We reported only yesterday regarding the decision of the Supreme Court to strike down DOMA and the implications this will have for same sex couple.
Forbes has today printed an interesting opinion piece offering practical and cautionary advice in light of the decision. The author recognises that the news is inevitably going to lead to a surge of marriages but that they will be between couples who have already got themselves established in life and may indeed hold significant assets, or indeed liabilities at the other end of the scale.
Chaninat and Leeds specilize in prenuptial law in Thailand
The article therefore makes the point that those who now find themselves free to marry should carefully consider the benefits of a prenuptial agreement, rather than rushing ahead keen to make things official. In addition to protecting assets, it points out that the Supreme Court decision has still left an unsatisfactory gap: namely that individual states still cannot be forced to recognized same-sex marriages from other states. It explains that this will potentially create havoc if the couple, or just one of them, decides to move to a state that does not respect same-sex marriages entered into in another state.
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In our view this is very interesting analysis, and one we would like to develop one step further. We feel that the real elephant in the room is international couples. How will foreign nations that do not recognize gay marriage enforce divorce judgements or
prenups when those nations do not recognize gay marriage? Thailand presently does not recognize gay marriage so what would happen with a Thailand divorce? Some countries are strongly religious and might consider a gay prenuptial as violating their morals and public policy. The Philippines is a very Catholic country for example.
So whilst this attorney suggests that a prenup would help, and ordinarily this is advice we would agree with, in our opinion it would also depend on the conflict of law provisions of the country. Thailand international prenuptial agreements are approached in a relatively detailed manner, lacking many of the ambiguity-derived problems found in other jurisdictions, and protecting the interests of foreign nations.
The Thailand Conflict of Laws Act controls any international conflict of laws in Thailand.
This remains a grey area and we watch with interest as developments occur.
Read the full article here
Related Documents: Thailand Conflict of Laws Act
Related Articles: Prenuptial Agreements: US Law, Thailand Law and EU Law Compared
International Prenuptial Agreements: Conflicts of Law in the United States
European Prenuptial Agreements and the Hague Convention
Prenuptial Agreements in Japan – the Devil’s in the Details
The New Developments in the United Kingdom
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