when you registered your marriage at the amphur office what about the pre-nup

[advancebooking]

My wife and I have signed a pre-nup and its in thai language. We want to now go to the Amphur to do the formal registration and get the marriage certificate. 

 

I was there last week by myself and tried explaining to the guy that we have a pre-nup and showed him the document. He said that it was a bit long and that there is only a small space on a form to list things. 

 

I was under the impression that the whole pre-nup document would be registered. The guy was implying that maybe I list my assets on his form. 

 

Please share your experience if you have done this in the LOS. No doubt different amphur office has different procedures. Its far too logical to have the same procedures across thailand....

[AlexRRR]

Now now......being sarcastic will only work for you in TV, you will win admiration and friends, many you dont even want.

 

The lawyer you used should be able to answer that question dont you think?

 

Of course there could be a conspiracy by the new wife or one of her family who have paid the official at the amphur to mis lead you, now i dont hold to that theory but there are so many jaded and jilted ex lovers in TV who have been taken for a long but sometimes short ride into financial ruin, might explain all them big houses up NE in the village you see.

 

Nothing like getting a lawyers advice on something so important as this, i do hope you did use a lawyer to draw up the original document.

[AlexRRR]

ps.....you should have a copy of your pre nup in English that all parties signed and and witnessed, bad advice you received if you dont, again the jaded and jilted lot could shoot holes in you for being so careless unless of course shes the one will all the assets.

[advancebooking]

ps.....you should have a copy of your pre nup in English that all parties signed and and witnessed, bad advice you received if you dont, again the jaded and jilted lot could shoot holes in you for being so careless unless of course shes the one will all the assets.

 

Actually a lawyer from a top tier firm in bkk says that  a pre-nup in thai is only legally enforceable. 

[OZEMADE]

 

ps.....you should have a copy of your pre nup in English that all parties signed and and witnessed, bad advice you received if you dont, again the jaded and jilted lot could shoot holes in you for being so careless unless of course shes the one will all the assets.

 

Actually a lawyer from a top tier firm in bkk says that  a pre-nup in thai is only legally enforceable. 

 

Registering your marriage at the Amphur only means you are legally married and it is recognised overseas as well.

As far as a Pre-Nup goes, it is a legal document that you and your other half have agreed to in the presence of your solicitor. Before you and your wife signed it you should have had it translated into English and had all parties sign the Thai and English versions.

Unless you can read Thai, why would you sign a document you don't know what it states.

[advancebooking]

 

 

ps.....you should have a copy of your pre nup in English that all parties signed and and witnessed, bad advice you received if you dont, again the jaded and jilted lot could shoot holes in you for being so careless unless of course shes the one will all the assets.

 

Actually a lawyer from a top tier firm in bkk says that  a pre-nup in thai is only legally enforceable. 

 

Registering your marriage at the Amphur only means you are legally married and it is recognised overseas as well.

As far as a Pre-Nup goes, it is a legal document that you and your other half have agreed to in the presence of your solicitor. Before you and your wife signed it you should have had it translated into English and had all parties sign the Thai and English versions.

Unless you can read Thai, why would you sign a document you don't know what it states.

 

why would you suggest that i signed a document that I didnt know what it states. Are you psychic 

 

Of course I understood what I signed. Every word of it. 

 

Maybe if anyone wants to make a comment they could read the original question. 

[SantiSuk]

I had a prenup prepared by a reasonably substantial American-Thai law firm in Bangkok. They provided advice throughout (meetings attended by both US and Thai qualified lawyers whose speciality was family law) and basically organised the Amphur registration, accompanying us to the Registration Office.

 

I recall their advice, that a signed pre-nuptial agreement, with the content having been clearly communicated in Thai to the Thai spouse and validly signed/witnessed before the marriage, would have validity in Thailand. My wife also had her own Thai lawyer attend the signing and advising her. I do not recall any discussion about the need for the Agreement to be registered at the Amphur (Pra Kanong) and I see no mention of any such on the registration document (and no obvious markings on the prenup agreement itself to suggest it might have been used in such a procedure).

 

My Thai legal book "Thai Law for Foreigners" (Poomsam Becker & Thongkaew 2008) has a page or more on prenuptials and remains silent about any need to register the pre-nup.

[AlexRRR]

And your lawyer said to you?

