Can A Foreigner Maried To Thai Wife Own Half Of Their House

[jbrain]

I have a simple question. Does anyone know for sure any farang who actually got 50 percent of the marital property through the court? Yes, I know the courts have awarded the 50 percent but the court is a civil court with no power of enforcement. I would suggest that if you are going to divorce that you be very nice to her because you will get only what she voluntarily gives you. I'm not talking about the court's judgement, I'm talking about money in your hand.

Why would a civil court have no power of enforcement. This must be in Thailand only because where I come from they have as much power of enforcement as a criminal court.

[tombkk]

So what if the cash for the house/land was sin sod to mum who gave it to daughter to do just that. Loop hole perhaps. ?

I believe it is illegal to take advantage of legal loopholes. At least they announced a crackdown on it not too many years ago.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

[jbrain]

So what if the cash for the house/land was sin sod to mum who gave it to daughter to do just that. Loop hole perhaps. ?

I believe it is illegal to take advantage of legal loopholes. At least they announced a crackdown on it not too many years ago.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

Kinda strange wordplay.

It is illegal to take advantage of legal loopholes.

[tombkk]

So what if the cash for the house/land was sin sod to mum who gave it to daughter to do just that. Loop hole perhaps. ?

I believe it is illegal to take advantage of legal loopholes. At least they announced a crackdown on it not too many years ago.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

Kinda strange wordplay.

It is illegal to take advantage of legal loopholes.

For some reason, my comment at the bottom didn‘t make it to the forum. It was:

gd&r.

Sent from my LG-P698f using Thaivisa Connect App

[livinginthericepatties]

^{yes, but as an amerian i can own the land and the business if over 2 million invested, i have 4 million invested from overseas money, in the business house, and another 2.1 million in land 20 miles away, which i will be building a resort on, am i worried about being divorced, i have been with my wife 16 years now, she is not a greedy person, i will split it if something happens, and if she dies i have 1 person in her family that ( and the only one in her family ) that i would trust with the properties, she lives in koh samui, her and my wifes sister have a very good business their, and she works non-stop, but when i build the resort, i will pry her away from her mom, ( or wait till her mom dies ) to run it for me, since i don't want to bother with it..i know very well, that people here are not to be trusted..wife's family #1..they have been the biggest problem for me..almost everyone else have been pretty nice, i have been here 4 1/2 years..}

OK, you are referring to the Treaty of Amity that provides certain advantages to American citizens. For those that are interested go to:

http://www.doingbusi...ity-treaty.html

i don't know why the guy who posted that has 3 million baht..unless it has been changed, which i don't think it has, its 2 million baht..anyway..i think for most the best way is the yellow book and a 30 year land lease..i have a friend who just built close to me, he spent 800,000 on his house, he will be here on the 6th..he will do the yellow book and lease, i meet a guy from australia thats what he did on his, he got a new wife, and gave the old wife 200,000 baht to change the chanote into his new wifes name and he is listed on the chanote..like before.

[al007]

You should talk to a lawyer not expensive, you need usufruct on the land wife owns, gives you right to use until your death. House is separate you can own it all , but with no usufruct on land if she dies first family can seize the land but not the house, but without rights to land you can not get into house

[jbrain]

^{yes, but as an amerian i can own the land and the business if over 2 million invested, i have 4 million invested from overseas money, in the business house, and another 2.1 million in land 20 miles away, which i will be building a resort on, am i worried about being divorced, i have been with my wife 16 years now, she is not a greedy person, i will split it if something happens, and if she dies i have 1 person in her family that ( and the only one in her family ) that i would trust with the properties, she lives in koh samui, her and my wifes sister have a very good business their, and she works non-stop, but when i build the resort, i will pry her away from her mom, ( or wait till her mom dies ) to run it for me, since i don't want to bother with it..i know very well, that people here are not to be trusted..wife's family #1..they have been the biggest problem for me..almost everyone else have been pretty nice, i have been here 4 1/2 years..}

