Marriage

[tamsin]

My partner and I have been together for several years and I'm considering marrying him. (He keeps asking). What are the benefits of this? Will I still have to leave the country every three months - I have an O visa, and a Thai registered business, with which I bought some land to build a studio. Also, being a UK citizen, will I eventually be able to claim the Married Persons Pension, more money, even though he's not from the UK? And what about my company, does it automatically revert to his ownership upon marriage, or will it be joint or still in my sole name? Another thought is divorce. Would he be able to divorce me on some spurious charge, (look, she was fooling around with the binman okay) (sounds paranoid, but have been around here a long time ...) and claim half my property?

Any and all advice from those who have been there and done that appreciated. Thanks.

[Ulysses]

If you are already worried about divorce, why bother with marriage?

[Boo]

I agree. I suggest you first visit a good lawyer independently to answer you business/property questions then think about why you would be getting married.

The visa is easier if married to a thai spouse. You will no longer need to leave the country every 3 months & can get a yearly extension based on your marriage.

But speak with a lawyer first alone & make sue you understand the legal implications of joint proprty/business first.

I am happy to have everything in thailand in my husbands name as everything in the UK (property) is in mine. If we split he keeps thailand & I keep UK. When we have kids both will be put into their name so in case of divorce or death out kids will be protected.

[Bellatrix]

Doesn't sound very romantic

[Tywais]

You really need to think this through because marriage of convenience probably will not work in the long haul. Needs more depth to it then that.

[tamsin]

You really need to think this through because marriage of convenience probably will not work in the long haul. Needs more depth to it then that.

I'm sorry I don't appear to have made myself very clear. I'm not looking for advice on the 'emotional' aspect. That's my business. I'm looking for advice from those who are able to advise on the practical issues. I have visited several lawyers on unrelated matters in the past, and have been given a different answer to the same question by each and every one of them. So before I embark on yet another search for yet another lawyer (and for those of you out there who haven't yet consulted one, Thai lawyers don't seem to have grasped the fact that they are merely there to interpret the law for their clients, and not give their purely personal perspectives/judgements on matters which you have taken it upon yourself to consult them - I know how it's supposed to work, I was a lawyer in the UK, very different here).

However, it seems as though I will, after all, have to resort to another round as there seems to be a dearth of those on this site for whom purely practical advice can be given.

[Jasmine]

You could ask for Visa advice in the Visa section of this forum. I got some good advice there from people who know their stuff

[gpt]

How could your company 'revert' to his ownership when it was never his to begin with? With regards to the married person's pension, contact the pensions people in Newcastle. As for marriage, I think that you should get married at 85 and then only with parental consent.

[sbk]

Agreed, if you are looking for legal answers the Ladies forum is hardly the place.

I will move this thread to the business section and suggest you repost your visa questions in the visa section.

[Unknown]

My partner and I have been together for several years and I'm considering marrying him. (He keeps asking). What are the benefits of this? Will I still have to leave the country every three months - I have an O visa, and a Thai registered business, with which I bought some land to build a studio. Also, being a UK citizen, will I eventually be able to claim the Married Persons Pension, more money, even though he's not from the UK? And what about my company, does it automatically revert to his ownership upon marriage, or will it be joint or still in my sole name? Another thought is divorce. Would he be able to divorce me on some spurious charge, (look, she was fooling around with the binman okay) (sounds paranoid, but have been around here a long time ...) and claim half my property?

If you are asking yourself such questions, I'm wondering why you stay with him...

[Jersey_UK]

No idea to OP's questions. But they are very clear.

I sympathise with a degree of frustration that other folk want to answer questions that have not been asked / give their personal opinions on matters that are none of their business.

FWIW I think it is very sensible for anyone taking a major step like this both in Thailand (and elsewhere) to at least find out the possible downsides financially. AND then make your decision one way or another.

Far better than finding out the hard way.............

(Having said the above I AM finding it very hard to not respond to OP's comments about UK lawyers - but I WILL resist!)

