Who Get The House

[royar2002]

My first wife died in a accident some years ago. We dont have any values, so it was only the funeral a pay little to her family. My new wife and I are planning to build a house, when we find a place we like. She have an old house in her name, but all her family live around and none of us will live there. Just a short visit somtimes. If I make a house, I will open "the blue book/housepaper in her names. What if my wife die like my first, who gets the house. Will it goes to me who can't own a house, or will it goes to her family.

[bluebear]

her family as we cant own property.

[Wolfie]

her family as we cant own property. 

I actually remember reading somewhere (i cant remember where) that some farang ended up owning a peice of land because it was left to him in a will.

Now this could be a crock of horse droppings, but it seemed quite plausable at the time.

Maybe one of the more knowledgable types who frequent these virtual halls could enlighten us on this one.

[pnustedt]

Now this could be a crock of horse droppings

Farangs owning land is like rocking horse droppings

[john b good]

My first wife died in a accident some years ago. We dont have any values, so it was only the funeral a pay little to her family. My new wife and I are planning to build a house, when we find a place we like. She have an old house in her name, but all her family live around and none of us will live there. Just a short visit somtimes. If I make a house, I will open "the blue book/housepaper in her names. What if my wife die like my first, who gets the house. Will it goes to me who can't own a house, or will it goes to her family.

Unless you make the necessary arrangements the house will fall into the hands of her family.

Go see a good lawyer and possibly arrange a lease on the property.

And there other options I am told.

After you yourself have croaked it you probably won't be too bothered who gets it.

[otherstuff1957]

Buy the land in your wifes name and then get a 30 year lease on the land with automatic renewal.

A decent lawyer should be able to draw it up for you. Maybe Sunbelt Asia if you don't know another one.

[Sumitr Man]

REPOST:

^I've mentioned this several times before, but I'll repeat it here:

SECTION 93 OF THE LAND CODE

"The Minister shall permit the inheritance of land by an ALIEN who is the LAWFUL heir, but such acquisition, when added to that which is already held, my not exceed the amount which may be held under SECTION 87."

SECTION 87 OF THE LAND CODE

For residential purposes, an ALIEN may own 1 Rai.

In the event that you do NOT get the Minister's approval under SECTION 93, SECTION 94 comes into play.

SECTION 94 OF THE LAND CODE

"All land which an ALIEN has acquired unlawfully or without permission shall be disposed of by such ALIEN within the time limit prescribed by the Director-General, which shall not be less than 180 days, nor more than 1 year.

If the land is not disposed of within the time prescribed, the Director-General shall have the power to dispose of it."

Hope this helps.

SM

[royar2002]

SECTION 87 OF THE LAND CODE

For residential purposes, an ALIEN may own 1 Rai.

In the event that you do NOT get the Minister's approval under SECTION 93, SECTION 94 comes into play.

SECTION 94 OF THE LAND CODE

"All land which an ALIEN has acquired unlawfully or without permission shall be disposed of by such ALIEN within the time limit prescribed by the Director-General, which shall not be less than 180 days, nor more than 1 year.

If the land is not disposed of within the time prescribed, the Director-General shall have the power to dispose of it."

Hope this helps.

SM

Is section 87 mean that I can own 1rai with non imm visa or is it only for those who have resident status?

theotherstuff1957 Thanks for easy and good idea.

[Sumitr Man]

No.

Section 87 says that so long as you are entitled to own land, under the provisions of the Land Code, you can own up to 1 Rai - as a non Thai national.

In terms of the query that you had, i.e. inheritance, Section 87 would apply. However, if one were only to look at the visa status of the individual, Section 87 may or may not apply, depending upon other considerations.

For example, under the Ministerial Regulation dated 18th January 2002, an alien may acquire, and own, land in Thailand if they invest the sums so set out in Clause 1 of the regulation (which, in short, is Bt. 40m). However, the limitation on the ownership of the land is still that set out in Section 87 - namely 1 Rai (although this does not have to be 1 Rai in 1 place, it can be separate pieces of land which cumulatively equal 1 Rai of land - an additional factor to be borne in mind with the cited regulation is that it only applies to certain parts of the Kingdom and not to the Kingdom as a whole).

So, if you inherit, you may, subject to the required approval, own 1 Rai of land. However, if you have a non-imm visa, without inheriting, you are back to square 1.

SM

[maerim]

A glutton for punishment writes.

As an expert in getting mugged by Thai wives, one real, one sort of.

It took me three goes to get a good one but in life evreything is" OK" until it's not

"OK".

So we, or more to the point me, are buying a house in her name you now have one guess to who's money is financing the purchase.

It is being purchased with a mortgage in her name but I am paying for it so if my beloved says thank's now would you mind vacating the premises as soon as possible she will be stuck with the mortgage.

I know it might sound a bit hard to some people who have not been on the recieving end of Thai women but that's the way it is and I would reccommend any Farang with a Thai wife to go down this road to purchasing property.

Why not? It certainly gives you a bit of leverage when push comes to shove.

[Sumitr Man]

Did you give a personal guarantee? If so, you may need to reconsider that strategy.

The fact is (as a farang):

a. the system is not set up in your favor;

b. the "second-hand" housing market in Thailand - regardless of what you might hear otherwise, sucks!

a+b = don't invest money in property in Thailand unless you're willing to kiss it good bye! If you ever feel you may need that money some day - buy a house on the Costa del Sol - use her name if you want!!