OK, you are referring to the Treaty of Amity that provides certain advantages to American citizens. For those that are interested go to:

http://www.doingbusi...ity-treaty.html

i don't know why the guy who posted that has 3 million baht..unless it has been changed, which i don't think it has, its 2 million baht..anyway..i think for most the best way is the yellow book and a 30 year land lease..i have a friend who just built close to me, he spent 800,000 on his house, he will be here on the 6th..he will do the yellow book and lease, i meet a guy from australia thats what he did on his, he got a new wife, and gave the old wife 200,000 baht to change the chanote into his new wifes name and he is listed on the chanote..like before.

But from what I can understand out of the Treaty of Amity, is that Americans CAN NOT own land in Thailand.

Restrictions

There are only seven economical sectors which are restricted to US citizens as follows:

1. Owning land;
   
2. Engaging in the business of inland communication;
   
3. Engaging in inland transportation and communication industries;
   
4. Engaging in fiduciary functions;
   
5. Engaging in banking involving depository functions;
   
6. Engaging in domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products;
   
7. Exploiting land or other natural resources
   

In other words, but for the seven sectors listed above American citizens and companies may incorporate and maintain majority shareholding in local companies

Edited November 4, 2012 by jbrain

[simple1]

^{yes, but as an amerian i can own the land and the business if over 2 million invested, i have 4 million invested from overseas money, in the business house, and another 2.1 million in land 20 miles away, which i will be building a resort on, am i worried about being divorced, i have been with my wife 16 years now, she is not a greedy person, i will split it if something happens, and if she dies i have 1 person in her family that ( and the only one in her family ) that i would trust with the properties, she lives in koh samui, her and my wifes sister have a very good business their, and she works non-stop, but when i build the resort, i will pry her away from her mom, ( or wait till her mom dies ) to run it for me, since i don't want to bother with it..i know very well, that people here are not to be trusted..wife's family #1..they have been the biggest problem for me..almost everyone else have been pretty nice, i have been here 4 1/2 years..}

OK, you are referring to the Treaty of Amity that provides certain advantages to American citizens. For those that are interested go to:

http://www.doingbusi...ity-treaty.html

i don't know why the guy who posted that has 3 million baht..unless it has been changed, which i don't think it has, its 2 million baht..anyway..i think for most the best way is the yellow book and a 30 year land lease..i have a friend who just built close to me, he spent 800,000 on his house, he will be here on the 6th..he will do the yellow book and lease, i meet a guy from australia thats what he did on his, he got a new wife, and gave the old wife 200,000 baht to change the chanote into his new wifes name and he is listed on the chanote..like before.

But from what I can understand out of the Treaty of Amity, is that Americans CAN NOT own land in Thailand.

Restrictions

There are only seven economical sectors which are restricted to US citizens as follows:

1. Owning land;
   
2. Engaging in the business of inland communication;
   
3. Engaging in inland transportation and communication industries;
   
4. Engaging in fiduciary functions;
   
5. Engaging in banking involving depository functions;
   
6. Engaging in domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products;
   
7. Exploiting land or other natural resources
   

In other words, but for the seven sectors listed above American citizens and companies may incorporate and maintain majority shareholding in local companies

The exception is foreigners who invest in projects approved by the BOI are allowed to own one rai of land. This only applies to BOI companies.

[jbrain]

But from what I can understand out of the Treaty of Amity, is that Americans CAN NOT own land in Thailand.

Restrictions

There are only seven economical sectors which are restricted to US citizens as follows:

1. Owning land;
   
2. Engaging in the business of inland communication;
   
3. Engaging in inland transportation and communication industries;
   
4. Engaging in fiduciary functions;
   
5. Engaging in banking involving depository functions;
   
6. Engaging in domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products;
   
7. Exploiting land or other natural resources
   

In other words, but for the seven sectors listed above American citizens and companies may incorporate and maintain majority shareholding in local companies

The exception is foreigners who invest in projects approved by the BOI are allowed to own one rai of land. This only applies to BOI companies.

