what age should my daughter be before i sign condo into her name.

[dirtycash]

i read somewhere the legal age to own property in thailand is 20 , correct me if im wrong. i have an issue with my condo in a thai company name and want to avoid paying company fees etc every year hence now trying to sell just before completion. the only way around this i see is , sell now, or put it into my daughters name who is half thai and has thai passport, she is nearly 7 years old next month. could io put it into her name now if i give consent and witness the papers signed ? do i wait untill she is 16-17- or what age ? i also heard that a thai can be transfered to the contract as long as parent is there to witness the transfer , again i stand to be corrected on this .

worst case senario is sit this bloody thing out and ride the storm for a good few years and rent it ( headache ) then give to my kid. sell now possibly at a loss.

or make some deal with the thai wife , we are still on good terms ( sometimes lol )

[MaeJoMTB]

How much cash have you actually handed over?

How much is still to be paid?

I ask because my wife bought a house off plan from a reputable company in CM.

Total cost 1.8M, 120k handed over in stages over a 6 month period, the rest to be paid on completion and moving in.

You seem to have paid out considerably more, and I'm wondering why?

Edited October 8, 2015 by MaeJoMTB

[UncleE]

As far as my lawyer and my friend who is head honcho at land dept have told me, you can put in kids name but then it can not be sold until kid reaches 18 years old (or maybe it was 21).

That oughta be long enough for the price to go up considering your kid is only 7 now, eh? Course if you need to money before that, sorry; unless perhaps you simply rent it out for income.

You'll also face a (substantial) transfer fee if the title is in company name now and needs to be changed. Since you're still in contract phase you can probably change anything but make sure it doesn't end up in your daughter's name unless you're sure you wanna wait that long. And you're sure the Ex isn't gonna have more control over your daughter when the time comes.

And I think what the other reply suggested is correct, maybe you should just take the hit now if the down payment was small and walk.

Cheers

[dirtycash]

cash paid in full 2.5 million . i done this because they gave me a 300000 thb discount and included a full furniture package. the completed units are going on for sale in the near futere at 2.61 mill thb and that is just an empty shell unit.

hindsight is a wonderfull thing . i should have thought more about that old thai saying ( jai yen yen )

[UncleE]

Just to clarify, after the title is in kids name, the property simply CAN NOT BE SOLD regardless of witnesses etc. until kids reaches legal age. You're not the first person to think of this and they simply blocked the option.

[dirtycash]

As far as my lawyer and my friend who is head honcho at land dept have told me, you can put in kids name but then it can not be sold until kid reaches 18 years old (or maybe it was 21).

That oughta be long enough for the price to go up considering your kid is only 7 now, eh? Course if you need to money before that, sorry; unless perhaps you simply rent it out for income.

You'll also face a (substantial) transfer fee if the title is in company name now and needs to be changed. Since you're still in contract phase you can probably change anything but make sure it doesn't end up in your daughter's name unless you're sure you wanna wait that long. And you're sure the Ex isn't gonna have more control over your daughter when the time comes.

And I think what the other reply suggested is correct, maybe you should just take the hit now if the down payment was small and walk.

Cheers

thanks uncleE so i can transfer it now to daughters name ? avoiding the thai company fees and hassle ?

[MAMMartin]

if this is a condo why have you bought it in a Thai company name? if less than 49% of the condo block is owned by foreigners you can have the condo in your own name. It would then go to your daughter if something was to happen to you.

No point having a company to own a condo

[UncleE]

Correct, but next comment good point, why didn't you get one which can have foreign owner? You paid cash in full so did you already take title? And again, don't put it in your daughters name unless you are 1 million percent sure not need to sell for at least 11 years.

[MaeJoMTB]

Just to clarify, after the title is in kids name, the property simply CAN NOT BE SOLD regardless of witnesses etc. until kids reaches legal age. You're not the first person to think of this and they simply blocked the option.

Thai's count birthdays different to us.

The kids can sell after their 20th birthday, in their 21st year of life.

Transfer tax is also reduced when you gift a property to your child, can't remember exactly, think it was halved.

[offset]

Just to clarify, after the title is in kids name, the property simply CAN NOT BE SOLD regardless of witnesses etc. until kids reaches legal age. You're not the first person to think of this and they simply blocked the option.

It can be sold if a case can be made to the children's Court that the money is needed for the child and if you die before the child is 20 if the mother is cleaver enough she can get it sold and earn money out of it

[bazza40]

( Yawn ) The arguments in favour of renting just keep mounting up.

[jadee]

Out of interest, why did you buy a condo in a Thai company, why not just buy a condo under your own name? I don't think renting the condo out is the 'worst-case' scenario by any means. If you can't sell the unit before completion, renting it out is the second best option.

The worst-case scenario is that you pay the transfer fee to get the condo into your daughter's name and then her mother pulls a few strings to change ownership - check out the popular thread where a British man's home was transferred out of his control in Phuket - some Thai lawyers will notarize documents without you present and there's nothing you can do.

