My wife dies - my child and I can stay on land and house??

[glegolo]

I would really love to get it confirmed that this is correct that I have heard... Let me paint a scenario... I am married and I have a child together with my wife. I am here on an extension of stay based on marriage to this thai-lady.

 

Suddenly she dies, do I lose everything besides losing my wife. I mean do I lose house, and land, and what happens to my kid and myself. Can I stay on the property.. I have a yellow housebook mentioning me, and in the other house book is my son mentioning. So we can prove that we both live here.

 

In what way can i stay? What happens to me extension of stay??? Can I continue with that even though my wife is dead???

Plse guys, give me your knowledge..

 

Glegolo

Edited November 8, 2016 by glegolo

[meatboy]

not sure how it works with a child,but we had wills drawn up stipulating that if the wife was to pass away before me i STAY in the house.

i did see somewhere without a will the house must be sold in a certain time.

 

[glegolo]

OK but what happens to my lovely extension of stay?? is it being cancelled? I have heard that it will be untouched if I can prove I live in the house with my son???

 

Glegol

[meatboy]

3 minutes ago, glegolo said:

OK but what happens to my lovely extension of stay?? is it being cancelled? I have heard that it will be untouched if I can prove I live in the house with my son???

 

Glegol

you should be ok.as you are or will be the sole gardian of your child.i think its a different extension to mariage or retirerment.

[ubonjoe]

2 minutes ago, glegolo said:

OK but what happens to my lovely extension of stay?? is it being cancelled? I have heard that it will be untouched if I can prove I live in the house with my son???

 

Glegol

You extension would not be canceled. You would have until your current extension ends to change the reason for your extension. In your case you would be able to apply for an extension based upon being the parent of a Thai instead of marriage.

[GarryP]

If your son is Thai, your extension of stay could be based on supporting your son. As to property, I have no idea. When my wife died, the house was already in my son's name. 

 

Confirm what Ubonjoe says. My extension remained in force, although a few immigration officers didn't know that and gave me a scare of my life claiming that I was on several months overstay. I changed my extension to be based on work instead of marriage.

Edited November 8, 2016 by GarryP

[Pib]

As for the ability to stay in Thailand, ubonjoe's post answered that.  

 

As for the ability to stay in the property that will be purely up to whoever owns the property after the probate process ends (would probably take a few months).   Although control of the property  would stay with you as the farang spouse for a short period, under Thai law a farang basically can not own land, therefore, you would have 1 year to sell or transfer the land to a Thai....or maybe under the probate process the land would be  transferred to your son assuming the son has Thai citizenship.    Or did the wife possibly have a Will which says upon her death the land would pass to XYZ....maybe another child if she had other children from a previous relationship, etc. The probate process is really a completely separate issue from the ability to stay in Thailand determination.

 

The ability to stay in Thailand (the visa/extension of stay process) and the death probate process (who gets what) are really two separate issues.

[wayned]

If the land is in your wife's name and there is no will or outstanding loan in her name it can be transferred into your son's name if none of her relatives (sisters, brothers, father, mother) contest the transfer. At the time that the transfer is registered, for your protection, you could also register a 30 year lease at the land office allowing you to live there.

 

If it is in your wife's name and there is and outstanding loan, the bank that has the loan will possess the land documents and the balance of the loan must be paid off before they release the documents for transfer.

 

If there is some concern that the transfer will be contested you can petition the court to appoint you as the executor of her estate and you will be granted access to her property which includes not only the land but car, trucks, motorcycles and other property in her name.  You have 1 year to dispose of the land but you can not own it otherwise the government can sell it.

 

My wife died suddenly at the age of 50 1.5 years ago and I petitioned the court to name both me and my step son to be named executors of her estate and it was granted.  Since her son is Thai it seems that the one year requirement has gone away.  I still live in the house and farm the land and we have not yet transferred the land into his name but all seems to be working.

 

I'm not sure what meatboy said about their being a will allowing him to stay in the house is valid unless the same will designates who the house will be transferred to.

 

Been there and am doing it although unwillingly!

 

I was on a retirement extension so that wasn't a problem but what was said above about marriage extensions also my understanding!

 

Best to draw up a will to protect all concerned!

 

 

[glegolo]

Thank you guys for your input, now i feel much more secure.... great answers...

 

Glegolo

[meatboy]

to answer wayned,the wills that my wife and i had drawn up,she has stipulated that the house goes to her sister on the understanding that i be able to live there till i go and our beloved sam also.

