Family law

. Qualified, experienced family lawyer. Child custody, court conciliation, litigations, Family Court Chonburi
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FAMILY LAWYER THAILAND

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FAMILY LAW THAILAND
(Child Custody - Divorce - Prenuptial - Marriage)

The Social lawyers Co. Ltd.

Family Lawyer Thailand 

Experienced, qualified family lawyer for child custody, marriage agreements, family legal matters

Pattaya Lawyer
Lawyer contacts: Pattaya Lawyer Thailand
Call: 0829505181
Email: info@thesociallawyers.com

www.lawyerpattaya-thailand.com ~ www.legalhelpthailand.com
FAMILY LAW
The Social Lawyers Thailand can assist you in any field of family law.
Browse the website or ask for an appointment if you need an experienced, top-rated lawyer specialised
 
Family law is a very delicate matter which must be treated with care, competence and sensibility. Family's issues include living together (marriage in Thailand) and it's consequences which can be both of economic nature or moral and sentimental (see our underneath here underneath), particularly if a couple has produced children.
 
Our team includes highly experienced, specialised family lawyers operating in Pattaya, Bangkok and the rest of Thailand. 
 
How can you find the best family lawyer in Thailand?
 
Please browse the web site or contact us for an appointment. Our lawyers will be happy to illustrate you the real scenario, analysing all legal, economic and moral aspects of the case, the perspectives of accomplishment and the time necessary to achieve it.
Including:should you need:
How to divorce in Thailand;
How to draft a prenuptial contract;
How to obtain child custody;
How to assign, share or recuperate the assets purchased during and before the marriage;
How to retrieve assets including real estate-properties registered in the name of a Thai spouse;
 
Investing for your Thai family
How to protect yourself and your loved ones
(From an article of Dr Carlo Filippo Ciambreli)
Child Custody


 A recent study carried out by Khon Kaen University, presented by Assistant Professor Kalapapruek Piwthongngam, from the Faculty of Management Science at the E-saan Centre for Business and Economic Research, has found that foreign nationals married to women from the northeastern Isaan have boosted gross domestic product in the region by almost 9 billion baht.


 Pattaya, among its many peculiarities, also holds a very "special" world-record: an overwhelming number of foreigner nationals married or living with a Thai spouse or partner, who mostly come from the northeastern region of Isaan.
Let's grab the bull by its horns: in most cases the foreign males or "Farangs", (as we call westerners here with no trace of disrespect as many wrongly think!), are attracted by younger women who, at first at least, seem to them much sweeter and feminine than their western "counterparts".
The ones happily married for over twenty years as the author of this article "know" what I mean...the others will possibly discover it later as in any marriage...I suppose!
On the other hand, the "Sweet Thai girls"(as we are going to call the female partners here, disregarding their age or aspect) are usually enticed and attracted to Farangs for several reasons, among which the most important is undoubtedly one: security. For themselves and their families.
Because the majority of the sweet-girls living and working in Pattaya come from the poorest regions of the Country, it goes without saying that security mostly means investments, especially real estate investments. A house and a piece of land for their poor families are, in fact, the most common dreams.
Apart from the fact that buying a tractor or a garden for your, often younger then you, father in law to help a needy family should give you pure joy, let me dispel once and all (legally speaking of course) a common opinion that is very wrong: a Farang that comes here, falls in love with a girl and buys a house (maybe after a few months or even days!),some land or a car for the family, is a reckless idiot and will lose all his money because the law can't protect him, mainly because he is a foreigner. In fact, nothing could be more wrong, and I dare to say that Thailand is one of the Countries where the strongest guarantees are offered to protect imprudent "donators".
Obviously, caution is always imperative for both parts: the Farang and the Thai partner. Believe it or not, the statistics show that the girls coming from the Country, especially the less educated ones, are more often victims of nasty frauds than the Farangs.
In other words, if you wish to help your partner's family, you should not only protect yourself but also make sure that your money won't end in the wrong hands or invest in something without proper guarantees as, in case of real estate, appropriate documents.
So these are the two most relevant questions here:

 1) WHAT A FOREIGN NATIONAL SHOULD DO TO PROTECT HIMSELF IN CASE OF INVESTMENTS IN FAVOUR OF HIS PARTNER 
2) HOW CAN A FOREIGN NATIONAL HELP HIS PARTNER IN AVOIDING INCAUTIOUS LAND DEALS

