I think we are both lucky with our decision. I am currently paying for the land though I consider it a joint venture because he spends most of our cost of living here in Japan. Anything can happen between now and the time when we make the big move to build our retirement house. If I die before that, what choice will he have? So I think it's best for him to keep his money (for now). I also asked his opinion about the fact that when we die, everything goes to my Filipino daughter. He says it doesn't bother him. The same is true with my Japanese daughters. They're not jealous with their half sister at all.
We only have the one Daughter here, I want everything to go to her! I have 6 kids in Oz but they have no right to ownership here nor are they interested as they are all adults with their own families/lives. But I DO NEED to go to an Attorney here who deals in Wills regards Death/Land/Property etc so that we can make sure our hard earnt investment goes to she who deserves it, not everyone else who will mooch in.
I believe you really won't have a choice. The parents will be legally entitled to a percentage of any property your wife owns if they choose to take it court. I'm not sure that they can be written out of any will legally. If the above is correct what I would do is have the wife sell the land in its entirety to the daughter prior to her death. (And I wouldn't tell the family a d*mn thing about it so they get their hopes up for some free land only have those hopes and dreams crushed, maybe they would even some wasted money on lawyer fees.) Of course sometimes unexpected deaths happen.
Ok but it avoids little if it is done within 5 years before her death. Read this section "B. Property previously taxed (Vanishing Deduction) (Section 86(2) of the NIRC as amended by Republic Act No. 8424)" of this link https://www.bir.gov.ph/index.php/tax-information/estate-tax.html It is about estate tax but I remember reading that the same applies to inheritance rights.
don't get me wrong about my remark, I wouldn't consider this as bad behaviour, it's just normal here in our little paradise to make some extra business for some extra money from us, nobody gets hurt and it should have also no negative consequences for a relationship in love and harmony at least, sometimes you pay more, sometimes less, that's life. just don't loose control in business things.
When you say nobody gets hurt, are you referring to the comment that you made here "even she will add secretly a million or anything to the original sales price, for her own commission and the benefit of the family"? I would say that many people are getting hurt in that. The buyer is losing money that will eventually come out of what he has left to spend every month. The seller is losing as he would have got more money if he had negotiated direct with the buyer and both would be happier. The wife is losing the trust of her husband if he ever finds out. Who knows, that extra million pesos may be the foreigner's last savings and then he ends up in hospital with no way to pay. That said, I will agree that no one gets hurt when any individual acts as a referring agent for an agreed upon amount or commission and is not sneakily trying to get rich at the expense of someone else. For example it is common to get one month's rent if you find a tenant for someone who owns property and they end up signing a one year lease. No one is hurt there. If a real estate agent charges 5% of the transaction and its known up front then no one is hurt. Lawyers will charge that too for simply drawing up some paperwork.
basically I agree with your point of view, but at least, it is a moralistic point of view, imported from the western world. here, in south east asia, the rules are a little bit different. more than 50% of the population considers itself as poor, governments are corroded by coruption, that means "money rules" - which is also a common saying here in the philippines. one of the easiest ways to make some cash is dealing with us, the foreigners, searching for luck and love (and property), carrying a big wallet around. I find it not surprising that even your wife/gf tries to get a (secret) benefit from you, specially when you know that her family will always be the nr. 1 in her life and nobody else, even if you look like Brad Pitt and have money like George Soros - and I do not whine about that, I do not critizise that, for me tbis is simply a fact, a reality I have to deal with in a country full of poor people, greedy for money. so I try to take things in my own hand instead of relying on others, specially when it comes to big deals like buying property. be careful, watch closely, that's all I say. and if, like in your example, the foreigner is buying whatever and has no money anymore for the hospital, I would recommend him to be triple careful here or better try his luck in another place.
Building and selling property in and around Dumaguete has been my business for the last 12 years now. I am a Carpenter and Joiner owner builder from auss. I sold my house and everything I owned in Aust and invested here. And it paid off. As a investor in Philippines Immigration granted me a Quota visa as I am not married to a Filipina. I have built 4 properties each over 500 sqm buildings. I am now finishing the 5th construction a 950 sqm 2 story town houses in Piapi behind Marina Spacial. All the properties the land has been in a Filipino's name and the building in my name. This last project I am living in one of the townhouses as I complete the last unit. the units completed are all rented out. Dumaguete has been good to me as a investor, I took a gamble and made it work.
So far I am the one vote for the stranger walking up. It isn't a house purchase, but the land to build one. (My Filipino spouse, of course, will be the owner.) I had my car right there and free time, so I said sure I would like to see it (since it was in an area: Sagbang, Valencia) where we are interested anyway. He grabbed his friend (who I think is a relative) who "owned" the property and up the mountain we went. All of her (the owner) land was pretty much vertical, and I expressed no interest, so she pointed across the way from her vertical site to a beautiful 1.5 hectare grassy meadow much of which sat on top of a hill and was more-or-less horizontal. She said: "My cousins own that and it's also for sale." The deal is still pending, but we hired a respected real estate attorney in Dumaguete who is taking us through the (frustrating, daunting, mind-boggling, time-consuming) process. So, with a lawyer to make sure all the details are ironed out, I am happy that the stranger walked up to me. Our criteria to close will be getting a clean, unencumbered title for the lot and the right-of-way. Absent that, we will walk away from the deal.
