House registration documents.

[Tofer]

I keep hearing reference to yellow and blue books related to residences. I gather the yellow book is the Tabien Baan, what is the blue book, and do you need a marriage visa to be registered on them?

 

We are currently building our new home and so have not bothered to investigate these for our temporary rental home as we simply put everything in my wife's name. I have no qualms about that other than if something should happen to my wife, and I'm left at the mercy of the family. It is after all joint wealth from our property business in UK which we built up together. I doubt a will would make any difference to my rights or, more to the point, lack thereof.

The land office insisted I was 'recognised' as the financier of the land, with a very derogatory remark that they wanted to know she'd not stolen the money from me! I don't believe that will count for anything if I'm widowed in terms of rights of ownership. I am only concerned about retaining my home, driving licence, car, motorbike etc. 

 

I am aware of the leasehold and company options but wondered if these books had any bearing on the situation.

 

 

[happylarry]

The blue book is the tabien baan and is the house registration book and every Thai person in the country has to be registered on a blue book somewhere, but you cannot be registered on it, even though you are married.

The yellow book is just a registration book that is available for a farang to aquire and to be honest although I went through a lot of trouble to get mine I really wonder why because it has never been useful to me, it is really just a proof of residence and that is actually the only use because you can use it instead of going to immigration to get a proof of residency letter.

In the case of your wife's death the will makes every difference. If your wife leaves the house to you in her will then you are legally given one year to sell it or put it into another Thai persons name. If you are worried about her family then you need to get a usufruct on the property which will protect your rights and allow you to live in the house for the rest of your life.

HL

 

[blackcab]

"The land office insisted I was 'recognised' as the financier of the land, with a very derogatory remark that they wanted to know she'd not stolen the money from me!"

 

Actually, the document you signed says completely the opposite, namely that you acknowledge that you have zero financial interest in the land and that the land is solely the property of your wife, and that the land was purchased soley from her own funds.

 

This document is standard for almost all land purchases where the spouse is a non-Thai as it satisfies the criteria that non-Thais cannot own land.

 

I've signed a few of these for my wife in the past.

[Tofer]

5 hours ago, blackcab said:

"The land office insisted I was 'recognised' as the financier of the land, with a very derogatory remark that they wanted to know she'd not stolen the money from me!"

 

Actually, the document you signed says completely the opposite, namely that you acknowledge that you have zero financial interest in the land and that the land is solely the property of your wife, and that the land was purchased soley from her own funds.

 

This document is standard for almost all land purchases where the spouse is a non-Thai as it satisfies the criteria that non-Thais cannot own land.

 

I've signed a few of these for my wife in the past.

Thanks. I understood that bit at the time but they still insisted I submit a signed copy of my passport and he scribbled something in the file. I didn't understand why, or the derogatory remark, as I had already signed to acknowledge my wife's outright ownership. It's usually farang condo / villa salesmen who offend with such comments advising how I can protect myself from my wife. 

 

What they didn't realise was that it was our money, not mine, she worked just as hard side by side with me to build up and manage our property portfolio in UK, alongside looking after me like a prince. She owns half of everything by rights and by law in UK.

 

As Happy Larry says, just need to get a usufruct to ensure the family doesn't move in should anything happen to my wife, and a will.