Buying House In Son'S Name

[RebelRed]

\Hi

I am Irish and my wife is Thai. We are thinking of taking the leap of faith and buying a house which will mean the house will be in my wife's name but I was wondering if it would be possible to put it in the name of our 9 month old son who holds a Thai passport?

Red

[g00dgirl]

Yes it is possible, but the problem is that you will not be able to sell it easily, without a court ruling that the sale is in the best interest of the child.

I would do it only if I am 100%sure that I do not need or want to sell the property, that the location is 100% perfect and suits my needs now and in 10 years from now, that the views won't be blocked, that nothing ugly will be built next door, etc etc .. I have thought about it a lot and researched a lot.

For a relatively expensive property I would probably prefer to use a company set-up prepared by a law firm, to retain full control and flexibility. Should there ever be legal consequences with this set-up, then you could come forward with your plan B and move the land into your sons name.

You still have a lot of searching and reading to do from the sound of your question, there any many previous threads about this, too.

[PattayaPhom]

The house will first need to be registered in your wifes name, the same day you can transfer to your son. You will have to pay the transfer tax again and sign the declaration that the funds were your wifes befor you were married. Your son wont be able to sell the house until he is 21 unless you get a cour approval.

[ThailandInvestmentGuide]

Hi Red

Yes according to the law you can put it into your son's name. There are a number of issues associated with this approach and it might be worth doing a thaivisa forum search to find some of the many earlier threads on this topic and then do some background reading.

As someone has already noted you (your child) can't readily sell the property or lease it or mortgage it or enter into a usufruct, etc.

Some Land Dept staff also apply their own rules about minimum age to hold land.

Yet another issue is what happens to the property if your child dies before he/she is old enough to make a valid Will?

What happens if you subsequently have more children and then potentially your family's major asset is in the hands of one sibling?

One related but alternative approach that I have heard some people use is to put it in their wife's name but with a formal signed agreement between them that, in the event of divorce, then the property is to be immediately transferred into the child's name.

Edited May 1, 2012 by ThailandInvestmentGuide

[RebelRed]

Thanks for all your comments. I liked the idea from 'ThailandInvestmentGuide' who said that we can make an agreement that if we separate then the house automatically goes to our son. We have spoken to a lawyer and he says we will have to do two documents. One is in the event of the death of my wife , whose name the house is in, and the second one is in the event of separation. For this we have to prepare our own document between ourselves which the lawyer would witness and sign as guarantor.

[Sophon]

Thanks for all your comments. I liked the idea from 'ThailandInvestmentGuide' who said that we can make an agreement that if we separate then the house automatically goes to our son. We have spoken to a lawyer and he says we will have to do two documents. One is in the event of the death of my wife , whose name the house is in, and the second one is in the event of separation. For this we have to prepare our own document between ourselves which the lawyer would witness and sign as guarantor.

You should be aware that any agreement entered into between husband and wife can be cancelled by either party in case of a divorce. Basically, an agreement between you and your wife is only good for as long as you both still think it's a good idea, and if your wife changes her mind she can cancel the agreement.

Sophon