Registering A Swedish Custody Agreement In Thailand

[Boo]

A Swedish gf of mine is separated from her Thai husband, they were legally married (in Thailand) when their 3 year old was born & after they separated she moved back to Sweden with the boy, with consent of the father.

The father is in Sweden visiting his son for his 3rd bday & has requested a divorce. I have advised my friend to agree & formalize the sole custody to her, of their son (the father does not at this point want custody only visitation right when they are in Thailand & he in Sweden, which she is of course happy to give him)

She will be speaking with a Swedish lawyer & get the papers drawn up & also register with the courts that they are separated with the intent to give him a divorce in Sweden (do they need to be separated for a year, similar to UK law?) but I have also advised her to register the custody agreement with the Thai courts in case of any future change of heart on the part of the father & his mother (who btw is a cow & on major cause of their problems ).

As I understand it, under Thai law, both parents have joint custody in Thailand & that due to the lack of parental abduction laws, she might in future, find her ex refusing to return their son after a visit but believe that by registering the sole custody agreement at the Thai courts/amphur that she will be protecting herself & son from this being able to occur.

Have I got this all wrong or is this the right process for her & if it is right, who/where can she lodge the sole custody agreement? (which of course her husband is agreeing to currently)

Oh & she is aware that she can get a divorce & agree custody in Thailand for cheap but it isn't easy for her as a single mum to fund this & although the ex would help, her son is also in nursery & she is receiving medical treatment, she is also leery of this issue of thai law on parental custody & would prefer to do it all from Sweden until it is all agreed, lodged with the relevant court/amphur etc.

Thanks for any advice.

[Mario2008]

She still might want to divorce in Thailand, much easier if both agree. As they would only need a lawyer to put the agreement on paper and don't have to waist time with going to court. It has the benefit of being recognised in Thailand and being cheaper on lawyers fees. Of course if she is sick or doesn't have the money it is out of the question.

How to get such an agreement accepted in Thailand if the agreement was made abroad I'm not sure on. You could send a PM to isaanlawyers, Sebastiaan is usualy very helpful if you have a question that doesn't take too much time.

[MikeyIdea]

I'm Swedish and I find the divorce and custody agreement in Thailand much more important than the one in Sweden actually. Swedish juvenile law may not be as good as Thai law to see to the well-being of the child (Swedish law talks too much about parents rights and not enough about the childs best for my liking) and Thailand does not have parental abduction laws either. So as you say, to protect the child and protect from problems in the future, Thailand is where it should start, not Sweden

There is a child involved so yes, there will be a waiting period, obligatory when a child is involved in Sweden, don't know how long.

Your friend and the husband should go to an amphur in Thailand, there is a standard form to fill in. The information about custody is on the back side of the form. State that mother gets sole custody, children stays with the mother and that father gets visitation rights, then both signs in the presence of witnesses and that's it. Mother has sole custody according to Thai law. It should be possible to get that translated and certified and use that to confirm for Swedish authorities that a legal divorce has been performed in another country, and the mother is now single again. Custody is probably different, I don't think a father is allowed to give his custody away to the mother only because he wants to do it in Sweden... then they will start talking about the father paying the pityful allowance they call alimony...

[Boo]

Thanks for the imput. Seems once the father understood the costs & hassle involve in divorcing through Swedish courts he has said he is happy to wait until she is able to come to Thailand alone (or leaving her son elsewhere until finalised) to do it. As you say mikeyidea, if the divorce & custody is arranged in Thailand then it is settled once & that's it, recognised in Sweden also.

I already explained this to her along with the parental abduction issue so she has had time to think & decide the best course for all their futures. The husband is a very good dad & speaks daily with his son on skype when in Thailand but sadly has a conniving & manipulative mother who my friend is most concerned about where her sons future custody is concerned.

[MikeyIdea]

but sadly has a conniving & manipulative mother who my friend is most concerned about where her sons future custody is concerned.

Ask your friend to be careful so that she doesn't happen to say kwai instead of yai...