To feel like the genie of the lamp is a wonderful sensation, but one day the wish could be "tirak tirak buy me a house, my family is very poor, and you can use it when you want".
You might be wanting to grant such a wish, but at the same time, you don't want to lose your money. What shall you do then?
Here are your answers:
1) Never, ever pay anything in cash, but with a proper legit bank transfer indicating the reason for the operation.
2) Ask a lawyer to prepare a contract for any transaction you are going to do and Demand to have it signed and witnessed by the local Puyaibaan or Gamnàm and at least two other witnesses.
3) Do it with love. This may look like a bit of "non-legal" advice, but it is. We are in Thailand, where tradition and law often overlap, love opens many doors, and it will be seriously taken in consideration by local courts that, let me say it without any flattering intent, are usually very just and human.
4) If you think to live with her, legally marry her.
Let's go through all the mentioned points.
1) in Thailand, the proof of payment is of paramount importance. It would be even better if the money legally comes from your own Country. A contract without proper proof of payment will be in most of the cases useless
2) provided that you pay with a traceable bank operation, a contract adequately done, in two languages which should include Thai, would cost maybe a few baht but it will avoid you many future headaches. Make no mistake, a contract in some instances, as we will explain in our next number, might not be a full guarantee, but it helps greatly.
3) the third point doesn't need any further explication; it will suffice to repeat and emphasise as it could have positive legal repercussions in the evaluation of a court case. At least marry her with a traditional ceremony.
4) Statutory marriage guarantees to both spouses 50% of the goods purchased after the registration of the acts and details can be mentioned and specified in the marriage certificate.
But if all this will surely protect the Farang from their partners, there is another aspect which is not less important: how to protect both Farang and spouse from wrong, tricky or non-legit investments. In our next number, we will unveil in simple terms the "secrets" and essential knowledge you should acquire before investing in the beautiful, though sometimes challenging to understand the countryside.
 

 

How to protect your self and your Thai family ...

We have emphasized how "protecting ourself" could not be enough to avoid troubles. We need indeed to be sure that our partner, or the family of our partner, will not fall into some tricks them-selves. Do not forget that Thai girls, especially the ones coming from the country, usually are inclined to trust their neighbours. But it is your money that we are talking about and being a Thai, knowing the language and the environment are not the only requirements necessary to avoid scams and frauds. In fact, believe it or not, I know more Thai country girls who in "good faith" are victims of frauds then foreign husbands.

As I have often underlined in these pages, in Thailand the tradition is in many cases as relevant as written laws, but the time when two hundred "rais" of land (one rai is 1600 meters) could pass from one owner to another with a simple scribble on a piece of paper definitely belong to history.
Today, before buying land, you should carefully check the document, regardless of the reassurances of your often legally-speaking "naive" partner.
Most of the Thais are not yet aware that the registration and cataloguing system of land in Thailand is undergoing a profound reformation and, as it is happening to many aspects of society, the government seems to have one single, clear idea in mind: the law must be respected.
In our case, an easy example will clear this concept: until today, most of the people living in the country-side have been buying and selling land passing each other whatever document including the so-called SBK (pronounced Soo Boo Khoo) despite the law established that an SBK can not be transferred for at least 10 years and that most of the other documents are not transferable at all. Nowadays a special force is investigating if the acting-owners of land registered with various documents are in fact the rightful owners. The risk, in some cases, can be the loss of the property.
The only document which guarantees the full ownership of land in Thailand is the "Chanot" (title deed) followed by the "No So Sam". The rest, including the most common and popular property-registration documents, do not guarantee the "ownership" at all, but just the use of it, under specified conditions, for a limited number of years.
This is why the price of land with chanot is far higher than the cost of land registered with different documents.
So, ask first for the title deed (chanot), and in case the seller can not produce one, remember that only some government concessions can be transferred, but that it is improbable that they could be transformed into a chanot as most people still wrongly believe. Should you decide to invest in a government-concession, remember that any contract you wish to sign in favour of your Thai family requires the presence and the bestowal of the Pu Yai Baan, the chief of the village. He will inform you and your family of your rights, of the possibility to build on that particular land, and on the possible risks of unclear documentation in the light of the newly enforced rules in Thailand.
Obviously, the advice given in our last article to foreign nationals is also valid for their partners: therefore remember to never pay anything in cash, but with a traceable bank transfer or to write a proper cheque, to sign a contract in front of at least two witnesses and to ask for a signed copy of their IDs.
Finally, just keep in mind that from next year all land will be subject to taxes as never happened before. We are indeed on the verge of epochal changes, and extreme caution is, now more than ever, necessary.


 see more info regarding Pre-Marriage (Pre-nuptial) agreements.

