What Happens If A Foreigner Inherits A House

[robblok]

I was wondering, my wife bought a house and im helping her with it of course. I dont mind it but i was wondering what happens to the house if she dies, will i be able to sell the house (i cant own it) or will it go to her family. We are married in community of property.

[scotsman]

If your wife has a written will in thai and english leaving the house to you her husband then you have 1 year in which to sell it or find a Thai person you trust like your son or daughter if you have children and put the house in there name.

[robblok]

If your wife has a written will in thai and english leaving the house to you her husband then you have 1 year in which to sell it or find a Thai person you trust like your son or daughter if you have children and put the house in there name.

Thank you for your awnser. My wife will do that i hope i die before my wife i should im 8 years older but you never know in life. I just dont trust her mom one bit and want to be sure she wont get it. (good thing my wife likes me more then her mom)

[Old Man River]

I was wondering, my wife bought a house and im helping her with it of course. I dont mind it but i was wondering what happens to the house if she dies, will i be able to sell the house (i cant own it) or will it go to her family. We are married in community of property.

A foreigner can inherit the house. The issue is the land. Conventional thought, as Scotsman has written, is that a foreigner will be given one year to dispose of the land. However, written Thai law states that a foreigner can inherit up to 1 rai of property for residential purposes without having to sell it. The question, of course, is whether you want to rely on the Land Dept. opining in your favor if the time ever arose. Some attorneys say the Land Dept. in Bangkok has said they would hold to the written law, but others say you have to be crazy to trust that a foreigner would actually be awarded the property if it was a real case.

My guess is that anyone who has been awarded land in this scenario isn't talking about it. For me, I have decided not to take the chance, but you should at least be aware that Thai law does allow foreigners to inherit up to one rai of land for residential purposes.

What some do if you have children is to put a 30 year lease on the property now with your wife as landowner and have your wife name one of the children as beneficary of the land in her will. The lease would transfer with the property and remain in force.

[The Skipper]

If your wife has a written will in thai and english leaving the house to you her husband then you have 1 year in which to sell it or find a Thai person you trust like your son or daughter if you have children and put the house in there name.

Thank you for your awnser. My wife will do that i hope i die before my wife i should im 8 years older but you never know in life. I just dont trust her mom one bit and want to be sure she wont get it. (good thing my wife likes me more then her mom)

What are the chances the relatives will be all over it, doing their best to screw you out of it?

Seen it before.

Not pretty.

[KhunDennis]

Does anyone know if a son or daughter can have inheritance rights if they were born in the U.S. The mother being Thai and father American? Can they have dual citizenship?

I would like my son to inherit our house if anything happens to my wife. Would he have to sell the house if it was willed to him?

[robblok]

If your wife has a written will in thai and english leaving the house to you her husband then you have 1 year in which to sell it or find a Thai person you trust like your son or daughter if you have children and put the house in there name.

Thank you for your awnser. My wife will do that i hope i die before my wife i should im 8 years older but you never know in life. I just dont trust her mom one bit and want to be sure she wont get it. (good thing my wife likes me more then her mom)

What are the chances the relatives will be all over it, doing their best to screw you out of it?

Seen it before.

Not pretty.

She will put me in her will and the only one i worry about is her mom. But given the fact that my gf is 25 and im 33 and her mom in her late 50ies the chances are slim. I just wanted to know if inhereting was possible or not. I hope to die before her, and i probably will.

[geordie]

Lawyer told me that the mother, your wife's mother can claim 25% of the property if her daughter dies that is why your wife should make out a will, especially if you have children, so they are protected. When your wife has made out a will she leaves everything to the daughter/son, you can be the gaurdian over the house and land until your daughter/son is old enough to take care of matters for him/herself 20 years old. My wife has already done this in regards to our daughter, but there is a clause that says i can live there until i pass away.

