arisa2015

Hello,

I'll probably sell my condo in Phuket (1.5M), the buyer is a foreigner, so we will go together to the land office, he'll pay me and we'll transfert the title deed. What is the safer way for me to be paid ? A cashier checc ? Is there any fake one ? Could you advice me the best way to get my money please ?

Thanks in advance

There are good EP schools in Petchaburi cost about 55k per year, minibus will collect kids at 6am and return at 6pm cost 1,200 per kid per month...its a long day for them but an option which most parents wanting a better education use. Hua Hin has better education options and also an abundance of rental property compared to Cha am, however it comes with the downside of terrible congestion and unbearable at weekends and holidays. You could look at the Bang Kwai area located half way between Cha am and Hua Hin, quite but has small Lotus etc.Hua Hin only a 10-15 minute drive so kids can school there

Sounds good, do you know if there is a village (Moo ban) with any house to rent ? Thanks

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Since the property is in your wife's name, then it will be her who sells it, and then (hopefully) give you your half or 5 M. To be honest, if both of you are planning a near future Divorce now, I would be more worried about this part then what happens after you get the money. Because you may not get it willingly or at all. If you are both planning a Divorce then just make the sale of this property as part of the division of assets on the Divorce Agreement, before you sell.

If you are not planning a Divorce but instead just looking at this as a possible worst case scenario should things go South in the future, there really isn't anything you can do legally to protect this 5 M. By Common Law, all property and assets acquired during the marriage is subject to division, which is usually 50-50. So even after you sold this property, and divided the proceeds 50-50 and then decided to buy some LOTTO Tickets with some of it, and won, you would still be required to share your winnings with your wife if you are still married to her.

In fact I know of a case in Canada when a man did exactly that. But instead of cashing in his winning LOTTO Ticket he held on as long as he could, and divorced his wife first. When he finally cashed in his ticket he claimed he did not know he won until he discovered the ticket by accident in a shirt pocket of a shirt he doesn't wear anymore, and when he checked it, he saw that this was the winning ticket. He might have got away with it except they splashed his name and photo in the News Letter and when his wife saw this she took him to court. Since the ticket was bought during the marriage, she got half.

But if you divide this sale of the property evenly now, and then divorce in a few more years, I really don't know why you are so worried. In Divorce proceeding she is not entitled to half of your assets, but instead she is entitled to half of the assets acquired during the marriage. Since she will have land valued at 5 M, and you will have the 5 M in cash, this should balance out.

You could of course send this money back home, and if I was you I probably would, but it won't really help in Divorce Proceedings. When you Divorce you have to make a Sworn Statement (Affidavit) declaring your Worldly Assets, which includes the money you sent back home. You could of course not mention this money, which is equal to telling a lie. I would not advice this since it is a sworn statement made under Oath, and because your wife would know you are a liar and have this money, but did not declare it.

In all cases keep good documentation. If you do sell the property for 10 M, and then give your wife 5 M, be sure that you are able to prove that. In a Divorce Court you are guilty until you prove you are innocent. Since the Divorce Proceedings will be held in a Thai Court I would think that the voice of a Thai will go further then yours. So in your case documentation of everything, and everything in writing, is very important.

There is a law which states that what you bring into a marriage in Thailand you are allowed to keep after the divorce. It sounds to me that in your case it was probably all of your money that bought this land, and thus it should be you who should be able to keep it all. But the Grey area here is that you had to sign a piece of paper before this land was purchased saying none of your own money was used to buy this land.

So in reality it could be your wife claiming that it was her money she brought into the marriage to purchase this land, and your signature from the Land Titles Office to prove that.If the court agrees, then she would get it all. Right now you have a 30 years lease which technically nobody can kick you out of the property right now. But you will need to sign this right away over, in order for the property to be sold. If she gets all the sale proceeds then you could end up with nothing. Not even a place to live!

This is why I said I would be more concerned in getting your share after the property was sold then what to do with your 5 M later. .

.

Thanks a lot That's exactly what you said, we don't plan to divorce, i just want to be informed of all worst case scenario could happens.

Under Thai family law, assets that a person owns prior to marriage generally continue to be separate/individual property in the event of a subsequent divorce.

It's assets that are acquired during a marriage that are generally considered community property and to be divided evenly in the event of a divorce.

However, the OP as a farang can't own land in his own name under Thai law. So it sounds from his post, like he gave the money for the land purchase prior to getting married and the land was acquired in the woman's name prior to the marriage.

In that event, the land was individual property of the wife prior to marriage and her property entirely in the event of a divorce -- just as it was during the marriage.

Now if the two divorce, she still owns the land, but I'd assume the OP still has the 30-year lease hold and whatever use that entitles him to that wouldn't automatically be broken because of the divorce.

Ok to resume, i used my own asset and i can prove to purchase a land to my thai gf, then we signed a leasing contract, then we built a house on it and then we get married. So in your opinion, in case of divorce the judge could break the lease and the property won't split 50/50... So if i don't find any agreement with my wife before to divorce, i will get nothing.

