donx

Because the hotel answered that there isn't a lift because there are only 2 stories, if I were you, I'd find another hotel. The photo of the place shows, to me, that there are 3 stories and not 2.

That's good to hear. I was going to post that since it was your idea to send a deposit that this is not a scam. If he demanded the deposit, that would be different. My guess is that you will receive the rest on the 17th.

Can you clarify something? Are you saying that both you and your wife are non-Thai? If so, then I can understand why most of the lawyers are suggesting having a Thai company own the property.

Storing durian? Filming porn?

Since no one else has responded, I'll take a stab at answering you based upon what I have read within this forum. So, take my response with a grain of salt. When you say the oldest sister isn't married, I'm assuming she doesn't have any children. However, if she does then her 50% share of the house would be divided equally between all of them. If she doesn't have any children, then her 50% of the house would be split evenly among her living siblings, including your wife. Since you said there are currently 5 living siblings, if the oldest sister dies before any other sibling dies, then each of the surviving siblings would split her 50% ownership of the house evenly. Your wife would then own 62.5% of the house and the other 3 siblings would each own 12.5% of the house. Whether the siblings owning 12.5% of the house could force a sale of the property, I do not know. Ideally, it would be best for the oldest sister to make a will designating who she wants to own her share of the house, which I assume is the sister that is currently living there.

From your posts, it sounds like you are interested in paying for a 30 year lease. Do you intend to pay it to whomever is currently owning the land or do you expect some other Thai to purchase the land and then you obtain a 30 year lease from the new owner? So long as the Thai owner is not a child (person under 20 years of age) and the land has a Chanote, then that Thai person should be able to lease you the land and have the lease registered on the Chanote.

Is this Right of Habitation the same as a Superficies? I’ve read on here about the Superficies but this Right of Habitation is a new term to me.

My wife never changed her name on her Thai ID where she is still listed as "Miss". Her Thai Passport has her maiden name as well, but her US identifications (Social Security, Naturalization Certificate, Drivers License, Passport) all have her last name the same as mine. Our three children all have my last name as well. When my wife travels to Thailand, she brings a copy of our Marriage Certificate to prove her Thai name and her US name are the same. Usually only the airlines need to see this. When she travels, she uses her married name. She only provides her Thai Passport to Thai immigration. Sometime they ask to see the boarding pass and in those cases she also shows the Marriage Certificate. She uses her Thai ID to purchase property in Thailand. I have never been required to sign any documents indicating that all the funds for the purchase are her funds. In my humble opinion, my wife's decision not to change her name on Thai identification documents has been a wise decision. Since we live in the US, there hasn't been a need for us to register our marriage in Thailand. I'm not worried about having all the Thai property in her name and I've never asked to have a usufruct or any other type of request to protect myself even though my wife works as a homemaker taking care of our family and doesn't earn any income. All of my children born in the US have received Thai Birth Certificates and Thai Passports. Their US names are translated into Thai and appear in both Thai and English on these documents. My son is the only one that doesn't have a Thai ID because my wife doesn't want him to face the Thai Military Conscription requirement. He is 22 and after he turns 30, we plan on getting him registered in a Thai house book so that he can receive a Thai ID. At that age, we are told that he won't be required to register for the possibility of service in the Thai Military. Both of my daughters are registered in a Thai house book and have received Thai IDs. Fortunately, I haven't had to worry about purchasing land in my children's names. However, we do plan on having them inherit all the Thai property my wife has purchased over the years. Hopefully there won't be any issues with them receiving these properties in the future regardless of the fact that they are "Wasian" (my daughter's term) and have (mostly) Western sounding names.

Are you unable to obtain a Usufruct? Is that why you are pursuing this Right of Habitation?

When my Father-in-law came to visit us in America, he had never used a microwave in his life. He saw my wife using it to heat up food and thought it was a wonderful appliance. One day, my wife found him feeding my son a bowl of melted ice cream. She asked why it was melted and he said he used the microwave because "it makes food taste better." My son was very upset. Then a year or so later, my wife bought a microwave for her and her family to use while we visited them. The next time we visited she saw that the microwave didn't work. Her sister said that her father put something metal in it and that was that.

Now you do!

I can see your reasoning if they skipped out on the last month. Would you do the same if they skipped out after the first month on a 6 month or one year lease? I'm guessing it would depend upon how likely you are to find another tenant. As for the OP, I understand the reasoning for leaving early based upon the conditions of the place he rented. Perhaps I would have done the same in his situation. Fortunately for me, I haven't had to rent anywhere since the mid-1990. I do remember back in the day in the US of A, I broke my lease and was obligated to pay for the remaining months on the lease unless the rental company was able to find another tenant quickly. Luckily another tenant was found and I was off the hook. Yes, that wasn't Thailand and it was a long time ago. I read on this forum all the time about members not paying the last month's rent and expecting the security deposit to be forfeited.

That document appears to be specifically for the purchase of real estate and doesn't appear to have any relevance in the case of the sale of real estate. By the way, I've never signed such a document in all the years I've been married to my Thai wife. She has purchased five land plots during our marriage. However, she still retains her Thai maiden name on her Thai ID card and Thai passport and our marriage was never registered in Thailand.