married in thailand, could wife go to US to divorce me?

[tlock]

I was married in Thailand in 2016, and I live here full time.  Things aren't working out so well.  I'm considering giving it time before initiating divorce proceedings.  One thing I liked about marrying in Thailand was that my US assets don't seem to be at risk (the normal 50/50 split of assets in a US divorce).  If I were to postpone a divorce for one or more years, is there any way that my wife could somehow initiate a divorce in the US, for example going on a tourist visa then filing for divorce in Las Vegas?  Is there any way for her to access my US assets?  I'd prefer to be patient with the relationship, but I'm not willing to risk my US assets.

 

tia

 

[Andyfez]

I'm not a lawyer, but I understand that if you married in Thailand, them Thai law only applies. So must divorce in Thailand.

If you registered it in the USA then that changes the ball game, and it occurs to me could she register your marriage in usa without you knowing?

Edited January 18, 2018 by Andyfez

[yankee99]

i think if she has no status in the USA you are probably safe.

 

As far as thailand only assets aquired after the Marriage are split similar to the usa depends on the state

[soalbundy]

There would be one way out of that, If she does fly to the USA then you start divorce proceedings immediately in Thailand, That would take precedence as you cant have two divorce proceedings running at the same time. I'm not sure that she could even do this on a tourist visa, in Europe anyway one would have to live as a legal resident first before divorcing. Check with your embassy.

Edited January 18, 2018 by soalbundy

[thaijoe]

iam from ohio. got married in thailand, took her back to the states 3 yrs later after she got her green card she said bye bye, now my lawyer said it don't matter where you get married your married. but when it came to a divorce i made her sign a prenumptual how ever you spell it, now for being married for 4 yrs all most 5 my lawyer said even if she fought it in court to try to get anything she would have to hire a lawyer then the fighting begins, and for a short period of time that we was married she wouldn't get anything, not even 50/50 of my assets  or even household stuff. so try to get her to sign a pre nup agreement you will be better off, but every state is different. good luck, but thats my experence with these lying thai women. so if you was married for a short time she wont get nothing, you can ask a lawyer for a free conseltation . sorry abt my spelling, to lazy to fix it

[BarnicaleBob]

I'm not a lawyer but I am on my 5th wife and came out well on all but one divorce.  Here is what I've learned. 

1. She would have to be a resident in the State in the US before she could apply for a divorce.  To prevent that, do not ever agree to her applying for a green card.

2.  If she makes it past the above and she is the one starting the divorce proceedings, she will have to put out a lot of cash to hire a lawyer.  To prevent that, cut off her source of income if she makes it past item number 1. 

3.  If you do not agree to the divorce, she must prove good reason for the divorce.  To prevent that, don't do something dumb to give her good cause.

[London Boy]

I had a similar experience marrying a New Zealand woman, and the bulk of my assets were in the UK. We married in New Zealand, She also had 'indefinite leave to remain' in the U.K and was also a qualified Solicitor. However none of that mattered. The crucial aspect was where you choose to have your divorce. Your 'forum', is the country where you first file for divorce. So even though I lost half the marital home in Auckland, all my properties in London, which were worth Millions, were ultimately safe, as they were beyond the NZ courts jurisdiction. It really was life changing as it could have cost me half of everything and affected my ability to live out here.

[Suradit69]

2 hours ago, thaijoe said:

so try to get her to sign a pre nup agreement you will be better off, but every state is different.

You do understand that "pre nup" stands for prenuptial, i.e., before the marriage takes place. A little late for that now.

[theguyfromanotherforum]

I am not an expert, but even in Thailand she would be entitled to 50% of your worldwide assets. Thai law doesn't only apply to assets in Thailand. If it does, can someone please show me.

 

She she has any brains, she could also hire a divorce lawyer in US.

 

 

[MyFriend You]

Quite frankly I don't think you have anything to worry about, she has no legal standing in the US - they would require her to be a permanent resident, and even with that status, she can't divorce you while you are overseas.........I dragged a divorce along for 8 years living overseas.  Finally agreed to return only if the divorce was amicable, I kept the house but she could have everything in it, then no alimony.  Lucky for me she was being pressured by her Beau, he wanted to marry her and couldn't until after she was divorced.  I even rented the U-Haul trailer for them  

[speckio]

you should seriously consider talking to a lawyer, if I am not mistaken the longer you remain married she will be entitled to more of your assets. Also If I am not mistaken thai marriage laws are also extremely draconian in favor of women.

