Prenuptial Agreement in Thailand
A prenuptial agreement or prenup is a legal agreement between two people who going to get married. It stipulates who owns which real estate and if there is a divorce how the real estate would be divided between the two once the marriage has come to an end. All marriages however do end, this can be either be by divorce or death.
Many couples do not like to have a prenup or prenuptial agreement before they get married. To some it is not a very romantic process as in most peoples mind a marriage should last pretty much forever. Some will always attempt to safeguard their real estate and investments before getting married in Thailand. This prenup is also very important in that you are able to ensure that your Thai wife does no incur debts during the marriage that get carried by both parties. This allows each carrying their own debt in Thailand. If your your Thai wife starts to run up gambling debt tomorrow, legally nothing can be done to you for the gambling debt. The prenup also protects all your business and family real estate. Lets say you have a small business which also has a business partner and you die, would your partner now be a business partner with your wife? Consider this before you register your marriage in Thailand now.
Now, how to start the drafting of a prenuptial agreement in Thailand! When you start the process make a list of property and investments which party owns. In order for the prenuptial agreement to be legal in Thailand, you will need to have it as a written legal document. If you and your wife are not of the same country then the prenuptial agreement needs to be in two languages so that each understands the prenuptial agreement and what is being agreed too. If your Thai wife needs to sign one, then she is going to need to obtain advice from another attorney who needs to explain this to her in order the keep the agreement binding. The other attorney, being her lawyer will then write a letter stating that the prenuptial agreement was fully explained and that their client (your wife) understood the agreement. This is important if you do get divorced in the end as she might claim that she did not understand the prenuptial agreement as this is normally the first line of defense in Thailand when getting divorced from your Thai wife.
Remember: the prenuptial agreement needs to be registered in Thailand and witnessed by at least 2 witnesses. If the person has a handicap, they are not allowed to witness the agreement. As an example in a recent legal case one of the witnesses was deaf. This witness was not accepted as being able to witness the agreement and would not be acceptable.
Best thing to do is to speak to a lawyer in Thailand about your prenuptial agreement!
