Divorce And Land Ownership

[Kevin17]

Are there any UK readers there who have gone through a UK divorce. How did you treat the wife's assets in Thailand. My wife wants 40% of the equity of the house in the UK, 50% of the pension, 51% of the Thai business but of course her own house and land in Thailand is not up from grabs because she thinks that I don't know about it.

Somebody did a search at the registry and confirmed that she has a house and land. I am not showing my hand yet as she will change the ownership.

Just wondered if anybody else encountered the same problem and what the view of the uk courts was.

Kevin

[joskydive]

It depends on many things as to which way to go with this one.

1. Are you legally married and documents registered at the Embassy?

2. Is your marriage recognised in both UK and Thailand?

3. Did you own your house in the UK before you were married? If so, for how long? This has to do with how much equity she can get from you.

4. How long were you married? This has to do with your pension and what she can reasonably have without making hardship for you.

5. The value of your Thai Business can be put against the value of your house and pension in the UK.

6. Good idea, don't let her know that you realise she has a house and land YET, but make sure your lawyer knows and has the documented proof.

7. Which country will you be divorcing in?

In the UK they will put her house and land up against your house and pension so one should ditto out the other and that then leaves the half share of your Thai business to deal with.

If you are divorcing in Thailand and she had ownership of the house and land before you came along, you can't touch that. But she is also in the same boat where she can only have half share of what you both made together within the period of your marriage, so if you owned your house before she came along, she can't touch that either.

Best of luck.

[SNGLIFE]

..her own house and land in Thailand is not up from grabs because she thinks that I don't know about it.

Somebody did a search at the registry and confirmed that she has a house and land. I am not showing my hand yet as she will change the ownership.

Be aware that the land she owns, especially if up-country, may very likely have a Sor Bor Gor deed. That means the government allotted land to her and that land can NEVER (legally) be transferred except by will after death. If it is, then forget about it. Good luck with the divorce, though! *shiver*

[Kevin17]

It depends on many things as to which way to go with this one.

1. Are you legally married and documents registered at the Embassy?

2. Is your marriage recognised in both UK and Thailand?

3. Did you own your house in the UK before you were married? If so, for how long? This has to do with how much equity she can get from you.

4. How long were you married? This has to do with your pension and what she can reasonably have without making hardship for you.

5. The value of your Thai Business can be put against the value of your house and pension in the UK.

6. Good idea, don't let her know that you realise she has a house and land YET, but make sure your lawyer knows and has the documented proof.

7. Which country will you be divorcing in?

In the UK they will put her house and land up against your house and pension so one should ditto out the other and that then leaves the half share of your Thai business to deal with.

If you are divorcing in Thailand and she had ownership of the house and land before you came along, you can't touch that. But she is also in the same boat where she can only have half share of what you both made together within the period of your marriage, so if you owned your house before she came along, she can't touch that either.

Best of luck.

To answer your questions, the marriage was in the UK and never registered in Thailand (as far as I am aware). She is certainly still miss on her id card. We are divorcing in the UK.

I owned the house for about 18 years before getting married, marriage lasted 12 years. There is £90,000 of equity and £82,000 of pension. The two kids are with me.

Difficult to value the business which would largely be based on land value but I would expect not less than 30 million baht.

Now she thinks she will get 40% of the equity in the house, 50% of the pension then walk off with 51% of the business.

The second mediation session in the UK today failed and the mediator has given notice that he cannot proceed as he can't sort out the Thai business. I haven't mentioned the other assets in her name.

We now go to the UK solicitors.

My trump cards are that she will tell her solicitor that she is unemployed in the UK, but actually working, and has no assets other than the business, which is a porkie pie. She has also moved in with her new English boyfriend and she doesn't realise that I know.

We haven't even mentioned child maintenance that she should be paying me. I am hoping for her to take her share of the business and nothing else then I will forget putting the CSA onto her.

[joskydive]

Hi,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, haven't been able to log onto Thaivisa for the last few days for some reason.

