Land - Lease In Wifes Name

[dsfbrit]

I am still trying to fully come to grips with the subtleties of moving from the company land ownership to land in my wifes name/house in my name scenario.

The sticking point for me is the thought that on divorce or death the land may be owned by my wife’s family and they would not agree to sell so I could ‘move on’.

In either scenario, death or divorce I wont want to continue living here.

Is it possible to write the lease for the land such that we have to sell the land (and house) on divorce or death of my wife and I simply pay half the money received to my wife or her family (say).

I emphasise the lease being used above to do this as this will be a legal document signed by all parties.

Whereas a Will is a legal document that is signed by just one party - and could conceivably during the years of the lease - be changed.

[ning & john]

I am still trying to fully come to grips with the subtleties of moving from the company land ownership to land in my wifes name/house in my name scenario.

The sticking point for me is the thought that on divorce or death the land may be owned by my wife’s family and they would not agree to sell so I could ‘move on’.

In either scenario, death or divorce I wont want to continue living here.

Is it possible to write the lease for the land such that we have to sell the land (and house) on divorce or death of my wife and I simply pay half the money received to my wife or her family (say).

I emphasise the lease being used above to do this as this will be a legal document signed by all parties.

Whereas a Will is a legal document that is signed by just one party - and could conceivably during the years of the lease - be changed.

My advice for what it is worth;

1) Do not put in your wife's name more than you can afford to lose!

2)Your wife or her family will want to see cash so you should be able to negoiate a settlement

3) You could try a I.O.U as well as the will

4)Yes the will is always superceeded by the following will

[GuestHouse]

If the land is already in an up and running company name, why change? It seems you have security why risk the move to your wife's name.

If you do decide to go the lease route, then ensure you include a clause that enables you to sell the lease or sublet the lease.

That way you are able to sell or sublet if you want to move on.

Personally though, I'd stick to the "Morris Minor" attitude to things - what you have is simple, it works - don't go trying to improve it, you might wind up with a 'Leyland'.

[dsfbrit]

Thanks for the advice Ning and John and Guesthouse.

I agree with both of you.

I have been researching the subtleties of the options if I move from the company route.

Lets face it the only reason I would consider moving the land out of the company is for peace of mind.

However, having drawn up a list of Pros and Cons of the 3 major options ie:

- Land in Company

- Land in wife name/Lease 30 years

- Usufruct

I can honestly say that I will sleep better with the land in the company route.

The thought of the land falling into the wife's family's hands and me possibly having to deal with them for up to 30 years fills me with blind terror!

At least with the company route - in the worst case scenario - if the government decides to repossess the land - I will be able to deal with some people in government via my lawyer who may be amenable to 'moderation' in their initial claim.

This is Thailand after all and I suspect that for a small percentage of the total cost of the land and house I may be able to achieve quite a bit of 'moderation'

I love Thailand - and I think its important at times to remember that 'crackdowns' come and go here very regularly and after nothing appears to have happened - then it is announced it has all been a success and off to the next crackdown.

As for the company thing being 'illegal' - it was interesting that even the farang lawyers advising us on this forum are working 'illegally' (see thread below-item 39 on the new list posted by Sunbelt)

Sunbelt nothing against you guys - I am just giving an example of how pointless it is taking too much notice of things in Thailand designated as 'illegal'.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=90291

[billd766]

I am still trying to fully come to grips with the subtleties of moving from the company land ownership to land in my wifes name/house in my name scenario.

The sticking point for me is the thought that on divorce or death the land may be owned by my wife’s family and they would not agree to sell so I could ‘move on’.

In either scenario, death or divorce I wont want to continue living here.

Is it possible to write the lease for the land such that we have to sell the land (and house) on divorce or death of my wife and I simply pay half the money received to my wife or her family (say).

I emphasise the lease being used above to do this as this will be a legal document signed by all parties.

Whereas a Will is a legal document that is signed by just one party - and could conceivably during the years of the lease - be changed.

ning & john

My advice for what it is worth;

1) Do not put in your wife's name more than you can afford to lose!

2)Your wife or her family will want to see cash so you should be able to negoiate a settlement

3) You could try a I.O.U as well as the will

4)Yes the will is always superceeded by the following will

As I have no idea of your family circumstances (ie children) it is not easy to comment.

