What Can I Do To Secure My Husband?

[Jasmin rice]

Hi there!

My husband and I have just bought a piece of land in Thailand. Because my husband is American and I'm Thai so the land's title is under my name. We plan to build a house on the piece of land next year.

I understand that if I die, the land will be hold immediately by my family. Therefore, my question is what I can do to secure or to protect my husband from being kicked out by my family, in case I die before him. Well...I know my family is good, but who knows what gonna happen in the future.

I know the lease contract might be a good option, but it doesn't make sense to me. My husband has already paid for this picec of land, then he has to pay for the rent, and I(actually he) has to pay tax from the rent income. It sounds silly to me.

Please give me your suggestions what I and my husband should do.

Thank you

Edited November 9, 2006 by Jasmin rice

[lannarebirth]

Hi jasmine rice,

You may want to check out this thread on usufructs:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=83374

[Artamus]

Hi there!

My husband and I have just bought a piece of land in Thailand. Because my husband is American and I'm Thai so the land's title is under my name. We plan to build a house on the piece of land next year.

I understand that if I die, the land will be hold immediately by my family. Therefore, my question is what I can do to secure or to protect my husband from being kicked out by my family, in case I die before him. Well...I know my family is good, but who knows what gonna happen in the future.

I know the lease contract might be a good option, but it doesn't make sense to me. My husband has already paid for this picec of land, then he has to pay for the rent, and I(actually he) has to pay tax from the rent income. It sounds silly to me.

Please give me your suggestions what I and my husband should do.

Thank you

Hi there,

We are in the same circumstance. My Thai wife and I have land and are about to do a 30 year lease. My understanding is/was that in the event of her death before me the ownership of the land (ie. the chanote land title) will pass to her family (sister in this case as it's in her Will), and that the lease still remains with me and still remains valid. I.e. I have the lease on the land so they would not be able force me off. So my understanding is that the 30 year lease gives 30 years security. Is someone suggesting that the 30 lease becomes invalid on the death of my wife?

Artamus

[Artamus]

I know the lease contract might be a good option, but it doesn't make sense to me. My husband has already paid for this picec of land, then he has to pay for the rent, and I(actually he) has to pay tax from the rent income. It sounds silly to me.

Thank you

Forgot the bit about the rent.

I'm not sure I understand why you state your husband pays tax on the rent.

From what I understand, when you take out the 30 year lease you pay tax at land office on the value of the lease (I think it's 1% of the agreed 30 year value, but not sure, and I have another topic posted on this forum at this moment to try to get more details. Not sure how the value is calculated either.).

As the lease is held by your husband, and he is in theory paying rent to you, then I would have thought that it was you who would pay tax on the rent. However, these rent values are very small so the personal tax is less than zero I have heard.

Artamus

[GuestHouse]

A lease would give him security and there is no need to pay the rent while you are alive. (although you would have to pay tax on the rent you are receiving from your husband).

But you would have to set a reasonable rental value on the land/property in order to be able to register the lease.

You can, if you wish, write terms into a lease that allow your husband to either sell on the lease and/or be compensated for the early release of the lease.

So for example, he might want to move on after your death or he may want to release capital in the property. Allowing him to sell the lease on to another tenant or be financially compensated for ending the lease agreement early.

There is a problem however if your husband is still relatively young (and by that I mean anything younger than late 50s). Since a lease can only run for 30 years it is conceivable that if you died before him he could become homeless in his 80s.

Given these problems I think that the best solution is probably a Usufruct but also a Will.

You might argue that a Will is unecessary if your husband has a Usufruct, but it can come in handy to block a challenge to the Usufruct on the grounds of coersion (Grounds that any legal contract can be challenged).

In the preamble of your Will you might state something along the lines of 'I have previously given my husband a contract of Usufruct for my land and house .... complete details Chonote number etc.. to provide him with a secure home for the rest of his life. I have done so of my own free will and in recognition of my husband's loving commitment to our marriage and all that he has done for me and my family'.

This makes a clear statement that your reasons for giving the will and removes any chance that a challenge can be lodged on the grounds that you were coherced into signing over the Chanote.

[Edit].

Something you should perhaps consider is 'would your husband want to continue living there if you die before him. This is a question that should be asked if, for example, you are buying land or building a house in close proximity to your family.

Not so much that I doubt they are loving and kind people, but what if your husband was to later marry again? Would his new wife, or indeed he himself want to be surrounded by your family?

I think if you are living in close proximity to your family then lease. If you've bought elsewhere then consider Usufruct.

Edited November 10, 2006 by GuestHouse

[eljeque]

Among the many more complicated things that can be done, look into writing a specific power of attorney for the property and registering it at the land office.

