Bequeathing A Condo- Is There A Cheaper Way

[Maestro]

Lets get back on topic, because it is has some interesting facets. After the OP's clarification that he is talking about foreign heirs of a condo I believe the opening post can be summarised as follows:

1. Statement:
   A person who is not a Thai national – hereafter called the FOREIGN HEIR – who inherits a condo in Thailand from a person of any nationality – hereafter called the DECEDENT – must transfer funds from abroad to Thailand in the amount equivalent to the appraised value of the condo in order to gain legal ownership of the condo, ie have his name registered as owner on the title deed and in the records of Thailand's Department of Lands.
   
2. Questions:
   2.1 Can the funds subsequently be simply transferred out of Thailand?
   2.2 What ways, if any, are there of avoiding this expensive process or making it not expensive?

Thanks to the source to his statement given by the OP in a later post we can analyse in what cases his statement applies to a FOREIGN HEIR. Regarding the OP's questions, members who have gone through that process can relate their experience and others can indicate what ways they see possible or would employ in such situation.

[Maestro]

I'd like to suggest that for the sake of simplicty we limit the discussion to cases where the FOREIGN HEIR is a natural person (an individual), not a juristic person (eg a company, association, charity, etc)

Question: Is the FOREIGN HEIR allowed to own a condo in Thailand?

1. Yes, if he qualifies under the Codominium Act to hold ownership of a condo, ie if
   1.1 he is has residence in the Kingdom under the Immigration law (Section 19(1)); or
   1.2 he has permission to stay in the Kingdom under the investment promotion law (Section 19(2)); or
   1.3 he has brought money from abroad into Thailand (Section (19(5)) in the amount of not less than the price of the apartment to be purchased (Section 19 ter(5)); and
   1.4 his acquisition of the condo doen not bring the foreign-owned quota aboe 49% (Section 19 bis)
2. No, if he does meet any of the above criteria.

From the above we can see that not every FOREIGN HEIR is required to bring money into Thailand to get his name on the land title deed.

Regarding 1.1 above, it is my opinion that Permanent Residence, with the red book is meant. Current law defines this in Section 41 of the Immigration Act.

[Delight]

To answer my own question.

I can only think of one way to bequeath a condo to a foreign beneficiary and one way to legally inhibit the Thai authorities from carrying out a forced sale .

Therefore:

1.Bequeathing a condo.

Ensure that the condo is in a Thai company name-then transfer the Managing director status to your beneficiary. Then die. The condo then can be sold if necessary . No FET is required. No monies have to be brought into Thailand

2.How to Inhibit the Thai authorities from selling the condo.

This method was illustrated on the earlier post by Suradit69

Have the beneficiary visit Thailand. Time will be required for him/her to get to know the condo and the condo management to get to know him /her.

Ensure that you have no will in Thailand. Then return to your homeland and then die.

Thai law has no provision to deal with the Thai assets of a foreigner who does not leave a will and dies outside Thai borders.

Hence the situation that Suradit 69’s condo finds itself in.

Assuming that the beneficiary pays the condo fees –then the condo can be used for living or renting out. The condo management will not care They will never be aware of the recent death.

Of course the condo cannot be sold-legally . Possibly , if the price is right, the condo can be sold –just cash (no money needs to be brought into Thailand) –no paper work(the

buyer must trust the seller-the new ‘owner ‘can simply pose as a tenant) . Of course the price has to be right.

Alternately it can simply be passed down the generations by the originally beneficiary.

There could be more possibilities employing leases or usufructs.

Maybe others can think of other cunning plans.

[Maestro]

Question: Is the FOREIGN HEIR allowed ownership of the condo if he is a statutory heir of the DECEDENT?

No, he gets no special consideration. Section 19 septem of the Condominium Act makes this quite clear and leave no room for doubt. He must sell it regardless whether or not his acquisition of the condo would cause the foreign quota to exceed 49%, unless he is a Permanent resident or has permission to stay under the investment promotion law.

Section 19 septem An alien or juristic person regarded by law as alien other than those specified in Section 19 who acquires an apartment by inheritance as statutory heir or legatee or otherwise, as such case may be, shall notify in writing the Competent Official within a period of sixty days from the date of acquisition of ownership of apartment, and shall dispose of such apartment within a period of not exceeding one year from the date of acquisition of ownership of apartment.

[Maestro]

...Thai law has no provision to deal with the Thai assets of a foreigner who does not leave a will and dies outside Thai borders...

I believe in such case a Thai court would would assign an executor and the heirs would have to fight over their inheritance. Of course, the court would have to learn about the demise of the foreigner one way or another, most likely from a presumed heir.

[Maestro]

Usufruct has been mentioned. Let's consider a foreign man with a Thai wife. The wife owns a condo. Husband has the usufruct for his life. The wife dies, leaving a testament bequeathing all her assets to her husband, who now is the FOREIGN HEIR of the condo, among other things.

The FOREIGN HEIR still has to sell the condo within one year, but he retains the usufruct, which the buyer has to honour, ie the FOREIGN HEIR can live in the condo himself if he wishes or he can rent it out and pocket the rent money.

[Delight]

...Thai law has no provision to deal with the Thai assets of a foreigner who does not leave a will and dies outside Thai borders...

I believe in such case a Thai court would would assign an executor and the heirs would have to fight over their inheritance. Of course, the court would have to learn about the demise of the foreigner one way or another, most likely from a presumed heir.

This is not the case. It is the case if he dies within Thai Borders. If he dies within Thai borders and leaves no will then the state will take all the assets unless others can prove a claim.

[HerbalEd]

The perfect demonstration as to why the thai real estate market is a fool's game.

As a foreigner you will get <deleted>, there is absolutely no denying it .

Just because you've been screwed in Thai real estate (I assume) doesn't mean everyone else has. In fact, I have a couple of farang friends who have had great experiences and made good profit in Thai real estate.