[losgrad]

In my limited experience, different amphurs seem to process the pre-nup differently: some may not accept, some as attachments and some as a core part of the documents with witnesses signing it in, etc... I visited multiple amphurs to determine their processes before registering. Those with more experience with Western/Thai marriages seem to be more accepting of pre-nuptial agreements.

As mentioned above by "SantiSuk" and according to my legal counsels, the proper signing before the registration seems to be the important legal documentation and the amphurs processes are not as important. I'd recommend consulting more than one legal counsel to ensure you are properly advised - both in Thailand and in your home country, wherever your assets lie.

Since you've done the work to date, you understand the preparations now will make any work later easier, but to me most importantly clarifying each parties understanding the contractal terms of the relationship. Love is a grand reason to get married, but it's interpreted so differently even within a single culture. Edited August 4, 2014 by losgrad

[bobbymack]

^{You most  certainly do need to register the pre-nup at the amphur when you register the marriage. If you do not then it will be invalid and registering later is too late as you are already married.}

[hyperdimension]

^{You most  certainly do need to register the pre-nup at the amphur when you register the marriage. If you do not then it will be invalid and registering later is too late as you are already married.}

 

The fact that it's too late to do any such agreement after marriage is a very scary thought, because you won't know what valuable assets you will hold in future (e.g. inheritance... you could be inheriting massive fortunes / estates from parents or relatives). So it seems to make sense to do a pre-nuptial agreement beforehand, and if divorce does ever eventuate, you have the option to either give her nothing (sticking strictly to the pre-nuptial agreement) or give her some things out of your own kindness (being more generous than what was specified in the pre-nuptial agreement). If you do not do a pre-nuptial agreement, you would not have such options in divorce, as the default obligated action is to give half of all assets that were acquired after the date of marriage. Am I correct?

 

 

Is it possible to specify in a pre-nuptial agreement that all assets you acquire in future (in addition to assets you currently own) will remain 100% owned by you in the event of a divorce?

[bobbymack]

The fact that it is called a pre-nuptial agreement means it is made pre-marriage and so cannot be made after the marriage. Remember it is only marital assets that have to be shared 50/50 so if you can prove therefore, with the pre-nup backing you up, that a house you bought after marriage for example but with money you had as a personal asset pre-marriage then you would not have to share that. You cannot specify all assets you acquire jointly would be yours 100%. Even if you put it in a pre-nup agreement it is highly probable that any judge would dismiss it  as unfair and that the wife just signed it under duress and therefore the clause would be disallowed.

[hyperdimension]

You cannot specify all assets you acquire jointly would be yours 100%. Even if you put it in a pre-nup agreement it is highly probable that any judge would dismiss it  as unfair and that the wife just signed it under duress and therefore the clause would be disallowed.

 

By "jointly" do you mean in the name of both husband and wife? Can the pre-nuptial agreement specify that all assets acquired after marriage that are in the name of the husband only will not be shared in the event of a divorce?
 

[bobbymack]

_{Yes, jointly means a  marital asset. If you acquire something after marriage which is a personal asset then it obviously is not a marital asset and therefore not divided. Again, it is up to a Judge to decide what is considered marital or personal assets. You can have in a pre-nup that items such as an inheritance from a will is a personal asset and not a marital asset. What you cannot do in Thailand is have something in a pre-nup which is against public policy or good morals. Land acquired in Thailand by a falang and his wife after marriage is considered as the personal property of the Thai spouse and not marital property. However, if you can prove at divorce that the money was personal assets of the falang from before marriage you may get all of it back but more likely 50%} 

[hyperdimension]

_{Yes, jointly means a  marital asset. If you acquire something after marriage which is a personal asset then it obviously is not a marital asset and therefore not divided. Again, it is up to a Judge to decide what is considered marital or personal assets. You can have in a pre-nup that items such as an inheritance from a will is a personal asset and not a marital asset. What you cannot do in Thailand is have something in a pre-nup which is against public policy or good morals.}

 

Is a house in which the married couple live a "marital asset"? If so, without a prenuptial agreement, would the value of the house be split 50% after divorce, and if so, would that be the same regardless of whether the house was purchased by the husband or was inherited from the Thai wife's parents?
 

Edited August 8, 2014 by hyperdimension