Death of Thai Wife.

[Pedrogaz]

Make sure she has a will, written by a lawyer and translated into two languages willing you to be able to stay in the house until your death or enabling you to sell the home and keep the money. If not the family will be all over you. 

You MUST specify an executor in the will that is not a family member other wise you will lose everything. Make the lawyer the executor. 

The family will descend on the house and steal everything that is not nailed down....they will be like locusts taking your cutlery, pots, pans, bed sheets, toilet paper. Change the locks and don't let them in.

[Hanuman2547]

Been there, done that already.  Wife passed away in July 2005.  Oldest son was 19 at the time of her death and going to university in the USA.  He has dual citizenship, current and valid Thai ID, and a valid Thai passport.  In late May 2006 he returned and we transferred the house into his name as well as some other property.  Easy peasy.  

[BritManToo]

2 minutes ago, paulbrow said:

Since a foriegner cannot own land or a home below the 3rd floor, none of these solutions seem to work.

Why do you want to transfer the deeds out of her name?

[spidermike007]

I think it depends entirely on the family. My wife has an amazing family. Totally trustworthy, and dependable. I know they would honor her legacy, by honoring me. We have been very good to each other. So, it depends, if they are money hungry slugs, or people with integrity, kindness and love in their hearts. I cannot speak to the legal ramifications. 

[Don Mega]

7 minutes ago, paulbrow said:

That raises yet another question... how do I sell HER house? In her name, not mine.

You would inherit the house...

[paulbrow]

1 minute ago, Don Mega said:

You would inherit the house...

But I can't own land or a house on the ground as I'm not Thai.

[Don Mega]

1 minute ago, paulbrow said:

But I can't own land or a house on the ground as I'm not Thai.

That would be the reason why you need to sell it.

[paulbrow]

5 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Why do you want to transfer the deeds out of her name?

Because she's dead? Can dead people own land here?

[JusticeGB]

If there is a title deed you can ask your wife to register a right for you to live in the house until you die. I believe this is called a usafract. The house cannot then be sold without your permission. 

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, paulbrow said:

Because she's dead? Can dead people own land here?

Dead people can own land for as long as the executor of their will allows, as Thailand has no time limit for probate.

[paulbrow]

4 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Dead people can own land for as long as the executor of their will allows, as Thailand has no time limit for probate.

Thank you, good to know.

[KC 71]

In simple terms you have a year to transfer ownership. Either through sale or by transferring the ownership to your children (assuming they have Thai nationality) - which is what I intend to do if it happens. In theory you could set up a company, transfer it to that, and pay your company rent and carry on that way, but if you have children, and you get along with them, they're probably the simpler option. Assuming the property is paid off, and you've got the cash to pay for the transfer fees, you could get a usufruct added so that you have the right to stay there until you die, but as you say, without my wife, I don't know if I'd necessarily be living in Thailand then. (My kids are dual nationals and are all currently based in the UK).
 
Somebody said you can extend with the permission of the Land Department. I have no idea if that's true or not. Somebody else said you could carry on regardless, but I'd personally trust that about as much as the people saying you don't need to sort out your visa and can just overstay...

Thanks for the info, the house is on grandads land,Mum and dad,nxt door, i said you can sell one day but only to family,she said stop talking about dying ![emoji846]
It was her 52nd b day yesterday- great eating simple with family
I am lucky- shes a keeper - im 48 soon - time flies !


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[digger70]

On 6/9/2019 at 11:09 AM, Issannative said:

Go to the land registry and get a usufruct on the land you can stay there until you die. 

Yep done that when we built the house.

[steven100]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:04 AM, KC 71 said:

I do worry sometimes.
My wife is older than me( i wont mention her age- but lets just say we are both knocking on,and anything could be round the corner,who knows!
She says the family will take care of me if need be,but as i understand it, if she pops her clogs first,i can no longer reside in this country.
Am i right ?


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

don't worry,  there are plenty of ladies who will take care of you after.

[connda]

There are a number of previous posts on this but yeah, you have to dig to find them.

 

If your wife dies, visa extension wise your good until the expiration date of the extension.

 

Now, in the meantime while she is alive - Sit down with her, list all of the assets she has including house and land.  Get a lawyer and draw up a Will giving you everything but the land (you can not own the land but we'll discuss that next).  If there are kids involved, determine who gets what before drawing up the WIll.  You can own everything but the land.  That means you can own the house.

Now, the land.  With your lawyer's help, draw up a Usufruct contract that allows you the 'use' of that land for your lifetime.  That contract includes liens on the Land Department land deeds.  Regardless if the land is sold, you still have the legal right to remain on the property.  

That's the basics if you want to remain.  

