Owning Real-Estate in Thai Spouse’s Name: Part II
In the first part of this article, if you are foreigner who got or plan to marry with Thai people and then will look for immovable property like a house or land, you might know more about the law concern buying and owning real estate in Thailand. While there are ways to buy and own your own immovable property in Thailand when you got married to Thai people, this is not easy to do since there are laws and acts that are issued aim to protect rights to own the land and building structure in Thailand for Thai national.
Once you buy real estate in Thailand such as house, ownership or co-ownership of the house must be registered at the Land Department. While it is not possible to also register a usufruct in case of co-ownership over the building, a Right of Superficies (the registered right to own a building upon someone else’s land) is possible in case of undeveloped land.
In section 1469 of the Civil and Commercial Code, the right to avoid any agreement between husband and wife entered into during marriage will have partly effect on registered real rights like the right of usufruct as long as it is real estate registered on the title deed at the Land Department (usufruct grants the use and possession of an immovable property to another person). In order to cancel the usufruct agreement, therefore making registered real rights an acceptable protection for a foreign spouse, the Thai spouse would need a Court order. Although the usufruct could be avoided or canceled in Court in a divorce, but in this case, the land (or value) will not per definition be allocated to the Thai spouse.
How If Buying Land In Thai Girlfriend’s Name?
While you, as a foreigner, must show ‘letter of confirmation’ state that the money expended on the land is personal property of your Thai spouse when want to own real estate in Thailand, the Land Department does not require proof that the money expended on the property is personal property of the Thai national if you buy land in your Thai girlfriend’s or your friend’s name. The reason that why ‘letter of confirmation’ is required by the Land Department in case foreigners married to Thai people is simple. They just want to prevent the land to become a joint matrimonial property between husband and wife, which would not be allowed under the Land Code Act. But this is not the case in case you have Thai girlfriend. You may loan the money for the property to your girlfriend or she may accept the land as a gift. Under the Land Code Act, it is not allowed when the Thai national is ‘acting as the nominee owner or agent on behalf of the foreigner’. As this would not be allowed under the Thailand Land Code Act, on registration, the Land Office could require proof from the Thai national that he or she is not acting as a nominee owner or agent on behalf of a foreign buyer.
Related Posts
- Owning Real-Estate in Thai Spouse’s Name: Part I
- Legal Information for Ones Considering Buying Property in Thailand
- How to Own Land in Thailand?
- Real Estate Attorney’s Roles
- Helpful Guide to Find Out a Good Real Estate Attorney
Tags: case, co ownership, Code, Department, estate, foreign spouse, foreigner, Girlfriend, husband and wife, immovable property, land, letter of confirmation, property, spouse, Thai, thai girlfriend, Thailand, title deed, undeveloped land, Usufruct