This way, he can sell the property if.....

Now, as to whether or not your family could contest it and be successful, that is a question for a lawyer.

[emwobberlydee]

My wife has drawn up a legally binding document whereby in the event of her untimely death, the house and land will pass to our son (currently nine). It also states that I can remain living there for as long as I wish. Her main concern was with my son growing up and marrying a "black hearted woman" complete with nasty family accessories as oppose to her own family. Sounds a bit like a Thai Soap Opera script to me!

[guardian]

I think the OP should be read as follows:

Hi there!

My wife and I have just bought a piece of land in Thailand. Because I am an American and my wife's Thai so the land's title is under her name. We plan to build a house on the piece of land next year.

I understand that if she dies, the land will be hold immediately by her family. Therefore, my question is what I can do to secure or to protect my land from her family, in case she die before me. Well...I know her family is good, but who knows what gonna happen in the future.

I know the lease contract might be a good option, but it doesn't make sense to me. I have already paid for this picec of land, then I also have to pay for the rent, and she(actually me) has to pay tax from the rent income. It sounds silly to me.

Please give me your suggestions what I should do.

Thank you

TROLL!!!???!!!

[Jasmin rice]

Thank you all very much for your kind replies!

~~~Jasmin rice

And quite conversely, my Dear Guardian,

May I suggest that you MYOB, (that's mind your own business, if I'm going too fast for you), unless you have something constructive to add to the discussion. But, at least don't change the wording of my wife's original post to suit your own fancy.

BTW, FYI, *I* am the husband of Jasmin rice, to whom you so ungraciously attribute the "spam" and "troll" labels to, re the OP.

[Gary A]

I think MANY of us are in a similar situation. In my situation, if my wife should die before me, I sure wouldn't want to live in the house alone. For the first time in my life I am content and living out in the boonies, BUT, No way I could be content without her. I would be heading back to the farang ghettos. I am always quite amazed by farangs who spend a lot of time and money trying to protect their investment. If they really think about it, they wouldn't want to stay there anyways. For those concerned about their investment, I think it would be best to try to set up something that would require the property to be sold with the proceeds going to the husband.

[dutch]

Guardian:your comment is useless.

Jasmin rice:

Very good to worry and think about it.

It happened to me 14 months ago.My wife died (was 10 years younger) unexpectedly.

I was lucky that my brother in law ( a lawyer) arranged all the paperwork to have the property in my son's name.My mother in law had to sign all kinds of paper,which she did.

Continue to follow the several good advises and ignore people like guardian

[Pink Mist]

I too am in a similar situation, keep the good advice coming and guardian keep the crap posts to other forums.

[guardian]

Ok, I apologize for offending all here, but it was the OP's first post, so I was suspicious about the motives.

[Pink Mist]

forgiven mate, but remember some posts might look trollish at first, you gotta look at the big picture

[guardian]

forgiven mate, but remember some posts might look trollish at first, you gotta look at the big picture

And hope that the OP gets all the useful info she's looking for.

[smilingjim]

Hi there!

My husband and I have just bought a piece of land in Thailand. Because my husband is American and I'm Thai so the land's title is under my name. We plan to build a house on the piece of land next year.

I understand that if I die, the land will be hold immediately by my family. Therefore, my question is what I can do to secure or to protect my husband from being kicked out by my family, in case I die before him. Well...I know my family is good, but who knows what gonna happen in the future.

I know the lease contract might be a good option, but it doesn't make sense to me. My husband has already paid for this picec of land, then he has to pay for the rent, and I(actually he) has to pay tax from the rent income. It sounds silly to me.

Please give me your suggestions what I and my husband should do.

Thank you

Follow all the good advice given here about the land but why not get your husband to take out some life insurance on you so that in the event that you die unexpectedly before him he will have enough to start a new life without all the worries/uncertaintly about the land. Better still take out a joint-life policy payable on the first death and you're both covered. It is relatively inexpensive for simple life insurance.

Just one thought on the land - as he's American can he still have an Amity Treaty Company with 100% ownership of the land? Not sure if this can still be done - I'm sure Sunbelt would tell you.

[Jasmin rice]

Thank you so much everyone for all of your interest & advice.

Dear GuestHouse:

Your information is very useful. I'm interested in a Usufruct but I don't know much about it. However, "Lannarebirth" has given me a link of the Usufruct and I'm going to spend time to read it.

Dear GaryA & Smilingjim

I think perhaps you might have misunderstood the intent of my original question. My husband is not so conserned about securing his financial investment as he is about ensuring the continuation of his residence in the location that he has come to love and has invested so much of his time and energy in.

Dear Guardian

I've forgiven you. But I'm just curious that why you can't tell the post posted by non native speaker.