 

talk to a lawyer

Edited January 18, 2018 by speckio
adding

[AlQaholic]

I am not a lawyer either, but in my opinion, a marriage is probably recognized by the US courts as valid if it can be proven to have been registered as such, wherever in the world it was done. Not sure however because she is not a US citizen, she cannot raise court action in the US? 

[sirineou]

 even in the US she is only entitled to property attained while married and is not entitled to anything you got on your own before you got married. and since you are married only for 1 year.......  

[timendres]

2 hours ago, BarnicaleBob said:

I'm not a lawyer but I am on my 5th wife and came out well on all but one divorce.  Here is what I've learned. 

1. She would have to be a resident in the State in the US before she could apply for a divorce.  To prevent that, do not ever agree to her applying for a green card.

2.  If she makes it past the above and she is the one starting the divorce proceedings, she will have to put out a lot of cash to hire a lawyer.  To prevent that, cut off her source of income if she makes it past item number 1. 

3.  If you do not agree to the divorce, she must prove good reason for the divorce.  To prevent that, don't do something dumb to give her good cause.

Bullet item 1 is the most important on in this list. I know of no state that allows one to initiate divorce proceedings without being a resident of that state for some period of time. The time will vary depending on the State, typically from 30 days to 1 year. To show residence, she will need an address (apartment, house, condo), and most likely have registered for a state ID of some kind showing that address. Without a green card, this will prove difficult.

 

Regarding bullet item 2, she will also need to serve you with the divorce summons. You can make this very difficult, but not impossible.

 

Regarding bullet item 3, this is almost never true in the US. Most states now have no-fault divorce, meaning you can file for divorce with no reason other than wanting to end the marriage. She can easily chose a state with no-fault. If it appears she is moving toward attempting to file in the US, having dealt with bullet item 1, then you need to take action, since the first person who serves becomes the plaintiff and determines in which state the divorce will be heard. You will want to chose a state with that is most favorable to you. However, this will require you to deal with the residency issue, which may not be easy or worth the effort.

 

One thing worth considering. If she applies for any form of Visa to go to the US, it may be worth the time to send a note to the US Embassy indicating that her only reason for traveling to the US is to file for divorce. I am not sure, but this may make it difficult for her to obtain the Visa.

 

[timendres]

52 minutes ago, speckio said:

you should seriously consider talking to a lawyer, if I am not mistaken the longer you remain married she will be entitled to more of your assets. Also If I am not mistaken thai marriage laws are also extremely draconian in favor of women.

In the US, the duration of the marriage can possibly affect alimony, if it is awarded, but it will not affect asset division.

[timendres]

56 minutes ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I am not an expert, but even in Thailand she would be entitled to 50% of your worldwide assets. Thai law doesn't only apply to assets in Thailand. If it does, can someone please show me.

 

She she has any brains, she could also hire a divorce lawyer in US.

True, but with the "acquired prior to" versus "acquired during" (Thai law has specific words for these) caveat. The assets you owned before the marriage will remain yours - in Thailand and in the US.

[tlock]

8 minutes ago, timendres said:

True, but with the "acquired prior to" versus "acquired during" (Thai law has specific words for these) caveat. The assets you owned before the marriage will remain yours - in Thailand and in the US.

Does anyone have experience with a thai spouse going after worldwide assets?  For example, if I bought a stock after we are married, would Thai courts have any way to go after assets held in a US brokerage account?

[timendres]

9 minutes ago, tlock said:

Does anyone have experience with a thai spouse going after worldwide assets?  For example, if I bought a stock after we are married, would Thai courts have any way to go after assets held in a US brokerage account?

Courts do not "go after" anything. Courts issue orders. For example, an order stating that your ex-wife is entitled to half of your stock portfolio. It is then up to your ex-wife to acquire those assets by her own means. In the case of a brokerage account, she would need to involve an attorney who was capable of handling the proceedings required to prove to the broker that she was entitled to the assets, then arranging for the liquidation and transfer. As long as you never did anything considered illegal with those assets (for instance, attempting to hide them), then no law enforcement agency would get involved with that process. For instance, it would be perfectly legal for you to transfer your portfolio to another legally registered US brokerage firm into an account with your name and SSN on it. The attorney would then need to locate this new account and start the procedure all over again.

 

Of course, the court could just as easily issue an order stating that it was your responsibility to liquidate those assets and transfer the money to the ex-wife.

