I'm thinking of buying a house and putting in my child's name. I wanted to know if there are any specific age requirements to do this. i.e. does the minor have to be above x years of age? If so what is the rule or does it differ between the land offices?

 

If I proceed with doing this I would immediately register a 30 year lease and pay tax at the land office so that I have 'real property' rights to live there and subsequently the house cannot be sold. 

 

thanks

1 hour ago, bbabythai said:

If I proceed with doing this I would immediately register a 30 year lease and pay tax at the land office so that I have 'real property' rights to live there and subsequently the house cannot be sold.

 

You cannot encumber a child with an obligation.

 

What this means is that you cannot register a long term lease, or a usufruct or any similar obligation against property held by a child.

 

The land office will refuse to register any such encumbrance.

 

The maximum length of lease that can be legally granted on behalf of a child is 3 years.

20 hours ago, bbabythai said:

I'm thinking of buying a house and putting in my child's name. I wanted to know if there are any specific age requirements to do this. i.e. does the minor have to be above x years of age? If so what is the rule or does it differ between the land offices?

 

If I proceed with doing this I would immediately register a 30 year lease and pay tax at the land office so that I have 'real property' rights to live there and subsequently the house cannot be sold. 

 

No minimum age ie as soon as the child has a birth certificate and ID number he/she can be registered as owners. As @blackcab wrote - once registered to a minor the property cannot be leased or usufruct. If you want to lease the property you should get it done while registered under the current owner, and later transfer the ownership to your child. I am not sure the Land office people will allow doing both the lease and the transfer at the same time though. 

I don't know the law regarding the legal capacity of minors. However, I would make a couple of general comments:

 

Firstly, invariably it is better to have a superficiary or an usufruct than a lease, as there are well-documented issues with leases in Thailand under Thai law (basically, leases here are glorified tenancies, which don't offer the same rights as people expect according to Western concepts of what a lease is or should do)

 

Furthermore, having a subordinate right (e.g. a lease/superficiary/usufruct) doesn't prevent the land/property being sold: it would only prevent you from being evicted during the currency of your agreement, so you could end up with a new landlord unless you have some ancillary agreement (which may or may not be legal under Thai law) pursuant to which the landlord agrees not to sell unless they have your consent etc.

1 minute ago, LukKrueng said:

No minimum age ie as soon as the child has a birth certificate and ID number he/she can be registered as owners. As @blackcab wrote - once registered to a minor the property cannot be leased or usufruct. If you want to lease the property you should get it done while registered under the current owner, and later transfer the ownership to your child. I am not sure the Land office people will allow doing both the lease and the transfer at the same time though. 

Although in theory, having a subordinate right encumbering the land shouldn't affect the transfer of the superior title to a new owner, in practice,  I have been told by several people that there have been problems with the Land Office, who have questioned the transaction and/or refused to effect the transfer without first removing the encumbrance (i.e. the usufruct etc.) so this definitely seems one that is best dealt with through a local lawyer

36 minutes ago, LukKrueng said:

No minimum age ie as soon as the child has a birth certificate and ID number he/she can be registered as owners. As @blackcab wrote - once registered to a minor the property cannot be leased or usufruct. If you want to lease the property you should get it done while registered under the current owner, and later transfer the ownership to your child. I am not sure the Land office people will allow doing both the lease and the transfer at the same time though. 

 

At what age does a Thai child get an ID number?

 

1 minute ago, EricTh said:

At what age does a Thai child get an ID number?

It's written on their birth certificate.

It used to be that a child had to reach the age of 20 to have a house/land/etc. put in their name.  At least in 2005 at the local amphur that we went to said this.  Not sure if the law has changed since then.  It's also possible that what one local amphur does may be different than another local amphur.