Divorce and condo in foreign name

[TheMatrix63]

Background:
- Me and my Thai wife got married both in Sweden and Thailand around 10 years ago 
- We have lived together in Sweden for ca 15 years
- We have a prenup registered in Sweden, but not in Thailand

 

We are now in the process of moving to Thailand to retire. Neither of us owns anything in Thailand for the moment(except the wife's land in the village), 
but I can never own that anyway and I don't really want it either...

 

I've been starting to think about buying a condo in Thailand. My plan is to buy it in foreign name with my money transferred to my account in Thailand from my Swedish account.

 

We are in no way planning a divorce at the moment, but you never know what happens in the future and I want to have the papers in order before anything happens...

 

- How can I make sure that I don't have to split the condo 50/50 in case of a divorce? 

- Can we sign a legal document that makes the condo my personal property?

  / J

[blackcab]

Q: How can I make sure that I don't have to split the condo 50/50 in case of a divorce?

 

A: Divorce your wife, buy the condo and then remarry her. Other than that, the only other ways involve deception.

 

Q: Can we sign a legal document that makes the condo my personal property?

 

A: No, because a contract, even if it is signed willingly, can not supersede statute law.

 

There are other ways, however. The most obvious is that your wife buys the condo in her name, using a mortgage. She pays the deposit, and you pay the monthly payments. If you divorce, you can consider the payments you made as rent, and you can just walk away. If you are still together when the mortgage is paid off, happy days.

 

Obviously I don't know your wife's age, but that may have some bearing on whether a mortgage is available.

[blackcab]

Moved to the Real Estate Forum.

[maprao]

You can't.  Everything you acquire in Thailand after marriage is considered. It is divided 50/50

 

If you feel divorce is on the cards may I suggest you buy with a mortgage  or just rent.

[sead]

You dont mention any children, but if you have you can always put the condo name in your Swedish childrens name from former wife or if you have with thaiwife children, you can also put it in their name.

[TheMatrix63]

Ok, thanks for the answers!

 

So basically as long as we are married it doesn't really matter if I buy the condo in foreign or in Thai name? It will still be divided in case of a divorce?

 

What if my wife, god forbid, dies before me. Do we need a will to let me inherit the condo if it's in Thai name or that don't matter? 

 

  / J

 

[RickoMortis]

Dont be a fool just rent a property its far better then losing a small fortune. Temptation and encouragement from  family and you could easy end up with nothing. My Thai wife stated to me that nobody knows the future she left me next day and stole my house and motor bike. I loved that motor bike. 

[baansgr]

13 hours ago, TheMatrix63 said:

Ok, thanks for the answers!

 

So basically as long as we are married it doesn't really matter if I buy the condo in foreign or in Thai name? It will still be divided in case of a divorce?

 

What if my wife, god forbid, dies before me. Do we need a will to let me inherit the condo if it's in Thai name or that don't matter? 

 

  / J

 

Yes it will matter,  if in your name you have control  and if anything  happens can sell without her consent,  if in her name no chance of ever getting your half as you have no control. Regardless  of registered  divorce agreements, it's a long and expensive  process to go through to get your share,  even when the court rules you are entitled  to half,  try getting your money if she's already  sold it. 

[LukKrueng]

On 10/22/2018 at 6:29 AM, baansgr said:

Yes it will matter,  if in your name you have control  and if anything  happens can sell without her consent,  if in her name no chance of ever getting your half as you have no control. Regardless  of registered  divorce agreements, it's a long and expensive  process to go through to get your share,  even when the court rules you are entitled  to half,  try getting your money if she's already  sold it. 

I'm not sure you're right about it. when transferring property at The land department they ask if you're married and note the spouse's consent for the purchase. Then the spouse's convent is also needed for selling and even for taking a loan against the property.

however, when buying a condo it's better to buy on the foreigner quota so in case the Thai wife dies first you can still keep it and in case of just wanting to sell it you can sell to anyone-Thai or foreigner.