[wolf5370]

Mortgage: I assume you are the lender? If so, what if she refuses to pay. You can foreclose, but you can't take ownership - you will have 1 year to sell and get b*gger all. Also, I believe, the money for the land purchase must be hers or have originated in LOS (Thai bank).

It is possible for her to own the land and you to own the house. There are no restrictions I believe on owning property, only land.

If you have farang-noi/Thai kids (registered in LOS), I presume you could put the house in their name with you as trustee until they come of age, and a codecile to protect your rights to live there and them not to sell, whilst you live. Not sure if this would work, but just a thought.

[maerim]

Mortgage: I assume you are the lender?

Oh please, give me a bit of credit, the money is coming from the bank.

[Davidcharles]

Legally -

What happens to the house, if I die, and I have only made a will in the UK?

Also, if I marry my GF ( I intend to soon) what happens to the house, which is owned by a company I have formed (I have 49% of the shares,)

and I have'nt yet made a Thai will, leaving it to her?

And, do 'pre-nuptial agreements' work as well, in Law, as in UK?

[Sumitr Man]

DC -

First off, see a lawyer.

Second, are you getting married in Thailand or the UK?

Some pointers

What happens to the house, if I die, and I have only made a will in the UK?

Assuming the house is in Thailand, and further assuming that it is held in the name of the company - nothing. The house is an asset of the company for the company to do in any manner as prescribed by the articles of association, etc. of the company and the board of directors of the company. In short, your death would not affect this.

Also, if I marry my GF ( I intend to soon) what happens to the house, which is owned by a company I have formed (I have 49% of the shares,)

and I have'nt yet made a Thai will, leaving it to her?

Assuming the company is Thai registered, and Thai held - hence the share structure, the house remains the property of the company to do in the manner prescribed, etc. [see above].

The question becomes, what happens to my 49% of the company? The answer to this is not easy. As the company was incorporated pre your marriage, the shares would be considered Sin Suan Tua [section 1471 of the Civil and Commercial Code]. However, the fruits of those shares may be considered Sin Somros (property acquired during marriage) [see Section 1747]. So, in short, your wife may have a claim, in her own right, as your wife, to the Sin Somros portion of the shares, but maybe not the Sin Sua Tua part.

If you then look at the inheritance of the Sin Sua Tua part, assuming that you have died without leaving a lawful will, you need to look at Section 1620 of the Civil and Commercial Code. S. 1620 states that:

"Where a person dies without having made a will, or if having made a will, his will has no effect, the whole of his estate shall be distributed among his statutory heir according to the law."

Statutory Heirs are contained within S. 1629, which reads:

"There are six classes of statutory heir, and subject to the provisions of S. 1630 para. 2, each class is entitled to inherit in the following order:

(1) descendants;

(2) parents;

(3) brothers/sisters [of full blood];

(4) brothers and sisters [of half blood];

(5) grandfather and grandmothers;

(6) uncles and aunts.

Para. 2 of S. 1629 also states that the surviving spouse is a statutory heir, subject to the special conditions set out in S. 1635

S. 1635 reads:

"The surviving spouse is entitled to the inheritance of the deceased in the class according to the division as hereunder provided:

(1) if there is an heir according to S. 1629(1) surviving or having representatives, as the case may be, such surviving spouse is entitled to the same share as an heir in degree of children;

(2) if there is an heir according to S. 1629(3), such surviving spouse is entitled to inherit one half of the inheritance;

(3) if there is an heir according to S. 1629 (4) or (6), such surviving spouse is entitled to 2/3rds;

(4) if there is no surviving heir under S.1629, the spouse is entitled to the whole inheritance."

The CCC does not seem to provision for what happens when a foreigner makes a will outside Thailand with provisions for property in Thailand. However, guidance here may come from S. 1667 which provides that if a Thai national makes a will outside Thailand they may make that will either according to the law of the jurisdiction in which they are residing, or Thai law; but that in the case of Thai law the will needs to be evidenced, etc. at the Embassy/consular office in that jurisdiction. - You might want to get guidance on this from the embassy.

And, do 'pre-nuptial agreements' work as well, in Law, as in UK?

For pre-nuptial agreements (which in Thai law are known as ante-nuptial agreements) you need to go back to S. 1465 of the CCC, which reads:

"Where the husband and wife have not, previous to their marriage, concluded a special agreement concerning their properties, the relations between them as regards their properties shall be government by this Chapter.

Any clause in the ante-nuptial agreement, contrary to public order or good morals, or providing that the relations between them as regards such properties are to be governed by foreign law, shall be void."

S.1466

"The ante-nuptial agreement is void if it is not entered in the Marriage Register at the time of the marriage registration and marked as being the ante-nuptial agreement; or if not signed by both parties and signed by at least 2 witnesses and entered into the Marriage Registers at the time of the marriage with the fact that it is an ante-nuptial agreements affixed thereon."

S. 1467

"After the marriage, the ante-nuptial agreement cannot be altered, except by an order of the Court."

[royar2002]

I can see it can be done difficult or it could be done easy. I am not afraid to put my wifes name on the papers, I just want be sure that I can stay there rest of my life. Maerim and the otherstuff! Thanks for the help!

[maerim]

And, do 'pre-nuptial agreements' work as well, in Law, as in UK?

These prenuptial agreements are not recognised in the UK.