Engaged To Thai Man With Questions!

[georgiapeach]

I am an American girl engaged to a Thai man, living in Bangkok. I am employed so I have a non-Immigrant B Visa, so all is well with me staying in the country.

There has been recent drama in the news about land, and I am a bit confused.

1. My fiance and I are planning to build a home. The land is already owned by his family. I know that you cannot buy land unless you are a Thai citizen, but what about the house on top of the land? Can I co-own or have my name on the house?

2. If we were to get divorced, would I get part of the house? (I am definitely going to be contributing into the funds to build the house) Would it make a difference to get the loan for the house while we are still engaged or should we be married? I've heard that if my name is not on the house and we were to get the loan for the house in just my fiance's name, if we got divorced, I would not get anything b/c the house was built after marriage- regardless if I helped pay or not.

3. If we want to buy more land in the future- I know that currently Thai law prohibits expats to buy- however, they are now not allowing Thai spouses to buy land either?? I do not understand how could they take away his right, as he is a Thai citizen?

4. If we have kids later- how will that complicate all this?

Advice? Help!!

[Lite Beer]

Moved to Real Estate

[sabaijai]

Thai divorce law says that you are entitled to 50% of the value of all assets acquired after you married your Thai husband, whether land, houses, etc, in the event of a divorce. This can be difficult to enforce in the face of in-laws (and in the case of land requires sale or compensation) but foreigners have won court cases following this principle. With children in the picture, it's more complicated as there will usually be child support, and the primary earner will typically be held responsible.

Your husband would not lose his right to own or purchase land because he's married to a foreigner. That used to be the case for Thai women married to foreigners but the law was repealed.

As a foreign woman married to a Thai man, you would be entitled to Thai citizenship via your husband. It's called 'transfer of nationality,' and you can find out more about it in the visas section. Obviously if you were to obtain citizenship, you would enjoy more rights, including the right to buy land in your own name.

[chiangmaibruce]

Georgia. You have raised a whole heap of important issues in your post. You need to research the answers, and that means spending some serious time scrolling back through previous posts in Thaivisa (particularly the property forum) and also playing around with the search facility. All the topics you have raised have multiple prior + relevant discussion threads - and some great info.

In addition, many of the web sites of the better Thai law firms have papers and FAQ sections dealing with these issues. try thailawonline.com, samuiforsale.com, and also the tilleke and gibbins web site, just to name a few. You need to study the property laws but also the regs in relation to marital property and divorce.

[rolypie]

Why are you concerened about theses issues if this is the man of your dreams?

[g00dgirl]

Apart from the legalities, you need to imagine what it would be like if you split up. You say its his families land so you might be living close to his family. If you split up, it would probably be you who would move away, not him and his family since its their land and they will stay there. Now image yourself gone and trying to get some money back from them that you put into the house. You will lose money on lawyers, he might not have any money to give to you even you are entitled to part of the valueof the house. You would regret any money you put into the house. You might not want to spend money on lawyers and time and stress to deal with him and his family anymore.

If you are not 100% sure that you want to live with him in that location for a very long time, don't put any money into it that you would regret later.

If you have been living there with him and his family for a couple of years already and you are happy there and you know for sure that you will be happy there for much longer, it might be fine.

[ballbreaker]

I am an American girl engaged to a Thai man, living in Bangkok. I am employed so I have a non-Immigrant B Visa, so all is well with me staying in the country.

There has been recent drama in the news about land, and I am a bit confused.

1. My fiance and I are planning to build a home. The land is already owned by his family. I know that you cannot buy land unless you are a Thai citizen, but what about the house on top of the land? Can I co-own or have my name on the house?

Yes you can own the house but I would wait till married before investing in a house.

2. If we were to get divorced, would I get part of the house? (I am definitely going to be contributing into the funds to build the house) Would it make a difference to get the loan for the house while we are still engaged or should we be married? I've heard that if my name is not on the house and we were to get the loan for the house in just my fiance's name, if we got divorced, I would not get anything b/c the house was built after marriage- regardless if I helped pay or not.

Marital assets are split 50/50 if obtained after marriage.

3. If we want to buy more land in the future- I know that currently Thai law prohibits expats to buy- however, they are now not allowing Thai spouses to buy land either?? I do not understand how could they take away his right, as he is a Thai citizen?

Thai's can purchase land but must be done with own money not money from foreign spouse.

4. If we have kids later- how will that complicate all this?

?

Advice? Help!!

[thaiwanderer]

I am an American girl engaged to a Thai man, living in Bangkok. I am employed so I have a non-Immigrant B Visa, so all is well with me staying in the country.

There has been recent drama in the news about land, and I am a bit confused.

1. My fiance and I are planning to build a home. The land is already owned by his family. I know that you cannot buy land unless you are a Thai citizen, but what about the house on top of the land? Can I co-own or have my name on the house?

Yes you can own the house but I would wait till married before investing in a house.

2. If we were to get divorced, would I get part of the house? (I am definitely going to be contributing into the funds to build the house) Would it make a difference to get the loan for the house while we are still engaged or should we be married? I've heard that if my name is not on the house and we were to get the loan for the house in just my fiance's name, if we got divorced, I would not get anything b/c the house was built after marriage- regardless if I helped pay or not.

Marital assets are split 50/50 if obtained after marriage.

3. If we want to buy more land in the future- I know that currently Thai law prohibits expats to buy- however, they are now not allowing Thai spouses to buy land either?? I do not understand how could they take away his right, as he is a Thai citizen?

Thai's can purchase land but must be done with own money not money from foreign spouse.

4. If we have kids later- how will that complicate all this?

?

Advice? Help!!

your first two answers rub a little against each other

your third answer is incorrect

[Phrakhanong]

ThaiWanderer, rather than simply stating answers are right or wrong, it would have been more useful to the OP to provide the correct information. For instance, with the third answer, I assume you are highlighting the information is incorrect because a Thai can purchase property with funds provided from a foreign spouse, but the foreign spouse needs to sign a form declaring that they have no rights to the property purchased with that money?