I have spoken to numerous lawyers about divorce and all have filled me with very little confidence. Since my wife ran off to USA again i have decided to petition for divorce. Some lawyers said that i have to wait for a year..some not..who to believe ?

I saw a Thai lawyer yesterday and he said that since my wife has effectively disappeared..never calls...never sends money..then i can file for divorce.Also since I am looking after 2 toddlers with the help of Grandma sometimes (cannot find a Nanny here in the jungle) he said that i can file to have sole responsibility for the children...total cost 100k bht and all done in 3 mths. I do not know what to expect or if my wife will return from USA to come to court.

Does anyone have any advice or experience in this type of situation ?

Sorry can't assist with advice regarding the legalities.

But I take my hat off to you raising the children.

Good luck in your quest.

Have sent a pm so check your messages.

HL

Can you trust any Thai lawyer with 100K? Is there any WRITTEN guarantee of results?

Protect yourself all at costs or it will be money out the window

You need to write her at the tabian baan she is registered at, and tell her to return home and jointly take care of the children and the household, or that she states that she has abandned the family. Send this via EMS.if she doesn't respond with 2 weeks, (you should get a yellow

Card of nn delivery) you then go with Granny and anyone else who can be a witness to the police station to make a statement that she has effectively abandoned her family since....whenever. With that you can apply to the juvenile court for custody. If she comes back before that against your will, you will find it near impossible to get custody since Thai law always favours mothers for custody To get, ID cards, passports etc. if you are granted custody, first get them registered at a tabian baan in another province, it will take time for authorities to send this rgistration back to their original province, and then get out asap or she can have it reversed, or attempt some money extracting excercises.

Need more help, or an alternative Tabian Baan let me know.....

I try to get the Sole Custody in the court now. Is many non seriose lawyer, first i use Siam Legal, but they cheat me and change to Bangkok Lawyer.

He is reale good and recommend you contact him at email :

Good luck

Rune

My wife applied for sole custody of her daughter, my stepdaughter & the cost was 15000 baht. That was for the lawyer & court fees. Her ex husband agreed & attended court so it was very easy. Her daughter had to go to an interview at child services but all ok. We are in Chiang Mai so if you are near here we can put you in touch with the lawyer. About the divorce I don't know, sorry. Hope this helps.

The fee you have been quoted seems way over the top. Plus can you trust this Thai lawyer?

My suggestion would be for you to contact Sebastian at Essarn lawyers in Korrat.

People are saying 100,000 is over the top and I expect in many cases it is because many Lawyers are typical Thai's and take advantage but not all are the same.

Anyway what people need to consider is that if the Lawyer is local to the client then it is easy for him to attend the court, but if for instance the Lawyer has to travel great distances then the client has to pay for the Lawyers time and travel costs. To do a divorce and custody case the Lawyer has to visit the court at least four times and sometimes five, and if he has to travel from Korat to Nong Khai for instance then the travel costs plus hotel costs and his time involved times five all have to be covered. If you are wondering why its so many times he has to visit the clients local court to submit the original paper asking for a hearing, then he gets a court date and then the client needs to visit the Juvenile division for interview (this is not necessarily the Lawyer but can be the interpreter) then there is a negotiation hearing , to see if the different parties can come to an agreement amicably and if not then there is the court case itself, after that the Lawyer has to wait for thirty days and then revisit the court in order to pick up the final judgement paper.

So you see when the Lawyer quotes a total amount it includes all these travel costs, hotel costs if required and his time and expertise, so don't be so quick to jump to conclusions without knowing the particular circumstances of each case.

HL