Thai Law Database Online

Prenuptial Agreement or Premarital Agreement    

                    Under Civil and Commercial Code, section 1465 states that where the husband and wife have not, previous to their marriage, concluded a special agreement concerning their properties, the relations between them as regards their properties shall be governed by the provisions of this Chapter

                    From the section 1465, a prenuptial agreement is an agreement made before marriage between husband and wife about their properties. Therefore, any agreement not concerning their properties cannot be included in the prenuptial agreement, such as the maintenance cost of children after divorce.

                    What if a husband and a wife do not do a prenuptial agreement? If a prenuptial agreement is not made, the relation between the husband and wife about their properties shall be governed by family law. Before we get through the properties relation governed by law between the husband and the wife, we need to know “Sin SomRos” and “Sin Suan Tua.” 

Section 1471, Sin Suan Tua consists of:

1. property belonging to either spouse before marriage;
2. property for personal use, dress or ornament suitable for station in life, or tools necessary for carrying on the profession of either spouse;
3. property acquired by either spouse during marriage through a will or gift
4. Khongman (See the article A Betrothal law in Thailand)

Section 1474, Sin Somros consists of:

1. Property acquired during marriage;
2. Property acquired by either spouse during marriage through a will or gift made in writing if it is declared by such will or document or gift to be Sin Somros;
3. Fruits of Sin Suan Tua (such as Interest)

                    Sin Suan Tua, each spouse is the manager of his or her own properties, but Sin Som Ros, family law protect in many cases. For examples, 1) properties acquired during their marriage shall own by both the husband and the wife, and such properties shall be divided equally upon divorce, 2) the management of Sin SomRos, in some cases, shall be jointly managed, or one spouse has to obtain consent from the other, such as selling, exchanging, and mortgaging on immovable property, 3) a husband or a wife may cause loss to the Sin SomRos.

                     So, to avoid these situations, some couple chooses to do the prenuptial agreement before their marriage. In the prenuptial agreement, we can separate Sin Suan Tua from Sin Som Ros, and any properties that you acquire before or after marriage are still your own. In other words, you can sell or exchange the properties without the consent of the other spouse. If either spouse is in debt before or during marriage, a creditor cannot claim for such debt to the other spouse. In addition, the agreement is very helpful for a spouse who has a big business and does not want the other spouse takes the business after divorce or death.

Form of Prenuptial Agreement

The prenuptial agreement can be made legally by

1. The agreement must be entered in the Marriage Register at the time of marriage registration terms of the prenuptial agreement;
2. The agreement must be made in writing and signed by both spouses and at least two witnesses and entered into the Marriage Register at the time of marriage registration stating that the prenuptial agreement has taken place.

If the prenuptial agreement is not made under either method mentioned above, the agreement is void.

Furthermore, the prenuptial agreement cannot be altered without the authorization of the Court

The Prenuptial Agreement is helpful in managing properties, but a spouse may not understand and may think that a spouse does not trust him or her.

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Before taking any legal action, persons are advised to seek the advice of a lawyer qualified in the area of law concerned.