Contested divorce - 2 houses at stake

[bwpage3]

The kids are the real treasure here.

 

Make a deal, keep the kids, she gets everything else

 

You can always buy material things later on

 

You can never replace your kids

[sandemara]

There are many good lawyers in Thailand.  Do a Google search, check with your Embassy; several have lists of endorsed lawyers and the services they provide as well as staff who speak your language.   I can assure you the Thai court system actually favours the male spouse when it comes to division of assets, properties etc.  Don't listen to the ratbags on here who tell you the judicial system is biased against foreigners.  Anybody who has had a bad experience in court has most likely been a ranter (or a cheapskate)  who has not bothered seeking appropriate legal advice or assistance and has gone to court armed only with a bad temper and ignorance. Good luck. If you lose your temper, you lose. (or: don't get mad, get even).

[sandemara]

Further re custody, adhd: Under Thai law, if a couple were married at the time a child is born, both parents are deemed to retain fifty percent custody from the time of separation.

The most important consideration in Thailand’s courts is the education and care of the child. The parent that takes care of the child’s education will have custody from Monday to Friday.

Another important factor is the payment of expenses for the child; this responsibility is also split between the parents fifty-fifty per month in a shared custody arrangement.

As a general guide (but not definitive) a family court might estimate normal monthly expenses based on the age of the child in the following way: 1 to 10 years old: 10,000 Baht; 10 to 15: 15,000 Baht; 15 to 20: 20,000 Baht. If one parent has sole and complete custody the other parent would have to provide this sort of amount every month. These court orders had no real weight until 2011, when new legislation gave family law some teeth. A parent who fails to provide child support now faces the risk of jail (2 weeks) on a first proven offence of avoiding support payments. Longer sentences can apply if a parent persists in refusing to provide court-ordered support payments.It's very difficult to take a child overseas without dual nationality passports

; it's best to sort out custody issues asap.  Get a good lawyer, as I suggested earlier.

[happylarry]

The OP has not reposted since October 21st but the advice keeps coming ....lol

HL

[MikeyIdea]

7 hours ago, sandemara said:

As a general guide (but not definitive) a family court might estimate normal monthly expenses based on the age of the child in the following way: 1 to 10 years old: 10,000 Baht; 10 to 15: 15,000 Baht; 15 to 20: 20,000 Baht. If one parent has sole and complete custody the other parent would have to provide this sort of amount every month

 

Still need to post correction Harry

 

Sorry Sandemara, your numbers are way too high in Thailand. There is zero wife / mother alimony according to Thai law so what is given is solely for the child and nothing else. 15-20,000 can quite easily support a whole family, way to much

 

It of course varies very much case to case but when I was active at Juvenile 4-5 years ago, then child alimony started around 100 baht per day and child, perhaps 150 now. It is impossible to say as most cases in court are not court order at all but negotiated agreements enforced by court order . That's what the judges want

 

5,000 per month and child is easily enough today, anything more and just let court order and it will go down for sure

 

7 hours ago, sandemara said:

If one parent has sole and complete custody the other parent would have to provide this sort of amount every month

 

I have been in court when absolutely no child support was awarded at all. The interpretation of Juvenile law is not that there must be child support, it can be negotiated away or more importantly from what I have seen, the judges don't necessarily remind / encourage child support for a party that doesn't seem to deserve it. Again, can vary much though

 

Sole custody: It is possible that no alimony at all is paid if father gets sole custody - both have and not have exists. The judges reasoning for that is that the mother is hardly going to need child alimony if she is not taking care of the child

 

New legislation: Yes, our HR department often have someone in the commercial department that we deduct salary from by court order. This really work nowadays and is not difficult to get (unlike what many westerners on TV says)  - Problem is it only works if person who must pay has an official job

 

These 2 posts explain pretty thoroughly

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/944516-child-maintenance/#comment-11182589

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/944516-child-maintenance/#comment-11190079

 

BR

Mikey

Edited November 12, 2016 by MikeyIdea

[hanuman2543]

On 29.10.2016 at 11:45 AM, williamgeorgeallen said:

10 years here and i have never met a single guy who got half his house back or any other compensation for that matter. i have one friend got his house put in his sons name and the mother lost custody for her behavior. that cost him a lot of money in lawyers though.

I got back half in cash and she kept the house. Didn't get back all because of lawyer's stupidity.

[williamgeorgeallen]

Just now, hanuman2543 said:

I got back half in cash and she kept the house. Didn't get back all because of lawyer's stupidity.

great result. thats as good as a win and westerners dont get many wins in thailand.

[hanuman2543]

6 minutes ago, williamgeorgeallen said:

great result. thats as good as a win and westerners dont get many wins in thailand.

It was a long and exhausting battle. Took me 5 years and 3 different lawyers. All 3 demonstrated unbelievable incompetence.  The last one gave legal advice on an expat website for some time and then disappeared from there without any explanation

Edited November 22, 2016 by hanuman2543