Registering joint assets as a business - Would this work in a divorce?

[kaldoverde]

Hi everyone,

I am still a few years away from moving permanently to Thailand with my wife, and we have been happily married for about 5 years.

One thing that scares me though, is the amount of farang who end up losing most of their assets if they get divorced from their Thai wives.

Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not planning a divorce, but at the same time, would like to have some kind of "insurance" should it happen sometime in the future when I am too old to get my life back together if it gets torn apart. Hey, if nothing else, maybe other TV members will benefit from the info discussed in this topic.

Also, feel free to question my assumptions as I am not legally savvy, so just working with information I've read online.

In a divorce assets tend to be split 50/50 (at least), also, Thai ownership laws dictate that only Thai nationals can own land, so this usually puts the farang husband at a huge disadvantage as the house is usually built on the wife's land, and if there is a divorce she will get to keep at least the land + half the couple's assets.

Let's say I decide to move to Thailand, build a small business and a house in the wife's land plot with my hard earned money which I happily share with the missus.

If all these assets were acquired as a couple and things turn sour, I assume I will likely lose most of what I have. Probably won't be able to just sell the assets without approval, and will probably have a hard time selling "half" the house and business.

What I was thinking was (and accept my apologies if this was already discussed), what if upon moving to Thailand me and my wife register as a business and acquire all assets (house, land, shops, etc.) as a business and not as a couple? Would this protect me as a farang or maybe give me more of a guarantee if we eventually decided to get a divorce?

I know ownership laws require 51% of the business to be Thai owned, so I thought, what if we would acquire everything as a business and my wife gets 48% ownership, a Thai straw man gets 3% and I get 49% of our assets?

Should we get a divorce, would the company's assets be split evenly between myself and my wife, giving us each 48.5%? Would I then be able to become main asset holder through my 49.5% + the straw man's 3%?

Does this idea make sense? Is it even legal? Do you think it would work? Are there similar methods already in place that allow farang to protect themselves from an eventual divorce?

Please share your thoughts.

[bobbymack]

The safest way is to set up a company and then buy the house and land in this legal entity. You take 49% of the shares and put the other 51% in two Thais, preferably with Thais that don't know each other. They both sign share transfer forms so that if you feel threatened in the future you can easily remove one and transfer the shares to another.

As to divorce, it is assets that are deemed Marital Assets that are split 50/50. If you can prove that some assets and money were your own prior to marriage then these would not be split. Income derived during the course of a marriage is deemed a marital asset. In theory your land in a company can be seen as a marital asset though if you can prove that it was from money you had prior to being married then you might be able to protect it. It is all down to proof and what a Judge here would consider as a marital asset and fair. However, having the land in a company name puts you in a better position because it is then up to the wife to fight for it as you already have it. If it was in your wife's name then you would be in a weaker position and it would be easier for her to dissipate the assets such as by selling the house or borrowing money on it.

If you want to discuss more and want further info please PM me. As you can see from my icon I am a lawyer here in Pattaya.

[kaldoverde]

Thanks for your input bobbymack, I guess it was thought of before, based on what you said.

Yup, I am aware of the marital assets issue. Hence the strawman holding 3% of the "company's" assets for me.

If my calculations are correct in case we would ever divorce, mine and my wife's share would be divided 50/50 resulting in each getting 48.5% of the assets, and the strawman's 3% staying out of the split. After the split I would be holding 48.5% directly and 3% through the strawman, having majority and consequently higher control over the assets and veto power over sales or transfers to 3rd parties.

Wife would probably still be happy has she would be getting 48.5% of assets I paid for with my cash, and I would be 48.5% poorer but not completely destitute as often seems to be the case with lots of farang.

[maidee]

the safe way is: buy a condo in your name, or better, just RENT

many people stated before: only bring into thailand what you can afford to lose

happy marriage, good for you ... i'm in 10 years, of marriage, not of happyness

and on the verge of divorce

[kaldoverde]

Thank for your reply Maidee, but I am not moving to Thailand on retirement age, so I will need to get a steady income.

I do want to own a business and a house, this means I would need to protect the assets I plan on having as much as I can. To be honest, if things do go wrong I am fine to split any of my assets 50/50. It's the losing control of my share that scares me a bit based on what other TV members have gone through when things don't go so well.

Sad to know it isn't go well for you. Did you protect yourself in anyway back when you got married to ensure you wouldn't be left destitute if things go wrong? Should you go through with a divorce would you be able to protect your assets?

the safe way is: buy a condo in your name, or better, just RENT

many people stated before: only bring into thailand what you can afford to lose

happy marriage, good for you ... i'm in 10 years, of marriage, not of happyness

and on the verge of divorce