Thai Wife Of Foreigner Property Owner?

[bkkjames]

No expert in matter concerning property law - so would be interested how this affects those who have a mortgage with their wife with a Thai Bank?

[thaihome]

No expert in matter concerning property law - so would be interested how this affects those who have a mortgage with their wife with a Thai Bank?

Is the land in a company’s name where the wife is a nominee for the husband? This has nothing to do with any other setup.

TH

[tomross46]

I keep on reading about Thai wife, but how does this work when you and girlfriend are not legally married?

Another interesting situation is; that during the former administration, foreigners were told that if they invested in the special card offered by the government they could own land. If this was against the law as stipulated by the Land Department, now what?

[Crossy]

I keep on reading about Thai wife, but how does this work when you and girlfriend are not legally married?

Another interesting situation is; that during the former administration, foreigners were told that if they invested in the special card offered by the government they could own land. If this was against the law as stipulated by the Land Department, now what?

The land ownership facility of the Elite Card never materialised, so the issue went away.

[bkkjames]

No expert in matter concerning property law - so would be interested how this affects those who have a mortgage with their wife with a Thai Bank?

Is the land in a company’s name where the wife is a nominee for the husband? This has nothing to do with any other setup.

TH

No, I mean a mortgage from a Thai Bank in the wife's name but as me as co-signer.

[tijnebijn]

My wife bought her ground 2 years before we got married , with her maiden name ofcourse .

After we got married she changed her backname into mine , and changed the name change on the

landpaper ownership .

Its the same owner of the ground but with a foreigners backname .

So my question is do I have to sign anything for us not being in trouble , she bought the ground 9 years ago ?

My guess is it doesn't matter at all in this case , but might be wrong .

Another thing for one poster saying not to buy anything , perhaps so but when you have children its a different story after all . Everything automatically goes to them , don't think thats a bad investment .

[Crossy]

My wife bought her ground 2 years before we got married , with her maiden name of course .

Absolutely no issue, property was acquired before you married, it's hers, period

[tijnebijn]

My wife bought her ground 2 years before we got married , with her maiden name of course .

Absolutely no issue, property was acquired before you married, it's hers, period

Ah thats a quick reaction , thats very good news indeed .

Thanks .

[edwinchester]

My wife bought some land after we were married and on which we have since built a house.

I did not sign any letter of confirmation nor was even aware one existed at the time the land was built.

Should we be worried?

I do not have a problem with saying that the money used to buy the land was hers at the time as I always knew I could never own land in Thailand.

Can a form be signed retrospectively?

[thaiwanderer]

this and another newly opened thread are running parrallel now

should you be worried - see the other thread - probably not

should you go to the land office and tell them you want to sign the form - sure - make sure you take your wallet

IMHO a private deed will cover it if you want to be sure

suggest no action is necessary

[elektrified]

Issue about Foreigners owning land in Thailand. I am sure many foreigners are trying to do the right thing regarding of their spouses security. However, this is my personal opinion, Thailand does not ever want any foreigner to own any kind of property in their country and this has been quite pointed out many times over the years. I suggest to all foreigners to not buy any kind of property in Thailand, not even loan it to your wife, or give to your wife, because if the relationship fails, you will lose your millions of Baht period. This is not even an investment, it is a take by the Thai itself, because they know the law.

You can only own three things in Thailand. A car fully paid, a condo fully paid, or a motorcycle fully paid > all in your own name. No loan involved. Anything else all foreigners will lose their money. The Thai system is designed for foreigners to lose at the end. Foreigners have very little rights in Thailand if any for any kind of legal redress. A condo is by far very difficult to sell since it is very hard to find foreign buyers. Investment in Thailand forget it. Everything is geared to Thai security.

Don't kid yourself, and keep your money in your foreign bank and use it wisely. No joint accounts and if you have a bank account, make sure it is a foreign bank account solely owned by you. You can designate a beneficiary, but make sure it is going to someone else and not a Thai, or there will be a huge fight after your dead. For a retirement visa all you need is proof that you qualify for the visa once a year.

As I have seen here in this forum, you marry a Thai she owns half of your property or assets etc. and it only applies to Thailand. The Thai law does not extend to foreign countries. If married, buy only what you need to live on, buy only what you need for comfort, and always keep that car-motocycle-condo title in your name and to no one else. You bought it pure and simple in your name and paid for it in full. When time to leave you can always sell it and get some of your money back into your pocket and not to anyone else. Most Thai people live on credit here, and they are very bad with credit to say the least and do not have such cash or bank accounts that foreigners have outside of Thailand. When the relationship goes bad, she will get half and if possible clean you out. Not good.