[Dragonman]

My partner and I have been together for several years and I'm considering marrying him. (He keeps asking). What are the benefits of this? Will I still have to leave the country every three months - I have an O visa, and a Thai registered business, with which I bought some land to build a studio. Also, being a UK citizen, will I eventually be able to claim the Married Persons Pension, more money, even though he's not from the UK? And what about my company, does it automatically revert to his ownership upon marriage, or will it be joint or still in my sole name? Another thought is divorce. Would he be able to divorce me on some spurious charge, (look, she was fooling around with the binman okay) (sounds paranoid, but have been around here a long time ...) and claim half my property?

Any and all advice from those who have been there and done that appreciated. Thanks.

An ante(pre)- nuptial agreement, when attached to the marriage certificate at the Amphur, is legal in Thailand. So if you want to ensure retention of pre-marital assets this is essential.

[Casanundra]

Under Thai law it is very much in the favour of the man, i.e. he can divorce you at the drop of a hat for playing around and seek compensation from the other guy. You however on the other hand have no such rights under Thai divorce law. In fact it is considered cudos and good face/status for the man to have a second wife (Mia Noi) or a Gik (girlfriend) and you cannot divorce him on such grounds either so be aware of this nuance.

With regards possessions, the Thai law is very specific on this one. What you had before the marriage remains pretty much your own property. What you acquire 'together' after the marriage is split 50:50. If you want to buy a house here together, well you will need to give him a "gift" of the money for the land and show that you have no claim for it as a foreigner although there are ways to protect yourself here.

If you are planning on living in Thailand and it all fails and you want to protect yourself then simply do a runner back home and the divorce will happen after 1 year on the basis of abandonment.

If you have any kids then forget anything about having rights to joint custody as the rule/law seems to support the notion that the kids will go where ever the family want him/her to go and that may mean back to his parents or off to where ever you run away to... but the man will usually have the final say on this.

Thailand does not have a "let's stiff the other party" rule that are so prevalent in the West and so it tends to come down to how well you can negotiate with the ex partner and/or her family or in some cases how quickly you can run.

When all has been said and done, if you want the best protection for you then I do believe you should get married in Thailand because the UK/USA law will try and simply stiff the one with the highest assets and earnings which in this case sounds like you whereas in thailand it comes down to how trusting and foolish you were in the relationship.

[tamsin]

Under Thai law it is very much in the favour of the man, i.e. he can divorce you at the drop of a hat for playing around and seek compensation from the other guy. You however on the other hand have no such rights under Thai divorce law. In fact it is considered cudos and good face/status for the man to have a second wife (Mia Noi) or a Gik (girlfriend) and you cannot divorce him on such grounds either so be aware of this nuance.

With regards possessions, the Thai law is very specific on this one. What you had before the marriage remains pretty much your own property. What you acquire 'together' after the marriage is split 50:50. If you want to buy a house here together, well you will need to give him a "gift" of the money for the land and show that you have no claim for it as a foreigner although there are ways to protect yourself here.

If you are planning on living in Thailand and it all fails and you want to protect yourself then simply do a runner back home and the divorce will happen after 1 year on the basis of abandonment.

If you have any kids then forget anything about having rights to joint custody as the rule/law seems to support the notion that the kids will go where ever the family want him/her to go and that may mean back to his parents or off to where ever you run away to... but the man will usually have the final say on this.

Thailand does not have a "let's stiff the other party" rule that are so prevalent in the West and so it tends to come down to how well you can negotiate with the ex partner and/or her family or in some cases how quickly you can run.

When all has been said and done, if you want the best protection for you then I do believe you should get married in Thailand because the UK/USA law will try and simply stiff the one with the highest assets and earnings which in this case sounds like you whereas in thailand it comes down to how trusting and foolish you were in the relationship.

A very big thankyou to Jersey UK, Dragonman and Casanundra for the constructive replies to my post. I hope that those 'romantics' (have you found out who his THAI girlfriend, wife, children are yet?) carefully consider all the comments made, particularly regarding the pre-nup.

I never wanted to marry anyone, farang or Thai. But was thinking about the benefits of not having to visa run etc. (Lets be honest - a lot of farang men envy our being able to get a year's hassle free visa). But, have decided I will die as I was born. Free. So it's hey ho and over the border I go. Thanks chaps.

[Dakhar]

Very Very Wise...

[kudroz]

I'm sorry I don't appear to have made myself very clear. I'm not looking for advice on the 'emotional' aspect. That's my business. I'm looking for advice from those who are able to advise on the practical issues.

hahaha! I like your style, kudos to you.