In the event of divorce in Thailand does the wife have rights to 50% of my bank balance?

[charliechoc]

Divorce is not on the cards yet as such but Im just thinking in advance..... If things go pear shaped and we had a nasty divorce in the courts, could it result in me losing 50% of my savings in the bank?

 

I've heard about the law here that all assets accumulated after getting married are subject to 50% split.

 

I was thinking about sending funds over here from the motherland and thus wanted to know what the law is regarding this matter.

 

If things are friendly when we split one could assume that I would be safe. Or if I did have large savings I could just send it to my bitkub account and buy bitcoin and then off it goes to a hardware wallet. Good luck trying to get that off me...

 

Any advice is appreciated

[HashBrownHarry]

If you're asking this question things are not good.

[Heng]

Looks like you have already found your answer.   

 

For the non crypto crowd, a bank account that only you know about outside of the jurisdiction in question would suffice as well.    (although crypto is so much easier right now since all the good hiding spots are difficult to fly to)

[joeshmoe23]

women suprise their husbands by throwing at them divorce papers all the time. If savings are the money you've earned and there is significant risk of things going south, then converting the money into crypto seems like the best bet

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

According to Thai law, assets each party acquired PRIOR to marriage  typically remain separate property, even during the course of the subsequent marriage.

 

Assets acquired during a marriage are considered community property, with each party having an equal half share right.

 

AFAIK, this typically applies to financial and other assets held within Thailand. I've never heard of the Thai family courts having any reach to assets outside Thailand.

 

Though, if a Thai spouse had the ability to travel  internationally and knew her way around, it's possible -- though difficult and probably unlikely -- that they could file for divorce in your home country and try to go after assets you might hold there, under whatever local laws apply.

 

[impulse]

42 minutes ago, Heng said:

Looks like you have already found your answer.   

 

For the non crypto crowd, a bank account that only you know about outside of the jurisdiction in question would suffice as well.    (although crypto is so much easier right now since all the good hiding spots are difficult to fly to)

Crypto's great as long as you don't mind that the value of your balance can go up and down by 50% in a few days' time.

 

[XtraFly]

Here's my 2 cents.

regardless if things are amazing now or you see red flags, as someone replied women always surprise you with divorce papers (speaking from experience)

 

your best bet is crypto of course, but the other thing always have a safe deposit box in the motherland in a bank branch that you don't usually visit much for example if the motherland is the USA and you bank with Wells Fargo, your safe deposit box should be with Chase or Bank of America or even better idea. if you have PayPal make sure it's based of your motherland (address and other info) and keep some money there and have the PayPal debit card MasterCard on you, that way only you really knows how much is in this debit card from PayPal and it's still a virtual institution.

 

Always divide your money

-Paypal debit card

-Crypto (Coinbase and uphold, or at least 2 different wallets)

-Safe deposit box in the mother land

 

that way even if there's an over reach or a judgement or the wifey put 2 and 2 at most she can find out about about only one of the above and you minimized damages.

 

I also keep money in watches that appreciates over time and easy to transport from one location to another ????

 

[gargamon]

7 hours ago, charliechoc said:

I was thinking about sending funds over here from the motherland and thus wanted to know what the law is regarding this matter.

Why would you do that? Only bring as much as you need.

 

And why would she need to know about how much you have in the home country? You weren't bragging were you?

 

[Damrongsak]

I'm out of the discussion as we had virtually nothing when we got married 42 years ago.  So it would be 50/50.  But now I'm about to double our net worth due to an inheritance.  I wonder how that works.  Not that I really give a <deleted>, just curious. 

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

7 hours ago, Heng said:

a bank account that only you know about outside of the jurisdiction in question would suffice as well.

most banks in developed world will want to know if you are married before releasing your money, so beware of the " a bank account that only you know" option.

 

a good lawyer will know how to find your secret accounts.

 

a friend of mine just sent 5000 USD from his account in the U,S, to his account in thailand.

bankers there called him and investigated him. they could tell his wife name; his kids names, ext. !!!! they propably got it from thai bank !!

