer never met. A Cambodian national who inherits the same unit has access to title forms a foreigner does not, which matters when the beneficiaries include both.

Where the 2019 Trust Law fits

Cambodia's 2019 Trust Law created a framework with direct succession uses. A licensed trustee holds the registered title while the investor holds beneficial ownership, recorded by a trust certificate, and the trust deed can name beneficiaries and set out what happens on death. Ownership can then pass to those beneficiaries through the trust rather than through a standard estate process at the property registry. The treatment of the usual 4 percent registration tax may differ under this structure, which is exactly the sort of point to settle with Cambodia-qualified counsel rather than assume.

The pattern we see most often is simple. The file assembled quietly, while the asset is performing, decides how smoothly an estate moves, and the file assembled under pressure decides how much it costs. At a minimum, keep a will that names the Cambodian asset and the beneficiary, the original purchase documents and title chain, and a power of attorney held by someone trusted in Phnom Penh. It also helps that condominium certificates now record the owner's name in both Khmer and Latin script, matched to the passport. We raise ownership structure before a client commits to a unit, and we recommend independent legal and tax advice in every case.