Thailand usufruct.

Both foreigners and Thais can obtain a Thai usufruct for property in Thailand. A Thai usufruct can be of great advantage to the foreigner seeking to obtain property in Thailand because it will provide a large degree of insurance since under the Thai Civil and Commercial Code a foreigner is ineligible to own land (except in the case of Condos in Thailand ). Since a Thai usufruct is not ownership of land, but merely a right of use, the legal restrictions upon a foreigner in Thailand are greatly diminished.

In a general sense, Thai usufructs last for 30 years. However, a natural person, either foreign or Thai, has the right to a lifetime Thai usufruct as long as the Thai usufruct agreement stipulates as such. This is a great benefit to foreigners in Thailand because it means a person with a home in Thailand could live and enjoy the home and any land surrounding it for the whole of their natural lives. However, one downside to this is that, under provisions of Thai law, the Thai usufruct extinguishes at the end of the original Thai usufruct holder’s natural life.

Although a Thai usufruct extinguishes upon a person’s death in Thailand, there is an odd quirk to this rule: a lease of a usufruct can be obtained in Thailand and this Thai lease will remain valid even if the owner of the Thai usufruct who granted the Thai lease should die. This means that one can enact a lease on a lifetime usufruct (duly registered with the Thai land office), and that lease shall be binding upon the underlying property owner in Thailand regardless of the fact that the Thai usufruct has been extinguished upon the death of the lifetime Thai usufruct holder.