Buying land

[i am bob]

I too am divorced and was required to relinquish my house to the ex for $1...  Which she never did pay me...  Does that mean she had to give me half of what she did it for..?  Lol!

When I marry again, I will buy a house for my asawa...  Right after we tour all of the Philippines, some select locations in Asia, Canada, and a few other places...  And, as we have agreed to taking on no debt, that means saving the money for land and construction...  Did I mention I keep my savings on my bank in Canada..?  And, no...  I don't believe in joint accounts...  

[jpbago]

11 hours ago, Reboot said:

she's out of my hair for good.

Is that you in the post picture?

[bigpearl]

Very interesting post with some good insights. I too lost 70% of every thing over 10 years ago after 22 years of marriage, 2 children so involved hefty financial support until they became adults, now 27 and 20. It has taken those 10 years to get my finances back to where they were back then, enough for retirement, getting too old to do it again so I am very  wary of doing it again.

I have a Pinoy partner, (we are Gay) been together for 5 years, living and working in Australia. Our relationship is recognised in Australia but apparently not legally so here in the Philippines. I have contacted 2 law firms in Manila with regards to this and leasing land purchased in my partners name from him. Simply put they had no idea but if we left them with a retainer they would investigate. No thanks. We do hope to find the answer to this interesting question, my better half fully appreciates why I want to do this, to protect my butt if things go sour, he gets the property in the end anyway, it will be in his name.

We are in San Juan La union now and I am not going to bother asking for local advice as these are provincial towns and I am sure all the good attorneys are in the cities. (if any of them are any good that is)

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

Cheers, Steve.

[Snowy79]

Hi Steve. There's the option of the land being in your partners name with you leasing it for a maximum of 50yrs. You can get it written into the title that you have paid up front for the rent and in the event of the lease being terminated or the land sold you will be compensated from the sale for outstanding rent.

[bigpearl]

21 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

Hi Steve. There's the option of the land being in your partners name with you leasing it for a maximum of 50yrs. You can get it written into the title that you have paid up front for the rent and in the event of the lease being terminated or the land sold you will be compensated from the sale for outstanding rent.

Hi Snowy, that sounds very simple and hope that is the easy answer, ideal but doubt its simplicity very much in this country but your views give hope. As said we will try to find a mouth piece who is au fait with our circumstance and lease law,,,,,,, a tall order it seems.

Problems that spring to mind are things like, what happens with regards to me leasing from a my better half who, in the eyes of the law here don't acknowledge our relationship and as far as they are concerned he is just some dude I am leasing from but say in 5, 10, 15 years the law changes, where would that leave us? Hopefully as it would predate the new law no problems, fingers crossed. 

If things went sour in our relationship I don't want to end up on the receiving end of Filipino "family" law to obtain the property so there would have to be clauses written into the lease at that level so I don't end up 6 feet under, and the list goes on.

Thanks for your words Snowy.

Cheers, Steve.

[Gary D]

The big problem in the Philippines is even if you win in the courts they just turn round shrug and say I've got no money so you loose anyway.

[bigpearl]

10 minutes ago, Gary D said:

The big problem in the Philippines is even if you win in the courts they just turn round shrug and say I've got no money so you loose anyway.

Hi Gary, nice to see a familiar face. 

I'm trying not to be too cynical here when it comes to the judicial system and outcomes as I am well aware the odds are stacked some what against me/us, Bias? Yep, Immoral? Yep but that's the system. What I am trying to achieve is a legally sound way to protect my interests for the next 30 years here as when I put down roots here I hope not to move again, ultimately it will be my partner who gets every thing anyway.

As stated by Snowy it's really down to finding the attorney that knows this caper inside out. Possibly adding clauses into the lease like: If I am murdered or die of unnatural causes etc. etc. The lease is handed to a person named and not necessarily my partner, the owner of the property. After 30 years? Doubt very much if I will live that long.

Cheers, Steve.

[Jack Peterson]

2 hours ago, Snowy79 said:

There's the option of the land being in your partners name with you leasing it for a maximum of 50yrs.

As long as you are not married of course 

[Gary D]

37 minutes ago, bigpearl said:

Hi Gary, nice to see a familiar face. 

I'm trying not to be too cynical here when it comes to the judicial system and outcomes as I am well aware the odds are stacked some what against me/us, Bias? Yep, Immoral? Yep but that's the system. What I am trying to achieve is a legally sound way to protect my interests for the next 30 years here as when I put down roots here I hope not to move again, ultimately it will be my partner who gets every thing anyway.

As stated by Snowy it's really down to finding the attorney that knows this caper inside out. Possibly adding clauses into the lease like: If I am murdered or die of unnatural causes etc. etc. The lease is handed to a person named and not necessarily my partner, the owner of the property. After 30 years? Doubt very much if I will live that long.

Cheers, Steve.

Hi Steve,

The biggest problem is finding an attorney that doesn't just tell you what you want to hear, not uncommon. There is no recourse to sue an attorney for false information in the Philippines like most western countries.

[bigpearl]

5 minutes ago, Gary D said:

Hi Steve,

The biggest problem is finding an attorney that doesn't just tell you what you want to hear, not uncommon. There is no recourse to sue an attorney for false information in the Philippines like most western countries.

I could be hit by a bus tomorrow too. As another member said "due diligence", do your home work and if you don't like don't buy. I hear what you say very clearly as lawyers are the same all over the world, not just here. Not sure about ones ability to sue a lawyer here but as pointed out earlier in this thread they can be taken to court and be held accountable.

Cheers, Steve.