If you used your money to purchase Thai land in the name of a single (unmarried) Thai woman who LATER become your wife, the land is hers 100% during your marriage and 100% in the event of a divorce. Note, I said, the LAND. You are not entitled to buy land under Thai law, so presumably it was purchased/recorded in her name prior to your marriage with your money. Thus, pre-marriage property of hers... she owns it 100%. You can think of your money as a gift to her that's not recoverable.

Now, apart from the land, if you spent your money to build a house or make other improvements ON that land PRIOR to getting married, then you at least have an arguable case to claim back at least the value of those improvements in the event of a divorce.

If you spent your money DURING your marriage to build a house or make improvements there, my guess is you thus converted your money at that point into marital (shared) community property. So any building you did or improvements you made DURING the marriage would be divided equally, or at least the value of them, in the event of a divorce.

As for the lease, you really ought to talk with a family law attorney about that. My guess is that the lease, if executed between the two of you prior to your marriage, would not be canceled or otherwise impaired if the two of you ended up getting divorced. Don't confuse the ownership of the land (which belongs to your wife) with your individual rights to use the land (and/or house) as provided by a legal contract (the lease).

My guess is, you'd still have whatever rights you were entitled to under the lease, even after a divorce.... Unless you negotiated them away somehow as part of a divorce settlement. But again, the lease is something you'd best check with an attorney about -- if you're thinking you're headed for divorce.

Ohh... one other detail... that's assuming that you finalized the lease BEFORE you were legally married in an amphur proceeding (village ceremonies don't count--only the amphur registration and the date of it is legal). If you finalized the lease AFTER you were legally married, there's a good chance that your wife would be entitled to break the lease at will (although she might not know that). That's because, under Thai law, any contract executed between a husband and wife can be voided by either party any time during the marriage or up to 1 year after a divorce.

Thanks for your interesting answer, we finalized the leasing contract before to get married, it is registered at the land office and wrotte under the chanote tittle. The house i on my wife name too but i can prove i paid the building.

i bought a house with a land 5M THB before to get married with my thai wife and i signed with her a 30 years leasing contract (wrote on chanote title).

Does that mean that the house was bought before the marriage ? If that is the case then there is no 50/50 split, its hers.

Under Thai family law, assets that a person owns prior to marriage generally continue to be separate/individual property in the event of a subsequent divorce.

It's assets that are acquired during a marriage that are generally considered community property and to be divided evenly in the event of a divorce.

However, the OP as a farang can't own land in his own name under Thai law. So it sounds from his post, like he gave the money for the land purchase prior to getting married and the land was acquired in the woman's name prior to the marriage.

In that event, the land was individual property of the wife prior to marriage and her property entirely in the event of a divorce -- just as it was during the marriage.

Now if the two divorce, she still owns the land, but I'd assume the OP still has the 30-year lease hold and whatever use that entitles him to that wouldn't automatically be broken because of the divorce.

Ok to resume, i used my own asset and i can prove to purchase a land to my thai gf, then we signed a leasing contract, then we built a house on it and then we get married. So in your opinion, in case of divorce the judge could break the lease and the property won't split 50/50... So if i don't find any agreement with my wife before to divorce, i will get nothing.

Do you mean you have come to an agreement with your wife to sell the house split the money 50-50 & then divorce arisa2015 ??

If there are no children involved ----what would she be coming after you for ?

I am never one to recommend lawyers---but I guess you can have her sign an agreement & use the same lawyer for sale of the house.

Thai's have a way (I guess all Asians) of dealing in cash a lot, I have walked though our local land office and seen millions being passed from one person to another---always makes me wonder why these nutcases try to rob gold shops etc. So only take the house payment as a bank chque--that can be made out to both of you.

but If there are children involved ----you should come to some agreement, after all they are your children

Hi, no we didn't signed any prenuptial agreement and if we divorce i'm agree to share 50/50, so an agreement could be a solution or transfer some money to my country could be good too, i just want to explore all solutions but for now we won't divorce. Thanks for your answer.

Best way of protecting assets from a wife.

Keep it in a bank account in another country, preferably one she doesn't have a VISA to visit, and don't tell her the money or the account exists.

Yes finally i think it's the best solution i will send back my money to overseas. Thanks

Hi,

13 years ago, i bought a house with a land 5M THB before to get married with my thai wife and i signed with her a 30 years leasing contract (wrote on chanote title). So now we are married and i’ll sell the property 10M. With this money i would like to buy a new property around 5M for my wife and save 5M for me. How i could do to secure it ? I mean i don’t want to share this 5M later in case of divorce. What kind of investment i can do to save my asset? What’s solution for me ? Only send back my money to my country ?

Big thanks for you help

How far are you from StStephens?

Thanks for your answer, St Stephens is too expensive for me...

No one knows ?

Having looked all over this part of Isaan the only good EP I found was at Assumption School in Korat Town. They have an EP all the way to M.3 and the kids can stay on site if required.

thanks, i would love my kids go there but it's far and i don't want they stay there.

then why do you want a school EAST of Korat city? Sikhio is West of The city!

Yes sorry i confused i meant to west...

Hi,

Could you recommend me a good school with EP if it exists in Sikhio district or near for my children 5 and 11 years old ?


Thanks