But is this land allowed to be used for residential purposes, or only business related? I assume also that the one rai has to be a single plot and can not consist out of several smaller plots.

[simple1]

But from what I can understand out of the Treaty of Amity, is that Americans CAN NOT own land in Thailand.

Restrictions

There are only seven economical sectors which are restricted to US citizens as follows:

1. Owning land;
   
2. Engaging in the business of inland communication;
   
3. Engaging in inland transportation and communication industries;
   
4. Engaging in fiduciary functions;
   
5. Engaging in banking involving depository functions;
   
6. Engaging in domestic trade in indigenous agricultural products;
   
7. Exploiting land or other natural resources
   

In other words, but for the seven sectors listed above American citizens and companies may incorporate and maintain majority shareholding in local companies

The exception is foreigners who invest in projects approved by the BOI are allowed to own one rai of land. This only applies to BOI companies.

But is this land allowed to be used for residential purposes, or only business related? I assume also that the one rai has to be a single plot and can not consist out of several smaller plots.

Found this content from Sun Legal (one of the TV sponsors)

Theoretically, Section 96 of the Land Code Amendment of 1999 allows the purchase of 1 rai for residential purposes through the Board of Investment. This requires a 40 million baht investment into Thailand in specified assets or government bonds beneficial to the Thai economy and approval by the Minister of Interior and only under strict restrictions and to set locations. It is not transferable by inheritance.

[Baerboxer]

wife went to land office and stated that "she didn't have the money to buy the house,with out my help"

yellow book was issued.

she die's, her family can't clam the house as theirs.house is mine until I die,after that who cares 8^)

oh yea,we bought the house after we were married,in fact we own 4 homes,yellow book for each.

She owns four homes, you own nothing.

When the land was transferred to her name, you signed a document at the land office to state the property was entirely hers, and you would not have any claim on it in a divorce (You sign three Thai documents and copies of your passport and marriage certificate). If you didn't sign the form, the land office wouldn't have done the land transfer. Your fault you can't read Thai and don't know you are signing your marital rights away. This document doesn't affect your right to inherit from your wife after her death. But village weddings don't count.

Yes, I had to sign this when our current house and land was purchased in 2007. The building company took us the the local appropriate government office. In all fairness, one officer, who spoke very good English, politely asked me to go into a small office with just him. There he fully explained everything in English. He said they wanted to make sure I understood exactly what I was signing, before I signed and without anyone translating incorrectly. Very helpful and professional.

[jbrain]

But is this land allowed to be used for residential purposes, or only business related? I assume also that the one rai has to be a single plot and can not consist out of several smaller plots.

Found this content from Sun Legal (one of the TV sponsors)

Theoretically, Section 96 of the Land Code Amendment of 1999 allows the purchase of 1 rai for residential purposes through the Board of Investment. This requires a 40 million baht investment into Thailand in specified assets or government bonds beneficial to the Thai economy and approval by the Minister of Interior and only under strict restrictions and to set locations. It is not transferable by inheritance.

So, Livinginthericepatties is telling porkies with is 2M investment to own land.

[crazydrummerpauly]

And just when you've ploughed through that lot of legalese, the govt. will change the rules and you'll be high and dry. Personally, i sleep so well by renting a nice modern house for just 6,000 Bt. The lure of Ownership really needs examining closely in troubles times or volatile countries.

