What Are His Chances?

[MAJIC]

Well its 2pm so hes either out celebrating or too embarrassed to admit defeat on fbook?

Do judges in Thailand make a verdict on the spot?

No it will take the court 2-6 years to come up with a verdict. But maybe he's been in and out of court in 2-6 years already.

That's about similar as to court handling's in the Western world then. Thanks for answering my questions.

What part of the western world are you talking about? if it's the UK ? A divorce within a year if the circumstances are right,and a 50/50 split of everything! is quite common place!

[Gecko123]

I have heard before of farang married to Thai's having to declare in writing to the land office that they have no interest in the property. Has anyone else? how would that sit? in this situation if he was married?

See paragraph 5 of my post #55.

[steven100]

Did he has evidence to buy things for her or bank transfer to her account? Could get things back at lease half. How about her back ground and his back ground. Court will see which person can afford to buy car and house?.

In Thailand its difficult for farang to go to Thai court but at lease he can get half money back.

Good luck.

' but at lease he can get half money back.' rubbish !! dream on ....

[steven100]

So what do you think his chances are?--RustBucket

.

Probably has 2 chances ...Fat & Slim.....................................

A snowballs chance in hell!

buckleys & none .....

what's the chance of him getting anything ? hell will freeze over before that happens ......

[BlackJack]

If he has proof of what belongs to him and that he paid for things there may be a change, but likely the judge will urge them to negotiate a settlement.

By the way, he will have a Thai lawyer as foreign lawyers are not allowed to plea in a Thai court only acting as an adviser.

With the risk of spam and being banned here goes. The is feedback and not a free plug.

We are running a few cases now.

There is no jury system here in Thailand and so the Judge decides on the paperwork and arguments put forward by the plaintiff and the defendant. The plaintiff should be able to produce bank statements of money being brought into the country. Even a document from the bank in your own country showing you transferred money is helpful. The defendant would have difficulty in explaining where she got millions of baht to buy the property. The Judge is also aware of these issues as they hear them 10 times a day.

If the plaintiff can also produce some contract documents that would help as well. The defendants mostly state in court that he gave it to me.

If either side has the correct paperwork there is a good chance of winning but getting the money back is more difficult as assets have to be seized and sold off.

A lesson for all you guys - not matter how much you love your princess always get them to sign something regarding the money or loan or what you have bought. If they dont want to sign then I guess you know where they're coming from.

[maidee]

his money was just considered a gift, thainess, you know

[BritManToo]

his money was just considered a gift, thainess, you know

Foreigner is not allowed to give money to a Thai for them to buy property.

If a Thai states that is what happened in court, they lose.

(It's considered proxy ownership)

[otocheater]

Did he has evidence to buy things for her or bank transfer to her account? Could get things back at lease half. How about her back ground and his back ground. Court will see which person can afford to buy car and house?.

In Thailand its difficult for farang to go to Thai court but at lease he can get half money back.

Good luck.

' but at lease he can get half money back.' rubbish !! dream on ....

If you can get any ideas to OP so please dont disturb the other.

Thanks.

:-)

[Gringogazzer]

On the little information the OP has everyone has to speculate as to the details. But going on how many stories go.

He's not married, no 50% rule. Only what he can prove is outright his.

But if he bought the land it would be in her name & no court in Thailand can award him that land, it's hers.

The house, dubious, but I doubt he has a lease agreement with her for the land the house sits on. Can ask him to leave at any point.

Car in her name, gift, it's hers.

Big ticket items wrapped up I doubt there will be pics of him breaking open bottles of champagne in the middle of the road with his big screen TV & bed.

No law protects a fool & his money.

But all speculation on details.

Thai law states that in the event of divorce everything "obtained" during the marriage is to be split 50/50. BUT "obtained" does not mean "purchased."

"Obtained" means acquired in the sense of "obtained through the fruits of labor or effort." It definitely does not automatically mean everything you purchased during your marriage.

