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Thai Wife Leaving Me Home and Property in Her Will

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Great, but a foreigner can't own a house and property in Thailand. So, what will happen if she passes away before I do? Thanks.

  • Popular Post
1 minute ago, kyoozoocanada said:

Great, but a foreigner can't own a house and property in Thailand. So, what will happen if she passes away before I do? Thanks.

You will be given 1 year to sell it

Not sure if it's actually needed in event of death, but I'd consult a lawyer, and have her give you POA (power of attorney) to sell any assets (house/land) in her name. Although that should already be spelled out in the will for the executor of, to do just that.

Depends how trusting you are of the executor of the will, if needed or not. I had POA with first wife, and it works quite well at the land office. After I booted her from the house, I sold it, and she wasn't even at Land Office when I did.

I don't have one (POA) with current Thai wife, as all goes to daughter, who I trust. If anything happened, I would probably liquidate house & extra land lots. Rent my daughter's extra condo till I crap out, to be near her. No desire returning to the motherland.

The problem is that trying to sell within a year is a serious handicap to getting a fair price for the property. You will be taken advantage of unless you have a very easy to sell property. I am in a similar situation, I would expect it would take at least two years to find a buyer. One option is to leave the house to a Thai family member you both trust with instructions to sell the house and give the proceeds to you. (I have this option, my sister-in-law). As a backup ask your wife to grant you a 30 year lease on the property. So if the legatee/trustee goes postal or they die and you are dealing with their executors/legatees you can stay in the house.

  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/12/2026 at 2:27 PM, CallumWK said:

You will be given 1 year to sell it

That's my understanding, provided it's actually left to him.

There have been cases where the Thai wife's kids have evicted the foreigner, despite him paying for the land and the house.

  • 4 weeks later...

Does the Land Office know when land owners die? If so, how are they notified? If not, why couldn't I just pretend she's still alive - and continue to live in our house, which is on one of her properties, which has a 30-year lease on it. Her Will gives me all her real estate, and we have the understanding I'll have our nephew take ownership of it for one satang. But, he lives in Bangkok (we're in CM), is quite busy, and there may be complications with getting him up here signing over ten Chanotes within that designated one year window.

Obviously, if I only have one year to sell this property, I'll get this nephew up here, or another relative, as I want to keep the property in the family, and don't need any sales proceeds to sustain me. But, a little more wiggle room would be nice. And if the Land Office didn't know of her death, I'd have that option.

Any firsthand info on this question -- or solid hearsay?

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