Buying House In Wife's Name

[boogie]

Hi,

We are currently in the process of buying a house in Issan. My wife is Thai and we viewed the house on a recent visit there. It had been repossessed by the bank, and we have been dealing directly with them. Our offer was accepted , but in the mean time we left Thailand, my wife having signed some papers already.

We have now wired the money to a bank account in Thailand, but the bank are now saying that to put the house in my wife's name we need to visit a Thai Embassy and verify our marriage, before it can be put in her name. This doesnt sound right to me. I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

This particular bank probably doesnt deal with many Farang purchases. Can anyone give me any advice as to what the proper procedure should now be ? short of hiring lawyer. Our other option would be to put it in my mother in laws name and change it over on our next visit.

I should add that I dont have any problem with the latter arrangement, been married a while with two kids, but I would really like to know what the proper procedure should be.

Appreciate any advice. I have done a search by the way, and couldnt find anything to cover this.

Cheers.

[lopburi3]

You do not provide enough information to be sure but is you marriage registered only in your country? Has wife new name on ID card and in home register here? I would do what they ask rather than fight it. They probably need to have your marriage certificate translated/registered with MFA if foreign marriage - if Thai marriage it may just be to confirm your present status.

This arrangement seems to be highly unusual as both husband and wife would normally be present at the land office for a transfer of title so can understand extra paperwork being involved.

[Dragonman]

Hi,

We are currently in the process of buying a house in Issan. My wife is Thai and we viewed the house on a recent visit there. It had been repossessed by the bank, and we have been dealing directly with them. Our offer was accepted , but in the mean time we left Thailand, my wife having signed some papers already.

We have now wired the money to a bank account in Thailand, but  the bank are now saying that to put the house in my wife's name we need to visit a Thai Embassy and verify our marriage, before it can be put in her name. This doesnt sound right to me. I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

This particular  bank probably doesnt deal with many Farang purchases. Can anyone give me any advice as to what the proper procedure should now be ? short of hiring lawyer. Our other option would be to put it in my mother in laws name and change it over on our next visit.

I should add that I dont have any problem with the latter arrangement, been married a while with two kids, but I would really like to know what the proper procedure should be.

Appreciate any advice. I have done a search by the way, and couldnt find anything to cover this.

Cheers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All banks in Thailand are a law unto themselves.

Would it be difficult for you to get to a Thai Embassy/Consulate and get your marriage certificate notarised? They should be able to do it very quickly.

[boogie]

Hi,

We are currently in the process of buying a house in Issan. My wife is Thai and we viewed the house on a recent visit there. It had been repossessed by the bank, and we have been dealing directly with them. Our offer was accepted , but in the mean time we left Thailand, my wife having signed some papers already.

We have now wired the money to a bank account in Thailand, but  the bank are now saying that to put the house in my wife's name we need to visit a Thai Embassy and verify our marriage, before it can be put in her name. This doesnt sound right to me. I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

This particular  bank probably doesnt deal with many Farang purchases. Can anyone give me any advice as to what the proper procedure should now be ? short of hiring lawyer. Our other option would be to put it in my mother in laws name and change it over on our next visit.

I should add that I dont have any problem with the latter arrangement, been married a while with two kids, but I would really like to know what the proper procedure should be.

Appreciate any advice. I have done a search by the way, and couldnt find anything to cover this.

Cheers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

All banks in Thailand are a law unto themselves.

Would it be difficult for you to get to a Thai Embassy/Consulate and get your marriage certificate notarised? They should be able to do it very quickly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[boogie]

Sorry about last and it wont let me edit it !

My wifes ID is in her married name and we were married in Bangkok. It probably is, as you suggest, just to verify the marriage, but why it is needed if it is registered in Thailand I just dont know

Unfortunately there is no Thai embassy here in Bermuda, to get to one would mean flying to the USA or UK !

Never mind I am used to this sort of thing. The immigration dept here is literally next door to the Registry, in the same building, yet I still have to pay to get certified copies of my daughter's birth certificates., then take them next door

Thanks anyway for your input, I had never heard of this , but it is an unusual arrangement with neither of us being in Thailand for the transaction.

