One of the “big things” that many prospective Philippine expats continually complain about regarding living in the Philippines are the property laws.  In brief, a foreigner can not own land here … period.  (actually there are a couple ways foreigners can take title to land but they involve special investment plans that are well beyond the means of most of my readers and are basically for commercial building purposes, not a residence or individual farm situation.

Now an ‘out’ for many people who read this is, if your spouse is a Filipino citizen or former Filipino citizen, then she or he can own land.  Why do I differentiate between citizens and former citizens?  Can’t a Filipino who lost citizenship by taking up another country’s nationality regain his or her Philippine citizenship under RA 9225, the so-called “Dual Citizen law?

Yes indeed they can, but there are many reasons some may not want to.  But there is no need to reacquire, a former Filipino is still entitled to buy a residential property or a modest size farmstead, so the issue of dual citizenship really need not come up.

Now, of course the big issue here to many foreigners here is, “But I don’t hold a legal interest in the property and thus is we get divorced I will lose out”.  There is no denial that this is a real issue and one without easy answers.  Personally, my advice to anyone who worries a lot about this needs to be acted upon before marriage.  I prenuptial agreement and a Philippine marriage contract may provide some relief from this situation, but I’m not a lawyer and you for sure need a lawyer’s advice if this is a big thing.

In practicality, and I speak here as a divorced man and a man who did a lot of research and administrative work for a US divorce attorney in the past, it really means nothing to me.  In the pessimistic viewpoint you are going to lose anyway, in the positive view, which is the one I hold, I learned from my mistakes and there is never going to be any divorce situation i8n my future, so I don’t really care.  To me, having my wife own the property with me on the deed as her spouse is plenty good enough.  If she were to die before me, I can legally take title, and anything else, I’m not worried about.  As with everything, YMMV.

One alternative to this admittedly not ideal situation I feel that many expats just reject out of hand is a land lease.  Even though leasehold property is very common in many countries … even in the US in certain areas … Americans in general just can’t seem to get their heads around the idea.  If you look this idea over carefully and still feel. “not for me”, hey, great, but don’t reject the idea just because it’s unfamiliar.

A foreigner in the Philippines (single or married) can hold properly via a lease virtually without restriction (again, don’t sign papers without a lawyer).  twenty-five years is commonly allowed as a term length and the lease can normally be renewed automatically for another 25.  Fifty years total. (there may also be some conditions which allow the lease to extend longer, but I’m not conversant with them).

Obviously I don’t know the age of everyone reading this but I’ll go out on a limb and state that many of us will have absolutely no interest in property, deeds and leases fifty years from now.  I’d be 113 myself and I doubt I’ll be able to hold a pen by then .

“But I won’t own the land” I hear you saying.  That’s right, you won’t.  You also won’t own any improvements you make to the property, such as a house you might build on it.  Improvements become the property of the land owner.  Again see a lawyer on this because if the lease is properly written at the beginning you may be able to be compensated for improvements … anything is negotiable if done smartly, with competent help, in advance).

A the flip side of that is, you can’t lose the land to things like government schemes that take land away for projects, previous claimants who show up and sue and with title, etc. And you don’t have to pay taxes either, that’s the owner’s responsibility.

Yu make a small payment each month or each year and you enjoy the complete freedom of use of the property for the terms of the lease.  In day to day activities there really is nothing to distinguish between being the leasee and being the owner.  Travel forward with your life secure in having a place to live for as long as you are going to need a place to live;-)

Is this solution going to make everyone happy?  Nope, absolutely not, and I certainly welcome comments … but really and truly there are many advantages to holding property under a long-term lease as opposed to being ‘on the outside’ just wishing you had a place to call your own.

One thing I have found since I started living here in the Philippines? The key to getting along and living happily is to be open to new ideas … everything you may have learned in the past is not wrong, but it may not be the best way to handle your current situation.

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