[Tanaka]

^{yes, but as an amerian i can own the land and the business if over 2 million invested, i have 4 million invested from overseas money, in the business house, and another 2.1 million in land 20 miles away, which i will be building a resort on, am i worried about being divorced, i have been with my wife 16 years now, she is not a greedy person, i will split it if something happens, and if she dies i have 1 person in her family that ( and the only one in her family ) that i would trust with the properties, she lives in koh samui, her and my wifes sister have a very good business their, and she works non-stop, but when i build the resort, i will pry her away from her mom, ( or wait till her mom dies ) to run it for me, since i don't want to bother with it..i know very well, that people here are not to be trusted..wife's family #1..they have been the biggest problem for me..almost everyone else have been pretty nice, i have been here 4 1/2 years..}

OK, you are referring to the Treaty of Amity that provides certain advantages to American citizens. For those that are interested go to:

http://www.doingbusi...ity-treaty.html

i don't know why the guy who posted that has 3 million baht..unless it has been changed, which i don't think it has, its 2 million baht..anyway..i think for most the best way is the yellow book and a 30 year land lease..i have a friend who just built close to me, he spent 800,000 on his house, he will be here on the 6th..he will do the yellow book and lease, i meet a guy from australia thats what he did on his, he got a new wife, and gave the old wife 200,000 baht to change the chanote into his new wifes name and he is listed on the chanote..like before.

The 3 M Baht, which it is, has nothing to do with land ownership or houses. It is the minimum money you have to put into a company in Thailand, as an American. And a lease arranged between spouses is not worth the paper it is written on. A contract between spouses written while married, can be dissolved by either part at any time during marriage and up to 24 months after a divorce.

[simple1]

^{yes, but as an amerian i can own the land and the business if over 2 million invested, i have 4 million invested from overseas money, in the business house, and another 2.1 million in land 20 miles away, which i will be building a resort on, am i worried about being divorced, i have been with my wife 16 years now, she is not a greedy person, i will split it if something happens, and if she dies i have 1 person in her family that ( and the only one in her family ) that i would trust with the properties, she lives in koh samui, her and my wifes sister have a very good business their, and she works non-stop, but when i build the resort, i will pry her away from her mom, ( or wait till her mom dies ) to run it for me, since i don't want to bother with it..i know very well, that people here are not to be trusted..wife's family #1..they have been the biggest problem for me..almost everyone else have been pretty nice, i have been here 4 1/2 years..}

OK, you are referring to the Treaty of Amity that provides certain advantages to American citizens. For those that are interested go to:

http://www.doingbusi...ity-treaty.html

i don't know why the guy who posted that has 3 million baht..unless it has been changed, which i don't think it has, its 2 million baht..anyway..i think for most the best way is the yellow book and a 30 year land lease..i have a friend who just built close to me, he spent 800,000 on his house, he will be here on the 6th..he will do the yellow book and lease, i meet a guy from australia thats what he did on his, he got a new wife, and gave the old wife 200,000 baht to change the chanote into his new wifes name and he is listed on the chanote..like before.

The 3 M Baht, which it is, has nothing to do with land ownership or houses. It is the minimum money you have to put into a company in Thailand, as an American. And a lease arranged between spouses is not worth the paper it is written on. A contract between spouses written while married, can be dissolved by either part at any time during marriage and up to 24 months after a divorce.

Agreed - do not know about the time limit after divorce - seems the OP needs to get another lawyer for advice

[Naam]

get a yellow book

Super thanks to all for the fast answer. Huuu... What is a yellow book ?

Its a book that shows the names of foreigners that reside in house. Thai's have a blue book that serves the same purpose. In both case it does not signify ownership of house listed in the book but only who resides in the house.

we are both foreigners, have a blue book and both our names are mentioned in it

[a99az]

get a yellow book

Elaborate please, how will this help?

[cbrer]

A foreigner can own 100% of a house here with or without being married.

It will have to be a separate legal entity to the land though.

Which is a lot easier done if building from scratch rather than buying.

It will of course be separate to the land which will be owned by someone else.

Methods are to lease the land, then build your house on it as a separate entity that you own. Or rent the laand and build a wooden house.

that way you can just move it to another plot if anything happens.

A Yellow Book (the Tabien Bahn) doesn't show who owns the building, it just shows that a foreigner is registered as living there. People seem to mistakenly believe that having a Yellow Tabien Bahn shows some sort of ownership. It does nothing of the sort.

Edited November 5, 2012 by cbrer