Is it legal for a "Farang" to buy a land (house) in Thai wife's name?

[luk AJ]

Yes, it is legal, but in order for her to register her ownership of the land you must accompany her to the Land Office and sign a statement that she is purchasing the land with her own money, that you have no claim to it, and that you understand that on her death you cannot inherit the land. I think it was during the first Chuan Leekpai government they changed the ministerial regulation which was established by Prime Minister Kriangsak. That regulation was frequently violated because it prohibited Thai citizens with foreign spouses from buying land. In practice it was almost never applied to Thai men who have foreign wives (there are some, not a lot). I'm not sure how this works if she has not changed her surname on her ID card, which I understand is now an option in the Family Law. However, to comply with the current law you have to sign the statement. It is clearly against the law for a foreigner to own land in Thailand.

I agree but your explanation is IMO not exactly the answer to the question from OP. In your example it is "her" money. The OP clearly asked if HE could own a house on his wife's name which in my opinion is "no"

[bangkoklawyer24]

Thanks for the participation in this legal survey. Sorry to say, we have no winner. All answers given have been shown up as being wrong. And here comes the resolution:

• YES, it is perfectly legal that a Thai lady buys and acquires property, whether married or not.
• YES, she can use any funds, whether sourced from abroad or not.
• YES, if the husband sponsors that acquisition it is legally his donation, which is possible and perfectly legal whether married or not.
• YES, the legal fact that an agreement between married couples can be terminated, changes nothing in this result. Thai laws do not disallow or block the foreign husband to get his money back under Section 1469 CCC. Whether it has been invested in land or otherwise is irrelevant.
• YES, the legal fact that the property may (!) be Sin Somros does not change the result. Thai laws do not disallow foreign husbands to participate in 50% of the property value, as long as they are not the legal owners of the land.
• YES, it is not allowed to use Thais as nominee to hold land by foreigners, but that is not the typical case of a family house, but land for other investment purposes - and has nothing to do with marriage.
• YES, it is a really bad idea to invest in Thai real estate on the name and for the benefit of the Thai wife, but it is clearly legal.

As a rule of thumb: If it is disadvantageous for the foreigner, it is most likely perfectly legal in Thailand.

[Krataiboy]

Ask a real lawyer instead of the Thai Visa barrack room variety.

[chiang mai]

Thanks for the participation in this legal survey. Sorry to say, we have no winner. All answers given have been shown up as being wrong. And here comes the resolution:

• YES, it is perfectly legal that a Thai lady buys and acquires property, whether married or not.
• YES, she can use any funds, whether sourced from abroad or not.
• YES, if the husband sponsors that acquisition it is legally his donation, which is possible and perfectly legal whether married or not.
• YES, the legal fact that an agreement between married couples can be terminated, changes nothing in this result. Thai laws do not disallow or block the foreign husband to get his money back under Section 1469 CCC. Whether it has been invested in land or otherwise is irrelevant.
• YES, the legal fact that the property may (!) be Sin Somros does not change the result. Thai laws do not disallow foreign husbands to participate in 50% of the property value, as long as they are not the legal owners of the land.
• YES, it is not allowed to use Thais as nominee to hold land by foreigners, but that is not the typical case of a family house, but land for other investment purposes - and has nothing to do with marriage.
• YES, it is a really bad idea to invest in Thai real estate on the name and for the benefit of the Thai wife, but it is clearly legal.

As a rule of thumb: If it is disadvantageous for the foreigner, it is most likely perfectly legal in Thailand.

One more time: go see a decent lawyer and ignore 99% of the opinion presented here.

[Jip99]

Ask a real lawyer instead of the Thai Visa barrack room variety.

What?

That would be no fun at all.

[G p]

I am building my own house on wife land how dose that work by courts

[bangkoklawyer24]

I am building my own house on wife land how dose that work by courts

You mean: I am building my wife's house on her land. And that is rather disadvantageous and therefore legally valid. But you might read the "The land code does not forbid house ownership for foreigners" nonsense statements.

Edited October 27, 2015 by bangkoklawyer24

[G p]

So when I have built the house I can own 50 per cent or 49 per cent

[bangkoklawyer24]

So when I have built the house I can own 50 per cent or 49 per cent

Zero

[G p]

So I can not own. Nothing what about lease

[aronp1]

If you are married to a Thai, yes you can purchase land in her name.

