Prenuptial Agreements in Thailand

[Bob33065 0]

Looking for information on Prenuptial Agreements in Thailand.

My Fiancée and I are waiting on the next step for the appointment to the USA Embassy in Bangkok for her interview. We received the I-797, Notice of Action so we got over the first hurdle.

The lawyer in Bangkok is pushing the Prenuptial Agreement in Thailand issue. Looking for any input on this. I live in Florida, USA.

What I understand it is standard knowledge that what you own before your married you keep it if you get divorced. I’m trying to be realistic about this because 50% of marriages end up in divorce. I own 2 condos in Miami, Florida that are paid off in full and don’t want any problems with this.

I also have 24 year old twins I would like to see get these properties in the future.

I think the lawyer is pushing it because he wants to charge me $3,000 USA Dollars to do this.

Any help would be great.

Thank You

[bigdog 376]

Prenups are a personal item, maybe if their is large income, wealth issue you may want to do this.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Do you want a pre-nup? I doubt the lawyer is concerned about your financial well-being. Whose lawyer is he/she? I wouldn't sign anything I didn't want to.

Pre-nups can easily be broken, with a good enough lawyer.

[Bob33065 0]

My Lawyer.

I am more concerned of my 24year old twins getting these properties.

[Karee 4,190]

Looking for information on Prenuptial Agreements in Thailand.

My Fiancée and I are waiting on the next step for the appointment to the USA Embassy in Bangkok for her interview. We received the I-797, Notice of Action so we got over the first hurdle.

The lawyer in Bangkok is pushing the Prenuptial Agreement in Thailand issue. Looking for any input on this. I live in Florida, USA.

What I understand it is standard knowledge that what you own before your married you keep it if you get divorced. I'm trying to be realistic about this because 50% of marriages end up in divorce. I own 2 condos in Miami, Florida that are paid off in full and don't want any problems with this.

I also have 24 year old twins I would like to see get these properties in the future.

I think the lawyer is pushing it because he wants to charge me $3,000 USA Dollars to do this.

Any help would be great.

Thank You

Do you own anything in Thailand? If not, sounds like the lawyer is trying to take you for a ride. Since you're not even married yet, I don't know why he is even bringing this up. If you wanted a pre-nup, you would get a lawyer in the U.S. before you got married here.

[Jacque67 7,328]

Do you own anything in Thailand? If not, sounds like the lawyer is trying to take you for a ride. Since you're not even married yet, I don't know why he is even bringing this up. If you wanted a pre-nup, you would get a lawyer in the U.S. before you got married here.

+1

[Jacque67 7,328]

If you are so concerned about the ownership of your properties, once you are deceased, why don't you give the deed titles to your sons while you are still alive and get "permission" to live in them now?

[FoundMy#1 9]

Even if this is YOUR lawyer, is the lawyer from the USA and has legal rights to practice in the USA?

I understand where you're coming from in regards to protecting your assets, and if the lawyer is a USA lawyer, I'd have the prenup done. A penny spent today will save thousands in the future.

If its a Thai lawyer, the contract may not hold up in US courts. Furthermore, your wife can claim she wasn't informed well enough because she is Thai an didnt understand what she is signing... Have a lawyer for her also.

[googled 13]

Is your lawyer in the U.S. or is he in Thailand. You have time to shop around for a different lawyer in the U.S. since you have 90 days to marry after she gets to the port of Entry.

Have you spoken to your fiance about the prenup? It might be a good idea to see how understanding she is about it. One of my wife's friends went to France on a fiance visa and right before she was to get married her fiance presented her with the prenup. She was shocked and ticked off and within the week she went home to Thailand. Needless to say they did not get married.

[Ning 619]

Do you own anything in Thailand? If not, sounds like the lawyer is trying to take you for a ride. Since you're not even married yet, I don't know why he is even bringing this up. If you wanted a pre-nup, you would get a lawyer in the U.S. before you got married here.

I agree. I wouldnt trust anything a Thai lawyer put together in Thailand as a document qualified to hold up in the USA. Get some advise here in the USA.

[TBoneTX 45,659]

*** Thread moved from K-1 Case Progress subforum to Thailand regional subforum -- topic involves country-specific input. ***

[Darnell 8,478]

The lawyer in Bangkok is pushing the Prenuptial Agreement in Thailand issue

Non-issue, in the USA.