For example, let's say you have 100,000 in the bank before you get married. After marriage, you use that 100,000 to purchase property (land included). In the event of divorce, under Thai law, the purchased property is your individual property - - not marital property which needs to be divided 50/50. That property belongs 100% to you.

However, let's say you owned a business prior to marriage. Under Thai law, all of the income for that business which was received during the marriage would be considered marital property. The same is true if you own financial assets which generate interest income and capital gains. The financial assets are considered your personal property, but the interest income and capital gains received during the marriage would be considered marital property and would be subject to a 50/50 division in the event of divorce. The only way someone can protect themselves from this would be to enter into a pre-nuptial agreement before the marriage.

Regarding land purchased in violation of Thailand's land law, the current law (based on a Thailand Supreme court decision) states that a foreigner who purchases land in violation of land law does not forfeit his interest in that real property. Because land law provides a mechanism for correcting a violation of land law violation (forced sale by the Land office), the foreigner's interests in the land can be protected. Under former Thai law, the courts previously ruled that because a foreigner's interest in land violated land law and was therefore illegal, those illegal interests were unenforceable under the law. THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE. A person who lied to the land office about whose assets were used to purchase the land might be subject to prosecution for lying to the government official, but that doesn't mean that they automatically forfeit their rights to the land.

To understand Thai marital property law, you have to understand that there are actually two definitions. One definition defines what is "marital property" and the second definition defines what is "individual property". You have to understand BOTH definitions to understand how Thai marital property law works. You need to read carefully how "individual property" is defined. This is the key to understanding how the law works.

Many people (including a shocking number of Thai lawyers) only read the first definition of what constitutes marital property. They see the word "obtains" and erroneously assume that "obtains" means anything purchased during the marriage. This is completely incorrect, and you can see this for yourself by reading the definition of individual property in the marital property section of the Thai civil code.

Think about it. If "obtained" meant everything "purchased" during the marriage, this would encourage people to marry, quickly purchase property and then divorce in order to reap a windfall by being able to immediately able to claim a 50% financial interest of everything purchased. This would be totally destabilizing to families (especially children) and would be terribly damaging to society.

Thai marital property law provides no such incentive for people to marry in order to obtain this type of financial windfall, and in my opinion is quite equitable and fair to both parties.

A worth while & interesting read.

Regarding the land law & change of law of thoses purchasing land in violation of the law, certainly on topic.

When did the law change & how long has it been in effect to put in perspective those I know who lost their investment/purchase?

I wouldn't of thought the forced sale of the land would recoup the original purchase price & what are the penalties for being prosecuted for violating the land law?

Could be used as leverage.

[mitsubishi]

I am married to a Thai and have been for 3 years now.

I made sure I lived here for 2 years before marrying her, just to make sure I knew all about her, and even though I have the money in my UK bank, I have never brought more than a few hundred thousand baht here at any one time. I have my own Thai bank account and the money is in there. She has an ATM card, but if she were to dump me and systematically attempt to empty the account, i would have the card cancelled and the most she could get is 20K.

I have also bought the house on a 30 year mortgage even though I can buy it outright, I feel safer on a mortgage, as well as the car I have got it over 7 year loan...

So if she dumped me, she is welcome to the house and car and all the future payments that go along with it.

Those who buy houses and cars outright are playing a dangerous game.

I totally trust my wife, but nobody knows what is in the future.

I sincerely hope that you have included her, as a beneficiary, in your written and VALID in both countries, last will. If I was her, I would not want to be left on top of unpaid bills. At least she already spent five years of her declining beauty in the arms of such a distrusting husband. At some point of her life it will be impossible to catch another good guy.

Errrrm, that's her lookout, not his. Nobodies forcing her to be with him. You make it sound like she's a slave-bound commodity <deleted>.

[mitsubishi]

I am starting to realize how naive, and lucky I am; or maybe the old "gut feeling" kicked in.

