Falang Liable For Thai Wife's Debts?

[Jose]

Is a Falang liable for his Thai wife's personal debts in Thailand, if these were incurred before they had met?

And what if they were incurred by her after their marriage, can collection agencies seize the husband's assets?

Any legal advice would be appreciated.

jose '-)

[solo siam]

Hi,

As far as I'm aware a married couple are generally regarded as a single entity.

Best to go to a lawyer for legal advice.

[JimmyCA]

As far as I'm aware a married couple are generally regarded as a single entity.

Yes I think so, like getting a visa

[lazeeboy]

As far as I'm aware a married couple are generally regarded as a single entity.

Yes I think so, like getting a visa

go to a lawyer ,he will know best ,on here you wont find out much.

[Spee]

Is a Falang liable for his Thai wife's personal debts in Thailand, if these were incurred before they had met?

And what if they were incurred by her after their marriage, can collection agencies seize the husband's assets?

In the marriage ceremony when they say "for better or for worse" I think that would fall into the "for worse" part of the deal. All kidding aside, I'm no lawyer, but I would think yes, you could very likely be held liable. I think marriage is treated as a contract. In that contract, the couple live and act as a bonded unit. Not in Thailand, but I have seen documentaries on single mothers who cannot get basic credit because of their divorced husbands' poor credit rating and debts while they were married. PS. I think your only out might be if you had a pre-nup.

Edited September 20, 2007 by Spee

[percy2]

Is a Falang liable for his Thai wife's personal debts in Thailand, if these were incurred before they had met?

And what if they were incurred by her after their marriage, can collection agencies seize the husband's assets?

Any legal advice would be appreciated.

jose '-)

Don't worry Jose , Roman will see you right.

Cheers

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Is a Falang liable for his Thai wife's personal debts in Thailand, if these were incurred before they had met?

And what if they were incurred by her after their marriage, can collection agencies seize the husband's assets?

Any legal advice would be appreciated.

jose '-)

Liable for pre-existing debts ... I don't think so.

[technocracy]

I was of the understanding that regardless of when the debt is established the debt is only liable to the person who own the debt.

So in my opinion no the husband if their name is not attached to the debt in anyway they cannot touch his assets, however the proviso is you would need to prove that the assets are purely in your name only - which if you're talking about TV or furniture etc in a house in your wifes name then it's impossible to prove they are purely yours. But say if you own a condo and it's purely in your name then they don't have any grounds to seize anything.

For all you people saying you're classified as a single entity - think about it! When your wife goes shopping with a credit card which she applied for and is in her name does it have any bearing on your credit card or rating? Everyone is treated separately in personal debt but obviously not when both the husband and wife have entered both as the debtors such as a joint credit card, mortgage, a secured loan etc.

However as it's often said TIT and they'll most likely target your assets (obviously they can only seize Thai based assets) as they think it's the only way they'll get the money. An obvious way to keep 'your' assets safe would be to sign them all over to a 'company' so you then do not have any assets . . . they are a companies ... which they then have absolutely no claim to anything (also handy if you ever think a rough divorce is ahead ).

I think a trip to a lawyer and for clarification and a nice letter informing the collection agencies of the situation would resolve the problem.

Edited September 22, 2007 by technocracy

[stickman]

My understanding here - and I could be wrong - is that at the time of marriage, that is the time of REGISTERING the marriage, each partner has to list any financial liabilities / debts they have. By declaring them at this point in time, the other partner is therefore said to be made aware of them, and could therefore be liable for them too.

Again, I could be totally wrong on this, but I have heard this a few times, so I am guessing there is some truth in it.

Of course the best thing to do would be to contact a lawyer. Then you'll know 100% for sure what the right answer is!

[soundman]

My understanding of the law.

Any debts incurred before the (official marriage) - no.

Any personal debts incurred after the (official marriage) - no.

Any contracts that have been countersigned by yourself after the (official marriage) - yes.

Any debts incurred through wife's illegal activities...... - watchout!

Soundman.