Property Lawyer

**sityparamount** · 20-09-2009, 02:36 PM

I did search on here but did not find a name /number of a decent Lawyer.I am about to purchase a house for my gf and baby daughter in the gf name with a 30/30 year lease to me and or a mortgage where i lend the money to her ,as i guess i need a bit of protection .So i am looking for a reliable, non corrupt reasonably priced lawyer.Any help would be appreciated at this time of self inflcted stress.

**sityparamount** · 20-09-2009, 02:55 PM

Property Lawyer

**Norton** · 20-09-2009, 02:57 PM

What area of Thailand are you going to build?

**Mid** · 20-09-2009, 02:57 PM

and now for a message from one of our sponsors

err DD what's happen to the legal beagles button ?

**sityparamount** · 20-09-2009, 03:04 PM

Pattaya,im buying home not building one.

**guyinthailand** · 20-09-2009, 03:08 PM

Originally Posted by sityparamount

I did search on here but did not find a name /number of a decent Lawyer.I am about to purchase a house for my gf and baby daughter in the gf name with a 30/30 year lease to me and or a mortgage where i lend the money to her ,as i guess i need a bit of protection .So i am looking for a reliable, non corrupt reasonably priced lawyer.Any help would be appreciated at this time of self inflcted stress.

William White, Attorney
wfwlaw[at]aol.com
New ITF Tower, 17th Floor
140/36 Silom Road
Bangrak, Bangkok 10500
Thailand

02 231 6466

**taxexile** · 20-09-2009, 03:18 PM

William White

is he, and are other foreign lawyers working in thailand qualified in thai law, can they legally represent their clients in a thai courtroom ?

or do they just act as go betweens for their foreign customers and the qualified thai lawyers who prepare the documents ?

30/30

ive heard that this doesnt really exist, other than on bits of paper purporting to be legal contracts and the second 30 is not enforceable in thai law ????

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 04:14 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

William White

is he, and are other foreign lawyers working in thailand qualified in thai law, can they legally represent their clients in a thai courtroom ?

or do they just act as go betweens for their foreign customers and the qualified thai lawyers who prepare the documents ?

30/30

ive heard that this doesnt really exist, other than on bits of paper purporting to be legal contracts and the second 30 is not enforceable in thai law ????

Absolutely correct, the second 30 is not enforcable, it is entirely upto the land owner if he wishes to honour it. I have some other points too, if the land lease is in your name then it dies when you do, but not if the land owner dies. So if you die your girlfriend may have a problem.
The way I like is, take a loan against the property in your girlfriends name, then if you have to go then she has to service that loan, good security.
also, when the lease expires the land owner cannot just throw you off, an agreement has to be reached that is exceptable to both sides, if an agreement cannot be reached then one will be imposed by the courts.
Land leases are a standard document here, if I had a scanner I'd email you one, but any Thai lawyer will sell you one to look at for a few quid, they translate into simple English, cos that's where they came from. The document you sign will be drawn up by the land office for the 30 years, I don,t know how the land office views a document known to be not legal, they will see it when you register the lease and pay the tax, they will also keep a copy, and the lease will be entered on the land registry document, make sure the land has a red paper on it, not a green.

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 04:19 PM

Sorry, you can own the house but not the land. Put the whole lot in her name and take a loan on the whole jolly lot in her name, then you can walk if you want.
Try not to use your money, once it's in Thailand it's a bugger to get out.

**Norton** · 20-09-2009, 04:21 PM

Originally Posted by the dogcatcher

Land leases are a standard document here, if I had a scanner I'd email you one, but any Thai lawyer will sell you one to look at for a few quid, they translate into simple English, cos that's where they came from.

Sure are. There are plenty of lawyers in Patters who can do this. They do it all the time. You could have it done in Bangkok but better to have it done by a Pattaya lawyer since you are buying there.

Originally Posted by the dogcatcher

The way I like is, take a loan against the property in your girlfriends name, then if you have to go then she has to service that loan, good security.

Agree.

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 04:29 PM

another point, can a foriegn lawyer who is qualified in Thai law work here independently? Work permits and all that.

**chitown** · 20-09-2009, 04:32 PM

Originally Posted by the dogcatcher

another point, can a foriegn lawyer who is qualified in Thai law work here independently? Work permits and all that.

The court will not allow a farang to represent anyone in court. There are plenty of farangs that have legal advice businesses and mot employ Thai lawyers.

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 04:37 PM

So farang lawyers are no more than advisors that speak English and are probably working illegally?

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 04:39 PM

Time to go to the Ko San road and buy a law degree then.

**taxexile** · 20-09-2009, 05:17 PM

so it seems that all these farang so called "lawyers" specialising in property and the setting up leases and companies etc in samui, pattaya, phuket and hua hin are no more than glorified front office salesmen selling the services of (hopefully) fully qualified thai lawyers working the typewriters in the basement, and you had better hope that these thais in the basement are really qualified lawyers who know their stuff and are not just legal hangers on such as process servers, notaries and off duty policemen.

i think if i were purchasing or leasing any land here i would head straight to one of the well established foreign law firms in bangkok and give these cowboys a wide berth.

on another point, are contracts written in english legal here, and are contracts sent via e-mail legal.

**chitown** · 20-09-2009, 05:22 PM

I have yet to meet a Thai lawyer that I would consider qualified. It is a 4 year degree that I would guess is equal to or less than a paralegal certificate in the West.

Many are not licensed and never go to take the test they are supposed and have to run to a licensed lawyer to have him sign off on documents. They have to pay them for doing it which means the customer pays.

Really more of a paper pushers than a lawyer.

**good2bhappy** · 20-09-2009, 05:22 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

can they legally represent their clients in a thai courtroom ?

prohibited pofession

**good2bhappy** · 20-09-2009, 05:23 PM

Originally Posted by taxexile

so it seems that all these farang so called "lawyers" specialising in property and the setting up leases and companies etc in samui, pattaya, phuket and hua hin are no more than glorified front office salesmen selling the services of (hopefully) fully qualified thai lawyers working the typewriters in the basement, and you had better hope that these thais in the basement are really qualified lawyers who know their stuff and are not just legal hangers on such as process servers, notaries and off duty policemen.

caveat emptor

**the dogcatcher** · 20-09-2009, 05:26 PM

My land lease is in Thai, I had it translated and all ok. Email contracts, dunno don't they have to be witnessed and or signed at the land office. I do know that the farangs name has to be written in Thai though.

**AntRobertson** · 20-09-2009, 05:26 PM