Sabai Sabai

[Dragonman]

Sorry about last and it wont let me edit it !

My wifes ID is in her married name and we were married in Bangkok. It probably is, as you suggest, just to verify the marriage, but why it is needed if it is registered in Thailand I just dont know 

Unfortunately there is no Thai embassy here in  Bermuda, to get to one would mean flying to the USA or UK !

Never mind I am used to this sort of thing. The immigration dept here is literally next door to the Registry, in the same building, yet I still have to pay to get certified copies of my daughter's birth certificates., then take them next door 

Thanks anyway for your input, I had never heard of this , but it is an unusual arrangement with neither of us being in Thailand for the transaction.

Sabai Sabai 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Why not ask the bank if they will accept a lawyer or your bank's notarisation. I have done this. But I have also been to banks that don't even know what notarisation is

[JimGant]

This doesnt sound right to me. I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

Sounds like the bank might be following procedure for 'Thai married couple' buying property to be held 'jointly.' But, of course, this can't happen when a farang is involved, and as you point out, the only thing the Land Office wants to confirm is that the money is your wife's. Maybe having the Land Office explain what's what to the bank might help.

Using your mother-in-law as an interim would cost, as you'd then have to pay two transfer fees. I used this procedure with my sister-in-law, as we bought while in the States. At that time there was a special deal on transfer fees, but as I recall, it still wasn't cheap -- and I believe that deal has ended.

[roiet]

My wifes ID is in her married name .

Sorry for asking. Is it now your family name. If yes, the land office will not accept it. They will only accept Thai family names. So she needs an official confirmation from a Embassy that she is married to you.

PS: Any further problem arising let her get a new ID in Thailand with only her Thai family name, but the old ID must get lost somewhere.

I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

Did you send send the money from your bank account to her bank account. If yes this means you are paying for the house. It is foreign income originated from a foreigner. Double check the papers they make you sign. Your wife, not you, must sign a paper that this money on her bank account is earned by her.

Good luck

[Dragonman]

My wifes ID is in her married name .

Sorry for asking. Is it now your family name. If yes, the land office will not accept it. They will only accept Thai family names. So she needs an official confirmation from a Embassy that she is married to you.

PS: Any further problem arising let her get a new ID in Thailand with only her Thai family name, but the old ID must get lost somewhere.

I understood that I just had to sign papers saying that the money belonged to my wife.

Did you send send the money from your bank account to her bank account. If yes this means you are paying for the house. It is foreign income originated from  a foreigner. Double check the papers they make you sign. Your wife, not you, must sign a paper that this money on her bank account  is earned by her.

Good luck

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do not believe either of these statements now correct. Possibly historically.

Falang surname OK, in fact illegal to not disclose this.

Both partners have to confirm alien spouse has no claim on land. Money not need to be earned by wife but can be gifted to her by husband.

[boogie]

Thanks for all the input so far.

The bank have just faxed me the forms to sign re the money being my wife's and I can confirm that we BOTH have to sign that, stating that the money is hers alone and not Sin Som Ros or the matrimonial property betwen husband and wife.

My wifes ID card is in our family name. She is trying to obtain a phone number for the land office so that she can speak to them directly.

Yes I am trying to avoid using my mother-in-law as an interim as I dont want to have to pay transfer fees/tax twice !

Anyway thanks for all the advice even if some of it is conflicting. I still believe that we should only have to fill out the forms re the money, although I may well be wrong.

[pnustedt]

My wifes ID card is in our family name. She is trying to obtain a phone number for the land office so that she can speak to them directly.

Yes I am trying to avoid using my mother-in-law as an interim as I dont want to have to pay transfer fees/tax twice !

I've bought land through my wife in Isaan several times - the procedure seems to be slightly different each time, but my wife has my family name and that doesn't make a difference, except that they know she is married to a Westerner, but we know the staff there anyway.

When I am not there and my wife wants to buy land she does it through her mother or sister and transfers it to her name later - when I am there to sign away my rights to it - the cost did not seem to be too high from memory.