[hgma]

Good question.

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, glegolo said:

Thank you guys for your input, now i feel much more secure.... great answers...

 

Glegolo

 

I believe Thai inheritance law works quiet differently to others in that if someone dies intestate any surviving parents or siblings are entitled to a share of the assets along with the deceased's children and spouse. If you have relations like this, the lure of money may attempt them to pursue "their share". 

A will will stop that happening with your son named as benefactor.

[louse1953]

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

not sure how it works with a child,but we had wills drawn up stipulating that if the wife was to pass away before me i STAY in the house.

i did see somewhere without a will the house must be sold in a certain time.

 

You can't make a will that breaks the law.The house should be willed to your children and they can let you live there,maybe.

[louse1953]

3 hours ago, meatboy said:

to answer wayned,the wills that my wife and i had drawn up,she has stipulated that the house goes to her sister on the understanding that i be able to live there till i go and our beloved sam also.

Hope you get on with your sil.This will not stand up in law.

[inkorat]

my thoughts:

 

-  A life lease in your name (this also reduces the chance of sale and/or loans being applied) .

-  A will at the Amphur office where you and your child will jointly inherit the land (not probated). The rest of the assets go to you.

 

Note:  This is from 30+ years experience. This is not legal advice, please ask a lawyer for legal advise.

[stgrhe]

5 hours ago, meatboy said:

not sure how it works with a child,but we had wills drawn up stipulating that if the wife was to pass away before me i STAY in the house.

i did see somewhere without a will the house must be sold in a certain time.

 

A will doesn't guarantee your stay on the land, which presumably is registered in your wife's name. If the will grants you the house and land, you will only be a temporary owner of the land and it must be sold to a Thai citizen within six to twelve months. Only blood-line heirs, e.g. a son or a daughter who have changed citizenship, may own the land despite being a foreigner.

 

You can protect your posessary right through a duly registered land-lease, usufruct, superficies right, or habitation right. I sugest a usufruct or a superficies.

[stgrhe]

25 minutes ago, louse1953 said:

You can't make a will that breaks the law.The house should be willed to your children and they can let you live there,maybe.

This is not against the law but the law only permits a temparary ownership, which means that the land must be sold to a Thai whithin 12 months.

[globalance]

Glegolo.....my Thai wife died 6 years ago at age 40. We have two children together and we each have an additional Thai child. I went to the bank that held a mortgage on our house (only 600K on a 5 to 6MBT house) and that Government Housing Bank lawyer informed me that in Thailand, if a Thai wife dies.....then her foreigner husband is allowed to own that ONE HOUSE and up to 1 rai of land (1 rai = 40% of an acre). But that lawyer was soon after transfered and its taken years to finally get the name put into my name. Mostly because of bureaucratic nonsense. I went to the court 6 years ago and the judge granted me "executor of the estate" status....but the court put my name in only the Thai language. I insisted in having my name in English put on the house and land deed. Its finally happening within the next few days. They put my name in Thai on the deed but it stated that I was only the Executor or the Estate....and not the house owner. However, although its taken a lot of time, I will finally have the house and the land under the house in my name as an America citizen....in the next few days. Other lawyers I went to had never heard about this....so don't be discouraged if Thai lawyers tell you can't own land and or house in Thailand as a foreigner....that is simply not correct. Have someone, maybe an attorney, hunt through the land office legal statutes....and he'll find it. Remember, you cannot own more than one rai of land, or 1600 square meters of land. Good Luck! If I had it in digital form I would attach it...but I don't and we recently moved and leased out the house and I have no idea where those "land department" statutes are!!! Sorry!

[Toscano]

As I see it your biggest problem is your visa in respect of marriage ; which might require you to leave Thailand on the death of your wife .

Your wife would , I presume , leave the house and land to son or daughter .  My guess is that they wouldn't turn you out .

Another provision would be to have a lease on the house for say thirty years , so that in any case it would be your for the duration .

[ubonjoe]

4 minutes ago, Toscano said:

As I see it your biggest problem is your visa in respect of marriage ; which might require you to leave Thailand on the death of your wife .

He has an extension of stay not a visa.

As I wrote before his extension will remain valid until it expires and at that time he could apply for an extension based upon being the parent of a Thai.

[Generalchaos]

Wonder if anyone can add a little more detail regarding the change to the reason for extension of stay?

 

If I was to apply for an extension based on being the parent of a Thai child, is that extension limited in anyway by the age of the child, i.e. when the child legally becomes adult at 20 years of age, would I then no longer be able to extend as a parent?