[Russell17au]

There is a lot of rubbish said on here which could lead to many problems for you if you take notice of some of them. Thai law states that a farang cannot own land in his own right but if he is married to a Thai National and his wife owns land then that land will pass to her husband if no will is made and as her husband is a farang who is not allowed to own land in his own right the government allows the husband 12 months to either sell the land or transfer the land title to a Thai National. The other way is as the spouse of a Thai National you can go to the Land Office where the Channot is held and you can apply for a Usafruct which on the death of your partner this will allow you to live on that land for a period of 30 years and that land cannot be sold without your knowledge and if the property is sold then the new owner has a legal obligation to honour the Usafruct

[davidst01]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:04 AM, KC 71 said:

I do worry sometimes.
My wife is older than me( i wont mention her age- but lets just say we are both knocking on,and anything could be round the corner,who knows!
She says the family will take care of me if need be,but as i understand it, if she pops her clogs first,i can no longer reside in this country.
Am i right ?


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

you must be one of the few guys with an older women. I couldnt do it to be honest. firm and young is the only way to go

[KC 71]

[emoji106]

[KC 71]

Sorry ,got the wrong end of the stick,my fault !

[Just Weird]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:21 AM, BritManToo said:

As long as you like if she left it to you.

Just leave the property in her name, nobody forces you to transfer the title out of a dead person's name.

Huh?  The assets of a deceased person become part of her estate and on her death passes to her next of kin, or those named in a will.  It does not stay in her name!

[BritManToo]

1 minute ago, Just Weird said:

Huh?  The assets of a deceased person become part of her estate and on her death passes to her next of kin, or those named in a will.  It does not stay in her name!

The process is called probate, and there is no time limit set for it in Thailand.

[KC 71]

you must be one of the few guys with an older women. I couldnt do it to be honest. firm and young is the only way to go

I didst set out to do it, i had my heart broken by 2 isaan women,one told me ‘ i have 1 heart, but it has many rooms’!
Then i met my true love!
I guess that is just the way it goes


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Just Weird]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:21 AM, BritManToo said:

As long as you like if she left it to you.

A foreigner willed a property has one year to dispose of it.

[connda]

On 6/9/2019 at 10:36 AM, BritManToo said:

Why does everyone keep posting this nonsense.

There is no legal requirement to transfer the land title out of a dead person's name in Thailand.

You can live in the house forever with it still in your dead wife's name, no time limit on probate.

I'm with ya on that BritManToo.  The other thing of note is that I think I'm the only person who ever mentions Usufruct contracts. It's additional security.  That way if the Thai authorities ever close that loophole regarding not transferring the title out of the decease's name, then you have additional coverage.  
In my case, the land goes to my step-son whom I raised, everything on the land (house, buildings, all movable object, pumps, wells, holding tanks, garages, vehicles, garden tools - everything - goes to me in the Will.  All other family not mentioned in the Will are explicitly excluded.
So Thai probate course doesn't have any wiggle room.  So I own everything above ground, by son owns the land, and I have a Usufruct giving me life-time 'use' of that land that all my assets sit on, and I have the Land Deeds for that property with Usufruct annotated lien on the property. 
The Op needs to think thing through.  A Will is a must have. 

[Just Weird]

On ‎6‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 9:28 AM, wisperone said:

"our house"...that is quite the misnomer now isn't it.  If it was your house, you wouldn't be asking the question. Perhaps should be how long can you remain in "her" house.

Perhaps the way his question was phrased is irrelevant and makes no difference.

[connda]

1 minute ago, BritManToo said:

Sorry, I can't fix stupid.

Agreed, that you can't.  It's like a broken record.  But most of these guys probably never owned vinyl. 
...you have 12 months <click>...

...you have 12 months <click>...

...you have 12 months <click>...

...you have 12 months <click>...

...you have 12 months <click>...

[Just Weird]

2 hours ago, paulbrow said:

That raises yet another question... how do I sell HER house? In her name, not mine.

You could only sell it if you inherited it from her, if she leaves it to you it becomes yours, pro tem

[Just Weird]

 

2 hours ago, paulbrow said:

But I can't own land or a house on the ground as I'm not Thai.

If you inherit it you can, you have a year to dispose of it.

[Saltire]

I have a dual-language will to take care of my girlfriend and her small family (yes - small family ???? ) but nothing in reverse, i.e. for me.

 

Looking through the posts and attempting to filter the fact from fiction it looks like ......

 

1 We need to get married (that's the plan just no rush - until I read this!

2 After the wedding get a lawyer to do a usufruct in case the worst happens to her.

3 My new wife needs to make a will for the house to me (we paid 50% each to build which I can prove.

 

One potential complication is that the land owner, who presumably has to sign the usufruct (?), the current number 1 in the tabien baan is her brother. His thumbprint is accepted on all my paperwork so far, extensions, TM30 etc, but the issue is he is mentally handicapped, I am guessing autistic. In my gf words he is 'not 100%'. As I said this does not seem to make a difference in legal matters so far, which I originally found hard to believe in that he is likely to fingerprint any document put in front of him which is obviously risky in general.

 

However, that aside I assume if he 'signs' a usufruct it will be legally binding.

 

Good post from the OP, lots to think about.

[Just Weird]

34 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

The process is called probate, and there is no time limit set for it in Thailand.

I'm well aware of what probate is and it is not intended to be dragged out interminably and won't be if there are other beneficiaries involved.