Thai Land -why Wife Bought Land

[darrenr]

sorry if this has been dealt with before but i would like some advice.

My wife is a thai citizen, married to me (australian), we both live in Australia and we both have jobs. She is a permenant resident of Australia.

Question: As my wife earns an income ( and so do i ) we have a joint bank account that both our salary goes into.

We both have thai bank accounts.

We want to build a house in rural thailand , we have bought the land and it is in the wifes mum name due to my wife being in Australia at the time of purchase.

We intend to live in thailand in the next 2 years most of the year.

I know that it is illegal for a foreigner to give money to a thai citizen to purchase land but not to build a house.

We have a person in the village who is intent on dobbing my wife's father in for things ( such as cutting down trees , apparently the contractor who cut the trees had to have a permit so consequently the wife father and the contractor ended up in court).

Is it the best way to prove ( should we need to prove to the Thai land office) to open a Australian bank account only in my wifes name so that she can then international transfer funds to her thai bank account so the thai authorities can see it is her money not me as a foreigner, or is it alright to keep our joint bank account that shows both our salary going into it and then transferring to her thai bank account (rather than my bank account).

We have all the bank statement, salary (pay )slips and Australian Taxation office certificates to prove how much we each earn ( separate certificates)?

Just dont want to build a house and this guys dobs us in for something trival and the land office then takes the land and house away , or am i being paranoid ? We intend to change the land title to my wife when we next go to thailand.

Many thanks for your help

darren

[Mario2008]

I don't think there is a problem with you giving money to your wife to buy land, but it must be a gift. She cannot be a nominee for you. That would be illegal. But somone with more knowledge on this subject will correct me if I'm wrong.

You have to sign a statement that the money is not yours at the land office.

[nakachalet]

with your good wife working in aust.... everything would be a snap....

especially when she can prove her income thru tax receipts and accumulated bank savings....

bring everything in duplicate to thailand....

but for this sort of major purchases.... it is much wiser to use an attorney ok?

i know mario2008 is older and wiser.... lol but just in case--hire an attorney specializing in real estate.... OK? it will be worth every penny at the end.

[jaapfries]

Some excellent advice from other posters, but one thing which is very important, when you're ready to transfer the funds to build the actual dwelling, communicate with the receiving Thai Bank and organize a T-33 Form. This ensures that if you ever want to take money out of Thailand (in he future) as a result of having sold the property,you can, without any problem.

Good luck with your project.

Cheers,

JGK/Pattaya

[darrenr]

Many thanks everyone for your help.

With the T- 33 form, lets say i have the money in the bank ( we both have thai bank accounts, is ti better in mine or hers ) - she also wants to become a Aussie citizen , even though we are going to live in thailand as to be a permanet resident of australia to maintain the permanent status you must live i htink approx 2.5 years out of 5 years in Australia.

So if the T-33 is my account or hers, and we withdraw and say it is for building a house, do they issue you this document ?

2. Question if i have money in a thai bank and want to international transfer it back to Australia does the thai authorities prevent you from doing this ? whether the money is in my account or the wife and all the money originated from Australia in the first place ?

3. Does anyone know any reputable lawyers in Uttaradit, Phitsanoluk, Suko Thai area ?

Once again many thanks for all you advice and forgive my ignorance.

[jamescollister]

Hi Darrenr

As said before I can't see any problem with the money etc, but by the sound of it you may have a problem with the land. why were the police involved with the tree felling if the land has proper title for house building, or is the land designate for some other use. If so you may not be permitted to use it for a house. Get the title cheaked before spending money, Jim

[darrenr]

Hi Darrenr

As said before I can't see any problem with the money etc, but by the sound of it you may have a problem with the land. why were the police involved with the tree felling if the land has proper title for house building, or is the land designate for some other use. If so you may not be permitted to use it for a house. Get the title cheaked before spending money, Jim

Hi Jim the title is Chanort. I think the problem as the trees are hard wood trees and apparently you need a permit to cut these large trees down and sell them ( the dad sold them to a contractor who cut them down and paid him 6000baht, the guy over the road offered 3000baht, so he obviosuly got the shits and told the police and so the dad and contractor ended up in court, as the guy who cut the trees down did not have enough money to pay the fine 32,000 baht each , my wifes dad spent a night in the local court house jail until the contractor came and paid the rest.

Just wanted to make sure everything is done right so if this arsehol_e cannot give any more problems

thnaks for the advice?

[darrenr]

Sorry , but the topic says it has been moved to where ????

darren

[donx]

Sorry , but the topic says it has been moved to where ????

darren

To the "Real Estate, housing, house and land ownership" forum. The forum below the one you started this topic.

As for your other questions, this is my opinion. First let me state that I personally don't feel there is any problem with giving money to your spouse to buy land. My wife doesn't work and I provided funds for her to buy land. But since you are concerned about this aspect here is what I would suggest.

The land is in your mother-in-law's name. She should be able to give this land to your wife. But if you need money for your wife to purchase the land from your mother-in-law (or anyone else for that matter), have your wife establish a bank account in Australia in her name only. Have her income deposited regularly into this bank account for at least 6 months. When there is enough money for the land purchase, have her transfer the money to a Thai bank account, also in her name alone.

As for the house, this can be owned by both of you and therefore there shouldn't be any problems transferring money in from any bank account in Australia to any bank account in Thailand.

In my case, I transferred money from a bank account in the US in my name only into a bank account in Thailand in my wife's name only.

[Kf6vci]

Let's see whether MIL still remembers who paid for the land. Next, ask yourself whether you could rent a house? I really do see a lot of negative risk for you in case of divorce. Why risk your hard earned money that way?

Maybe you should start thinking about her owning the land and you the house on it - with some 30 years land contract or something. No offense, just play it safe.