I married my partner on the spot, put everything in both names, and let her know she is better of if I am dead (accidentally).

That was 9 years ago, and I am still here.

All good........

Sometimes the gods favor the foolish and blunderful.

[EASYDOGG]

Thailand: The hub of chumps.

[sipi]

I am starting to realize how naive, and lucky I am; or maybe the old "gut feeling" kicked in.

I married my partner on the spot, put everything in both names, and let her know she is better of if I am dead (accidentally).

That was 9 years ago, and I am still here.

All good........

Sometimes the gods favor the foolish and blunderful.

Yes I agree.

I am foolish and blunderful....and stupid and naive..

And HAPPY!

[sletraveler]

I am married to a Thai and have been for 3 years now.

I made sure I lived here for 2 years before marrying her, just to make sure I knew all about her, and even though I have the money in my UK bank, I have never brought more than a few hundred thousand baht here at any one time. I have my own Thai bank account and the money is in there. She has an ATM card, but if she were to dump me and systematically attempt to empty the account, i would have the card cancelled and the most she could get is 20K.

I have also bought the house on a 30 year mortgage even though I can buy it outright, I feel safer on a mortgage, as well as the car I have got it over 7 year loan...

So if she dumped me, she is welcome to the house and car and all the future payments that go along with it.

Those who buy houses and cars outright are playing a dangerous game.

I totally trust my wife, but nobody knows what is in the future.

Maybe it different in LOS. Here in states I was ordered to pay off the mortgage, pay off the car, pay off her cards and then sign over to her. Here it's 50-50 split. Wink wink. Split it in two, man gets the small half woman gets the big half.

[elgordo38]

I am married to a Thai and have been for 3 years now.

I made sure I lived here for 2 years before marrying her, just to make sure I knew all about her, and even though I have the money in my UK bank, I have never brought more than a few hundred thousand baht here at any one time. I have my own Thai bank account and the money is in there. She has an ATM card, but if she were to dump me and systematically attempt to empty the account, i would have the card cancelled and the most she could get is 20K.

I have also bought the house on a 30 year mortgage even though I can buy it outright, I feel safer on a mortgage, as well as the car I have got it over 7 year loan...

So if she dumped me, she is welcome to the house and car and all the future payments that go along with it.

Those who buy houses and cars outright are playing a dangerous game.

I totally trust my wife, but nobody knows what is in the future.

Yes buying outright is a dangerous game. Love and hate walk an awfully thin line. Buying everything on time is good. As long as she stays you keep making payments.

[hugh2121]

Ask the Lawyer previously stated that there are rights for "Common Law Spouse" in Thailand. Might be worth exploring.

[sydneyjed]

Not a single person who has responded to this thread so far knows what they are talking about.

The fact is that under Thai law if either party to the relationship can prove that the assets used to purchase the property during the relationship were owned by that party prior to the relationship, the courts will rule that the property belongs to that party. This is irrespective of whether the parties were married or living together as boyfriend/girlfriend.

I have been through a similar property dispute here in Thailand. You can research this yourself by looking up Thai marital property law which is part of the Thai civil code. Thailand's courts are as reputable as those in Western countries.

There is no separate law for foreigners in Thailand. The same marital property law applies to everyone. The only caveat is that it is illegal for foreigners to own land in Thailand. But even here, if land is purchased in violation of land law, this does not mean that the foreigner forfeits his rights to recover his investment in the land.

Think about it! If Thai marital property law allowed people to take advantage of one another, no one would get married. Thai marital property law is very fair to both parties. There's just a lot of misinformation and ignorance amongst the ex-patriate community about how it works.

Absolutely Gecko...before you enter into any partnership or marriage here get an agreement drawn up and then signed by both parties by a farang lawyer who is an expert in Thai law and this will save you all the heartache if things do then go t..s up further down the line!May cost you some money but as in this case will save you if this happens!

