Land purchase by Thai spouse, why do they need my ID?

[HarryWho]

I am married to a Thai woman, we are living in the US. We may eventually move back to Thailand when I retire, or more likely, go back and forth. She has some land and a home in her name in Thailand. She wants to buy some new land. I think it's a good value, and we will go ahead with the purchase. I know I cannot own land in Thailand. She is telling me they need my ID because we are married. If I can't own the land or the deed, why do they need my ID? Is she wrong about needing my ID? TIA!

[Lampang2]

Your right to inherit is not waived just beacuse you cannot own the land.

You are married and as such it's a 50/50 deal of virtual ownership.

My view.

Others may vary.

[Longtooth]

Maybe your ID is needed to specifically exclude you from ownership and to certify it was not your money that bought the land. It happened to my married (at the time) friend as he sat in the land office, in front of his face! His now ex-wife then "willed" the land to her niece, while still married. Lovely. To those that think this is impossible, I think it is only illegal.

[oneday]

From what I have read, you can inherit the land, but are given 1 year to sell it. I would assume the government would want to know who they have to deal with if your wife dies and leaves the land to you.

[prakhonchai nick]

If you are married to a Thai, the Thai can only buy land if the husband (wife) sign a paper at the land Office stating that the money used for purchase has not come from the spouse. The spouse also has to sign, and as with all things Thai, ID is also required.

[scorecard]

If you are married to a Thai, the Thai can only buy land if the husband (wife) sign a paper at the land Office stating that the money used for purchase has not come from the spouse. The spouse also has to sign, and as with all things Thai, ID is also required.

There is a common long-time belief that the husband must give permission for his wife to buy land.

I checked this many years ago, my lawyer says yes it's a common practice but it's not really a law.

He also mentioned that some lands title chiefs take it too seriously and demand to have a written approval from the husband before they will finalize the land transfer.

[Maestro]

This is the form "Letter of Confirmation" you will sign:

[hgma]

Ok.....now we know what can happen , what can one do to protect at least part of the invested money ? married or not

[Linden]

You sign and prove ID and state the monies if given by you are a gift you will not use land office to try to get any monies back in the future

In the past during divorce settlment the land office were dragged to court to prove the farang had paid with their money.

To avoid it all the cash is gifted and signed off

[featography]

From what I have read, you can inherit the land, but are given 1 year to sell it. I would assume the government would want to know who they have to deal with if your wife dies and leaves the land to you.

This is correct, plus the fact that the husband's signature is where it assures that none of his money is being used to purchase the land. Only she can pay for it with her money. Previous poster is also correct in farang husbands will become owners in the event of wife's death, but must sell within a year. If husband can show honest effort to sell, to no avail, the govt can extend it 6 more months. Also in the event of the divorce, he is entitled 50% of everything acquired during their marriage.

[NoshowJones]

"If I can't own the land or the deed, why do they need my ID"?

Because this is Thailand, and whether it is necessary or note they love making up rules for Farangs to obey.

[LukKrueng]

It has nothing to do with inheritance or being excluded of it. As was said in some of the replies already, a foreigner CAN inherit house and land, but has a specified time in which he/she must sell the property.

For married people in Thailand, for some actions the signature of the spouse is needed before action can be taken. If your wife ever wants to mortgage the property, being her husband you must agree to it EVEN THOUGH you are not a Thai citizen. Why? because as she bought the property while you are married, 50% of it belongs to you (in case of divorce, in you can't come to an agreement, a court can force your wife to sell the property and give you half of the money). Also, and probably more important, if your wife get into a debt, as her husband you are responsible for 50% of the debt - hence your signature will be required on the loan papers as well.

[Maestro]

When signing an official document an identification document is always required, regardless of the signatory's nationality.

[deepcell]

Thai like to create "new laws" all the time, but none of this is official, then you do not need to provide any document, the land title will not be in YOUR NAME, but wife's name. Do not provide nothing and let's see what could happen. You don't even live in Thailand. Weird thing. All countries has your own rules, but if you have no rights in the land, then do not waste time.

[misterphil]

This is the form "Letter of Confirmation" you will sign:

20090603 letter confirmation land.jpg

I like at the bottom it has to be signed by a competent official. Is there such a thing?

[mikiea]

if you question this , what else are questioning ? sign nothing ...............

[sometimewoodworker]

Ok.....now we know what can happen , what can one do to protect at least part of the invested money ? married or not

You can register an Usufruct, with the agreement of the land owner. You can then do anything you like including leasing the land to someone else. The land owner has no control over the land until the Usufruct finishes. A common term for an Usufruct is for the lifetime of the usufructee

The land owner retains ownership and can sell the land however any new owner is still bound by the Usufruct.

[nithisa78]

I'd post this on ask the lawyer. Don't you think so?

[Happy Grumpy]

She is telling me they need my ID because we are married. If I can't own the land or the deed, why do they need my ID? Is she wrong about needing my ID? TIA!

I'm a Westerner.

When buying my condo they needed both my mother's name and father's name.