If you bring property into Thailand, don't get married stay single and get a retirement visa for long term stay and have fun with the people. Keep your problems down to a minimum. Don't stay in Thailand until you die, because your property will be taken by unknown people. They have a free for all over here once a foreigner dies. Even if you leave a will, the Thai will ignore it, as it has really no legal standing in Thailand. So leave while you can and ship your property back home before some major sickness or injury prevents you of going home.

There are many things they will not tell you, so always be on guard and always question the motives and never let it down. When in doubt, get away from it.

My advise to foreigners, mind your own personal business, stay within the law, leave the Thais alone, let the Thai people deal with issues within themselves, and be nice to them and be friendly and have fun. Don't get involved in anything illegal. When you have had enough of your fun in Thailand, then go home. There is nothing better than going back home to your origins. Your country is the ONLY one going to support you in the long run, not Thailand.

As for land property FORGET IT. Don't even think or dream you will ever own that property, because it will never ever happen. Don't think about a business itself or a business property either, because you will not own the business fully, as the law says, it must be majority owned by a Thai, and they still can clean you out and boot you out very quickly. They will do it in subtle ways. If you want property such as a home or land or a business, buy it in your own country so you can have a small asset porfolio and something to fall back on when you need it or to simply have a place that is your very own with your name on it, and you have the deed and title to it, and no one else. Ehhh, sound much better. Right on.

Common sense and smart money sense is a must while staying in Thailand. The Immigration laws and the business laws and the investment laws are geared towards Thai security period. It is getting harder and harder every year. I am sure many of you have noticed it. In fact it is almost a major requirement anywhere you live. So be careful of what you do, be humble and respect others around you and you will get along just fine in Thailand. Thailand is not forever, it is only temporary. So enjoy the stay however long it may be but eventually you have to return back HOME to your origins like it or not.

Excellent post! Although I don't agree with it 100%, I agree with it for the most part.

Regarding "There is nothing better than going back home to your origins." and going back "home" to die, etc., etc., well that is where I disagree. After all, "home" is where the heart is; not the country that you were born in. I left my country many years ago and lived in several European counties before I lived in Thailand. I have no reason to go back there. I don't like it and I have no family there and can easily stay in contact with friends by email and phone.

All foreigners should keep their hard-earned assets in foreign banks (stocks, bonds, mutual funds, gold, cash, etc.), and in their name ONLY. Now with the convenience of ATM's it is quite easy to access your money, or keep some living expenses in your Thai bank account. Do not ever give your PIN code to your Thai wife! If you have a family, including children, and wish to provide for them and/or your wife in the event of your death, then make a Will or Living Trust in your home country and appoint a Trustee to either distribute your assets to your beneficiaries or to provide for the minor children until they reach age 18.

If you want to share the title of you car or motorcycle with your wife/g/f/b/f, etc., well I don't see this as such a big problem for purposes of insurance or security or whatever. It's not such a large investment after all. That is entirely up to you.

Like the poster above pointed out, foreigners should never, under any circumstances give money to a Thai wife to purchase land in her name. Unless of course you fully understand and accept that there is at best, a 50% chance that you will lose all your money. If you are willing to take this risk then you should be O.K. I see posters on TV make such absurd statements like "I know my Thai wife, she will be fair with me should we divorce". Now, lets face it, women are women and it does not matter if they are from Thailand or the Philippines or Italy or Brazil or Russia or the U.K. or America. If they find an opportunity to capitalize on a situation while they are in an emotional state of mind, well then they will. Foreigners can not own land in Thailand and never will. Pure and simple. I have to laugh at posters who claim "I have 100 rai of land in Isaan" or "I am a land developer in Hua Hin", etc., etc. The fact is that they have nothing; their wives hold all the strings...

Have fun and be careful. Thailand really is a wonderful place to live and the people are for the most part, kind and friendly. Again.....be careful.

[InterestedObserver]

No, I mean a mortgage from a Thai Bank in the wife's name but as me as co-signer.

As long as the bank holds the chanote (mortgage), no problam. Even in the extreme, Thailand won't start confiscating nominee land from the banks. Who would repay the loan?

[HDRIDER]

Hi

What do you do if your single and want to buy a house? make a company? i dont want to lease

Thx guys

[Marksamui]

There is a lot of speculation surrounding this article on here, and so I contacted a lawyer for there input. The response was:

Yes we have been receiving a number of these enquiries lately. There was a recent article which may have understandably incited this concern with many. As far as we can tell, the rules have always been the same. There hasn’t been any new legislation or ministerial regulation tightening such restrictions. Nevertheless, it has always been difficult already in any case. Foreign nationals buying land under their Thai spouse’s name always had little or no right as they are required to waive any of their interest in the property on the day the property is purchased.