You didn't mention you had children! This a whole new ball game if they are under 16 years, or, if they are older and still having education. i.e. college, university. If the children are in your sole care, she will end up paying you maintenance until they leave education. If she is living with another man, they will take into account his income also when they decide what maintenance should be given for the children.

Not sure how long he will hang around if he finds he has to help maintain someone elses children tho'

I suggest now you inform your solicitor of all her assets, place of employment, and include the move in with the new boyfriend, you need proof they are co-habiting i.e. photo's of them together etc.,. When kids are involved, I doubt you will have to inform the CSA because they should already know. However, if they don't know, they should be informed. In most cases the court informs the CSA.

You also need to be well up on things here. If she finds out that she has to maintain the children, she might possibly try for custody so get everything in order first before you and your solicitor make your move. Also, remember that if they are 14 years or over they can stand in the court and state who they would prefer to be with. Up to that age, they are visited by Social Services in their home and asked who they want to live with. They also inspect your home to make sure it is satisfactory for raising children. They also interview you, your wife and the boyfriend and her living abode aswell and it's normally them who decide where the children reside.

Divorce is one court. Custody is a totally different court.

If custody is yours, don't worry about your assets. The children have to live in your home so she should get nowt and if you are raising them on a pension she will have to pay maintenance to you and make sure it's not direct to you. Make sure it's paid through the CSA and then if she defaults at any time, it's not up to you to prove the default, they just go and deal with it themselves. You just recieve the money from them and this is continuous until they leave education. I think it's yearly revised aswell.

So, in reality, if your solicitor is good and you get custody, your assets and pension will be intact with weekly payments on top. She might however retain the 51% asset of your company and that is only because it is Thai and Thai law states a foreigner can only own 49% assets of a company.

Rest easy. Divorce is the easy bit. The custody hearing is what is important because all assets go with the children.

[Kevin17]

Hi,

Sorry for not getting back to you sooner, haven't been able to log onto Thaivisa for the last few days for some reason.

You didn't mention you had children! This a whole new ball game if they are under 16 years, or, if they are older and still having education. i.e. college, university. If the children are in your sole care, she will end up paying you maintenance until they leave education. If she is living with another man, they will take into account his income also when they decide what maintenance should be given for the children.

Not sure how long he will hang around if he finds he has to help maintain someone elses children tho'

I suggest now you inform your solicitor of all her assets, place of employment, and include the move in with the new boyfriend, you need proof they are co-habiting i.e. photo's of them together etc.,. When kids are involved, I doubt you will have to inform the CSA because they should already know. However, if they don't know, they should be informed. In most cases the court informs the CSA.

You also need to be well up on things here. If she finds out that she has to maintain the children, she might possibly try for custody so get everything in order first before you and your solicitor make your move. Also, remember that if they are 14 years or over they can stand in the court and state who they would prefer to be with. Up to that age, they are visited by Social Services in their home and asked who they want to live with. They also inspect your home to make sure it is satisfactory for raising children. They also interview you, your wife and the boyfriend and her living abode aswell and it's normally them who decide where the children reside.

Divorce is one court. Custody is a totally different court.

If custody is yours, don't worry about your assets. The children have to live in your home so she should get nowt and if you are raising them on a pension she will have to pay maintenance to you and make sure it's not direct to you. Make sure it's paid through the CSA and then if she defaults at any time, it's not up to you to prove the default, they just go and deal with it themselves. You just recieve the money from them and this is continuous until they leave education. I think it's yearly revised aswell.

So, in reality, if your solicitor is good and you get custody, your assets and pension will be intact with weekly payments on top. She might however retain the 51% asset of your company and that is only because it is Thai and Thai law states a foreigner can only own 49% assets of a company.

Rest easy. Divorce is the easy bit. The custody hearing is what is important because all assets go with the children.

I am not too worried about the custody. My wife has no interest in custody, it will cramp her lifestyle. The oldest child is 12 and definitely wants to stay with me. My wife did make some idle boast about taking the kids if she didn't get what she wanted but I could shoot her down in flames at any custody hearing as she has had minimal involvement in bringing up the kids. I am not sure that her boyfriend would want to children around either.