Les Enfants de la Patrie or....

The Rights of The Foreign Stallions
 
We have dedicated a lot of ink to the rights of the children as it is just and due, for the children, all children, are sacred.
This concept and this principle is very much the "ratio", the guideline of the Law and of its ministers in Thailand: first, protect the weak. And who is more fragile and vulnerable than children? They depend on us for everything, and at the same time, they are our future, as well as the very future of our society.

But, as we all know, reality always offers many different angles and points of view. Today we want to analyse the matter from a new, different aspect: the rights of the foreign stallions.
 
We take for granted that, should we produce offspring... in other words make children, with a poor Thai girl, we will be much better parents. We convince ourselves that the children will grow up better with us rather with a mother that, in the majority of the cases, will leave them with her parents rather than living with them.
It is always the same story: we come here, and we think with our western minds rather than try understanding a so profoundly different culture that regulates the Thai society. In fact, if on the one hand, indeed, a Thai Court will first consider the wellbeing of a child contested by both parents, it is also very accurate that the concept of "maternity" and more in general of "parenthood" assumes in Thailand a far different significance than in most of the western countries.
An essential section of the Thai Civil and Commercial Code dedicated to the "Rights and Duties of Parent and Child", chapter two, section 1563 reads as follow: "Children shall maintain their parents". It is very interesting to note how the section 1563 precedes section 1564 where we read "Parents shall maintain their children and shall provide proper education during their minority."
The wording of article 1563, in all its aspects: its substance and its "order", encapsulates the quintessence of one of the pillars of the Thai Society: Children shall maintain their parents..... as simple as that!
At this point, you might ask: but what does all this have to do with the rights of the stallions?
If we read the law with close attention, we will understand as it genuinely reflects what have been for centuries the Pillars of the Thai "Solomon Temple", the mirror of the truth of the Thai Society: children are sacred and essential and must be treated, nourish and educated accordingly, but their parents are none the less! In other words, if on one side, parents must bring up their children well, nonetheless the children have a sacred mission in life: being always grateful and, when they grow up, support their parents. In other words, In Thailand, children do represent a real asset for their parents.
....And here we come to the stallions, in our case foreign males that find themselves, under various circumstances, fathers of Thai children. More specifically, we are considering here the rights of all these foreigners having babies with Thai women outside the marriage or not from a stable relationship.
First of all, you would be surprised by how often the mother will gladly accept the baby despite economic difficulties and how reluctant she will, in many cases be, to let the child go away with the biological father despite his better financial status. Such attitude is in most cases misunderstood as an attempt by the mother to obtain a sort of life-time alimony as it often happens in the West, but the reasons are far more profound than that and lay, in most cases, not on the future contributions of the father, but that of the child!
Furthermore the foreign Stallion typically disagrees with the mother's education methods, but I would urge you to note as section 1567, point reads: " A person exercising parental power shall be entitled to (2) punish the child in a reasonable manner for disciplinary purposes; (3) require the child to do such work as may be reasonable to his/her capability and condition in life".
At the light of the Spirit of the Law, we will understand as the foreign Stallion will not have such a comfortable life in a court of justice unless he presents clear proof of misconduct perpetrated by the mother and he can demonstrate without any doubt to be the biological father (DNA test). The first step will then be to be officially recognised as the father of the child. And make no mistakes: the mention on the birth certificate will not be sufficient (!) the acknowledgement of paternity requires a judgement. Once he is recognised as the father, his right to visit and spend some time with the child will be typically guaranteed, but at the same time, he will be called upon to be responsible for alimony and financial contribution for the education of the child.  
 

LOVE KNOWS NO LIMITS, but....


Marriage as a foreigner to a Thai national is a journey that involves love, legalities, and cross-cultural understanding. The legal structure protects both partners' interests and enables a seamless transition into married life. However, seeking legal guidance and professional aid is strongly advised to negotiate the complex legal landscape. Finally, an international marriage in Thailand is a beautiful blend of varied origins that come together to produce a one-of-a-kind and fascinating life journey.