A pre-nuptial agreement is normally the security measure we use in order to safeguard such rights in any matrimonial property. Certainly, such an agreement may be viewed as circumventing the spirit of the law (the law waiving the foreign national’s rights) but there are no real restrictions in matrimonial laws as to what can be included in a pre-nuptial agreement in regards to foreign nationals. So it is common to, for example, have a pre-nup which states that the property must be sold and proceeds shared in equal halves etc. which means the foreign national is safeguarded in the sense that they are not taking ownership but proceeds etc. There are other ways to secure their rights too by way of registering a lease or superficies from their Thai spouse to them.

This has always been the case and we have not seen any new laws restricting any of these processes.

To which I replied that the money had come from me but I do not own the land or even attempt to, as far as I am concerned it is hers not her holding as a nominee, and how could anyone prove otherwise, the response was:

Yes there was also mention of that in the article. It said that the Thai spouse needs to have a bank account to buy the property and needs to have the necessary funds in the account to buy it or else they would be deemed as a nominee. It doesn’t seem to make much sense to us as you or anyone for that matter could have transferred that money into her account to buy the property. This requirement seems impractical and we have no idea how this can be enforced. We have asked the land office the same question and they could not give us a satisfactory reply. So perhaps, it is another of our regulations which needs to be taken with a pinch of salt and I don’t think there will be any issue with your wife being a nominee.

Based on this I am going to put this to bed. Personally I think that the Phuket Gazette has got something wrong in the article and it has got blown out of the water a little. If there was any substance to it I think one of (or all) the larger national papers would be running the story, but apart from the one article no one has said anything.

[Smee]

The smartest move anyone can take when considering signing a legal document to say that you have gifted thousands of pounds to someone with the hope that you are both going to live happily ever after is to completely forget the idea and keep your money in your bank, but in all honesty it shouldn't even have to be said.

No one in this thread has mentioned the children of married (or cohabiting) couples. So far as I am concened, with rents being so low and property prices so high, the only reason anyone would want to buy a house in Thailand (as opposed to speculating on land prices, which is another story altogether) is to provide a securty net for the children. Frankly, I hved no issues whatsoever signing off on any document that provides a layer of securiy for our chldren. We bought our home for them, not for us. There was never any intenion on my part to demand repayment form my wife were our relatinship to end for whatever reason.

If there are no children ad you don't want to essentially hand over the property (read: your money) to your Thai partner with no recourse, then rent: its much cheaper and much less hassle!

[Arkady]

No one in this thread has mentioned the children of married (or cohabiting) couples. So far as I am concened, with rents being so low and property prices so high, the only reason anyone would want to buy a house in Thailand (as opposed to speculating on land prices, which is another story altogether) is to provide a securty net for the children. Frankly, I hved no issues whatsoever signing off on any document that provides a layer of securiy for our chldren. We bought our home for them, not for us. There was never any intenion on my part to demand repayment form my wife were our relatinship to end for whatever reason.

If there are no children ad you don't want to essentially hand over the property (read: your money) to your Thai partner with no recourse, then rent: its much cheaper and much less hassle!

Using children (minor or otherwise) who are Thai nationals to buy property for foreign parents is technically illegal too, if they are deemed to be nominees, but there is obviously no form for a foreign parent and a minor Thai child to sign, as parents are legally responsible for their children and minor children normally don't have any sources of income of their own anyway. Nevertheless, foreigners have certainly bought in the name of a minor child, although I don't any personally. I think legally it would be hard to maintain that the child was a nominee for the father only, in the case where both parents were living in the house. A case where the Thai wife has disappeared might be trickier to defend.

One of the reasons that people often decide not to pursue the minor child route, is that a minor child cannot apply for planning permission, which rules that method out for those buying raw land to build on, unless they transfer the title after the build is complete and pay a second round of costs. Another reason is that the minor child cannot sell the land without a court's permission.

At least, if the property you paid for is owned by the wife and you have a child or children together, you should make sure the wife draws up a will in favour of your common offspring. This is particularly important if your wife has other children by a former husband and your want your own children to inherit the property. With no will the other children will have a right to equal shares of the property.

[ivowatson]

At least, if the property you paid for is owned by the wife and you have a child or children together, you should make sure the wife draws up a will in favour of your common offspring. This is particularly important if your wife has other children by a former husband and your want your own children to inherit the property. With no will the other children will have a right to equal shares of the property.

I understand that, if there is no will, the property will be divided between parents, children and husband (if legally married).

So, a will, favoring (your) children would be the answer. I didn't realize one could totally exclude the parents? Maybe not many wifes would want to go for that option but thanks a lot for the tip.