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Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: October 30, 2014, 1:07 pm
by easterneye
Hopefully I will not arrive at this scenario ever but , who ( really ) knows what the Thai womans plan is ?

Does anyone have experience of a scenario like this ?

If you was legally married in the UK , lets say 10 years ,, then came to retire in Thailand , left most your money and assists in the UK , then after a while the wife sprung a surprise on you , er I want a divorce I have met an ex of mine ,,

Has she got all the pieces on the board in the correct order and your in checkmate ?

What happens next ? would she divorce you in Thai court ? would she be granted a typical 50 / 50 share of your hard earned ? would it make you legally divorced in the UK ?

Would you both have to return to the UK to divorce ?

Anyone shed a bit of light on this for peace of mind ?

Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: October 30, 2014, 1:47 pm
by BobHelm
I think that you would have to pray that she was not smart enough to go back to the UK to file for divorce.
If she was then you would be completely stuffed unless you had got her to sign some sort of pre-nuptial agreement. Even to the extent (depending on a number of factors) of maybe her being entitled to a % of any pensions that you were going to receive. Rule of thumb on assets in a UK divorce court is 50/50 unless there are some very strong reasons otherwise..
However I do think that she does need to be physically there to do that.

I do not think that a Thai divorce court would have the 'reach' to demand knowledge of your financial position overseas.
Here the aim would probably be to agree some cash lump sum settlement before entering court..

I am not sure how you convey a divorce position in Thailand to the UK authorities. However, unless you had a compelling reason to do so (like wanting to get remarried, or it affected any Government pensions in some way) then I would, personally, just forget to do so until I did have a compelling reason..

Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: October 30, 2014, 2:08 pm
by Khun Paul
HAVING GONE DOWN THE DIVORCE ROUTE , I can tell you that if were you married in the UK first then any divorce she undertook here would not be recognised there. She would have to divorce you in the UK and with that would come all the problems ref property etc:-
If she left you here and you then shot off back to the UK, filed for legal separation and moved assets accordingly then you would probably save your wealth and she would have to then come to the UK to file. After two years of filed separation you could file for a divorce based on the separation grounds.
having then obtained that divorce you could return and do what the hell you like as the rules here do not affect any law in the UK or vice versa regarding divorce. Just don't tell her.

Re: Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: November 29, 2016, 5:21 pm
by Udon Map
Khun Paul wrote:HAVING GONE DOWN THE DIVORCE ROUTE , I can tell you that if were you married in the UK first then any divorce she undertook here would not be recognised there.
Actually, Khun Paul, with the exception of several predominantly Islamic countries, nearly all countries recognize divorces from nearly all other countries. To my knowledge, Thailand is not one of the exceptions.

Re: Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: November 29, 2016, 6:44 pm
by maaka
get legal advice, now so you know where you stand..

however, I am with Udonmap, I believe she is entitled to 50 /50 here or anywhere..The marriage is UK based and a Thai Court should question the assets in UK...I have known divorce courts to reach overseas to the homeland, and include all monies and assets as spoils.....fork out for good legal advice now, move accordingly when you have the gen..

Re: Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: December 1, 2016, 7:17 pm
by FrazeeDK
it is my understanding that in order for a divorce to be filed her in Thailand the marriage must be registered here. If the marriage is registered then a divorce can be filed at the Amphoe office where the marriage was registered. And yes, a UK marriage or U.S. marriage can be registered here. Disposition of assets would mean lawyers getting involved.. How your assets in the UK would be verified for divorce disposition would I imagine be difficult for your spouse and her lawyer to do from Thailand.

Re: Hyphothetical question about divorce in Thailand

Posted: December 1, 2016, 8:36 pm
by Udon Map
FrazeeDK wrote:How your assets in the UK would be verified for divorce disposition would I imagine be difficult for your spouse and her lawyer to do from Thailand.
Without going into all the procedural details, this is accomplished by the Evidence Act of 1975, which sets out rules for obtaining evidence in the U.K. for legal proceedings in other Hague Convention signatory countries, of which Thailand is one. Bottom line? Yes, you can get the information from the U.K.; but it likely won't be cheap, and, yes, you'll want a lawyer in the U.K. to deal with it.