Prenuptial for Thai and American

[mikemellow]

Does anyone here have any experience or advice with having a prenuptial with a Thai lady that is valid in the state of Florida? We are interested in getting married here in Thailand and then moving to the state of Florida in America.

[MJCM]

better would be get a prenup there and get married there. You can register your marriage later here in Thailand.

If the majority of your assets are in the USA that would be much better and a lot easier.

Good Luck

[CMBob]

No direct experience but it seems to me you really ought to consider seeking advice from both a Florida and Thai lawyer (the Thai lawyer in case you go to Florida and execute a valid prenuptial agreement there but your wife returns to Thailand a files for a divorce here in Thailand).

Most states in the US that will enforce prenuptial agreements have various requirements. One, for example, is that both parties must fully disclose all assets to the other party (and the only intelligent way you do this is to attach to the prenuptial agreement a full and fair listings of all assets). Another one is that both parties must have independent counsel and the agreement must be signed a reasonable time before the marriage (i.e., courts have tossed out such agreements signed the day of the marriage or even the evening before).

While I have no specific knowledge about Thai prenuptial agreements, I've read that one of the requirements is that the agreement must be signed on the day the marriage is registered. I mention that one requirement as that seems to fly in the face of what some states require as noted above).

If you want to protect yourself, looks like you need some advice from competent lawyers in both countries.

[smotherb]

better would be get a prenup there and get married there. You can register your marriage later here in Thailand.

If the majority of your assets are in the USA that would be much better and a lot easier.

Good Luck

Agree, best to get married there, but that may be a problem getting her to the US, if not married. However, if she has sufficient assets in her name, a tourist visa is rather easy. If she does not have sufficient assets; it may mean you have to trust her enough to give her sufficient assets.

[northernboy]

better would be get a prenup there and get married there. You can register your marriage later here in Thailand.

If the majority of your assets are in the USA that would be much better and a lot easier.

Good Luck

I agree with the prenup being drawn up in the states and registering there, but you can not later register the marriage or the prenup in Thailand.

It does require a lot of original documents to be brought over to register the prenup here. Be careful that you have a copy that is translated into Thai when you register there so no possible misunderstanding can be claimed later.

If you marry here and register the prenup here at the registration time, it is legal in the States but have the document translated to English and certified by the the Thai FM just to be 100% sure no problems later, many will say over kill but that is =what a prenup is for teh unexpected and worst case scenario. You should also have a Floridian lawyer check it is within the laws of Florida so a court there does not void it.

[MJCM]

[<snip> but you can not later register the marriage or the prenup in Thailand.

<snip>

You are correct about the prenup bit, but incorrect about the part that you can not register a foreign Marriage in Thailand !

Read here for example.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/647221-registration-of-foreign-marriage-in-thailand/

or here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544063-registering-us-marriage-in-thailand/#entry5173577

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/544063-registering-us-marriage-in-thailand/#entry5206460

[CMBob]

If you marry here and register the prenup here at the registration time, it is legal in the States

Sorry, but that advice could be wrong (Florida may or may not recognize the validity of a prenuptial executed outside of Florida if it doesn't meet Florida requirements). Again, if he's going to live in Florida and wants Florida to consider valid a prenuptial he executes here in Thailand, Denmark, or Florida, only a competent Florida lawyer can tell him that after seeing the document and after knowing the circumstances as to how and when it was signed.

Edit: The OP also should be aware that many states will not recognize as valid a post-nuptial agreement (I have no clue as to Florida's position on that). [This is added in case the OP gets married before returning to the states and thinks that he certainly can do a new agreement if a Florida lawyer tells him the prenuptial done here isn't valid in Florida].

[DrKSS]

I married a Thai girl here in Houston that was a big mistake. If you do! Don't give her access to your checking account. Mine modified the checks I wrote and the bank called me. Of coarse I divorced her 10 years to late. Anyway you can get her in the USA on K1 Visa. If you marry her there the government here (USA) will make you wait thru paperwork up to 10 years. Also If your marry her in Florida at least make both preamps in yours and hers languages certified translations. That way if a divorce happens she could not says she did not understand.Florida is very tuff on men's divorces. She can be in USA 30 days on a K1 visa. In that time you must get married if you are going to or she will have to return to Thailand. If you marry there you can start the paperwork thru immigration in Florida. You can do the paperwork yourself all the information is online immigration. Also in immagration interviews they want you to give her a credit card. I wasted 10 years of my life. Think long and hard man. In Huffington Post story on divorces in america they say women start divorces, when one is started, 66% to 90% of the time. Not good odds for men. Cheaper to have a girl friend there that pay lawyers here.

