Last week I went to the land office and enquired about the possability of having a usufruct contract made between me and my wife with regards to a property we have recdently built. At first the gentleman we spoke with was unsure of how to help us, my wife then mentioned the Thai name for this process; sit-ti-gep-gin.

We made the relevant photo copies (pasport, ID, marriage, tabien ban and letter of permission to build a house on the land). The contract used was a standard document which allows me to stay in the house rent free until I die. It turns out that I was the first foriegner to ask for this to be done at their office and because of this they had to check the manuals of how to put this together and the paper work needed.

Now whether this standard contract is as full proof as one a lawyer may have drafted I don't know, but after researching this matter and thinking of my own requirements I decided following this process was the best option for me.

My wife and I have been married for 10 years and I have no reason to belive that she would ever be unfair with me if we were to split. All I wanted was something legal and official done with her approval so she would understand/think that I have rights on the property also. Knowing her, if we did split she would never question this document let alone hire a lawyer to do it for her.

You may ask why did you bother going through this process if you trust her and have no reason to doubt her future fairness?

Well the whole process at the land office took just over an hour to sort and cost me 75 baht.

I had quotes from several lawyers ranging from around 10,000 for a contract drawn up and telephone support to 70,000 for a lawyer to come with me and do the process for me. Like I said before I'm sure these contracts may have had more clauses etc, but in my situation the do-it yourself-option was the best solution.

I would encourage others who are thinking about getting an usufruct to inquire about this same process and save a few baht. If you do want other clauses added have them prepared ahead of time and expect the process to take a bit longer.

CC.

Interesting Post !

What area was the land office you registered your usufruct at ?

TIA

crewcut,

Good of you to let us know.

Can you post a sample of the Usufruct document please?

I suppose it's in Thai though?