Could be an issue, in Thailand, if yer lass has properties, assets and monies that she's wanting defined, and the disposition defined, prior to getting married.

Typically, a prenup in the USA is handled by a USA attorney.

Since you've file a K-1, the supposition is that yer gonna get married IN the USA.

So, it makes more sense for yer lass to sign a prenup IN THE USA prior to the actual wedding date.

[Jamnan_n_Steve 17]

I paid the same for my pre-nuptial, probably from the same American lawyer licensed to practice in Thailand. Much of the agreement was boiler plate (declarations that all property owned at marriage is and will always be separate, no alimony, no lawyer fees to contest), but much of the document was an attempt to structure property holdings in Thailand whcih was not important to us as my (now) wife already has a home and land (but never enough land) so we are not going to be building a farang palace.

I think that a pre-nuptial in Thailand makes sense if there are significant (U.S. spouse) assets and/or community property income/increase to protect. A pre-nuptial in the U.S. assumes that there both parties can undertstand the terms of the agreement and give informed consent which may be easily contested for most Thai people, and furthermore I believe that both parties require their own attorney's for the agreement to be valid and finding a Thai speaking attorney outside of major metropolitan areas will be tough.

We worked together to soften some of the terms and structured an increasing vesting up to our community property state level, so there was little to be gained from leaving soon, and a lot to be gained by her from staying together. In this sense the agreement was one-sided, I could leave with few financial consequences during the first five-years, but she would get only relocation money.

Parenthetically, I think there is not enough emphasis on the benefits of citizenship for your spouse - this allows the U.S. spouse to end their I-864 obligations while guaranteeing Social Security survivor's benefits that can be paid overseas.

steve from jamnan_n_steve

[erynaught 43]

I wouldn't put any reliance in a prenuptial agreement. They are not always recognized by Courts and there is little consistency throughout the US on how this is handled. Even IF you were to divorce in a Court where they typically upheld prenupts, it would be relatively trivial for a good attorney to persuade the Court that your foreign-born wife had little understand as to what she was signing at the time. I wouldn't even waste the time/money involved.

Rather, if you're concerned about assets you ALREADY have then take steps to keep them totally separate from assets you will co-mingle after marriage that will be considered marital assets in the event that a divorce comes your way. Pay a decent attorney to set up a trust for those assets you currently own and want to preserve for children from a previous marriage. If you have cash/investments, place them in a separate account. Be careful to never 'hide' this information from your new wife, but to be careful to never comingle or give access to her as this will then make these accounts marital property to which she may make a valid claim.

I was in a similar situation and created a blind trust for those assets which would eventually go my existing children ... and realized some favorable tax benefits as well which was unexpected. Also, college fund is set up to benefit current children and any future issue, but controlled and disbursed by the trustee (the bank) according to my wishes, with any remaining funds being given to my alma mater.

Hope this helps.

[christeen 966]

I wouldn't put any reliance in a prenuptial agreement. They are not always recognized by Courts and there is little consistency throughout the US on how this is handled. Even IF you were to divorce in a Court where they typically upheld prenupts, it would be relatively trivial for a good attorney to persuade the Court that your foreign-born wife had little understand as to what she was signing at the time. I wouldn't even waste the time/money involved.

Rather, if you're concerned about assets you ALREADY have then take steps to keep them totally separate from assets you will co-mingle after marriage that will be considered marital assets in the event that a divorce comes your way. Pay a decent attorney to set up a trust for those assets you currently own and want to preserve for children from a previous marriage. If you have cash/investments, place them in a separate account. Be careful to never 'hide' this information from your new wife, but to be careful to never comingle or give access to her as this will then make these accounts marital property to which she may make a valid claim.

I was in a similar situation and created a blind trust for those assets which would eventually go my existing children ... and realized some favorable tax benefits as well which was unexpected. Also, college fund is set up to benefit current children and any future issue, but controlled and disbursed by the trustee (the bank) according to my wishes, with any remaining funds being given to my alma mater.

Hope this helps.

+1 on the blind trust for the significant assets for your adult children... There are tax benefits to doing this as well... See and estate lawyer, they can advise