Dividing assets on divorce
SRIWIPA SIRIPUNYAWIT
Divorces are now a dime a dozen. But, besides the emotional stress that couples have to go through, disputes over a division of assets and the custody of the children worsen the already-dismal situation.
Generally, most will try to resolve these disputes out of court but a few have to resort to the legal system.
According to the law, couples who have their marriage registered, all marital property or sin somros must be divided equally on divorce.
Problems usually arise when the couples fail to separate personal property from marital property, according to Anongporn Thanachaiary, a family law expert at Tilleke and Gibbins International.
The law stipulates that anything belonging to either person before marriage such as a house, a car, jewellery and others, including personal items such as tools of a trade, must remain personal property or sin suan tua.
In many cases, though assets or gifts received during marriage can be considered personal property if they are stated that they were given or belong only to the wife or husband on particular occasions or for special purposes.
"For instance, when a grandparent gives a gold bracelet to a daughter-in-law on her birthday, that is considered a personal property of the daughter-in-law though it is received after marriage," Anongporn explains.
Inheritance can also be considered personal property if it's given particularly to one person. For instance, if a will states that a house must be passed on to a son-in-law, then the house is his personal property and not a marital asset. So it's not subject to be divided on divorce.
Marital property is anything acquired during marriage, such as a house or a car, couples purchase together after marriage. This also includes any yields or gains received from investments, including interests from saving accounts, deposits, dividends from stocks and such. In this case, the principal of the saving accounts and the money invested in stocks still belong to the original investors and so are considered personal property.
"Take one more example. The house remains a personal property if it's purchased before the marriage. However, what if after the marriage it is rented out for 12,000 baht per month? The house is a personal property, but the monthly rent is considered a marital asset and must be divided evenly on divorce," Anongporn explains.
In the case that the wife is given a house by the grandparents who states clearly that the pair should make use of it, then the house is considered marital property.
This division of the aforementioned assets can turn very complicated and even ugly when the couple can't find proper solutions.
One solution, not very popular among Thais, is to get a pre-nuptial agreement, suggests Anongporn.
Though this contract can help ease some problems, it's considered a very sensitive subject matter which can lead to serious dispute or misunderstanding among the would-be couples.
From the record, the lawyer says that most clients who prefer to have pre-nuptial agreements are those foreigners who marry Thais.
Apart from assets, the custody of the children is always a serious dispute with divorcing couples. The law allows room for flexibility in this case and doesn't imperatively state who should take care of the children. Instead, the first priority is the children's welfare and benefits.
"Basically the court will consider whether the children will be better off with their mother or father. For very young children, the court grants custody ot the mother," Anongporn explains.
However, the mother's financial situation is also taken into account. If the mother has no financial income, she can request alimony.
However, it's not imperative that the right of custody fall on just one person. Both parents can also share joint custody of the children, if that benefits the children.
For couples whose marriages are not registered, in the eyes of the law the marriage does not exist. When there is no marriage, then there is no marital property.
So in this case, the property won't be divided evenly. However, the owners or partners have to prove their shares of ownership to the court. For instance, if a couple buys land or a house together, they each have to show proof of their share in the purchase.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Next