Love knows no limits, overcoming geographical distances and cultural differences. Thailand is known for its breathtaking landscapes, rich culture, and kind friendliness. It is also a destination where people from all over the world find love and marry Thai natives. However, this multicultural union brings a series of legal complexities that international and Thai couples must traverse. This essay will examine the legal elements of marriage between foreigners and Thai nationals in the Kingdom of Thailand.

The Legal Structure

The Civil and Commercial Code governs marriage in Thailand and provides a thorough framework for traditional and foreign marriages. Specific regulations and processes must be followed in the case of a marriage between a foreigner and a Thai national.

1. Documentation: Documentation is essential in registering an international marriage. The foreign spouse must receive an Affirmation of Freedom to Marry certificate from the embassy or consulate of their respective country in Thailand. This document attests to the foreigner's legal right to marry and is accepted by Thai authorities.

2. Translation and Authentication: The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs must formally translate and validate all documents not in Thai. This guarantees that all parties thoroughly understand the documents they are signing.

3. Registration: Marriage registration is done in Thailand at the district office (Amphur). Both partners must be present for the registration, and at least two witnesses must be present. The signature of a marriage certificate, a necessary legal document, is part of the registration process.

Legal Considerations

While the process may appear simple, couples should be aware of some key legal considerations:

1. Prenuptial Agreements: Couples can enter into prenuptial agreements that outline how assets and liabilities will be divided in the case of divorce. These agreements can be advantageous in protecting both parties' financial interests.

2. Property Ownership: Thailand has a "separate property" system, which implies that any property bought before the marriage or inherited during or before the marriage is kept separate. To fully understand the subtleties of property ownership, it is best to contact a legal specialist.

3. Visa and Residency: Marrying a Thai national may provide the foreign spouse with some immigration benefits, including the potential of receiving a Thai marriage visa. This visa permits the foreign spouse to live in Thailand and work or engage in business operations.


4. Divorce Proceedings: While no one enters a marriage expecting to divorce, knowing the legal process is essential. In Thailand, divorce can be initiated by mutual consent or by one party filing for divorce in court.

Communication and Cultural Sensitivity

A successful international marriage necessitates open communication, cultural awareness, and legal issues. Breaking down linguistic barriers, appreciating each other's traditions, and honouring cultural conventions are all essential components of a healthy relationship.
 
Our Family Lawyer can assist you in all Thai Provinces including:
Bangkok (กรุงเทพมหานคร), Chonburi (ชลบุรี), Phuket (ภูเก็ต), Chiang Mai (เชียงใหม่), Chiang Rai (เชียงราย), Lampang (ลำปาง), Mae Hong Son (แม่ฮ่องสอน), Kanchanaburi (กาญจนบุรี), Phetchaburi (เพชรบุรี), Buri Ram (บุรีรัมย์), Chaiyaphum (ชัยภูมิ), Khon Kaen (ขอนแก่น), Mukdahan (มุกดาหาร), Nakhon Phanom (นครพนม), Nakhon Ratchasima (นครราชสีมา), Nong Khai (หนองคาย), Sakon Nakhon (สกลนคร), Surin (สุรินทร์), Ubon Ratchathani (อุบลราชธานี), Udon Thani (อุดรธานี), Ayutthaya (พระนครศรีอยุธยา), Lop Buri (ลพบุรี), Nakhon Nayok (นครนายก), Nakhon Pathom (นครปฐม), Nakhon Sawan (นครสวรรค์), Nonthaburi (นนทบุรี), Phitsanulok (พิษณุโลก), Sukhothai (สุโขทัย), Samut Prakan (สมุทรปราการ), Samut Songkhram (สมุทรสงคราม), Saraburi (สระบุรี), Suphan Buri (สุพรรณบุรี), Chachoengsao (ฉะเชิงเทรา), Chanthaburi (จันทบุรี), Prachin Buri (ปราจีนบุรี), Rayong (ระยอง), Trat (ตราด), Krabi (กระบี่), Nakhon Si Thammarat (นครศรีธรรมราช), Phang Nga (พังงา), Ranong (ระนอง), Songkhla (สงขลา), Surat Thani (สุราษฎร์ธานี) etc.