An Australian friend of mine recently married a Thai lady. She lives in Thailand and he lives in both Thailand and Australia however I think his official residence is in Australia and he spends 80% of time in Australia as he works FIFO.
The marriage was done in Thailand formally.
I believe if they divorced she would be entitled to half his stuff in Australia while she never actually contributed financially. He currently pays for much of her expenses although she is working full time.
Could this be prevented if things were done differently?
I myself have entertained doing something similar one day but I don't want to be like so many guys I know who lost half due to a failed marriage especially where the woman didn't contribute equally. For someone from Thailand that could be very tempting. Fare enough for assets accumulated during the marriage, but all assets accumulated prior to marriage including superannuation...!
My understanding is that an official marriage in Thailand is recognised in Australia. Even if it was just a ceremony I assume that defacto laws may come in effect from living together in Thailand. Is this true?
Thai law seems to state that assets acquired prior to marriage are excluded, and assets accumulated after marriage are split 50%. I would be happy with this result.
It would good if pre-nups were valid but I have no confidence in them standing up in court as they just seem to be challenged anyway.
I will likely discuss with a Thai and australian lawyer for clarification.
Before people go on about worrying about separating prior to getting married I have been married before but we divorced with a mutually agreeable asset split. This time I have more to loose.
The marriage was done in Thailand formally.
I believe if they divorced she would be entitled to half his stuff in Australia while she never actually contributed financially. He currently pays for much of her expenses although she is working full time.
Could this be prevented if things were done differently?
I myself have entertained doing something similar one day but I don't want to be like so many guys I know who lost half due to a failed marriage especially where the woman didn't contribute equally. For someone from Thailand that could be very tempting. Fare enough for assets accumulated during the marriage, but all assets accumulated prior to marriage including superannuation...!
My understanding is that an official marriage in Thailand is recognised in Australia. Even if it was just a ceremony I assume that defacto laws may come in effect from living together in Thailand. Is this true?
Thai law seems to state that assets acquired prior to marriage are excluded, and assets accumulated after marriage are split 50%. I would be happy with this result.
It would good if pre-nups were valid but I have no confidence in them standing up in court as they just seem to be challenged anyway.
I will likely discuss with a Thai and australian lawyer for clarification.
Before people go on about worrying about separating prior to getting married I have been married before but we divorced with a mutually agreeable asset split. This time I have more to loose.