The wife, who is a Thai/US dual citizen, owns the house we've been living in in Thailand for 9 years. She is listed in the blue House book, along with our 3 children who although living in the US are also Thai/US dual citizens. 

 

We recently purchased a condo, in the wife's name, which we plan to rent. We received a blank House Book for it. My questions;

 

1) I assume that my wife's name should not be present in the condo House Book, as I assume that she must choose 1 as her primary address and it would be the house, not condo. Is that assumption correct?

 

2) If the wife can only be listed in one House Book, can the condo House Book remain blank? Is that a normal situation for properties rented to foreigners? 

 

3) If we rent the condo to someone, would they be listed in the House book? I guess this question only applies to Thais, as I know that foreigners can not be listed.

 

4) Are there property tax implications for property not listed as a primary residence?

 

5) I understand that if my wife were to pass away, the property would pass on to her Thai children listed in the House Book. What happens to a property with no one listed in the House Book (if that's possible)? Would it be a good idea for one of the children to change their "residency" to the condo?

 

6) I currently have a Thai ID and a Yellow House Book with the original home's address (not the condo address). Would there be any benefit for me changing that to the condo address?

 

Any assistance would be appreciated. 

 

PS - Please no lectures on how the wife should not control the property. We've been married for 3 decades and she's entitled to 50% of our assets per US law, and most of our assets are in the US. So I fully understand that (unless she dies) the property in Thailand belongs to her and not me. 

1. She can only be registered in one house book

2. Yes, I've rented properties with empty house books in the past

3. If both parties want it this can of course be done. Most landlords are too lazy though, so it's not common

4. Idk

5. House book has nothing to do with ownership, so it doesn't matter

6. No

property tax will be higher for the 'blank' house book address, it's best to move some of your children in

3 hours ago, FriendlyFarang said:

 

5. House book has nothing to do with ownership, so it doesn't matter

 

I believe that I was once told that upon the wife's death the property would pass to her relatives listed in the house book.

 

Is this incorrect?

13 minutes ago, digbeth said:

property tax will be higher for the 'blank' house book address, it's best to move some of your children in

Would moving my address/yellow book solve this? That would be easier at the moment because I'm in Thailand and the children are not.

25 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

I believe that I was once told that upon the wife's death the property would pass to her relatives listed in the house book.

 

Is this incorrect?

You can put renter's in the house book, imagine upon the owner's death the ownership pass on to whoever is the housemaster? it's not gonna work. It's either in will or getting estate manager appointed by the court

25 minutes ago, ftpjtm said:

Would moving my address/yellow book solve this? That would be easier at the moment because I'm in Thailand and the children are not.

Yes, but the tax is like 2000 baht a year at most, how much pain does it takes in getting the new yellow book?