 

Cheers

[ubonjoe]

9 minutes ago, Generalchaos said:

Wonder if anyone can add a little more detail regarding the change to the reason for extension of stay?

 

If I was to apply for an extension based on being the parent of a Thai child, is that extension limited in anyway by the age of the child, i.e. when the child legally becomes adult at 20 years of age, would I then no longer be able to extend as a parent?

 

Cheers

There is no age limit for getting the extension according the written rules.

There is even a line in the police order that if you are 50 or over you can be supported by your child.

[Generalchaos]

3 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

There is no age limit for getting the extension according the written rules.

There is even a line in the police order that if you are 50 or over you can be supported by your child.

Many thanks for that, looks like I can get the arsenic out tonight then!

[LivinLOS]

6 hours ago, meatboy said:

to answer wayned,the wills that my wife and i had drawn up,she has stipulated that the house goes to her sister on the understanding that i be able to live there till i go and our beloved sam also.

 

If you dont have some other legal backup to that, usufruct or superfecies etc registered with the land office. 

 

This will is worthless in a legal sense. The day its in her name, she has sole right to decide what to do with it. 

[Acharn]

I am not a lawyer, but I always understood the extension of visa was not for marriage, as such, but for "supporting a Thai national." I assume your child's birth was properly recorded so there is no question of the child's Thai citizenship. I assume your wife is the owner of the property, both land and house. In that case the child inherits the land and house, because you, as a foreigner cannot. You can inherit any movable property, such as bank accounts, car, furniture, but not land.  However you can continue to extend your stay based on providing financial support to your child, a Thai national. It would be wise to consult a lawyer and draw up wills for you and your wife. It will save you a lot of money to do so, because in the absence of a will you need to get written consent from every bother, sister, parent, aunt, uncle, and cousin to administer your wife's estate, as I learned when my wife passed away. It will also make sure there is no question of legal custody of the child.

[robblok]

10 hours ago, GarryP said:

If your son is Thai, your extension of stay could be based on supporting your son. As to property, I have no idea. When my wife died, the house was already in my son's name. 

 

Confirm what Ubonjoe says. My extension remained in force, although a few immigration officers didn't know that and gave me a scare of my life claiming that I was on several months overstay. I changed my extension to be based on work instead of marriage.

 

Its actually quite hard to cancel the extension of stay. When I divorced I wanted to cancel it and I could not. (wanted to have an elite visa). I had to leave the country they could not and would not cancel it. 

[akentryan]

Get a will made immediately leaving estate to child or children naming yourself as Executor.  In my case my lawyer wife, who was 20 years younger, died after a 9-day illness, without a will. I named her brother, a bank executive, as executor. I own 50% and I share equally with her mother and father in the other half. Meaning I own two-thirds. I do not know what having children does to the equation as we were childless. She had two houses plus  a car and 5 or bank accounts in her name.  An earlier post is spot on that it does not matter  what your relationship is with family members as greed will show its ugly face. I managed to get the Pattaya house in my wife's sister's name so I could continue to live there. My wife and I had always planned to leave this house to this sister anyway. Cost in excess of 1.4 million baht. Put the car in my name by paying one-third of the value. I received two-thirds of each bank account as they were closed. Things were further complicated when the father passed just before Christmas last year. Now I also have 11 siblings to contend with, all but 4 are greedy. They think the house in BKK is worth 3 million baht - I would part with it for 2.1 just to be done with it. I did go to the trouble and expense of having a will made leaving my interest to the sister. This is not a poor rural Isaan family. They are shrimp farmers from the south and own a lot of land but the older siblings are quite happy to pick my pockets.

 

[ellathai]

What about if your 2 children you had were born in Australia and had duel citizenship but still lived in Australia would the wife be able to will them the property and they  allowed you to stay there. Would that work?

[meatboy]

16 hours ago, louse1953 said:

You can't make a will that breaks the law.The house should be willed to your children and they can let you live there,maybe.

WHAT CHILDREN? AND WHO'S BREAKING THE LAW.

[meatboy]

14 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

 

If you dont have some other legal backup to that, usufruct or superfecies etc registered with the land office. 

 

This will is worthless in a legal sense. The day its in her name, she has sole right to decide what to do with it. 

i will have to check that the legality does what the will stipulates,i know my sister-inlaw had to sign a copy of the agreement,

she will inherit the land and the house,thats ok by me as all the wife's family have plenty of money anyway.AND I MEAN PLENTY.