[luk AJ]

Ask a real lawyer instead of the Thai Visa barrack room variety.

What?

That would be no fun at all.

Right, so TV has no reason to exist anymore. From now on if you want to ask something go to a specialist.

RIP TV

[aronp1]

So when I have built the house I can own 50 per cent or 49 per cent

That only pertains to a business (If you are not American). You can own the house 100% (If you pay in cash). The land will need to be in your wife's name unless you achieve citizenship yourself.

[Jip99]

So when I have built the house I can own 50 per cent or 49 per cent

That only pertains to a business (If you are not American). You can own the house 100% (If you pay in cash). The land will need to be in your wife's name unless you achieve citizenship yourself.

With a company, you own 49% of the shares - not the property. The company owns the property.

[Jip99]

I am building my own house on wife land how dose that work by courts

I would concern yourself less with what the position is with the courts and focus on the practical situation.

Who the heck is going to buy 'your house' (or 50% of a divorce distribution) on family land.

Irrelevant because a Thai would not sell anyway.

Messy, very messy. As said by many, what is spent in Thailand stays in Thailand. Treat as a donation and certainly not 'an investment'.

[gamini]

Yup it's a definite NO as you are using your wife as a proxy which is not permitted.

If she buys the land using her own money there's no issue, you sign a form at the land office stating that you have no financial interest in the purchase.

Of course, if you gift money to your wife and she spends it on land ...

You can't,

There are no gifts between husband and wife under Thai law.

You could at best turn sole assets into joint assets.

But essentially on divorce you can reclaim 'gifts' to your spouse, with a money paper trail, as they are considered to be conditional on the marriage.

If, "There are no gifts between husband and wife under Thai law", how can "you can reclaim 'gifts' to your spouse"!

Usual disinformation from the usual sources.

Yes there are far too many people on this forum who love to give advice without knowing anything about the subject.

[swissbie]

It's legally a no, she has to buy house/land with her own money. But, we've bought two houses and land, never been asked to sign anything. I've paid everything from my accounts. If there would be any leagal matters, as in case of inheritance for example, no problem, my wife has lived with me over 20 years abroad, so she is entiteled to half of my social security funds during this time (and more). Easy to proof, no problem with the law. Tough i don't now the rule about gifts and other sorts of payements.

[catman20]

YES IF YOUR THAT STUPID

[catman20]

Yup it's a definite NO as you are using your wife as a proxy which is not permitted.

If she buys the land using her own money there's no issue, you sign a form at the land office stating that you have no financial interest in the purchase.

Of course, if you gift money to your wife and she spends it on land ...

You can't,

There are no gifts between husband and wife under Thai law.

You could at best turn sole assets into joint assets.

But essentially on divorce you can reclaim 'gifts' to your spouse, with a money paper trail, as they are considered to be conditional on the marriage.

If, "There are no gifts between husband and wife under Thai law", how can "you can reclaim 'gifts' to your spouse"!

Usual disinformation from the usual sources.

Yes there are far too many people on this forum who love to give advice without knowing anything about the subject.

I BET YOUR MARRIED RIGHT ?????????????

[jacko45k]

Does being 'legal' have a lot to do with living here?

[Farang99]

You are buying a house in your wife's name? It is her house and that is the end of it. You have no rights of ownership, the question of legality does not enter into it.

If you have a good relationship with your wife and trust her, you can live there without a problem, but if it ever goes sour - tough luck.

[Time Traveller]

Yup it's a definite NO as you are using your wife as a proxy which is not permitted.

If she buys the land using her own money there's no issue, you sign a form at the land office stating that you have no financial interest in the purchase.

Of course, if you gift money to your wife and she spends it on land ...

It's best if the OP speak with a lawyer, because

1. The reason many people do this, is because legally on the surface the wife is the owner (not a foreigner). Therefore it's compliant with the law. BUT,

2. The spirit of the law was to prevent foreign ownership, so doing this may be seen by some as foreign ownership by proxy which while illegal is hard to prove.