The process has always involved going to the Amphur with the seller, frigging about for hours with the papers, then handing over the cash, they don't ask where the cash comes from but I know that I am signing that it is my wifes.

[boogie]

Well one thing about this whole thing is sure. The guy at the Bank doesnt know what he's doing ! My wife spoke to him again today and the story now is that they want to confirm that I am who I say I am. I can't believe for one minute that in Thailand they would worry where the money is coming from ! Anyhow we are going to fax him a notorized copy ( as suggested by Dragonman ) of my passport together with a letter from my employer ( who happens to be the Police !)and he will see if the land office will accept that. If they will we will post the originals to him together with the form where I sign my money away.

If all else fails it will be back to plan B and the mother-in-law. No I dont think it would cost that much to transfer it at a later date, but if I can avoid paying what I dont have to, it will be less money I have to find to do a few jobs on the house.

It wouldnt be fun if it was easy would it !

[The Dude]

I know a dude who bought a house in his wife's name. See if you can guess who's house it is now

[pnustedt]

I know a dude who bought a house in his wife's name. See if you can guess who's house it is now

I owned a house jointly with my ex-wife in the UK - guess whose house it is now!

[Bilko]

I know a dude who bought a house in his wife's name. See if you can guess who's house it is now

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Even IF you you could buy a house in Isaan in your own name, when you have built your Dream farang style house in the middle of Nowhere and for whatever reason you are not going to live there anymore, who is gonna buy YOUR house, a 2 - 3 Million Baht house in the Middle of a rice farm ?

My advice to anybody buying a house in Isaan is, accept that you WILL never be able to get any money back, so make sure you are willing to live there for long periods of time, and don't rush into things with someone you have only known for 3 weeks.

The house in Isaan is like a gift to someone you care about, if you can afford it, it's a wonderful thing to do.

[boogie]

The guy from the bank says the land office will accept my notorized passport. So its gonna be that plus the "sign away my money form" in the post tomorrow.

"The house in Isaan is like a gift to someone you care about, if you can afford it, it's a wonderful thing to do"

Exactly, by no stretch of imagination am I rich, but this house is basically for my mother and father-in-law to live in, plus it will be somwhere more comfortable for us to stay when we visit. The old house in the midle of the rice fields is great as far as I am concerned, but staying there with two young kids aint much fun. I dont want to live in Issan. When we move to Thailand I dont intend to stay near the relatives !

This house is not bad at all, although certainly not my dream house. All for an outlay in the region of baht 650,000, less than £9,000 or $16,000 !! Almost worth that just to see how excited the wife is, you would think we were buying a mansion in England.

Thanks for all your input

Edited July 13, 2005 by boogie

[Bilko]

Almost worth that just to see how excited the wife is, you would think we were buying a mansion in England.

Thanks for all your input   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thats a great attitude Boogie, you are doing it for someone you care about a great deal, not only for yourself.

Good luck with it.

[Dragonman]

The guy from the bank says the land office will accept my notorized passport. So its gonna be that plus the "sign away my money form" in the post tomorrow.

"The house in Isaan is like a gift to someone you care about, if you can afford it, it's a wonderful thing to do"

Exactly, by no stretch of imagination am I rich, but this house is basically for my mother and father-in-law to live in, plus it will be somwhere more comfortable for us to stay when we visit.  The old house in the midle of the rice fields is great as far as I am concerned, but staying there with two young kids aint much fun. I dont want to live in Issan. When we move to Thailand I dont intend to stay near the relatives ! 

This house is not bad at all, although certainly not my dream house. All for an outlay in the region of baht 650,000, less than  £9,000 or $16,000  !! Almost worth that just to see how excited the wife is, you would think we were buying a mansion in England.

Thanks for all your input   

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good to hear it's sorted, hopefully.

I like you paid, not for a new home, but to considerably upgrade their present one. The trouble is although I moved to live 600 k's away, the relatives still turn up on my doorstep for a holiday every couple of weeks.