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

now I'm about to double our net worth due to an inheritance

split 50-50 as well

[bkk6060]

1 hour ago, Damrongsak said:

I'm out of the discussion as we had virtually nothing when we got married 42 years ago.  So it would be 50/50.  But now I'm about to double our net worth due to an inheritance.  I wonder how that works.  Not that I really give a <deleted>, just curious. 

In many western countries your inheritance is your asset.  Unless, you commingle the funds.

So, make sure you keep it separate from your spouse.

 

This is from a family Law article:

Generally, inheritances are not subject to equitable distribution because, by law, inheritances are not considered marital property. Instead, inheritances are treated as separate property belonging to the person who received the inheritance, and therefore may not be divided between the parties in a divorce

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, charliechoc said:

I was thinking about sending funds over here from the motherland and thus wanted to know what the law is regarding this matter.

Keep your money in your home country.

A country she has no right to enter.

Don't tell her what you've got or where it is.

[kwonitoy]

At our divorce hearing:

 

My wife had a lawyer

I had a lawyer

We both stood in front of a judge.

Wife want 50%of a condo we had bought while married, she didn't mention the 100 rai of rubber bought in her name by me. I did tell the judge about the land, he asked if I give this to her, I said yes.

Judge asked if wife had ever put any money into the purchase of the condo, I said no, she confirmed

Judge asked if I wanted to give her 50%. I said no

Judge asked if I wanted to give her anything. I said no

Judge bangs the gavel and says I have to GIVE her nothing. case dismissed. I am now divorced, followed up with official paperwork.

Now she can fill a suit in court against me for 50% of the condo sales, she has not in the 3 years since our divorce.

The money from the condo sale is not in Thailand anymore.

The bulk, 95% of my assets are offshore. I bring into Thailand enough money for my retirement extensions and spend that down during the year.

My lawyer advice and my personal experience in Thai courts is that I can drag out any court case she brings for many many years.

And by then I will be gone.

[Joe Medina]

This is depending on the situation. However, in case both of you have no pre-nuptial agreement, the money in general can be a conjugal property subject for assessment. 

[charliechoc]

8 hours ago, gargamon said:

Why would you do that? Only bring as much as you need.

 

And why would she need to know about how much you have in the home country? You weren't bragging were you?

 

the money is over there doing nothing but being eaten away by inflation. I previously had it in gold at the perth mint but sold it after a 40% return. Now I dont know what to do with it

[Heng]

6 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

most banks in developed world will want to know if you are married before releasing your money, so beware of the " a bank account that only you know" option.

 

a good lawyer will know how to find your secret accounts.

 

a friend of mine just sent 5000 USD from his account in the U,S, to his account in thailand.

bankers there called him and investigated him. they could tell his wife name; his kids names, ext. !!!! they propably got it from thai bank !!

Of course.  And it'll be relative to the amounts involved of course too.   If it's a 'little' (and just enough to start a life over with) it'll just be an in your own name type thing and hope they won't bother.  If he doesn't pick an obvious place, a good lawyer might be able to find it but a wife on a limited budget isn't going to fund a worldwide country by country search.    

 

If it's a 'lot,' then surely he'll go through company formation and add a few more hops/chutes/ladders to the trail.

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

5 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

my personal experience in Thai courts is that I can drag out any court case she brings for many many years.

And by then I will be gone.

this is true for any country. question is: who wants a court case dragged for many years?

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

3 hours ago, charliechoc said:

had it in gold at the perth mint but sold it

how did you sell it? in thailand? was it easy?

[kwonitoy]

1 hour ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

this is true for any country. question is: who wants a court case dragged for many years?