[BritManToo]

Absolutely Gecko...before you enter into any partnership or marriage here get an agreement drawn up and then signed by both parties by a farang lawyer who is an expert in Thai law and this will save you all the heartache if things do then go t..s up further down the line!May cost you some money but as in this case will save you if this happens!

Just to point out foreigners are not allowed to work in law.

Any agreement they helped draw up would be deemed illegal.

[Mudcrab]

I think you need to watch your back if you are trying to recover joint assets with a Thai GF...some farangs lose more than a few assets...they lose their axx...

You betcha. Especially when you are dealing with prostitutes and the scum that sorround them, as I am sure most of these folks are

**WARNING WARNING ....WILL ROBERTSON........HOLIER THAN THOU...WARNING...WARNING"

Hmmm Dr Smith what do you think " Could be a Mormon..or ....oh my God... a Baptist!"

DR Smith 'Robot'..analyse.."an alien life form characterised by an outward demonstration of strong morals but inwardly lustful with extreme indulgent practices"

Dr Smith "Robot" geographical distribution..."North America and the area known as the Middle East.... although there is a concentration in South East Asia"

Dr Smith "Robot more information "sorry Doc got me a honey from Nana..on your own old son"

Dr Smith "Will"..."Will F off you creepy old teacher. I travelled across the galaxy to find this, remember you called it a monkey in the 70's...hahaha I've grown up..I call them honey now...up yours".

Ooops i have seemed to have digressed off topic just a tad.

Hope you had a laugh anyway.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Mudcrab

[sydneyjed]

Absolutely Gecko...before you enter into any partnership or marriage here get an agreement drawn up and then signed by both parties by a farang lawyer who is an expert in Thai law and this will save you all the heartache if things do then go t..s up further down the line!May cost you some money but as in this case will save you if this happens!

Just to point out foreigners are not allowed to work in law.

Any agreement they helped draw up would be deemed illegal.

Wrong mate...and without being accused of spamming know a good friend of mine who has successfully made a good living and reputation out of this for a number of years now 'legally' !

[Mudcrab]

Absolutely Gecko...before you enter into any partnership or marriage here get an agreement drawn up and then signed by both parties by a farang lawyer who is an expert in Thai law and this will save you all the heartache if things do then go t..s up further down the line!May cost you some money but as in this case will save you if this happens!

Just to point out foreigners are not allowed to work in law.

Any agreement they helped draw up would be deemed illegal.

Wrong mate...and without being accused of spamming know a good friend of mine who has successfully made a good living and reputation out of this for a number of years now 'legally' !

Not spamming...a non thai can't appear as a lawyer in a thai court. But thats about the limit of the restriction as I understand it. They can advise the thai lawyer etc (stongly I suspect)

[sydneyjed]

Absolutely Gecko...before you enter into any partnership or marriage here get an agreement drawn up and then signed by both parties by a farang lawyer who is an expert in Thai law and this will save you all the heartache if things do then go t..s up further down the line!May cost you some money but as in this case will save you if this happens!

Just to point out foreigners are not allowed to work in law.

Any agreement they helped draw up would be deemed illegal.

Wrong mate...and without being accused of spamming know a good friend of mine who has successfully made a good living and reputation out of this for a number of years now 'legally' !

Not spamming...a non thai can't appear as a lawyer in a thai court. But thats about the limit of the restriction as I understand it. They can advise the thai lawyer etc (stongly I suspect)

Well there you go 'non thai'..you have answered it Mud' in one!!He is!!

[Jungle Jim]

Let me guess where he met her ?

[Wat dee]

Been there ,he better off leaving now he will get nothing. He just another victim

Not sure if I would call Him/You a"victim"

[Mudcrab]

Not spamming...a non thai can't appear as a lawyer in a thai court. But thats about the limit of the restriction as I understand it. They can advise the thai lawyer etc (stongly I suspect)

Well there you go 'non thai'..you have answered it Mud' in one!!He is!!

Check the Thai law for reserved occupations.

