Pro's and Con's of registering marriage

Couldn't find this particular question so I thought i'd throw it out there.

I want to know what are the legal pro's and con's of registering you marriage in Thailand.

3 years ago we had our buddhist marriage wedding blessing ceremony but we never actually got round to registering it. At the time I was worried about her loosing her rights to buy land but I've heard that thats changed now. So I was going to go to get the affermation of marriage certificate today from the embassy but my boss stopped me by saying that 6 years ago when he got married his lawyer strongly advised him against it. His lawyer is Thai and said that even he didn't register it because there is no benifit to the couple.

We want to buy a house in the future whether it be by cash or mortgage, in her name or a company name. And I have a full work permit so I don't need to do it for the visa.

I'm sure there must be more issues to this than just the land one knowing this country.

Can anyone confirm the situation with the land rights and if anyone knows any other backwards laws then chuck them in here.:)

Advise will be much appreciated.

tax benefits.

don't have the schedule at hand, but you pay less if you are married.

If you are officially married, the inheritance will go to the survivor, if not, to the next of kin. Of course one could make provisions through a will without getting married, I have.

Don't change her last name on her ID card or Passport to your surname and she will be able to own land still.

Or have a child :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

Don't change her last name on her ID card or Passport to your surname and she will be able to own land still.

---

not true, I'm quite certain that name change makes no difference whatsoever.

^ Fair enough but worth checking out, it was my wife who informed me with a few others agreeing; something along the lines that farang surnames cannot own land.

I did it (registered) just as a matter of course at the time. With the benefit of hindsight it has been useful; things like taxes (already mentioned) and admin stuff for cars/houses/kids.

Also once the kids were born it would've had to have been done anyway to apply for their NZ citizenship. Can't say I've suffered (or even heard of) a single draw-back/con as yet?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

Don't change her last name on her ID card or Passport to your surname and she will be able to own land still.

---

not true, I'm quite certain that name change makes no difference whatsoever.

---

Yep I can confirm that - name change has no material affect...

...Well other than some silly tart in Dubai not wanting to let the wife on the plane because she couldn't work out the name-change in the wifes passport. :mad:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

tax benefits.

don't have the schedule at hand, but you pay less if you are married.

---

::Personal Income Tax::

You're not legally married until you register the marriage.

You can have a different buddhist ceremony every week until the cows come home.

You still ain't married.

Aren't you liable for the other when married, for gambling debts for example?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

You're not legally married until you register the marriage.

---

yes, but he's asking if there are any benefits to legalising.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

^ Fair enough but worth checking out, it was my wife who informed me with a few others agreeing; something along the lines that farang surnames cannot own land.

---

Not true any more. That particular law was repealed good while back.

https://teakdoor.com/Gallery/albums/u...11319/land.jpg

This doesn't mean that if your wife owns land you can now own half of it under sin somros. That quote above is followed by several more pages explaining land-ownership laws in Thailand and we don't really have a chance :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

tax benefits.

---

can be reasonably substantial if your company HR is on the ball, as counts towards mortgages etc.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

Can't say I've suffered (or even heard of) a single draw-back/con as yet? __________________

---

ditto except queen betty is now aware of my nuptuials and that im off the market

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Mr Pot

Don't change her last name on her ID card or Passport to your surname and she will be able to own land still.

---

Thats bullshit, 7 years ago my wife changer her name when we were registering and had a new ID card made and it has changed nothing in her life or rights of birth in Thailand.
But like has been said, you have no legal marriage til it is registered.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

I did it (registered) just as a matter of course at the time. With the benefit of hindsight it has been useful; things like taxes (already mentioned) and admin stuff for cars/houses/kids.

Also once the kids were born it would've had to have been done anyway to apply for their NZ citizenship. Can't say I've suffered (or even heard of) a single draw-back/con as yet?

---

I believe, not entirely sure of this though, that an unmarried father has no right of access to or custody of the children in the event of separation. If fact, I think I've read that an unmarried father has no legal rights over his children at all.

love the way Ant lists cars before kids.

:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrB0b

an unmarried father has no legal rights over his children at all.

---

What about mia noi's?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by DrB0b

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

I did it (registered) just as a matter of course at the time. With the benefit of hindsight it has been useful; things like taxes (already mentioned) and admin stuff for cars/houses/kids.

Also once the kids were born it would've had to have been done anyway to apply for their NZ citizenship. Can't say I've suffered (or even heard of) a single draw-back/con as yet?

---

I believe, not entirely sure of this though, that an unmarried father has no right of access to or custody of the children in the event of separation. If fact, I think I've read that an unmarried father has no legal rights over his children at all.

---

You mean ... that men here can ... legally -- just walk away without any responsibility or right of access or custody to his children if he fails to register his marriage?

No way! :rofl:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

You're not legally married until you register the marriage.

---

Yup, I understand this, which is why I want to know as much about the situation as possible before I do it.

I do still refer to her as my wife though because it would be a bit weird calling her my girlfriend after the ceromony and being together for 6 years.:)

I'm liking the sound of these tax benifits.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

You mean ... that men here can ... legally -- just walk away without any responsibility or right of access or custody to his children if he fails to register his marriage?