I went the easy route with land and property and it is all im my wife's name. To me it is of no consequence that she owns it all and in our separate wills we have both left everything to our son. In my will she looks after him when I die and if she dies first I am to be his legal guardian until he is old enough or I die in which case his uncle will take over as guardian.

Hopefully I will not be able to put my guardianship to the test as my wife is 21 years younger than me (I am 62) and our son is 2.

to answer ning and john

1) Everything is in my wife's name because I love her very much and want her to have a reasonable life when I die.

2) If we divorce then what my wife wants will probably happen and her family don't look at me as an ATM or cash cow. Bear in mind that if you divorce in Thailand the courts will probably be in her favour and she will get more than you anyway. Also what happens if she refuses to sell?

3) Does not apply to me.

4) That is the same in most countries.

[dsfbrit]

Billd766 you are in a different situation I think as you have a child.

If I had/have a child, to be honest I would immediately 'mentally' write everything off financially.

I dont mean that in a nasty way really - its simply that my pre-nup with my wife would be null and void in that case anyway.

Also if my wife were no longer around, because of either of the 2 scenarios in my original post, then I would still want contact with the family for the sake of my child.

So I reckon you have done the right thing - and good luck to you and your family.

[ning & john]

I am still trying to fully come to grips with the subtleties of moving from the company land ownership to land in my wifes name/house in my name scenario.

The sticking point for me is the thought that on divorce or death the land may be owned by my wife’s family and they would not agree to sell so I could ‘move on’.

In either scenario, death or divorce I wont want to continue living here.

Is it possible to write the lease for the land such that we have to sell the land (and house) on divorce or death of my wife and I simply pay half the money received to my wife or her family (say).

I emphasise the lease being used above to do this as this will be a legal document signed by all parties.

Whereas a Will is a legal document that is signed by just one party - and could conceivably during the years of the lease - be changed.

If you love her so much and want her to have a good life without you,then what are you worried about if you divorce just give her the land ,and if she dies then someone who loves his wife would want to take care of her family so just give them the land

ning & john

My advice for what it is worth;

1) Do not put in your wife's name more than you can afford to lose!

2)Your wife or her family will want to see cash so you should be able to negoiate a settlement

3) You could try a I.O.U as well as the will

4)Yes the will is always superceeded by the following will

As I have no idea of your family circumstances (ie children) it is not easy to comment.

I went the easy route with land and property and it is all im my wife's name. To me it is of no consequence that she owns it all and in our separate wills we have both left everything to our son. In my will she looks after him when I die and if she dies first I am to be his legal guardian until he is old enough or I die in which case his uncle will take over as guardian.

Hopefully I will not be able to put my guardianship to the test as my wife is 21 years younger than me (I am 62) and our son is 2.

to answer ning and john

1) Everything is in my wife's name because I love her very much and want her to have a reasonable life when I die.

2) If we divorce then what my wife wants will probably happen and her family don't look at me as an ATM or cash cow. Bear in mind that if you divorce in Thailand the courts will probably be in her favour and she will get more than you anyway. Also what happens if she refuses to sell?

3) Does not apply to me.

4) That is the same in most countries.

[billd766]

Billd766 you are in a different situation I think as you have a child.

If I had/have a child, to be honest I would immediately 'mentally' write everything off financially.

I dont mean that in a nasty way really - its simply that my pre-nup with my wife would be null and void in that case anyway.

Also if my wife were no longer around, because of either of the 2 scenarios in my original post, then I would still want contact with the family for the sake of my child.

So I reckon you have done the right thing - and good luck to you and your family.

Thanks dfsbrit

It is not so much that I have written off everything financially, more a case of falling in love with my wife during the first 3 or 4 weeks that we were together.

From the early days of our relationship i told her that I was married with a teenage son and she stayed through that part and when I told my UK wife that I wanted a divorce she stuck with me then.

I got my divorce and about a year later we married and then 4 years later our son came along which was a bit of a surprise to us both as she didn't realise that she was pregnant. He is now 2 and a bit and I love him as much as my first but I have more time (and less energy) to be with him.

My work has gone up and down though we have enough to live on.

I had to go for a double angioplasty when I came back from Bangladesh and she came down from upcountry where we live with the bankbooks and all her gols in case there wasn't enough money in the bank(there was) for the hospital bill.

If she dies first as the house is in our son's name I will look after him until he is old enough or I die.

We have never had a prenup agreement (I wish I had the first time around) as if we divorce (hopefully not) then as you say I still want to be around for my son.