I thought you weren’t allowed to build houses on farmland…
you sure do you want live here if you think Taiwan its, 3rd world rock.
After 2 years of ownership you can apply for a permit to build a house. I forgot the law, but the size of the house can only be a certain percentage of the farmland size. Also, if you buy a nice piece of farmland that already has an old shitty brick farm house that’s falling apart, you can rebuild and/or remodel it without problems. Lastly, 10k ping of land is fairly large. Have a bunch of trees, build a winding road into the middle and do whatever you want because no one else can see what you’re doing! Oh, a 3 meter tall wall around the property is also really good for this, too.
I don’t want to live here. The wife does. And it IS 3rd world. So, I’ve created my own private world away from the nightmare that is Taiwan.
Does any have any idea. .
If I’m married to a Taiwanese wife but have a house in Melbourne. But we live in taiwan. And I had the money to buy it before we married. But brought it within our marriage.
In taiwan law does she have any claim on it if we spit up .
Cheers
Mike
Sorry Mike, I don’t know about that, but I guess it would depend on if the Australian government respected a Taiwan judge’s ruling in your wife’s favor. I doubt that any Australian court would give a toss about what the Taiwan legal system decrees. But, you never know. I think your biggest worry would be that your wife would go to an Australian court and sue for half of the assets if you don’t have a prenuptial agreement in place. Is Australia a community property commonwealth of the UK? Would an Australian court award your wife half of the assets acquired during the marriage? What are the relevant laws there? I’d be interested to know.
I can tell you about my situation. I’m safe.
BEFORE I married my wife, I had her sign a prenuptial agreement in the US regarding all my US assets to include real estate, personal property, investments, retirement benefits, savings, etc. If we are to divorce for any reason, regardless of whose fault it is, she doesn’t get jack squat. Nothing. No alimony, no property, no investments, no nada. The only thing she gets in the event of divorce is her own personal property. As for our assets in Taiwan, if we get divorced, she can have it all and choke on it. I’d walk away and leave it all behind. No problem.
We just had our 23rd wedding anniversary last week and divorce doesn’t look likely, BUT, you never know. I’m a cynical old man whose been burned before, so I take nothing for granted. One day at a time. Year after year, I somehow manage to gut out living here. Of course, I return to the US 4 months out of the year to re-charge and steel myself for another 8 months of living in Taiwan.
Cheers buddy
I like yilan . I’m going take alike this July .
Why not just move the whole operation Stateside?
The wife wants to be in Taiwan near her mother who is getting on in years. I offered to bring her mother to the US, but her mother wants to stay in Taiwan. So, I just have to suck it up and do the best I can. At least I’m not longer stuck somewhere in the Middle East or Africa!
Whenever I really feel down about being here in Taiwan, I just think about Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Indonesia, India, or any of the myriad ****holes in Africa like Somalia! Taiwan looks pretty good then. Personal perspective and past experiences are very valuable.
today is because the mother, tomorrow is because the tofu , joke!
Although you might have joint ownership of the assets now, after your wife passes away the assets are split after which you do not have joint ownership anymore.
I am unsure why this concept is so hard to fathom, and why you continue insisting it is your stuff when in fact you loose ownership when the assets are split.
Could be added to the above, if the assets were not split at the time of death, what would happen when you die is that your family(assuming you dont have kids) would inherit both your and her assets. Why is that more fair than her family getting half as well?
Hope you are not a divorce lawyer. 
You are correct that Morran is (or was) attributing something to American (common) law that he shouldn’t, but that doesn’t matter in Taiwan, and he is correct that this is not a uniquely Taiwanese (or Chinese or even Confucian) phenomenon, as forced heirship is also found in other parts of the world such as mainland Europe. That Taiwan falls into this category instead of following the Anglo-American tradition should be no surprise, considering the cultural context (Confucianism etc.).
Because family.
(There are certain crimes for which you can disinherit a relative. You can also sever the legal relationship with non-blood relatives through divorce. Other than that, afaik you have no recourse in Taiwan.)
No, again, it’s part of the culture of filial piety. It’s something people grow up knowing and therefore take for granted. If you think the culture is selfish and greedy, that’s a cultural/philosophical issue rather than a legal one.
Hm… that might be the case, but it’s another reason to not get married before nailing down the property issue/will first.
her family still has a right to 1/4, 1/6, or 1/9.
Does the living spouse have right to stay in the family home (even though the only owns half of it) until death ? This is pretty common in Europe
If there was a WILL stating the other partner gets everything, can his or her parents still make a claim to their 25%