Post divorce - property legal help needed - suggestions please

[Mantana]

Could anyone please recommend a decent Thai divorce/property lawyer in the Bangkok area that has a good command of English? I was teaching at  a reputable International School for 12 years. My Thai ex-wife and I divorced just over 2 years ago and we agreed that we would divide everything equally. I have custody of our two children and we returned back to live in the UK  2 years ago. Our 2 children have dual citizenship - both being born in Bangkok. The detached Land and House property has been on the market - but she has now withdrawn it and said she is not selling it. She borrowed just over 1million baht from a 'friend' to pay the outstanding amount (original price 7.9 million - but significant improvements including addition of a separate maid's room/guest room have added to its value). She is now is refusing to sell it, saying she will pay me back in yearly installments. We talk occasionally but she always gets a 'headache' when the topic of selling the house arises. I also made all payments on a 1.4m house for her mum who lives in Pathum Thani, she also kept the car and agreed to pay me half its value (200k baht) on completion of house sale.

 

I have borrowed GBP 50k from a relative in the UK to finance the purchase of a home in the UK on the understanding it would be repaid within a year (the time-frame I estimated to get the house sold) - that was 2 years ago and he is naturally demanding his money back. I am now working PT as a supply teacher in the UK  and am in real need of the money to settle my debts and move on. I feel like a proper idiot for trusting her to honour her word. I signed divorce papers without knowing what I was signing. Hind sight is a great thing - I shouldn't have trusted her. I know this sort of thing has  has happened to other over-trusting farangs countless times before and I am ashamed to be counted as another stupid farang to be milked dry of everything I have worked hard for. 

 

Any constructive advice will be very much appreciated and suggestions for lawyers (preferably tried and tested) would be great. Thank you in advance for suggestions of procedures to take. 

[BEVUP]

I take it your now in UK (not going to help in Thailand)

Where were you married If in thailand & went through courts it would of been a forced sale 

But maybe you just trotted down to the Amphor & signed some mutual agreement without stating any terms or assets of marriage 

You could be in deep up to your neck 

I would start with Isaan lawyers (maybe ) who could put you in touch with a BBK firm

[Mantana]

Thank you for your reply. Yes I am in the UK now with my 2 children. We were married in Thailand in 2005 and divorced 2015. We went to the local Amphor Office at Chom Thong and signed some divorce papers in Thai. Silly I know. Any useful further advice appreciated.

[swissie]

As a starting Point: Assets aquired during marriage are split 50/50. Your investmets BEFORE marriage are yours, as long as you can prove that it was "your money". Exempt: Landed property, since you are not allowed to own "land" in Thailand.
= Not knowing what you signed with regard to "Divorce-Papers", may turn out as a "Problem". Find out! Have your papers translated. Before that, you don't know on what legal ground you really stand on.
Cheers.

[FritsSikkink]

Second that ^^^  before spending a lot of money on lawyers, start with understanding what you signed. Get the papers translated first.

[steven100]

You are obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place.  To be honest, there's not much you can do.  The best solution is to convince her to sell the damn house and give you some money.  Anything else is no good to you.

You have the kids ....  they may be your savior ....  but you have to make her sell ....  softly softly .....    '  you have the kids remember '

[BEVUP]

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

You are obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place.  To be honest, there's not much you can do.  The best solution is to convince her to sell the damn house and give you some money.  Anything else is no good to you.

You have the kids ....  they may be your savior ....  but you have to make her sell ....  softly softly .....    '  you have the kids remember '

She wont care as she knows the kids will have a better life & she needs a house

[Mantana]

On 7/11/2017 at 0:37 AM, steven100 said:

You are obviously stuck between a rock and a hard place.  To be honest, there's not much you can do.  The best solution is to convince her to sell the damn house and give you some money.  Anything else is no good to you.

You have the kids ....  they may be your savior ....  but you have to make her sell ....  softly softly .....    '  you have the kids remember '

Thanks Steven. That has been my strategy i.e. softly softly. My ex-wife loves our children but despite highlighting the ill-effect upon them (and me) of not selling and splitting the money 50:50 - she remains unbudging. Attempts for her to see reason and be fair have fallen on deaf ears. The hypocrisy of her praying regularly at the temple is guiling. It would be great if she put Buddhist doctrine into practice. I think  'getting nasty' with lawyers might not be the solution.

[bkk6060]

No real advise sorry, but I feel for you man. Reading about what you are going thru makes me want to vomit.  Sorry.

I hope everything works out.  Just try to remember the #1 thing is the kids.  Make sure they are taken care of and they can live a fruitful successful life. 

God bless you.

 

[Mantana]

1 hour ago, bkk6060 said:

No real advise sorry, but I feel for you man. Reading about what you are going thru makes me want to vomit.  Sorry.

I hope everything works out.  Just try to remember the #1 thing is the kids.  Make sure they are taken care of and they can live a fruitful successful life. 

God bless you.

 

Your sympathy is appreciated. My 2 daughters mean everything to me. When I view it all, rather than feel sorry for myself, I consider myself lucky to have 2 wonderful daughters who give me strength. It's easy to get bitter and twisted about such matters and I'm especially annoyed with myself for allowing it to happen - but such negative feelings are not any help whatsoever, so I just try to adopt Mont Python's take on things 'Always look on the bright side of life'.