Legal advise please for my family and kids

[WilliamCave]

To start with I will be looking for legal advise for me and my family to protect our assets for me and my kids if anything should happen to my wife.

As in Canada when I lived there I hired a lawyer to advise me on my rights and what needed to be done to protect my assets and will drawn up. Things were signed and would stand in a court of law there.

I am looking for the same here to know my rights and what is needed to protect me and my kids if something ever happened to my wife. my kids ages are 7 and 8 years old , one of my kids born in Canada and one born in Thailand both with dual citizenship.

To be honest there are some members of her family I don't trust. They would steal lie rob every thing from me if something happened to my wife.

To give you an idea of what we have .

We have a house in nontaburi, land in Chiang Khong she has a shop house for her business and also 5 rai with a house on it that was given to her by her father

All the papers to these places are in her name .

I need to know what the best course of action is if something happened how can I assure legally that no person can walk in and take anything from me and my kids because I am farang

I read so many stories on here and from Thais about them not getting legal advise or protecting there investments.

The reason I have places here is so my kids will have a good start in life that is why I work and do many things for them.

I have every thing I need I am 50'and now I work to secure a good future for my kids.

Good legal firms you can recommend or have experience with and your own experience to please?

[Mario2008]

Best is to draw up a will in Thailand and talk to a lawyer in Thailand.

Of course you cannot own land, but the children can.

Land and house owned by a minor are under the protection of the courts. To sell or lease them the legal guardian would first need to obtain permission of the court, and that is not easy to get.

[AnotherOneAmerican]

If you were legally married in the Amphur office, you need do nothing else.

If she were to die, you get 100% custody of your joint children.

If they are not your children the father is offered 100% custody.

Again, if legally married at the Amphur office, on her death, all her property is divided.

50% for you, 50% split equally between her children, unless she makes a will specifying something different.

You may be required to divest yourself of your 50% of the property at some later date, but you can just sign your 50% over to the children or sell it.

[WilliamCave]

If you were legally married in the Amphur office, you need do nothing else.If she were to die, you get 100% custody of your joint children.If they are not your children the father is offered 100% custody.Again, if legally married at the Amphur office, on her death, all her property is divided.50% for you, 50% split equally between her children, unless she makes a will specifying something different.You may be required to divest yourself of your 50% of the property at some later date, but you can just sign your 50% over to the children or sell it.

I haven't heard this before that the property would be 50 % my kids and 50 % mine .

We are legally married and they are my biological kids.

Thanks

[AnotherOneAmerican]

If you were legally married in the Amphur office, you need do nothing else.If she were to die, you get 100% custody of your joint children.If they are not your children the father is offered 100% custody.Again, if legally married at the Amphur office, on her death, all her property is divided.50% for you, 50% split equally between her children, unless she makes a will specifying something different.You may be required to divest yourself of your 50% of the property at some later date, but you can just sign your 50% over to the children or sell it.

I haven't heard this before that the property would be 50 % my kids and 50 % mine .

We are legally married and they are my biological kids.

Thanks

And as Mario says, as father with 100% custody, you automatically have the right to manage their property until they are 20 years old.

(manage but not sell)

[WilliamCave]

To ad to my topic , because all the assets are in different provinces it would be better to use 1 law firm to deal with all the areas were the assets are. Can lawyers in Thailand go from province to province?

If a will is drawn up by a legal firm does a copy of the will get registered with the land department in that area?

I want a good law firm that does things in English , I do understand they do there work in Thai but I need to read things they do in English . Not a watered down version of English .

In short the paperwork I want done is legal and will stand in a court of law .

Thanks in advance

[Stradavarius37]

talk to a lawyer - the amount of varied, conflicting, strange information you will find here won't help much imo

[AyG]

She needs to make a will determining who gets what. That is a private matter for her, so there's no need to get an English speaking lawyer involved - just a Thai one. (You also should have a will - or better, two wills - in place, but that's a separate matter.)

If you inherit any property you'll have to sell it within one year, so that doesn't give you any security. And if the children inherit it, there's a risk you may fall out with them and be homeless. It would therefore also be a good idea to put in place a usufruct so that you would have the right to stay in the family home in the event of her death for the rest of your life. (Unfortunately, if you divorce the usufruct can be voided, so it doesn't give you absolute security, but it's better than nothing.)

[WilliamCave]

Any good suggestions or experience with a good law firm , you can send me a PM if it is not allowed to be posted on here .

Thanks in advance

[AnotherOneAmerican]

If you inherit any property you'll have to sell it within one year, so that doesn't give you any security.

This isn't true. That law is not enforced (just like many other Thai laws)

And if it's a property jointly owned with children, it's totally protected by law.

And if the children inherit it, there's a risk you may fall out with them and be homeless.

No risk until all the children are aged over 20 years.