Geordie

[Crossy]

Lawyer told me that the mother, your wife's mother can claim 25% of the property if her daughter dies that is why your wife should make out a will, especially if you have children, so they are protected. When your wife has made out a will she leaves everything to the daughter/son, you can be the gaurdian over the house and land until your daughter/son is old enough to take care of matters for him/herself 20 years old. My wife has already done this in regards to our daughter, but there is a clause that says i can live there until i pass away.

Absolutely Geordie, it is vital that the Missus makes a will. Unlike in the West the surviving spouse does not get exclusive rights to the family home etc. there's a complicated divvying up of the property with everyone and his dog getting a slice

Make sure you're protected by a lease (or usufruct) and a will.

[wolfmanjack]

Lawyer told me that the mother, your wife's mother can claim 25% of the property if her daughter dies that is why your wife should make out a will, especially if you have children, so they are protected. When your wife has made out a will she leaves everything to the daughter/son, you can be the gaurdian over the house and land until your daughter/son is old enough to take care of matters for him/herself 20 years old. My wife has already done this in regards to our daughter, but there is a clause that says i can live there until i pass away.

Absolutely Geordie, it is vital that the Missus makes a will. Unlike in the West the surviving spouse does not get exclusive rights to the family home etc. there's a complicated divvying up of the property with everyone and his dog getting a slice

Make sure you're protected by a lease (or usufruct) and a will.

According to the codes the divvying up is structured by levels.

1. Children and spouse are on the first level.

2. If no children or spouse then it goes to the parents.

3. if no parents then siblings of full blood.

4. if no #3 then siblings of half blood.

5. if no # 4 then grand parents.

6. if no #5 then uncles and aunts.

If no living relatives then the house gets gutted by the neighbors.

[wolfmanjack]

I just did some research on the net and did some further reading in the codes. There is a provision later on that i did not see before. The following would be the case unless the law has changed.

Distribution of estate with no will to a spouse.

1) Children ---> Spouse is treated as one child

2) Parents

3) Brothers/Sisters---> Spouse receives half the Estate

4) Half Brothers/Sisters ---> Spouse receives half the Estate

5) Grand Parents ---> Spouse receives two-third of the Estate

6) Uncles/Aunts ---> Spouse receives two-third of the Estate

In summary if the deceased person has children, the spouse’s entitlement is equal to one child. If he only has heirs under category 2), 3) or 4), the spouse gets one half of his estate before the rest is shared among those heirs. Finally, if there are only heirs under category 5) or 6), the spouse get two-thirds. And if there is none in all six categories then the spouse get it all. In an extreme case where the couple die at the same time without any heir nor will, the estate goes to the government although I have never seen the Ministry of Finance claiming the estate of any dead person. You can make a will that bequest your property to any person and even deprive your children and spouse of any inheritance.

It should be noted that you cannot make a will to bequest any items that you do not know. Therefore, you cannot will the entire community property to your heirs because you own only half of it. Your surviving spouse will share another half and only your portion will go to the heirs. If there is a will, the estate will be distributed accordingly. If not, then the estate will go to the heirs in the priority mentioned above.

Now the following is not explained anywhere but i assume that since the spouse already owns 50% if the house was acquired during marriage with communal assets then the 50% owned by the deceased would be the only part that is inheritable ???????

[PMK]

I'm just guessing too, but the term 'communal property' generally refers to a divorce or separation situation, and the way the law is written I would say it means just what is says: The spouse's share is equal to one child. Of course we are now talking about what happens in the absence of a will.

Now the following is not explained anywhere but i assume that since the spouse already owns 50% if the house was acquired during marriage with communal assets then the 50% owned by the deceased would be the only part that is inheritable ???????

[wolfmanjack]

I'm just guessing too, but the term 'communal property' generally refers to a divorce or separation situation, and the way the law is written I would say it means just what is says: The spouse's share is equal to one child. Of course we are now talking about what happens in the absence of a will.

Now the following is not explained anywhere but i assume that since the spouse already owns 50% if the house was acquired during marriage with communal assets then the 50% owned by the deceased would be the only part that is inheritable ???????

