Laws relating to Property for a Foreign Spouse to know while marrying a Thai Citizen

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Laws relating to Property for a Foreign Spouse to know while marrying a Thai Citizen
Laws relating to Property for a Foreign Spouse to know while marrying a Thai Citizen

Laws relating to Property for a Foreign Spouse to know while marrying a Thai Citizen

 

If you are a foreign citizen and you marry a Thai citizen, and both the parties to the marriage agree that all of your marital assets will be split 50:50 and designated as such, the Thai Government has found a way under which, even post marriage, part of this agreement can be completely excluded. 
This does not relate to the well-known exclusion of land, but to condominiums. Condominiums are much heralded as generally being available and favorable for foreign investment. Unfortunately, this is not always so. For this, you need to apply at various banks.

And at this point, some banks may come to conditions like:

  • one had to take out a loan for furnishing the condominium
  • one had to take out the hefty insurance premium through the bank’s ‘preferred’ insurer
  • the loan had to be taken out by one’s wife because “she is Thai and you are a foreigner”

Notwithstanding this, one is still expected to sign all the loan documentation and be involved.
At times, you may be asked to sign a ‘declaration of Sin Suan Tua’ (personal property) stating that you have already made  the agreement with your wife when you got married. Also Sin Suan Tua is by definition supposed to apply to all matters before marriage. Actually this is a way to exclude a marital asset from the marriage and adjust the entire concept of Sin Suan Tua.

The Land Department insists that a foreigner must declare that a condominium belongs entirely to his/her spouse and that he or she (the foreigner) has absolutely no rights or interest in such condominium unless:

  • He/she pays for the unit and obtains a Foreign Exchange Transaction form – an impossibility if the monies are loaned in Thailand
  • He/she has Permanent Residency – and many long term expatriates know how long and difficult
  • He/she is permitted to enter Thailand under the ‘Investment Promotion Act’ – which is very rare.

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