British Retired In Thailand

[westwells]

Hi

I am completely new to the forum and would like some specific advice please.

My father in law, who is not very switched on, has retired at the age of 59 to Burrium in Thailand. He didnt research or look into any immigration issues and just left England on a visitors visa at the end of January.

He has had a girlfriend in Burrium for a few years and has visited once or twice a year. In the last couple of years, he has been sending her money to build a house for them both in preperation for his retirement. The house was finished last year and he went to visit her to see the new house. his photos show a nice two bedroom brick built home with walled gardens, tiled roof and tiled floors. This is where he is living now. He reckoned it cost him about £7000.

He has left his son and I, Power of Eterny in England and we are selling his house in the UK, paying of his outstanding debts and buying a smaller property for him to rent. The rent money will be sent out to him in Thailand to live off.

We took him to make a will in the UK before he left and his estate has been left to his three children. He planned to leave his house in Thailand to his girlfriend.

We dont think however that he owns his Thai house anyway, surely his girlfriend and her family own this house as she had it built on land given to them by her father? Should he make a will in thailand? Where does he stand legally? Can he retire in Thailand? what does he need to do? Lots of questions I know. Can anyone help?

Westwells

[huski]

My father in law, who is not very switched on, has retired at the age of 59 to Burrium in Thailand. He didnt research or look into any immigration issues and just left England on a visitors visa at the end of January.

He has had a girlfriend in Burrium for a few years and has visited once or twice a year.

thai women can have a very powerful influence.

We dont think however that he owns his Thai house anyway, surely his girlfriend and her family own this house as she had it built on land given to them by her father?  Should he make a will in thailand?  Where does he stand legally? Can he retire in Thailand?  what does he need to do?  Lots of questions I know. Can anyone help?

a farang can not own land, only a condo in his name. in thailand the deed is called house papers and a farang can not even have his name on the house papers. only if he became a thai citizen. legally, the house papers are in her name and maybe other family members of hers.

he can retire in thailand and there are a few different retirement visas/extensions that will allow him to stay in thailand. if he is currently on a tourist visa visiting, he can get a retirement visa outside of thailand from a thai consulate, and then return. also one year extensions from thai immigration are available.

[Thetyim]

Forget about the house in Thailand, you have lost that already as it now belongs to someone else. Sorry to be blunt.

Make sure you do not send any lump sums to Thailand, just the monthly rent money and any pensions.

He will need a retirement visa if he wishes to stay here long term.

The requirements are listed elsewhere on this site.

Best Of Luck

[westwells]

thetyem and huski

thanks for the replies. My husband and I allready suspected that the housed would belong to her and her family, no doubts about that although i am not too sure what my father in law thinks as he is allways saying the land was given to 'both of them' and the house was 'theirs'. He is happy so i guess thats all that matters.

i have looked at the retirement visa and i dont think he has enough money to get that. He has only been out there since jan and is allready requesting large sums of money (he has bought a brand new truck) we are worried he will keep wanting large amounts and therefore spend his life savings and be left with little or nothing.

Without a retirement visa what can he do? What if he falls ill or dies out there, what happens then? we did ask him about that one but didnt really get an answer.

More questions i know.

Thanks

Debs westwell

[dr_Pat_Pong]

thetyem and huski

thanks for the replies. My husband and I allready suspected that the housed would belong to her and her family, no doubts about that although i am not too sure what my father in law thinks as he is allways saying the land was given to 'both of them' and the house was 'theirs'. He is happy so i guess thats all that matters.

i have looked at the retirement visa and i dont think he has enough money to get that. He has only been out there since jan and is allready requesting large sums of money (he has bought a brand new truck) we are worried he will keep wanting large amounts and therefore spend his life savings and be left with little or nothing.

Without a retirement visa what can he do? What if he falls ill or dies out there, what happens then? we did ask him about that one but didnt really get an answer.

More questions i know.

Thanks

Debs westwell

Without an appropriate visa he will be endlessly border hopping until Immigration get tired of him. If he falls ill etc. the costs are all down to him.