Edited January 18, 2018 by timendres

[Campbellpip]

I was married in NZ and my wife left me. A divorce in NZ takes 3 years separation first so I went to visit my sister who was living in the States and found out that if I lived in the state of Nevada for just 6 weeks or get someone to vouch that I had been there six weeks I could get a divorce which I did and NZ recognizes that divorce. So someone on a tourist visa can get a divorce in three US. 

[StevieAus]

5 hours ago, theguyfromanotherforum said:

I am not an expert, but even in Thailand she would be entitled to 50% of your worldwide assets. Thai law doesn't only apply to assets in Thailand. If it does, can someone please show me.

 

She she has any brains, she could also hire a divorce lawyer in US.

 

 

 I think you are wrong as according to my Thai lawyer the Thai Courts only take into account Thai assets and that was in general discussion not me seeking a divorce.

Cannot see how  a divorce a Court  outside of Thailand  could apply its jurisdiction to Thailand leaving aside enforcing  any orders they may choose to make ( apart from maybe trying to enforce custody orders) 

Could you see  the fun in attempting to have an order made by a divorce court say in the US enforced here

  Dream on ! ! !

 

 

[Autonuaq]

To make it easy for you

You have nan international marriage the convention of the hague applies that you have to check. The check you can do by yourselfsm

In Thialand you can divorce and go to the ampur sing the documents.easy and fast.

 

Go to court. Problems and takes time.

You both are in thailand and that is the best way to end it.

 

If not then you go to court file and the the Thai law applies to the marriage as well to the divorce.

 

Unless you did register and other right and that was accepted to apply .

You not live longer 10 years in another country so thai law still applies.

If longer then 10 yours and you did not do the choice of rights the after 10 automatically the law of the country of residence where you stay more then 10 years will apply.

 

 

Become stuborn when you are facing you local court back home.

And stick to thai law. Judges hate it but thai law applies. So you must also have the minimal 3 ground of breaking up the marriage and let them validate by the court as the 3 reasons why you divorce.

 

If not then you have the legitimate change that the Thai Ampure refuses to register the djvorce since it is not ended on the correct grounds by Thai law. And there fore you still are not divorce even back home all is turned back to still being married.

Minimal 3 ground that are needed in Thailand to have a legal divorce

 

Good luck

Edited January 18, 2018 by Autonuaq

[F4UCorsair]

Well OP, I bet you wish you hadn't asked! Contrary opinions = confusion.

Do what you should have done before posting, see a lawyer in Thailand, and have an online consultation with a US lawyer in the state she's likely to go to, AND get their advice in writing.

Free advice, particularly from unqualified people, is worth exactly what you paid for it.

Sent from my [device_name] using http://Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[JayBird]

Is there a concept of common law marriage? Not officially married, or any ceremony, but living together for multiple years?

 

If not, it may be a better alternative to getting married,

[Preacher]

Divorce is covered by the state you live in. Each state has its own rules.

 

Normally for a court to have jurisdiction there must be a link to the state in question, in essence one of the parties must have its domicile in that state. This to prevent a person living in New York to be filed with a divorce in California, or a person in Thailand having to deal with a US court.

 

The assets concerned are normally worldwide assets that need to be divided. Sometimes enforcement is difficult as is proving the assets abroad. But that is another matter.

[soalbundy]

36 minutes ago, JayBird said:

Is there a concept of common law marriage? Not officially married, or any ceremony, but living together for multiple years?

 

If not, it may be a better alternative to getting married,

Yes there is apparently, I am married but live with my common law wife. Recently my wife,who lives 1000 km away, caused damage (accident) worth 3 million Baht, since she has no money I have to pay. My son and mia noi have a joint account (not in my name) with 2 million Baht in it for his further education. This was blocked by the court ( how they got the bank account number I don't know) and has now been automatically transferred, (that took just one day) it would appear that the mia noi or common law wife shares my financial responsibility.

When my wife appeared in court she told them that I lived abroad and she didn't know the address (a lie obviously) the judge then dryly read out my address, that I lived with my mia noi and children and how much pension I received, end of story. 

[Sheryl]

By Ohio law (and most US states) the 50/50 split pertains only to assets acquired during the marriage, assets you or your eife already had at the time of the marriage are exempt.

This is essentially the same as Thailand. So US or Thai divorce not really different.



Sent from my SM-J701F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[FLhawk]

Premarital property remains yours as long  unless you have added her name to the account.  Property and assets acquired after the marriage are subject to be divided.  You appear to have kept those assets separate, so you should be ok.

