Question About The Division Of Assets In Divorce

[lastparadisephuket]

My friend is just about to divorce his wife here in Thailand and having been estranged for a number of years and already having provided a house and plenty of financial support, has a worry about the finanicial situation once the divorce occurs.

Is it the case that assests are divided 50/50 as hard rule.

can a seperate agreement about the division of assests be agreed and will the court recognise this.

Can his wife having agreed a financial settlement demand 50% retrospectivley

Ant thoughts or wisdom would be gratefully recieved

Thanks in advance.

[Farma]

In my opinion

The easiest and possibly the cheapest way for your friend to proceed would be to come to a financial agreement on asset split with his wife and obtain an Umphur divorce. The financial settlement is what they agree on and doesn’t have to be 50/50.

This involves signing a few witnessed documents at the Umphur and the divorce is processed. To my knowledge this is a binding agreement and retrospective claims cannot be made, although I would clarify this with a lawyer.

The last thing your friend wants to do is involve the court system. This can turn into a long drawn out affair over the period of years with the only winners being lawyers. If either party is unhappy with the courts decision they have 30 days to lodge an appeal with the appeal court. If still not satisfied they can progress the case higher. Each appeal can add months or more likely years onto the case.

Information provided to me by lawyers and my experience in the courts has been only assets obtained during the period of marriage were taken into account 50/50. Assets prior to marriage are not included in the ruling.

In an attempt to reduce the number of hearings involved, the courts will try to arbitrate a financial agreement between the parties prior to submissions by lawyers involved. This arbitration will also include provisions for the future care of any children resulting from the marriage.

During the initial attempt at arbitration, the courts may recommend a lump sum payment be made to the wife as an alternative to years of maintenance payments. This lump sum recommendation can be an amount significantly lower than the alternative method of paying over many years.

As a side note, information provided to me by legal counsel suggests Thai courts have no jurisdiction over foreign assets.

[lastparadisephuket]

thank you. very useful info.