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Divorce in Thailand: procedures overview

Expat Counsel

Family law in Thailand Part X: Divorce: How to get it done - starting court action

By James Finch and Nilobon Tangprasit

Two weeks ago we talked about the procedures for divorce if both parties agree. But what if they don't, and only one party wants the divorce? Or the parties don't agree as to child support or division of the property or alimony? In these cases one of the parties has to sue the other in court.

To bring a court action in divorce - or to respond to one - you will need your own lawyer. It should be somebody who has experience with divorces and speaks your language if you aren't fluent in the Thai language, both spoken and written. You must ask the lawyer to explain everything that is in writing and make sure everything that happens is in line with our explanation of the procedure, below. Professionals are busy and lawyers are no exception. If you don't make sure your lawyer is doing what he or she should, something will fall between the cracks, and the person hurt will be you.

Here is how it works. One of the parties, called the plaintiff, must file documents known as a complaint with the Juvenile and Family Court, stating the grounds for divorce. We explained these grounds at length in an earlier column. They are:

- Adultery;

- misconduct;

- physical or mental abuse;

- one of the parties has been sentenced to jail for more than a year;

- the parties have been living separately for more than three years;

- failure to support;

- insanity;

- breaking bond of good behaviour, or;

- communicable or dangerous disease.

Divorces on the grounds of adultery, misconduct, abuse or failure to support and divorces demanding living allowance based on need of the party not at fault must be brought within a year of the fault alleged. If they aren't, they will be unsuccessful - unless another ground exists.

The evidence submitted with the complaint depends on the case, but will normally include:

- Blue book (house registration) of the Thai party;

- copies of ID for Thai party and passport for foreign party;

- copy of marriage certificate;

- copies of birth certificates of children born of the marriage and;

- evidence proving grounds of divorce.

There is a court fee that must be paid by the plaintiff, based on the amount of the claim. The amount of the claim is the money damages that the plaintiff is requesting that the court order the other spouse, known as the defendant, to pay. It is 2% of the amount of the claim, with a ceiling of 200,000 baht for most claims. If the claim exceeds 50 million baht, however, there will be an additional fee for the amount over 50 million baht of 0.1%.

Here's an example of how the court fees are calculated. Let's say the amount claimed is 60 million baht. The calculation would be 200,000 baht (the maximum for the portion of the claim not exceeding 50 million baht) plus 10,000 baht (0.1% of 10 million baht, the amount the claim exceeds 50 million baht). Thus the court fee would be 210,000 baht.

Next time we'll talk about what happens after the complaint is filed.

-- James Finch of Chavalit Finch and Partners http://www.chavalitfinchlaw.com