[pnustedt]

Hi Debs

It doesn't sound like your pop-in-law has done something without thinking it thru'. He seems to have been planning this move for a few years and has decided to stay in Thailand, thus buying truck, etc.

You do not need a lot of money (by UK standards) to live in Buriram. You don't say whether he has a pension, but you do mention that he has savings, if he can get a reasonable income from the rent in UK and a pension he may have enough to qualify for an "O" visa based on retirement or perhaps he will marry his g/f and the income/cash requirement for a visa will be less - you can check out visa requirements on this site. .

Does he have a pc? See if you can get him to join this forum (if he's not already here) he may find it helpful.

Medical ins. can be pricey at his age but treatment is cheaper than UK. If he dies it's the same as in the UK - except I reckon he'll have had a better life!

[westwells]

Hi pnustedt

He has been planning to go for a long time but has not done any research, just up and went leaving us power of eterny to sort out everything for him! His savings have nearly gone buying truck and setting himself up out there.

He will be relying on rental income for his house in uk and a small pension in September and another small pension in 5 years time.

I have looked at the immigration site and he will not have the required income to apply for a retirement visa.

We just found out yesterday that he had been sending his girlfriend £300 per month to live off, his rent will be a little more than this.

I know he doesnt have any medical insurance and will probally just see a local doctor if he falls ill. If he dies out there, we wanted to know the proceedures for burial, cremating,do we bring him back to uk, we dont know!?

We spoke to him about getting a pc so he could keep in contact with us and i have sent him some details of what to buy/ what not to buy etc. I think he has been to 'pc land' in his nearest large shopping centre.

i think by the sounds of it, he intends to border hop to cambodia to keep getting visa stamped.

Debs westwell

[pnustedt]

It must be very frustrating for you being left with everything to sort out - and irresponsible of him.

If he really is going to stay in Thailand and won't have the necessary income for a visa perhaps it would be better not to buy a house in UK and live off the rent - rather have cash in a Thai bank to show for a visa. Border hopping is not a good long term solution, altho many do it.

Every village has a crematorium at the local wat (Buddhist church). If he died in Thailand he could be assured a good send-off - there wouldn't be a need to send him back to UK, unless that is what everyone wants.

[westwells]

Hi Pnustedt

It really helps to talk about his situation with someone so thanks for that.

If he died out there, I dont think he will mind being burried over there but i will discuss it with him. We are also executers to his will so we will need to know his wishes.

I am a bit worried though about him having all his life savings out there because i think it will all end up being spent and he could end up homeless and penniless. His Thai girlfriend may decide to ask him to leave the home and then i think he would return home to us!

We could look at him having the 800,00 bhat in a bank with a small income from rental of his property to save him border hopping. I am going to write tonight so i will have a lot to say to him.

Thanks again for your help.

Debs westwell

sorry one more question. Can his Thai girlfriend claim any more money/property from his estate over here in the UK if he dies?

[pnustedt]

sorry one more question.  Can his Thai girlfriend claim any more money/property from his estate over here in the UK if he dies?

I guess theanswer to this one depends on pop-in-law's wishes and their status when he dies.

However, I think that it would be unlikely that his g/f would pursue his estate in the UK but this could depend upon her resourcefulness.

[babababor]

Hi West Wells

I too am a Brit, 59 and also living in Buriram.

Maybe I can assist.

E mail if you like

[email protected]

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Hi Pnustedt

It really helps to talk about his situation with someone so thanks for that.

If he died out there, I dont think he will mind being burried over there but i will discuss it with him. We are also executers to his will so we will need to know his wishes.

I am a bit worried though about him having all his life savings out there because i think it will all end up being spent and he could end up homeless and penniless. His Thai girlfriend may decide to ask him to leave the home and then i think he would return home to us!

We could look at him having the 800,00 bhat in a bank with a small income from rental of his property to save him border hopping. I am going to write tonight so i will have a lot to say to him.

Thanks again for your help.

Debs westwell

sorry one more question. Can his Thai girlfriend claim any more money/property from his estate over here in the UK if he dies?

Talk to a Brit lawyer, but it is highly unlikely that any property claim in the UK would be capable of success.