Don't think too much when a Thai asks for something that doesn't matter.

Just smile.

Give it to them.

And pat them on the head as you would a 5 year old child that just learned their own name.

[cornishcarlos]

If you are married to a Thai, the Thai can only buy land if the husband (wife) sign a paper at the land Office stating that the money used for purchase has not come from the spouse. The spouse also has to sign, and as with all things Thai, ID is also required.

We (she) have 4 plots of land, in 3 different provinces. I have never signed anything or given my ID for any transactions !! How do you explain that ?

[Maestro]

We (she) have 4 plots of land, in 3 different provinces. I have never signed anything or given my ID for any transactions !! How do you explain that ?

It depends on what "she" is known to be to the land office and on the competence of the competent officer.

[akentryan]

Yes you can inherit but make sure your wife has a legally recorded will that is translated. Just went through this when my 57-year old Thai wife of 22 years died after a nine day illness..She was a lawyer and died without a will. I am now 77. Who would have thought she would die before me?

Here is what happened as of yesterday. We have a house in Pattaya, a house in Bangkok, a car and she had 6 or 7 bank accounts. I named ner brother as Executor (first mistake, name yourself) and paid 60,000 baht for his lawyer (second mistake, get your own lawyer). Both my wife's parents are alive so I wind up with two-thirds of her assets and the brother gets one-third to "hold" for the parents. The car I bought by paying one-third (66,667 baht) of the Fair Market Value of 200,000 baht to the brother. Just finalized the Pattaya house yesterday. I paid the brother 1,200,000 baht for the family's one-third share. In addition I paid a transfer tax of 11,000 baht (very reasonable) plus Thai income tax of 168,000 baht on the two-thirds that I "inherited" from my wife. i could not and did not take ownership of the house but signed it over to my wife's sister which is in accordance with wife's wishes. All the bank accounts have been closed with me receiving two-thirds of each account.

The only item item left is the house in Bangkok with an FMV of about 2,500,000 of which I should get 1,600,000 or so and again will have to pay the transfer fee and income tax of approximately 120,000 baht.

It does not matter what your relationship is with the family of the wife. The older crowd only wants money. They will get nothing of what I have left. The younger sisters (3) will get everything as they are the ones who have looked after me in the year since my wife passed. They are also the ones who look after the aging parents. The youngest I am paying monthly so she can go to law school - my wife would be extremely pleased at that. Somewhere up there she is surely smiling

[NanLaew]

We (she) have 4 plots of land, in 3 different provinces. I have never signed anything or given my ID for any transactions !! How do you explain that ?

It depends on what "she" is known to be to the land office and on the competence of the competent officer.

Yes, it's so much easier when the Thai spouse retains her family name, ie. does NOT change her name on her Thai ID card to that of her farang husband.

[ableguy]

Being married should she default on the loan her debt is your debt.

[cyberfarang]

2 factors here. The land has to be bought with the Thai wife`s money and the Falang has to go along to the land office and sign a statement saying he no rights of ownership or any power over the land. What this means is, if not careful, the Falang could find himself out on a limb and out of pocket.

[cornishcarlos]

2 factors here. The land has to be bought with the Thai wife`s money and the Falang has to go along to the land office and sign a statement saying he no rights of ownership or any power over the land. What this means is, if not careful, the Falang could find himself out on a limb and out of pocket.

Not always the case...

As I mentioned before, my wife has 4 plots now.. All paid for by me and I have never signed anything. She also took a loan against 1 plot, twice, and again I never signed anything ??

[cyberfarang]

2 factors here. The land has to be bought with the Thai wife`s money and the Falang has to go along to the land office and sign a statement saying he no rights of ownership or any power over the land. What this means is, if not careful, the Falang could find himself out on a limb and out of pocket.

Not always the case...

As I mentioned before, my wife has 4 plots now.. All paid for by me and I have never signed anything. She also took a loan against 1 plot, twice, and again I never signed anything ??

But you threw your own money into it. Your connection to the land depends on fate that nothing goes wrong with your marriage, the Junta don`t make any purges and the well being of your wife. What this means is that your investment into the land is never going to be secure. Fine if you accept that, otherwise I don`t understand your logic?

[cornishcarlos]

2 factors here. The land has to be bought with the Thai wife`s money and the Falang has to go along to the land office and sign a statement saying he no rights of ownership or any power over the land. What this means is, if not careful, the Falang could find himself out on a limb and out of pocket.

Not always the case...

As I mentioned before, my wife has 4 plots now.. All paid for by me and I have never signed anything. She also took a loan against 1 plot, twice, and again I never signed anything ??

But you threw your own money into it. Your connection to the land depends on fate that nothing goes wrong with your marriage, the Junta don`t make any purges and the well being of your wife. What this means is that your investment into the land is never going to be secure. Fine if you accept that, otherwise I don`t understand your logic?

No investment is ever 100% secure. These are short term investments. My wife has a legal will, with me as sole heir. The logic is that I am married, live in Thailand and can always earn more money if the Junta farts...

Money is for spending, life is for living... Enjoy it