Buying House

[ZOVOX]

I AM A UK CITIZEN MARRIED TO THAI WIFE. I UNDERSTAND THAT I CANNOT BUY A HOUSE BECAUSE IT COMES WITH LAND. HOWEVER, IF I BUY THE HOUSE IN MY WIFES NAME, CAN SHE THEN LEASE THE PROPERTY TO ME FOR 100 YEARS AT SAY ONE BAHT, SO EFFECTIVELY I HAVE A LEASEHOLD ON THE HOUSE ?

HAS ANYONE DONE THIS ALREADY ? IF SO, HOW GOOD IS THE LEASE AGREEMENT FROM A LEGAL POINT OF VIEW, IN CASE WE GET DIVORCED LATER ?

[dr_Pat_Pong]

I AM A UK CITIZEN MARRIED TO THAI WIFE. I UNDERSTAND THAT I CANNOT BUY A HOUSE BECAUSE IT COMES WITH LAND. HOWEVER, IF I BUY THE HOUSE IN MY WIFES NAME, CAN SHE THEN LEASE THE PROPERTY TO ME FOR 100 YEARS AT SAY ONE BAHT, SO EFFECTIVELY I HAVE A LEASEHOLD ON THE HOUSE ?

HAS ANYONE DONE THIS ALREADY ? IF SO, HOW GOOD IS THE LEASE AGREEMENT FROM A LEGAL POINT OF VIEW, IN CASE WE GET DIVORCED LATER ?

Why the capital letters ? That is considered rude. And in any event, will you and she both be alive in 100 years time ?

[Sumitr Man]

2 things:

You can buy the house, just not the land.

You can lease the land from your wife - for 30 years [not 100]. Leasing at Bt.1 per year is unlikely to be considered "good" consideration and is likely to subject to your wife to a tax audit - at which time the lease rent rate will likely be set at what the revenue dept. considers to be the "market rate".

suggest you talk with a reputable Thai lawyer.

[ZOVOX]

If i purchese the house in my name and the land in my wifes name, is it compulsory for me to lease the land from my wife ?

[Sumitr Man]

Not necessarily. You get your wife to grant you a Right of Way/Easement over the land, which you register, and you'll have a perpetual right of access to the house.

Again, check this with your lawyer.

[ZOVOX]

Thanks for the advice ! I contacted a lawyer, and it seems your solution is only valid if you buy the land first and then build a house on it. I think i will have to go down the leasing option. The only other way is to form company and buy property in the company name, but i think this to messy for me.

[PvtDick]

Sounds like you really trust your wife!

[Sumitr Man]

I contacted a lawyer, and it seems your solution is only valid if you buy the land first and then build a house on it.

sorry - not sure I understand this. Are you saying that you want to buy the house first, then the land? Or, is your lawyer saying you cannot buy the house and land at the same time?

If it is the former, you've got me very confused: I thought you wanted the land in your wife's name and you to own the house.

If it is the latter, I'm equally confused: why don't you split the sales contract into a purchase of land, which the seller sells to your wife, and which your wife registers at the relevant land registration department, and have a separate sale agreement for the house.

On the other hand, you could be talking about the easement. In which case why would you want to grant a right of way/easement over land that you already own?

[falong]

Sounds like you really trust your wife!

Is that a sense of humor I detect there??

[ZOVOX]

from the reply i got from the lawyer, it suggested that you cannot split the sales contract if the house is already built and the house and land is registered in the same name. it suggested that the only way, i can split it is to buy the land first in my wifes name, and then build the house after in my name.

[Sumitr Man]

Your financing - mortgage or cash down?

[ZOVOX]

i'm paying cash

[Sumitr Man]

Change your lawyer! PM me and I'll give you the name of someone who knows what they are talking about.

Nothing, under Thai law, prohibits the splitting of the sales contract into a sale of land agreement and sale of house agreement.

However, practically, Thais do not do this as you incur double the stamp duties. But, this is a practical matter, and in the case of farangs - we're in a different league. But, it is not illegal/impractical or unworkable to do as I suggested - if you are paying cash. The situation may be slightly different if you are financing via a mortgage and security over the property is being taken.

SM

[ZOVOX]

Do you know how much the stamp duty is in Thailand ?

[maxbkkguy]

Do you know how much the stamp duty is in Thailand ?