A non Thai cannot act as a Lawyer in a Thai court.

Anything else I can help you with"

[sydneyjed]

Not spamming...a non thai can't appear as a lawyer in a thai court. But thats about the limit of the restriction as I understand it. They can advise the thai lawyer etc (stongly I suspect)

Well there you go 'non thai'..you have answered it Mud' in one!!He is!!

Check the Thai law for reserved occupations.

A non Thai cannot act as a Lawyer in a Thai court.

Anything else I can help you with"

Mud Pleeease....you really aren't contributing jack s..t to any thing in the way of helping me!!

[RigPig]

I am married to a Thai and have been for 3 years now.

I made sure I lived here for 2 years before marrying her, just to make sure I knew all about her, and even though I have the money in my UK bank, I have never brought more than a few hundred thousand baht here at any one time. I have my own Thai bank account and the money is in there. She has an ATM card, but if she were to dump me and systematically attempt to empty the account, i would have the card cancelled and the most she could get is 20K.

I have also bought the house on a 30 year mortgage even though I can buy it outright, I feel safer on a mortgage, as well as the car I have got it over 7 year loan...

So if she dumped me, she is welcome to the house and car and all the future payments that go along with it.

Those who buy houses and cars outright are playing a dangerous game.

I totally trust my wife, but nobody knows what is in the future.

If you did this after the marriage you are still responsible for 1.2 of the debt..... (assuming your name is on the papers).

[HughJass]

I am married to a Thai and have been for 3 years now.

I made sure I lived here for 2 years before marrying her, just to make sure I knew all about her, and even though I have the money in my UK bank, I have never brought more than a few hundred thousand baht here at any one time. I have my own Thai bank account and the money is in there. She has an ATM card, but if she were to dump me and systematically attempt to empty the account, i would have the card cancelled and the most she could get is 20K.

I have also bought the house on a 30 year mortgage even though I can buy it outright, I feel safer on a mortgage, as well as the car I have got it over 7 year loan...

So if she dumped me, she is welcome to the house and car and all the future payments that go along with it.

Those who buy houses and cars outright are playing a dangerous game.

I totally trust my wife, but nobody knows what is in the future.

wait until she starts talking to her bar girl friends about how if she files for divorce in UK she will get half your assets maybe more...or she may just

decide for you to have a little "accident" crossing the road from 7/11 or going for a swim in the local klong then she will instruct a lawyer, some

of whom are well versed in extracting money from deceased farang husbands bank accounts in the west... always better to rent in Lieland and anyway what benefit is there to a farang to get married to a woman whose country gives more rights to the fleas on a soi dog

with regard to the OP the guy has two hopes.....No Hope and Bob Hope

Edited December 5, 2014 by HughJass

[smotherb]

I know of two similar situations, one in Thailand, one in the Philippines. In the Thai case, a farang bought a small house and car and put them in his girlfriend's name. They split, and he took her to court. His lawyer was able to get the house back for him, but she got the car; and he had to pay the lawyer about half as much as the house cost to get it back. In the Philippine case, a cano--Flip equivalent of farang--took his ex-girl friend to court to get back a house he put in her name. His lawyer played the down and dirty and spun a tale of a bar-girl snookering a poor old man, a lady of the night who never had more than enough to buy a new pair of shoes in her purse. The judge's decision was for the girl. He said, your lawyer even said she never had any money, so obviously, you gave it to her.

[Mudcrab]

Not spamming...a non thai can't appear as a lawyer in a thai court. But thats about the limit of the restriction as I understand it. They can advise the thai lawyer etc (stongly I suspect)

Well there you go 'non thai'..you have answered it Mud' in one!!He is!!

Check the Thai law for reserved occupations.

A non Thai cannot act as a Lawyer in a Thai court.

Anything else I can help you with"

Mud Pleeease....you really aren't contributing jack s..t to any thing in the way of helping me!!

If you need help or advice start your own thread.

otherwise let this one run its natural course.