Consequently, if you ever find yourself in a dispute over the ownership of the property then you will likely have problems. Even so far as your thai wife losing the property if it was proven she was a nominee.

After working for a law firm for a number of years in Thailand, I can give this advice. Speak to a lawyer, don't take any actions based on legal advice by people on a forum such as this.

Edited October 28, 2015 by Crossy
Comment on moderation removed.

[chiang mai]

My Thai will states that my wife is my sole beneficiary of all my assets. Given that is the case, it would be difficult to prove that she is my proxy in order for me to buy real estate in Thailand since she is the owner whilst I am alive and she will be the owner after I have died.

Edited October 28, 2015 by chiang mai

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I am not asking for myself. I will never buy any real estate in Thailand. I have a condo in Canada and that's enough for me.

As suspected, many posts turned to personal opinions. "Difficult to prove" and "If you sign a paper at the land office, you should be ok".

It seems to me that the only straight answer I got was that the land has to be bought with wife's money, so the answer to my question is a definite NO.

As for asking a lawyer, no thanks. I suspect as soon as one enters the office the answer will be "yesss, can do!".

[MaeJoMTB]

My Thai will states that my wife is my sole beneficiary of all my assets. Given that is the case, it would be difficult to prove that she is my proxy in order for me to buy real estate in Thailand since she is the owner whilst I am alive and she will be the owner after I have died.

You forgot option 3,

She won't be your wife if she divorces you.

Something you can neither control or predict.

[MaeJoMTB]

As suspected, many posts turned to personal opinions. "Difficult to prove" and "If you sign a paper at the land office, you should be ok".

My wife bought a house with a very small deposit, given to her by me.

I too had to sign the paper in the land office, and translate it into English by my own hand.

But the ongoing home loan repayments clearly make the property a joint marital asset under Thai law.

I don't see how anyone could see it any other way?

[chiang mai]

My Thai will states that my wife is my sole beneficiary of all my assets. Given that is the case, it would be difficult to prove that she is my proxy in order for me to buy real estate in Thailand since she is the owner whilst I am alive and she will be the owner after I have died.

You forgot option 3,

She won't be your wife if she divorces you.

Something you can neither control or predict.

I use the term "wife" but in fact we are not legally married.

And whilst the usufruct maintains my right of abode, the potential that I could remove her from my will would mean a loss to her of not just the house but the rest of my estate that is far far greater than the value of the house - this becomes the default if I die under suspicious circumstances. It is therefore in my "wife's" best interest to keep me alive, living in this house with her and happy. And whilst we never talk about such things because there is no need, all parties understand them regardless. In truth, if I said we needed to sell there would not be a problem and this has been demonstrated previously.

[Jip99]

My Thai will states that my wife is my sole beneficiary of all my assets. Given that is the case, it would be difficult to prove that she is my proxy in order for me to buy real estate in Thailand since she is the owner whilst I am alive and she will be the owner after I have died.

You forgot option 3,

She won't be your wife if she divorces you.

Something you can neither control or predict.

I use the term "wife" but in fact we are not legally married.

And whilst the usufruct maintains my right of abode, the potential that I could remove her from my will would mean a loss to her of not just the house but the rest of my estate that is far far greater than the value of the house - this becomes the default if I die under suspicious circumstances. It is therefore in my "wife's" best interest to keep me alive, living in this house with her and happy. And whilst we never talk about such things because there is no need, all parties understand them regardless. In truth, if I said we needed to sell there would not be a problem and this has been demonstrated previously.

Identical to my own situation.

The usufruct is my only protection. My 'missus' (again we are not married) understands that she will get a lot more when I am gone - by natural causes. Ironically, my ex-wife in the UK (who my Thai partner has met several times) is the arbiter of .natural causes' in the Will.

[GOLDBUGGY]

No!

[chiang mai]

No!

You are quite simply wrong!

In a near perfect case, a foreigner could lease land for 30 years and contract with a builder to construct a house which can then be registered in the foreigners name Stories about various land offices around the country perhaps not issuing a channote under those circumstances are mostly bar stool myth and scare mongering by the usual suspects although I'm sure there's one or two that have been problematic over time. Ergo, it is legal for a foreigner to own a house here either in his/her own name or in the name of his/her spouse.