In an unfortunate trend, divorces are becoming ever more common in modern countries, and Thailand is no exception. Although we all wish our marriage to last forever, it would be unwise to ignore what the implications of a divorce would be on your children and your assets.
Whether it is you or your spouse who is looking to divorce, be prepared by studying the rules and responsibilities of each party, as provided by the Laws of Thailand.
Divorce by Mutual Consent
According to the Laws of Thailand, a couple can divorce by mutual consent. This requires do be done in writing, with the signature of each spouse and two witnesses, and such document must be registered at the Local Administration Office.
In a divorce by mutual consent, the custody of the children and compensations must be mentioned in the divorce agreement, as the Court has the right to rule over any unregistered arrangements.
As long as a divorce agreement is not registered at the Local Administration Office, the couple is still deemed to be married, even if the document has been signed by both parties. Moreover, if both spouses have signed a divorce agreement, but later one of the spouses refuses to proceed with the registration, such matter can be brought up to the Court to enforce the divorce. This however won't be true if both spouses haven't signed the document.
Divorce by Court Order
When both spouses can't agree, the spouse wanting to divorce may obtain a Divorce by Court Order, but only if their grounds for divorce meet one the following criteria.
Grounds for Divorce by Court Order
- The husband has taken another wife, or the wife has committed adultery.
- One spouse has committed misconduct, causing the other party to either be seriously ashamed, to be insulted or hated for being a spouse, or sustain excessive grievance when taking into account the conditions of the cohabitation as a married couple.
- One spouse has caused serious harm to either body or mind of the other spouse, or insulted or disdained the other spouse or his/her relatives.
- One spouse has deserted the other for a period longer than one year, or if both spouses voluntarily live separately for more than three years being unable to cohabit peacefully.
- One spouse has been adjudged to have disappeared, or has left his residence for more than three years without giving any news, with no known person being able to confirm he/she is still alive.
- One spouse has failed to give proper support to the other, or committed acts seriously adverse to the couple, causing the other party to sustain excessive grievance when taking into account the conditions of the cohabitation as a married couple.
- One spouse has been deemed insane for more than 3 years consecutively, without hopes of recovery, making it impossible to continue to live as a married couple.
- One spouse has broken a bond of good behavior executed by him/her
- One spouse is suffering from an incurable contagious disease, which may be dangerous for the other.
- One spouse has a permanent physical disadvantage making it impossible for the couple to have sexual relations anymore with no recovery possible.
Each of these grounds do have many subsequent conditions, and all claims are treated in a case by case basis, taking into consideration all the factual details of the situation, in order to keep the decision as close as the purpose of the laws as possible. Therefore it can't be taken for granted that you will obtain a divorce by simply meeting the above criteria; it will require a much deeper analysis of the circumstances.
For instance, if it can be proved that the divorcing spouse has previously forgiven the misconducts that are being used as grounds for demanding the divorce, it will not be considered by the Court.
Children's Custody
If no agreement could be reached between the spouses regarding the children's custody, the Court will decide who shall become the custodian, by taking into account the interests of the child above all. If later on such person behaves in an inappropriate way as the custodian, the Court may remove the custody and appoint a new custodian instead.
Compensation
In case of Divorce by Court Order on the ground of adultery, the spouse not having committed adultery is entitled to compensation, as the case may be. Such compensation would be decided by the Court according to the circumstances, as well as if the compensation is to be paid at once or by installments.
If the ground for divorce has arisen from the guilt of only of the spouses, and the divorce would make the innocent party become destitute or with insufficient revenue from his/her property or business as during the marriage, the innocent party may be entitled to receive living allowances from the party at fault. The Court may decide whether the living allowances should be granted or not, by taking into consideration the ability of the party at fault and the life conditions of the innocent party. However the right to claim compensation expires if it is not raised during the plaint or counter-plaint for divorce.
If the divorce is made on the grounds of insanity or contagious disease, the divorcing spouse shall provide living allowances to the spouse who is insane or suffering from the disease.
In all cases, the right to receive a living allowance from the divorce would expire if the receiving party was to remarry.
Conjugal Property and Debts
Upon divorce, all the assets that have been acquired during the marriage period must be divided equally between husband and wife. If any of such assets have been disposed of by one of the spouses for his/her exclusive benefit, or has done so to prevent the other spouse to receive its share, or even has disposed of it without the consent of the other spouse, the Court will consider that such asset or its value is still to be divided equally between both spouses. In such case, half the value of the disposed asset would be taken from the share of the party at fault to indemnify the innocent party. Debts that have been contracted during the marriage period, are also to be divided equally between the spouses.
There are many more legal details to a divorce that have not been included in this article, for the sake of readability. It is therefore essential to consult a professional Legal Adviser before proceeding to a divorce, as unforeseen consequences could be very costly and damaging both to your assets and family. We will provide more articles in the future, with more detailed information on specific cases, that will enable you to better understand the Thai Laws of Divorce.