DrKSS

PS if you have ? Post here further.

[mikemellow]

better would be get a prenup there and get married there. You can register your marriage later here in Thailand.

If the majority of your assets are in the USA that would be much better and a lot easier.

Good Luck

I agree with the prenup being drawn up in the states and registering there, but you can not later register the marriage or the prenup in Thailand.

It does require a lot of original documents to be brought over to register the prenup here. Be careful that you have a copy that is translated into Thai when you register there so no possible misunderstanding can be claimed later.

If you marry here and register the prenup here at the registration time, it is legal in the States but have the document translated to English and certified by the the Thai FM just to be 100% sure no problems later, many will say over kill but that is =what a prenup is for teh unexpected and worst case scenario. You should also have a Floridian lawyer check it is within the laws of Florida so a court there does not void it.

When you say "have the document translated to English and certified by the Thai FM" what does that mean. What is a Thai FM and how do you register with him?

[MJCM]

MFA or FM is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

[mikemellow]

I married a Thai girl here in Houston that was a big mistake. If you do! Don't give her access to your checking account. Mine modified the checks I wrote and the bank called me. Of coarse I divorced her 10 years to late. Anyway you can get her in the USA on K1 Visa. If you marry her there the government here (USA) will make you wait thru paperwork up to 10 years. Also If your marry her in Florida at least make both preamps in yours and hers languages certified translations. That way if a divorce happens she could not says she did not understand.Florida is very tuff on men's divorces. She can be in USA 30 days on a K1 visa. In that time you must get married if you are going to or she will have to return to Thailand. If you marry there you can start the paperwork thru immigration in Florida. You can do the paperwork yourself all the information is online immigration. Also in immagration interviews they want you to give her a credit card. I wasted 10 years of my life. Think long and hard man. In Huffington Post story on divorces in america they say women start divorces, when one is started, 66% to 90% of the time. Not good odds for men. Cheaper to have a girl friend there that pay lawyers here.

DrKSS

PS if you have ? Post here further.

Did you bring her over from Thailand and marry her in Texas on a K1 or was she already here when you met? Was she a regular Thai girl or a bargirl? How old was she and you?

You say you were married 10 years, that is a long time. How long before your marriage went bad or were there a lot of problems right from the start? Did you have to give her alot of money from the divorce?

[DrKSS]

I brought her over on K1 visa then married.

She got part of my retirement about 450 USD until my death.

She claimed to be a working girl but maybe she was part time hooker. Unsure on this one but she sure thought like one. Quit more that 15 jobs in that ten years. She was college educated and got another degree here on medical coding and billing here. Lied a lot. Her day stated at 2pm.

Married in Thai temple in Texas.

If I was to do it again I'd be smart to do a background check! Thai girls do lie a lot. Not long ago another Thai girl asked me to send her money when when red/yellow were fighting and I did that. Never heard of her sense.

Problems started right from the immigration interview....after 5 months here she still did not know her address of residents here.

She was in her mid 40s when we were married. I was in my mid 50s.

I tried to answer all your ?

DrKSS

[mikemellow]

I brought her over on K1 visa then married.

She got part of my retirement about 450 USD until my death.

She claimed to be a working girl but maybe she was part time hooker. Unsure on this one but she sure thought like one. Quit more that 15 jobs in that ten years. She was college educated and got another degree here on medical coding and billing here. Lied a lot. Her day stated at 2pm.

Married in Thai temple in Texas.

If I was to do it again I'd be smart to do a background check! Thai girls do lie a lot. Not long ago another Thai girl asked me to send her money when when red/yellow were fighting and I did that. Never heard of her sense.

Problems started right from the immigration interview....after 5 months here she still did not know her address of residents here.

She was in her mid 40s when we were married. I was in my mid 50s.

I tried to answer all your ?

DrKSS

Thanks. Sounds like you ended up with a bad one for sure. Not sure how a background check would have helped you in that case. I am surprised you sent money to any Thai girl after that and I am also surprised she did not hang around after so maybe at least she could get more money out of you.

[DrKSS]

I was stupid and trusted her! I should have hired a PI to check her out. Believe me! If you get a bad one your life will be hell! She thought she was going to live on my credit card cause I stopped giving her money. The only way I got rid of her was telling her I was going to kill my credit. Then surprisingly she wanted a divorce right await......hehehe! I still get mail from american express where she still has a 5k bill outstanding. Student loans are usually the students issue after divorce. The other girl I just loaned money to I told her it was only going to happen one time.

DrKSS