Me, if she's after my money I'll drag it out forever 

[gargamon]

7 hours ago, charliechoc said:

the money is over there doing nothing but being eaten away by inflation. I previously had it in gold at the perth mint but sold it after a 40% return. Now I dont know what to do with itSinc4

Put it in an index mutual fund, S&P500 recommended, in your home country where likely the local laws would protect you much more than anything in Thailand.  Since I don't know (or want to know) what your home country is, I cannot confirm the laws are better there.

[charliechoc]

19 hours ago, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

how did you sell it? in thailand? was it easy?

I bought it via their online depository program and sold it. They then wired it to my thai bank account. Its guaranteed by the perth govt. highly recommended

[SCOTT FITZGERSLD]

10 hours ago, charliechoc said:

highly recommended

so why ; If all done online, did'nt you buy a gold ETF like GLD?

[EricTh]

On 7/30/2021 at 11:50 AM, kwonitoy said:

 

Judge bangs the gavel and says I have to GIVE her nothing. case dismissed

 

What does 'I have to give her nothing' means? I don't think this is proper English.

 

Does that mean that you don't have to give her anything at all?

[HeijoshinCool]

.

 

A good quality, very heavy safe is relatively inexpensive, and a, well, safe place to keep cash/gold. 

 

(Unless you are married to a trans Olympic weight lifter.)

[kwonitoy]

10 hours ago, EricTh said:

 

What does 'I have to give her nothing' means? I don't think this is proper English.

 

Does that mean that you don't have to give her anything at all?

Exactly, I have the money and the judge asks me if I want to give her any of it. I reply no and that's the end of it.

 

There was a lot more back and forth between her lawyer and the judges before this. It would take a book,  She was asking for crazy amounts of money claiming that I had 100 million baht in the bank 6 cars etc. I don't have that amount. She was channeling all her inner crazy that day. Once the judge had her measure and gave her a very strong talking to he asked me if I wanted to give her anything. No. Case closed.

[jaideedave]

On 7/30/2021 at 1:10 PM, charliechoc said:

the money is over there doing nothing but being eaten away by inflation. I previously had it in gold at the perth mint but sold it after a 40% return. Now I dont know what to do with it

buy gold again? I recently inherited a tidy sum and bought mostlt Thai gold in bars..why not?

 

[EricTh]

4 hours ago, kwonitoy said:

Exactly, I have the money and the judge asks me if I want to give her any of it. I reply no and that's the end of it.

 

There was a lot more back and forth between her lawyer and the judges before this. It would take a book,  She was asking for crazy amounts of money claiming that I had 100 million baht in the bank 6 cars etc. I don't have that amount. She was channeling all her inner crazy that day. Once the judge had her measure and gave her a very strong talking to he asked me if I wanted to give her anything. No. Case closed.

You're lucky your ex-wife didn't poison you to make it look like an accident so that she can inherit all your money.

 

It looks like she married you for your money and not love.

 

[sanuk711]

On 7/30/2021 at 6:35 AM, bkk6060 said:

This is from a family Law article:

Generally, inheritances are not subject to equitable distribution because, by law, inheritances are not considered marital property. Instead, inheritances are treated as separate property belonging to the person who received the inheritance, and therefore may not be divided between the parties in a divorce

Are you quoting Thai law bkk6060 ?...... who is the family law circle?...haven't actually heard of them --In Thailand ?

 

My understanding is that  all inheritance is " SIN SOMROS"  therefor she or he would indeed get half of any inheritance left , while they are  married.

 

SIN SOMROS – considered as marital property are as follow:

• Property acquired during marriage;
• Property acquired by either spouse during marriage through a will or gift;.
• Fruits of the Sin Suan Tua (fruits of the separate property);

 

[charliechoc]

On 7/31/2021 at 10:51 PM, SCOTT FITZGERSLD said:

so why ; If all done online, did'nt you buy a gold ETF like GLD?

ETF's are hard to sell in a market crash.

 

The perth mint guarantee to buy back your gold if there's no other buyers in the market (ie if there are liquidity issues). Its a solid organization backed by the WA govt. Sold my gold and they transferred all money to my thai bank account. Cant go wrong...