It should be noted that you cannot make a will to bequest any items that you do not own. Therefore, you cannot will the entire community property to your heirs because you own only half of it. Your surviving spouse will share another half and only your portion will go to the heirs. If there is a will, the estate will be distributed accordingly. If not, then the estate will go to the heirs in the priority mentioned above.

You can only inherit what the deceased owns, correct ? If the house is part of communal property then each spouse only owns 50%. Therefore only 50% would apply to the inheritance. This is only logical. Then again this is thailand.

I have not found anything that takes into account step parents. I suppose it would only apply if an adoption took place ?

[scotsman]

Because the law in Thailand does not allow a farang to own the land the land is in your wife"s name. When your wife dies before you and there is a will leaving the land & house to the farang husband then its up to the Thai goverment to say yes or no. I would think the answer would always be no and you have 1 year to sell it or change it into another Thai persons name. If the family has the money to make a legal challenge to the will they may do so, thats why you must make sure that its done well.

[ProThaiExpat]

Just curious, prior posts three years ago spoke of "a reasonable time" for the falang to dispose of the inherited land, while now all speak of one year.

Does the code specify the length of time to dispose of the property once inherited.?

[KhunDennis]

One point I a confused on is, on the levels of divvying up property with no will.

Say, for instance there is one son and a husband,surviving, and they Davide equally, does it stop there or can the other people in line , stand to get a share also.

What I am saying is , if the requirements for a level are met, does it cancel the ones below it.

[wolfmanjack]

Because the law in Thailand does not allow a farang to own the land the land is in your wife"s name. When your wife dies before you and there is a will leaving the land & house to the farang husband then its up to the Thai goverment to say yes or no. I would think the answer would always be no and you have 1 year to sell it or change it into another Thai persons name. If the family has the money to make a legal challenge to the will they may do so, thats why you must make sure that its done well.

1 year to sell it is a lot better than the aunts and uncles getting it.

[wolfmanjack]

One point I a confused on is, on the levels of divvying up property with no will.

Say, for instance there is one son and a husband,surviving, and they Davide equally, does it stop there or can the other people in line , stand to get a share also.

What I am saying is , if the requirements for a level are met, does it cancel the ones below it.

As I read the codes, if there are level 1 inheritors then the lower levels do not inherit and the same for the other levels. When I was searching for answers i saw 1 website that said all of the top 3 levels inherit. I am going to go with the majority and stick with the "only those in the highest level inherit."

Section 1630

So long as there is any heir surviving or represented in a class where there is any descendant surviving or represented as specified in Section 1629 as the case may be, the heir of a lower class has no right at all to the estate of the deceased.

However, the foregoing paragraph does not apply in the particular case where there is any descendant surviving or represented as the case may be, and also the parents or one of them are still surviving; in such case each parent is entitled to the same share as an heir in the degree of the children.

This seems to contradict the entire section of 1629 and section 1635 which says if it falls to level 2 and the parents inherit the spouse gets half where if there are children the spouse gets an equal share as the children. It seems to me it is saying that parents are on level 1 with the children unless there are no children then they are on level 2. Very confusing.

[LoveDaBlues]

follow the advice in Post #9 (Crossy)

[donx]

Does anyone know if a son or daughter can have inheritance rights if they were born in the U.S. The mother being Thai and father American? Can they have dual citizenship?

I would like my son to inherit our house if anything happens to my wife. Would he have to sell the house if it was willed to him?

Children born to a Thai mother and American father can have dual citizenship. I am going through the process of getting a Thai birth certificate for my third child as I write. With the Thai birth certificate you can get a Thai passport. My two older children have both Thai and US passports. We haven't obtained Thai citizen ID cards for them but it is my understanding that this should not be difficult.

It is also my understanding that boys that are registered as Thai citizens will be obligated to perform military service once they reach a certain age of majority. It is for this reason that we don't want to register our son in the house papers and get him a Thai citizen ID card.