 

You don't say if she works or not or has her own source of funds.  If so, you have equal rights to acquire them, and that can be used to reduce potential alimony or at least it's duration. Alimony is often not given if the marriage has been short.  After 10 years, you are toast.  If under 5, she is likely to get very little.  

 

For now, limit her access to funds so she can't easily flee to the US or hire an expensive attorney.  

[thaibeachlovers]

Couple of things come to mind.

Does she actually know what assets you have in the States? If she doesn't, don't tell her. Claim to have nothing.

Does she actually have enough money to be able to go to the States and pay a lawyer? If she doesn't, you don't have to help her go there.

 

IMO you need to be removing your money in Thailand to somewhere she can't find it, as if you are well off, it will make it harder to get an amicable divorce settlement.

If, like me you can get an uncontested divorce the cost is about 20 baht or something, but if lawyers get involved ...............................

I suppose you know that if she refuses an uncontested divorce, it automatically goes to the family court in LOS.

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎1‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 8:58 AM, soalbundy said:

Yes there is apparently, I am married but live with my common law wife. Recently my wife,who lives 1000 km away, caused damage (accident) worth 3 million Baht, since she has no money I have to pay. My son and mia noi have a joint account (not in my name) with 2 million Baht in it for his further education. This was blocked by the court ( how they got the bank account number I don't know) and has now been automatically transferred, (that took just one day) it would appear that the mia noi or common law wife shares my financial responsibility.

When my wife appeared in court she told them that I lived abroad and she didn't know the address (a lie obviously) the judge then dryly read out my address, that I lived with my mia noi and children and how much pension I received, end of story. 

has now been automatically transferred, (that took just one day) it would appear that the mia noi or common law wife shares my financial responsibility.

That completely boggles me.

I never heard of such a thing before, and seems against all logic or sense. I know, it's Thailand so doesn't need to make sense, but from an account not in your name, it's bit OTT.

Will they be seizing your pension as well?

 

Perhaps in the future you should do like many and keep all your money outside LOS, only transferring what you need.

[soalbundy]

13 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

has now been automatically transferred, (that took just one day) it would appear that the mia noi or common law wife shares my financial responsibility.

That completely boggles me.

I never heard of such a thing before, and seems against all logic or sense. I know, it's Thailand so doesn't need to make sense, but from an account not in your name, it's bit OTT.

Will they be seizing your pension as well?

 

Perhaps in the future you should do like many and keep all your money outside LOS, only transferring what you need.

It was a bit gut wrenching at first especially as I now have to take on debt to pay off the rest but the family who incurred the damage (two small children badly injured and needed hospital treatment, one two year old boy needed brain surgery, had to drain water from the brain or something like that) are a decent hard working family who have been put into financial difficulty due to my wife and risked losing their house due to missed mortgage payments (hence the speed I suspect) My lawyer visited the family to check all the financial difficulty they had incurred and managed to get the damages reduced from 3 to 2.5 million which the father of the children voluntarily agreed to after hearing of my difficulties. The account was in the name of my son (same surname, so easy to find ) and my partner, she shares responsibility by association and because it was obvious that the money on the account came from me. The money had to be paid irrespective of where it came from, I'm just glad that the children will be OK.

 

The good thing to come out of it was that my wife who lives in a house that I paid for has, due to the pressure of my lawyer, transferred the ownership of the house in Chiang Mai to my son and partner so we can use the chanod to get some debt at reasonable interest.

 

One thing happened which surprised me personally. For the past two years I have immersed myself in the teachings of Avaita Vedanta and the spiritual teachings of such people as Eckhard Tolle, Francise Lucille, Rupert Spira concerning universal consciousness and non-duality. I am normally someone who, upon receiving the bad news, would have been on the floor in the fetal position shouting why me but I was absolutely calm, my partner was destroyed.

"How can you be so calm"

" It is as it is and can be no other way, it is just the film of life running on the screen that is the true me, I am not going to let this be my story, I will accept it gracefully and I will act but not fight it internally with a complaining dialogue. Be aware that you are aware and align yourself with that awareness."

"You have gone mad, I'm going to the temple and speak with the Abbot"

Two hours later she came back somewhat calmer,

"What did the abbot say"?

" He said, it is as it is and it can be no other way"

"So? did he say anything about acceptance "?

"Yes" and then she started laughing, " I forgot for a moment that I was a Buddhist"

 

I was pleased and surprised to find that I had not only understood the teachings intellectually but had accepted them with the heart.