I think around 3% and another 2 % more for transfer name fees. So total you have to fork out roughly 5% of the purchase price to the thai land dept.

One more thing regarding lease cntract.From what i knew was that if you and your wife are legal married (register your marriage) in Thailand amphur. Whatever lease you have 'signed 'with your wife are consider 'void' in the eye of thai law.

I found this out only when i personally went over to the thai land dept side, to make a lease register for our house in bkk but was reject on the ground that she is my legal wife in name.

And to think that i even spent money to engage my own Thai lawyer to accompany me to the land dept but of no use.

You can sign whatever lease contract with your thai wife but in the end it will still depend on how thai side to interpret it.

From what i knew, you are only permit to rent a lands, factory or house for anyone thai ppls in bkk except your very own 'legal register' thai wife.

[Sumitr Man]

Regarding leasing from your wife. As the land is your wife's property Sin Suan Tua, and as you are a farang - thus the land cannot become part of your Sin Somros property -I would find it hard to see why you could not lease the land from your wife merely because she is your wife. This is, after all, "her" property to do as she wishes.

However, I would need to check that and would accept that I could be wrong here (indeed, elsewhere for that matter).

[ZOVOX]

I think i'm going to consult a good lawyer - it alls seems very complicated ! I've decided to buy a new house from a housing company in the north of bangkok, and they are paying all standard legal fees and stamp duty, so i'll save the 5 percent to the land dept at least.

[Sumitr Man]

I've decided to buy a new house

And may I be the first to congratulate you.

May your home be a happy home. And chok-dee

[ZOVOX]

Thanks Sumitr man - you've been very helpful !

I'll contact that lawyer you refered me to later: like i said before, the housing company are taking care of the legal stuff. I'll buy the house in my wifes name for now - we've only been married a month, so i'm pretty sure she won't divorce me quite yet !

[maxbkkguy]

Regarding leasing from your wife. As the land is your wife's property Sin Suan Tua, and as you are a farang - thus the land cannot become part of your Sin Somros property -I would find it hard to see why you could not lease the land from your wife merely because she is your wife. This is, after all, "her" property to do as she wishes.

However, I would need to check that and would accept that I could be wrong here (indeed, elsewhere for that matter).

Yes ! The house and land may belong to her in the eye of law but I’m referring to the 'contract signed' between a legally married husband and wife. Is this contract paper legal in the thai court? You can't simply draw up any contract with any lawyer to 'over rule ' the legal responsibility of a husband and wife in nature. Even if the house is under your thai wife name, you are legally allowed to stay in the house as long as you like even without any signed contract between you and her. The only setback is that you are not allowed to make a claim for the house during future divorce.

Another example is that if wife go and borrow loans for the bank, husband will be forced (I'm a good example) by the banker to sign in as guarantor for it. If you don't then your thai wife won't be allowed to take out any loans at all.

With or without pre-arrange contract with your own wife, the bank will still go after you if your wife one day default the payment. You can leave the country but your name will always in the bank computer data.Once you make an entry again into thailand, you be in trouble.

So the best way to do is to lease the house from your thai wife before you go to register the thai marriage at her amphur. At least if one day your case ever landed in thai court, you can still quarrel about it.

Btw, most local thai lawyers will always guarante you one thing but does the other. The best way to confirm is to personally go and ask the land dept officer about it.

Sometimes, we farang think we can out smart the thai ppls but in the end we are the 'suckers' in this thai system. One more issue is that, what if one day your thai wife suddenly passed away and you find your in-law's, relatives, her siblings all came make a claim for the said house. Will they force you to leave the house and sell it for the money? Afterall, we are foreigners here in thailand. In the thai court ,we are always the losers in any case. I seldom read or heard foreigners win any court case in Thailand before.

Hope that help !!

[moziman]

Hi,

Incase your still interested in this topic or anyone else for that matter, I started a thread a while back about the credibility of the 30 year lease and asked if anyone had fallen foul of it or actually knew anyone who had. To my memory nobody who answered had heard of anybody having a problem with it from a legal point of view. The forms are standard and not liable to interpretation, the pitfalls can come with land office if the land registration documents are not signed off correctly. I can't remember all the details now but you can check the thread at:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...t=0entry98769

Good luck

moziman