Posted by DivorceLine in This article analyzes Thai Family Law in the context of marriage registration for foreign nationals in the Kingdom of Thailand.
For those readers who are familiar with the English “Widespread Law” system, the notion of marriage registration is somewhat hard to fully grasp at very first glance. Then again, from the family law point of view there are countless similarities between Thailand’s “civil law” system and a “Widespread law” system such as that of the USA. Then again, a notable distinction between the Thai system and the “Typical law” system is the absence of an notion of “Frequent law marriage”. In countries such as the United States there are jurisdictions which recognize “Widespread law marriage”. A “Widespread law marriage” is essentially a creation of the Court whereby a judge (or panel of judges) finds that a couple is legally married notwithstanding the reality that they did not solemnize or legalize their marriage.
In Thailand, in order for a marriage to be considered legal both parties need to appear just before a civil registrar and register their marriage. As “Typical law marriage” is not legally recognized under Thai law, even a couple that openly lives at the exact same place for a substantial period of time will likely be discovered to be legally unmarried.
Furthermore, as the doctrine of equity is virtually absent in Thai jurisprudence, there is typically no equitable recourse for either party in an unregistered marriage. Consequently, regardless of the reality that a couple has had a marriage ceremony and been accepted as married by the community, the Court is unlikely to grant either party any kind of compensation need to the unregistered marriage dissolve as the Court would likely not recognize the existence of a legal marriage in the very first location.
These ideas are rather critical for those foreign nationals wishing to marry in Thailand. For instance, if a couple comes to Thailand and conducts a marriage ceremony with all customary solemnization, the marriage could still be considered unregistered if the couple does not truly finalize a marriage registration. This is essential to note for those couples from other countries due to the fact failure to really register a marriage may result in the couple’s residence country, or countries, not recognizing the legal union.
Of feasible further interest to couples who are not Thai nationals is the difficulty of registering a divorce in Thailand if the marriage is legally registered initially, but later dissolves. In Thailand, it might be rather hard to find a Court that will take jurisdiction to grant a divorce if neither party to the marriage is registered on a Tambien Baan (Residence Registration) in Thailand, or if one of the foreign parties refuses to make themselves obtainable for personal service of procedure in Thailand.
For all of the aforementioned reasons, those foreigners wishing to marry in the Kingdom of Thailand must seek legal counsel just before marriage so as to stay away from feasible legal difficulties at a later time.