[boogie]

Well just heard that the Land Office will not accept the documents I posted ( Notorized copy of passport and letter from employer)

The problem appears clearer now. Apparently It's because I have not signed the form for signing my money away in Thailand in someones of authority's presence. Therefore they will only accept it if it is signed by me at a Thai Embassy. Which as I explained before is not practical.

So it looks like it's back to plan B and the mother-in-law's name ! and paying the taxes again if we transfer it at a later date ! My wife is of the opinion that a transfer from mother to daughter incurs less taxes ! I somehow doubt that but we will see.

By the way Dragonman we are not upgrading the present one, its a bit of a "fixer upper" but a LOT better then their present one.

[Tarragona]

I remember once hearing that there is a limit to the amount of land a woman with a foreign spouse can own. Has that ever been true? It doesn't sound like it now anyway.

[loong]

By the way Dragonman we are not upgrading the present one, its a bit of a "fixer upper" but a LOT better then their present one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A fixer upper? in Isaan? 650,000 Baht?!!

They have certainly gone up in the last couple of years

The village I live in is a relatively well off village (licensed to make Lao Kow) and has fixer uppers for under 200,000. Available for a lot less, but without chanot.

Even the houses in the best condition would struggle to fetch that sort of money.

Did you do your homework re property prices in the area?

Are the in-laws selling their house to move into the new one?

How much are they selling their house for?

[boogie]

By the way Dragonman we are not upgrading the present one, its a bit of a "fixer upper" but a LOT better then their present one.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

A fixer upper? in Isaan? 650,000 Baht?!!

They have certainly gone up in the last couple of years

The village I live in is a relatively well off village (licensed to make Lao Kow) and has fixer uppers for under 200,000. Available for a lot less, but without chanot.

Even the houses in the best condition would struggle to fetch that sort of money.

Did you do your homework re property prices in the area?

Are the in-laws selling their house to move into the new one?

How much are they selling their house for?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If you read my posts Loong you would have seen that I said a total outlay of 650,000 i.e. thats what I estimate to have paid after I finish renovating it the way I want.

The house is in not in the middle of the rice fields but in Chaiyaphum itself. New houses in a Moo Bhan across the way are selling for just over one million baht.

So yes I have done my homework, the same style house 2 doors down sold for 500,000 ( to a Thai family)and needed renovating too, and thats more than I am paying.

[loong]

Glad to hear you've done your homework

Sorry, it wasn't clear to me that you were including refurbishment in the 650K.

I was just concerned that you may be paying too much.

I found this - can't vouch for it's accuracy tho

What Taxes and Costs are Applicable to Purchasing a Property? 

On all purchase/sale of property in Thailand there is a stamp Duty of 0.5%, a transfer fee of 0.01%, a business tax of 0.11% levied against an owner who has been in registered possession of the property less than 5 years, and Income Tax. There is no Capital Gains Tax in Thailand, unlike many countries, and Income Tax (usually between 1.0 - 3.0%) on property is the comparable replacement. There are no set rules on who pays the income tax, and it is just another part of the bargaining process, as with all the other costs of the transfer of ownership.

If this is right, transfer costs should not be too bad going the Ma-in-law route

Hope everything goes well

[Sophon]

Glad to hear you've done your homework

Sorry, it wasn't clear to me that you were including refurbishment in the 650K.

I was just concerned that you may be paying too much.

I found this - can't vouch for it's accuracy tho

What Taxes and Costs are Applicable to Purchasing a Property? 

On all purchase/sale of property in Thailand there is a stamp Duty of 0.5%, a transfer fee of 0.01%, a business tax of 0.11% levied against an owner who has been in registered possession of the property less than 5 years, and Income Tax. There is no Capital Gains Tax in Thailand, unlike many countries, and Income Tax (usually between 1.0 - 3.0%) on property is the comparable replacement. There are no set rules on who pays the income tax, and it is just another part of the bargaining process, as with all the other costs of the transfer of ownership.

If this is right, transfer costs should not be too bad going the Ma-in-law route

Hope everything goes well

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The transfer fee rate of 0.01% was a temporary measure to stimulate the real estate market. The rate is now back to the normal 2%.

Sophon