Inheritance in Cambodia for foreigners: what happens to a foreign owner's condo.
// Short answer
A foreigner's Cambodian condominium unit can pass by succession: heirs take on the deceased's rights and obligations. A foreign heir can hold it on the same terms as a foreign buyer, from the first floor up and outside the border zones. The 4% stamp duty on transfers does not apply between biological parents and children, spouses, or biological grandparents and grandchildren, though exempt heirs must still file.
Rules and rates as of October 2026. This explains the rules and where they are written; it is not legal advice on an estate.
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Can a foreigner inherit a condo in Cambodia?
Yes. A private unit in a co-owned building may be transferred by succession, and the heirs take on the deceased's rights and obligations. An estate with no heir goes to the State.
A foreign heir can hold it only where a foreign buyer could: from the first floor up, never the ground floor or the land, and not within 30 km of the land borders, except in special economic zones, important urban areas and other areas the Government names. Ownership is also limited to foreigners who have legally entered Cambodia (articles 4 and 5). The 2010 law voids a transfer to, or purchase by, a foreigner that breaks those rules (article 11), but it does not name succession or set out a forced sale, so how it applies to an inherited unit is uncertain. Land is different: a foreign heir cannot inherit it, and where all the first heirs are foreign they must sell it within three months of accepting (Civil Code article 1155, unofficial translation). The rules in full: the ground-floor rule and the foreign ownership cap.
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What tax is due on inheriting a Cambodian condo?
Stamp duty on property transfers is 4%, on market value, which the Ministry may set. A transfer by succession between biological parents and children, spouses, or biological grandparents and grandchildren is exempt, as is a child and child-in-law inheriting jointly; between other in-laws or siblings, KHR 200 million is deducted first; other heirs pay the full 4%.
Exempt heirs must still file, with documents proving the relationship. Yearly taxes as owner: Cambodia property tax for foreigners.
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Cambodia estate pack
Own a condo in Cambodia? What your heirs will face, worked out
Close family pay no stamp duty; anyone else pays 4%. Why a home-country will may not be enough, whether a foreign heir can keep the unit, the two three-month deadlines, and a 7-point checklist to take to a lawyer.
What does the heir register?
The strata title of the unit is transferred to the heir at the cadastral office. The title itself: the Cambodian strata title explained.
Under the Civil Code (unofficial JICA English translation): without a will the estate passes in the statutory order (articles 1156 and 1159 to 1162); half the estate is reserved for the statutory heirs (article 1230); a will must follow the Code's forms, and a typed private will is void (articles 1170 and 1173 to 1175); and heirs accept within 3 months (article 1248). Take local advice before relying on a translation.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can a foreigner inherit property in Cambodia?
Is there inheritance tax in Cambodia?
Can a foreign heir inherit a ground-floor unit in Cambodia?
Who is exempt from stamp duty on inherited property in Cambodia?
Header photo: Mao Piseth, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.