Thailand is home to thousands of British citizens. It is very common here in Thailand to see marriages between Thai and British nationals. Sadly, it is also common for some of these marriages to end in divorce.
Individuals often want to know if a marriage or a divorce will be legal if they move overseas.
Recognition of foreign marriages is important for many reasons. It will assist you with knowing whether you are married in accordance with the local English law, the legitimacy of children and the availability of divorce claims – if your marriage is not recognized locally there is no opportunity for a divorce or divorce claims
Generally in developed countries the status transferred by marriage or divorce will be recognized by other countries, with some exceptions for example some Islamic countries.
This is known as Comity: the courts of one country respect and enforce another country’s laws and judicial decisions. In most states, the courts will enforce a foreign divorce only if both spouses received adequate notice of the divorce proceeding.
Thailand Attorneys, Chaninat and Leeds specializes in Thai and international divorce law
Court orders regarding joint assets or child custody might not be so straightforward between different jurisdictions.
Generally therefore marriages and divorces registered in England will be legal in Thailand and vice versa. However one word of caution – it should be noted that an administrative divorce carried out at the Thai Embassy or Consulate in the UK will not be a valid divorce as far as the UK law is concerned, although that divorce would be recognized in Thailand. This is because in the UK, only a court can grant a divorce.
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Thailand Marriage and Divorce: Thai Dream or Foreigner’s Nightmare?
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Need some help… I am British. Was married to a Thai national in 2004 in UK. 2007 separated and one kid which she has custody. Now I live in Thailand. In 2010, without any knowledge of papers being served she managed to divorce me on the Thai court Later I found out and paid the settlement to the court which was agreed as being for anything in UK and Thailand. Now, I want to get my divorce validated in UK court but it’s dragging on. She is living in UK. Haven’t had contact 10 years now. Judge is now asking for a, Direction hearing which UK lawyer was, surprised about. Does this mean, in order to get the original Thai divorce and settlement validated, I risk the court awarding her some of my UK assets, when I settled already in Thailand and all I ever asked the UK court to do was out the rubber stamp on Thai court divorce papers? Or am I getting paranoid.