Edited July 8, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[kikoman]

When we registered our land at the Village office I was informed that under no circumstances was I allowed to inherit the land in the event of my wife death and I was required to sign a statement that all the money used to purchase the land was my wife's money and I had no financial interest in the property.(which I willingly and voluntarily signed) I was only entitled to my half of the community property.

We placed the land in my stepdaughters names and my mother in law would be their legal guardian until they reached the legal age to own property in their own name, now our oldest girl is 22 years old and the property will go to them.

In the event of my wife's death. I would go back home and spend my final days with my children. The property would go to my step daughters and I will leave most, if not all of my share of the community property with our girls, as I raised them and love them as my own daughters.

Cheers:

[AnotherOneAmerican]

When we registered our land at the Village office I was informed that under no circumstances was I allowed to inherit the land in the event of my wife death and I was required to sign a statement that all the money used to purchase the land was my wife's money and I had no financial interest in the property.(which I willingly and voluntarily signed) I was only entitled to my half of the community property.

We placed the land in my stepdaughters names and my mother in law would be their legal guardian until they reached the legal age to own property in their own name, now our oldest girl is 22 years old and the property will go to them.

In the event of my wife's death. I would go back home and spend my final days with my children. The property would go to my step daughters and I will leave most, if not all of my share of the community property with our girls, as I raised them and love them as my own daughters.

Cheers:

If it was land with Chanote, office was wrong.

Plenty of ignorant people working in these offices.

The signature and document were to declare the property was purchased with her money, they can't change the law of inheritance.

If you did pay for the property, and can prove that in a court, you can get 50% of that back on divorce too.

Too many foreigners are quick to give up their legal rights due to ignorant and/or corrupt government officials and lawyers.

Inheritance is currently the only legal way for a foreigner to own land in Thailand.

Edited July 8, 2013 by AnotherOneAmerican

[kikoman]

When we registered our land at the Village office I was informed that under no circumstances was I allowed to inherit the land in the event of my wife death and I was required to sign a statement that all the money used to purchase the land was my wife's money and I had no financial interest in the property.(which I willingly and voluntarily signed) I was only entitled to my half of the community property.

We placed the land in my stepdaughters names and my mother in law would be their legal guardian until they reached the legal age to own property in their own name, now our oldest girl is 22 years old and the property will go to them.

In the event of my wife's death. I would go back home and spend my final days with my children. The property would go to my step daughters and I will leave most, if not all of my share of the community property with our girls, as I raised them and love them as my own daughters.

Cheers:

If it was land with Chanote, office was wrong.

Plenty of ignorant people working in these offices.

The signature and document were to declare the property was purchased with her money, they can't change the law of inheritance.

If you did pay for the property, and can prove that in a court, you can get 50% of that back on divorce too.

Too many foreigners are quick to give up their legal rights due to ignorant and/or corrupt government officials and lawyers.

Inheritance is currently the only legal way for a foreigner to own land in Thailand.

I have no need for the property, it was always my intentions that the property was a gift to my wife, for putting up with my shit for all of these years. I knew prior to the purchase that I could never own land in Thailand.

My brothers wife was also informed that she could lose her rights to own property in Thailand when she married a Falang solely on the bases that a Falang is not allowed to own property in Thailand.

I will not get into a discourse on the Falang's rights in Thailand, just what I know and what I am willing to live with in Thailand. The community property include your 50% part of a house on the property but not the property itself.

I consider my marriage vows with my Thai wife as the same as with my western wife who was awarded everything in our divorce even my pot to piss in.

To my Thai wife I gave all that to her willingly as my gift of love to her for taking care of me, sharing her life with mine, and for the happiness I was given by her in the 8 years we have been together.

If we were ever to part I will take my personal items with me and leave my community property with her!

That is how my story would end, I hope it does not end that way, I prefer to die quietly in my sleep my wife at my side and my ashes spread over the land that was my home!

Cheers:

[kikoman]

Under "Thai inheritance laws: Wills and Succession in Thailand, Foreign land ownership by succession

"Section 93 of the land code Act. "A foreigner who acquires land by inheritance as statutory heir can have an ownership in such land upon a permission of the Minister of Interior, the total plots of land shall not be exceeding of those specified in section 67"

The over fifty year old Section 93 of the Land codes Act, is written for inheritance of land by foreigners under a treaty. and does not apply to foreigners acquiring land by inheritance from a Thai spouse. There is currently no treaty with any country allowing foreigners to own land therefore no Minister of Interior will or can give permission to any foreigner to own land in Thailand. Note that it is only since 1999 that Thai nationals married to a foreigner are legally allowed to acquire land (read on)

There is much I left out, but one can google it up and read the complete law on land ownership. but this is what addresses the right of Inheritance by foreigners.

Plain and simple, no foreign land ownership!

Cheers:

Edited July 9, 2013 by kikoman