Prenuptial Agreements in Thailand: Key Rules and Considerations for Foreign-Spouse Marriages

A Thai prenuptial agreement helps couples plan ahead – covering property, inheritance, and debts before marriage registration.

Many foreigners living in Thailand meet their future spouses here and get married in Thailand. And to deal with potential legal issues in advance, the couples often chose to enter into a prenuptial agreement (often referred to as “prenup”).

The statutory matrimonial property regime in Thailand is the regime of the community of accrued gains. While this regime may be appropriate for most marriages, in some cases it is sensible and appropriate to deviate from it by implementing a prenuptial agreement. Such a prenuptial agreement may set forth the separation of property, but it may as well include more complex regulations regarding the matrimonial property and/or matrimonial support.

Sample Case Studies

The following cases are examples where future spouses commonly choose to enter into a prenuptial agreement:

• One partner is much wealthier than the other partner, or has much higher income;
• Future spouses would like to fix the amount of alimony in case of divorce.
• Future spouses have children from a previous marriage and would like their inheritance to be unaffected by a new marriage;
• One future spouse is an entrepreneur/stakeholder in a business, and would like to exclude the business interest from the common property;
• Future spouses would like to establish transparency with regards to financial matters;
• One future spouse has a high debt load;
• To ensure that both parties are getting married for the right reasons (and not for financial gain);
• To reduce a party’s fear of protracted litigation in the event of death or divorce.
• The marriage involves foreign laws and/or jurisdictions.

Formal Requirements

According to the Thai Civil and Commercial Code (“CCC”), the prenup agreement is valid when it is:

1. Entered in a form of the marriage registry or

2. Prepared by the spouses in writing, separately from the marriage registry, signed by both spouses and by at least two witnesses, and entered in the marriage register stating that the prenup agreement is thereto annexed.

And according to the Ministry of the Interior Regulation Regarding Family Registration B.E. 2541, both spouses and 2 witnesses must sign in the marriage register (Form Kor Ror. 2).

The witnesses of the prenup agreement can be the witnesses provided by the marriage registry.

No lawyer nor an interpreter is required to attend the district office. Lawyer and interpreter may attend the district office as witnesses. In case that the spouse is a foreigner, the registrar shall examine the evidence to identify such a foreigner (passport, certificate from the embassy in Thailand) and shall examine the qualification of the foreign spouse (single status certificate) before registering the marriage. The certified translations are required.

Cases of Invalidity of Prenuptial Agreements

According to Section 1466 CCC, “the ante-nuptial agreement is void if not entered in the marriage register at the time of marriage registration terms of the ante-nuptial; or if not made in writing and signed by both spouses and by at least two witnesses and entered in the marriage register at the time of marriage registration stating that the ante-nuptial is thereto annexed.”

It is notable that any clause in the prenup agreement contrary to public order or good morals, or provisions to the effect that the relations between the spouses as regards to their properties are to be governed by foreign law, shall be void (Section 1465 CCC).

It is important to note that Thai law does not recognize prenuptial agreements entered into after the marriage registration. Furthermore, after registration of the marriage, an existing prenuptial agreement cannot be altered except by authorization of the court (Section 1467 CCC).