If you had been offered a direct exchange offer of a 30 odd ping brand new apartment in Taipei County, valued between $NT4.5m - $NT6.5m, to be given to and transferred into your name in direct exchange for the educating/fostering an apartment developer’s 6 month old child until that child, let’s call him Little Joe, turns 21 years of age.
Open returning to your home country, you’d be responsible for all of Little Joe’s wellbeing, see education, medical, living. Each year during holiday times, Summer/Winter Taiwan vacations and more often than not, Christmas, Joe would travel overseas to see you, his foreign “Uncle”. You would be in care of Joe abroad and be expected to treat him no differently to your son/daughter.
The apartment is for you, it’s given to you when you sign the deal. So assuming you’re still living in Taiwan for another 3 years, you’d have 3 years rent free. Upon returning home you could then rent your Taiwan apartment out to whoever you see fit.
Well, in that case (since you’ve added detail), I guess I’d have to decide how well I know and like the family. It would be easier if the kid were 5 or 6 and I knew whether he was going to be an impossible brat or a reasonably well-behaved and likable child. Besides, you’ll have to deal with these people for 20 more years, so it’s an extremely personal decision. You’ll have to live with this child for, what, two months or so every year? Who pays his expenses – what if he gets injured or sick while visiting? If the mainland invades, do you get to keep the kid indefinitely??
A Taiwanese friend tells me that real-estate values are dropping in Taiwan, and she expects to have to move to the mainland in a couple of years to keep her job (which makes it seem odd to me that she’s buying a place). Not to mention the geopolitical risks. So IMHO the financial aspects in this deal have to be a distant second to your personal relationship with the family and child.
[quote=“MaPoDoFu”]…IMHO the financial aspects in this deal have to be a distant second to your personal relationship with the family and child.[/quote]I agree. The arrangement would involve a high degree of involvement with not only the child but also his family, for a long time.
If you have known the family for several years and they are close personal friends, then perhaps it’s worth further consideration.