The second worst scenario is that after transferring the property to your daughter, you then have to transfer it back if you want or need to sell down the road.

[jacksam]

Probably already been covered but to be honest I find this sort of post just PLAIN NUTS.

Even if your daughter was 21 and you fell off the planet, it very well would be case that family would put so much pressure on daughter to sell and give family a chop out.

Wake up. She most likely will get nothing when you pass.

So just put it her name and sleep cosy

[dirtycash]

i can put it in my own name but it will cost me , i think around 300.000 baht , i stand to be corrected. and make it easier to sell ?

sticking with thai company name it will cost me around 15k thb per year x 10 years = 150000 plus harder to sell.

pass me the paracetamol please lol

[jacksam]

I think you have typed your own answer. Transfer to your name . Cop the transfer fees. Your looking at it as dollars only. BIG chance your daughter will see zip of this money.

What are you thinking ....'...sorry

[jacksam]

These posts are so funny. The daughter is 7 if she can sell say at 21 .....haha that's 14 years away. Where will things be at then. One thing won't change. Thai family ties. Sadly your daughter will not share much in the proceeds. When do farang learn

[ExpatOilWorker]

Just sell the darn condo, at any price. You are obviously not happy with it.

[Dogbreath]

Make sure you have a highly ethical and trusted attorney (good luck) place the chanote and all legal documents in his safe with the instruction that he never give any of them to either you wife or daughter or their representative unless you are incapacitated or dead. That will potentially save you some very bad headaches down the road should your wife develop some bad financial habits such as gambling or going into debt to moneylenders. (Recent story on Thai Visa about Australian man who got screwed out of about $1,000,000 by his wife with whom he had three children, a lawyer and some moneylenders) The wife is in prison, but the real perpetrators who forged and notarized the documents are still running free and doing business in Phuket)

[louse1953]

cash paid in full 2.5 million . i done this because they gave me a 300000 thb discount and included a full furniture package. the completed units are going on for sale in the near futere at 2.61 mill thb and that is just an empty shell unit.

hindsight is a wonderfull thing . i should have thought more about that old thai saying ( jai yen yen )

The ol bait and wait trick stll working i see.

[tolsti]

Do you really think you got a 300,000 thb discount ?

[khunPer]

OP, your daughter is old enough to own property, stocks etc. – a newborn can own property – but you daughter’s property can normally not be sold before she reach legal age, 20 (or 21) years old.

Selling property owned by a Thai company limited will be taxed – get your accountant or lawyer to check on the company tax to be paid in your case (20 to 30% of the gain with some deductions for time owned) – that’s on top of the small tax and transfer fee paid at the Land Office – so you can take that into consideration and compare with company running costs.

[jacksam]

Wrong

[ozyjon]

Don't buy in the first place.

[optad]

Off topic, agree with the above re not buying full stop, renting at a premium is generally better.

But for the op, take the hit and sell. Clean up and move on. Do not extend your thoughts and create"givens" for your daughter becasue as sure as day runs into night, it just will not work out the way you imagine.

Sell.

[dirtycash]

Do you really think you got a 300,000 thb discount ?

yes i did . check the price list here - http://matrixpattaya.com/pricelists/city-center/pricelist.pdf

i bought for 2.5 total cash payment pre sale. on completion they ( 35 sqm one bedroom ground floor ) are selling for 2610000 with no furniture package inc. empty shell with no units or air con or anything.

as you can see from the price list 95% of all one bedrooms are allready sold . only studios left of around 70% of studios have been sold.

[tolsti]

No you didn't.... The price was inflated so that they could offer a discount!... They got exactly what they wanted at that stage in the project. Duhh

[donx]

i can put it in my own name but it will cost me , i think around 300.000 baht , i stand to be corrected. and make it easier to sell ?

sticking with thai company name it will cost me around 15k thb per year x 10 years = 150000 plus harder to sell.

pass me the paracetamol please lol

You haven't explained why you bought the condo in a Thai company name. Was that your idea or was that suggested by the developer? Another important issue is where did the 2.5 MB come from? Did you transfer the money as foreign currency? If it wasn't then that could be a reason for putting it in a Thai company name. And now that the condo has already been purchased, you can't just send the money out and back in again. If I were you and you have proof of the money coming from a foreign source, then I would put the condo in my name. If it costs 300,000 then you lose the "discount" but you still have the furniture package and you avoid the expense associates with annual reporting.

[PattayaPhom]

Be aware that transferring from Thai company to Thai name attracts taxes of approx. 8.5%. As your property is new Pattaya land office valuation will be at the higher end so expect fees in the region of 200K

[champken]

( Yawn ) The arguments in favour of renting just keep mounting up.

(Yawn) and why is that if you have Thai kids here?

[lostlost]

I tried to buy a condo in my 4 year old sons name.He was born in Thailand and has a Thai passport.Pattaya Land Office refused to let him buy it as a Thai.They said that he could only buy as a Falang.I argued for hours but they simply refused.That was 1 1/2 years ago.