Reader question: Married to a Thai house in Thailand

Engage a lawyer with civil-law notary powers, do take one in the area where you live
and with demonstrable experience in these matters and who is on your side
so find yourself

When purchasing, have your wife sign an IOU for the full amount. Also have usufruct (usufruct) noted on the chanote, that you can continue to live in the house as long as you live.

Please contact my American friend and lawyer, Khun Pan, 0898977980. He has Thai nationality in addition to American nationality. nationality. He is called a law firm in Ayutthaya and is 100% reliable. And important, experience in similar cases.

If you buy a house in the name of your Thai wife, you must sign a form at the land office that the money used for this is your wife's. This is to prevent you from submitting a claim in the event of a divorce.
You can have a usufruct added to the chanote in your name at the land office. This gives you the right to the usufruct (30 years or lifelong) if your wife dies. If your wife dies, you become the owner, but you will have to sell the house within a year, because of the usufruct you can continue to live there, but who will buy in this case. So it is better that your wife makes a will and leaves it to one or better several relatives. The intention is that they do not sell it as long as you live.
Any agreement entered into after the marriage can also be dissolved, including the usufruct. So in case of a divorce and it is dissolved by your wife, it is of no value.
A usufruct should be possible at every country office, but there are offices where it is for Thai only. So first inquire whether this is possible at the relevant country office.

A complicated question. What matters is how you are married. Really registered at amphur or married at Thai embassy or consulate? If so, then you are legally married and then a distinction is made between assets before and during the marriage. If you buy something in Thailand within the marriage, it is 50/50 property, unless you can prove that the money was yours before the marriage and it was declared on import. In the latter case you are the owner, but it may lead to legal wrangling.

Foreigners cannot own land in Thailand. There are three options:
1st. You buy an apartment in a Freehold construction and the property falls into the community of property, unless the money from the purchase price comes from you before the marriage and has been entered correctly.
2nd. Your partner or another Thai buys land and you conclude a 30-year leasehold contract with a side letter in which the contract partners solemnly promise to extend the lease after 30 years. You can write off the money you provided because even with proof that the money was yours, you can never acquire ownership of the land and with it the building. In the event of a dispute in the event of a divorce or the death of a partner, you will probably get the short end of the stick.
3rd. You buy a house in a company. Depending on when the Ltd was founded, there must be three shareholders and the Thai shareholders must own a minimum of 51%. Due to different voting priorities, the foreign shareholder can acquire approximately 90% voting rights. Often the shares of the foreign shareholder have 10 votes per share and the Thai one vote per share. With a share transfer form pre-filled by the Thais, you get the greatest grip on ownership. Here, too, proof of pre-marriage money possession and correct importation are crucial, otherwise the company will still fall under the community of property. In the event of a divorce or death of the partner, you have full control over the property, because the sale of the company must be decided in the shareholders' meeting, in which you own 90% of the shares.

Dear Paul,

We also just bought a new house and we moved in on January 1st.

I've been coming to Thailand for a long time and I've already lost a house, but you learn.

My girlfriend is the owner, you have no rights yourself, all good advice from others.

If she wants to kick you out, she calls family, who come to sleep in the house, even in the bathroom
and make your life so miserable that you will leave.

So, just a house, if she takes out a mortgage and I pay the interest + principal.
At the bank she received 90% for a new house or 60% for an older house. (with art and flying work)
But the Government Housing Bank is willing to lend up to 2 million reasonable without many guarantees.
You have to cough up more yourself.

I learned 2 important things in Thailand;
Never lend money, give it for free, in exchange for making it work (anything) and preferably in parts, for example; 4 x 5000 Baht.
and make a Thai financially dependent on you. If I leave, she'll never be able to afford her house.
A home of her own is just as important as her own child.

Greetings