How difficult to divorce in England

[woman]

I marriage with English man in March and came here in May.everything goes wrong i dont know what to do.just want to finish everything behind befor i going back to my country.all i want only paper work .How long is gonna take?what i have to do?

[Robert]

Do I understand this correctly?? You have only been married for 9 months and you want a divorce? Is this a story we have heard again and again? I suggest you talk with your husband and tell him you want a divorce. Perhaps he will agree and assist you in getting back to Thailand. Since you were married in Thailand why not get divorced in Thailand? You can go back and apply for a divorce through the district office. The district office forwards the paperwork to the Foreign Ministry and they forward it to the consulate in the UK. Your husband does not even have to go back to Thailand to get divorced. It is much less expensive.
Now if your intention is to get divorced in the UK in order to get some of his assets, that is another story.

[may]

hi, my boyfriend has a young thai bride, the marriage and relationship in general was only a few months, he married her in thailand and bought to britain, after a couple of months she started to ask for money to be sent to her parents, as this was not going to happen the relationship went west and her parents paid for her to go home, its bin a year now but she still gets in touch, she will leave it a few months and then pop up again, not to say hello! she sends pictures of herself saying , imiss you, or i still love you, it was never love in the fist place and an aggrement they got married, my boyfriend says its just what they do?? and that she knows the relationship is over, it all seems strange to me, the thing id like to know is can he get divorced from her from england?? he said he needs to go back to thailand to sort things out and so that she doesn,t get any money out of him, i know there must be lots and lots of nice thai girls, but in my mind any young girl that marries a man twice her age after a couple of months must have reasons, will she ever go away and leave us alone? its putting strain on our relationship,

[Robert]

Hello May…
The story of which you have written is common. She may still be contacting him with a glimmer of hope that he will send money….or of getting a divorce settlement.

As far as getting divorced is concerned, he can get divorced in Thailand for about $1.00 USD.. If both parties agree, it is easy. If she does not agree, it can still be done but it will require his presence in a Thai court.. And the hiring of a lawyer.. It will not be easy, or cheap…

The next way would be for all of it to be handled through the district office in Thailand, the Thai Foreign Ministry, and Thai consulate in the UK. Again, this is as long as she agrees to the divorce.. In that case he will not have to go back to Thailand. The Thai consulate in the UK can give you the details.
The fly in the ointment is that she must agree to the divorce. Most likely she will not agree unless money is paid…

Therein lies the problem.

I do not know UK law but I suspect that it is similar to US law as respects divorce. . He can get a divorce in the UK courts without her being present. She abandoned him. Of course he will need a UK lawyer to handle the matter..

He may want to balance the cost of a UK lawyer and divorce in the UK vs payment to her and a cheap and easy divorce in Thailand.

I am sure it is a strain on your relationship but a couple things to keep in mind.. He is with you and not her.. and … it is very difficult for him also.. I went thru it, I know the feeling to be deceived…

Best of luck to both of you…

[may]

thankyou robert, you have put my mind at rest, i thought he may be using the divorce as an excuse to back and see her, i think i knew deep down that wasn.t the case, through his friends i know it cost him a lot of money for his mistake,eg flights, the wedding, and supporting her over here, and god knows what els, having said that he is not thick nor no oil painting(though i love him) lol, so the chaces of a young women to marry him after a couple of months should of rang a few alarms!!! lol, i couldn,t understand why he just wouldn,t tell her to go away, and why he wouldn,t tell her about me, as we live together, now i no what i thought were just lame ecusses some how ring true now, by the way he talks we will get married one day, and he said thailand is a big place and if she wanted to she could just disapear, then there would be no divorce and we couldnt get married, thankyou again. x

[Robert]

Hi May

Thank you for your kind words.. I hope I am of help.. One thing I neglected to say is that if both parties agree to a divorce in Thailand than your boyfriend MUST appear in the district office in Thailand. He cannot have an attorney make an appearance for him.

You said, “so the chances of a young women to marry him after a couple of months should of rang a few alarms!!!” Yes, you are right but sometimes we men do not always think clearly.. and as you can see this kind of thing happens over and over.. I can’t fault him too much… The same thing happened to me.

He is correct about her disappearing. If she wanted to just disappear, she could do it easily.

Again, Best of Luck…

[Sukanya]

After reading Robert's posting I phoned the Amphur at both Bangrak and also Prakanong.. Both say that the case has to go before the Court and only a lawyer can do this. They say the info given by Robert above is totally INCORRECT and it is a lengthy and costly business to divorce if the husband is in England and the wife in Thailand even if they both agree.

[AD]

Sukanya 28th.
If he was in Australia, he could get a divorce, very easily and cheaply, on the grounds of desertion, after 12 months. I do not know about UK divorce laws though.

[Robert]

I stand by my comments as previously made..

I would be curious as to how the Amphur would know the cost and length of time to divorce in the UK?

This appears to me only to be an attempt to move the case into the Thai courts where the foreigner will be at a distinct disadvantage. He may not only find the courts against him but may also find his own Thai lawyer may not have his best interests at heart.

[may]

hi, what would happen if they didnt get a divorce? would she be able to marry again without one? im sorry if i sound dumb, but there customes are so different to ours.

it seems such a waist of money, from what hes told me they only new eachother about 5 months in total!