---

If he did though he would loose the right to call himself a man!

To poor/middle class Thai's the registration often means precious little.

I would be surprised if Thai men don't retain significant legal rights whether married or not, should they wish to avail themselves of access to children outside the registered marriage. I wopuld doubt, however if the same is true for financial responsibility. Utterly male centric place, this.

One thing I remember my employer doing at my last job was splitting my wage between me and the wife 60/40 percent in order to save tax

^I do that now. Saves me about 8,000 a month off my tax bill.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

You mean ... that men here can ... legally -- just walk away without any responsibility or right of access or custody to his children if he fails to register his marriage?

No way! :rofl:

---

Indeed not.

They are liable for alimony, in theory. The provision is there.

The rule of law in Thailand means nothing.

Why would it be any different regarding civil law?

Who really cares what the law says as long as you can bend a judge's ear and slide a few baht. The law is what the highest bidder wants it to be. In that sense, I agree that registering the marriage means nothing.

Try dealing with your home country using this logic. Where laws actually mean something. They don't play those games.

The problem I will have if I want to register in back in the U.K is that you must both stay in the country for 30 days. So I'm told.

I wouldn't be able to take 30 consecutive days off work and I'd have to kill someone after 30 days there.:)

Doesn't the UK recognize legal marriage between one of its citizens and a foreign national -- one that's legally registered in the foreign country? Why would you have to involve the UK government?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

The rule of law in Thailand means nothing.

Why would it be any different regarding civil law?

Who really cares what the law says as long as you can bend a judge's ear and slide a few baht. The law is what the highest bidder wants it to be. In that sense, I agree that registering the marriage means nothing.

Try dealing with your home country using this logic. Where laws actually mean something. They don't play those games.

---

A bit over the top there. LOL So registering a marriage brings no tax benefits? LOL Are Thailand's prisons full of people who could not afford to bribe the judge? LOL

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

The problem I will have if I want to register in back in the U.K is that you must both stay in the country for 30 days. So I'm told. I wouldn't be able to take 30 consecutive days off work and I'd have to kill someone after 30 days there.

---

not my understanding Fresh
i think we registered at the embassy and it goes on the roles at home, dosent give spouse any legal standing in terms of residency etc. but for other intents and purposes its written down somewhere

bell the embassy

Thailand's prisons full of people ...

If police here enforced the laws they could erect a fence around the borders. Make the whole place a prison. :) For every person I see being punished for breaking a law, there are thousands that go unpunished. In fact most don't even realize they're doing anything wrong. When Thailand can work that ratio down to -- say 100:1 or maybe 50:1 they can start talking about democracy and fair elections and equality and respect.

Until then, they're just Thailand. Where rules and laws mean next to nothing.

Registering your marriage has an anvantage when you want to get her a visa to visit another country. I work in Dubai, when my lady comes to visit, she is classed as a tourist maximum stay one month. thats because I have not registered the marriage. Once registered I can bring her here as my wife. Maximum stay one year.

One more point, when I paid for our land in Thailand. The deal was done at district in full view of every official possible. But the land wavier was produced for the falang to sign. Registered marriage or not the waiver needed to be signed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by reinvented

not my understanding Fresh i think we registered at the embassy and it goes on the roles at home, dosent give spouse any legal standing in terms of residency etc. but for other intents and purposes its written down somewhere bell the embassy

---

Cheers I will. I asuming that this method doesn't give you tax benifits here but does sort out the the legal side with kids?

youll still need to register the kids with the embassy, to get nationality obviously
i honestly dont know about UK tax
but if yer working here your HR people should change your status

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Texpat

Try dealing with your home country using this logic. Where laws actually mean something. They don't play those games.

---

Perhaps not as openly no, but you're being a bit naive if you think that 'justice' doesn't have its price irrespective of the country we're talking about.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

love the way Ant lists cars before kids.

:)

---

It was a Freudian typo-slip. I love me kids!*
























*But no way are the little feckers ever going to be driving my cars! :D

I thought under Thai law the father had the right over the children.
It just has to have his name on the birth certificate!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by good2bhappy

I thought under Thai law the father had the right over the children.
It just has to have his name on the birth certificate!

---

No, married couples have equal rights over the kids, if it's an unmarried couple then the mother has the parental power. Both of these states can be changed by a court order, the status of an illegitimate child can be changed by the father registering as the child's parent but this requires the mother's consent. I've just been reading the relevant chapters in the Thai Civil Code of Laws. There seems to be a general assumption all the way through that you're married, there's only a couple of sections mentioning unmarried parents and a can't find anything covering child custody and parental rights outside the sections dealing with marriage law. I'd be happy to post all the relevant sections here but be warned they're long and, to me anyway, confusing :).

Law is always bloody confusing!:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Law is always bloody confusing!:)

---

Tell me about it! :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AntRobertson

It was a Freudian typo-slip. I love me cids!* *But no way are the little feckers ever going to be driving my kars!

---

understood.