Legal service for foreign clients
Family Lawyer — Divorce, Marital Property, Child Support in Thailand
Uncontested and contested divorce, marital-property division, custody.
Quick answer
Section 1516 CCC lists 10 divorce grounds (adultery, abuse, 1-year desertion, etc.). Marital property splits 50/50 absent a prenup. Children under 7 stay with the mother unless she is proven unfit. Child support benchmarks 20–30% of income. Uncontested amicable divorce from THB 25,000; contested divorce from 55,000. We also handle adultery-compensation actions.
From THB 25,000 — Amicable 25k / contested 55k / adultery 45k+ · Amicable 3–7 days / contested 6–12 months
Who this is for
- Couples pursuing amicable divorce
- Contested divorce petitioners or respondents
- Parents in custody disputes
- Thai–foreign spouses
What you receive
- Draft the post-divorce agreement
- Divorce petition under Sec 1516
- Marital-property division and valuation
- Custody + child-support petitions
- Adultery-compensation actions (§1523)
Documents to prepare
- Marriage cert / house reg / ID
- Children's birth certificates
- Property records (title deeds, vehicles, banks)
- Evidence supporting the divorce ground (if any)
How it works
5-step process
- 1
Confidential 60-min consult
Assess grounds, property, and children.
- 2
Negotiation / settlement memo
Attempt amicable settlement before filing.
- 3
File petition
File at the Juvenile & Family Court.
- 4
Mediation + evidence
Court-annexed mediation before trial.
- 5
Judgment + registration
Register the judgment at the district office.
In depth
Family Lawyer — Divorce, Marital Property, Child Support: what foreign clients need to know
Family work has two layers that must be kept apart. The first is marital status, resolved either at the registry or in court. The second is what stays with people for years afterwards: children, marital property, and maintenance. Clients in pain usually fixate on the first layer, yet the second determines the quality of life that follows, so we sequence the work from the long-term consequences backwards.
Divorce by consent against divorce by judgment
Divorce by consent is completed at the registry once both sides agree on every point, and the agreement recorded with it should be written out fully in that one sitting. Agreements drafted too thinly are the leading cause of a fresh case later — no payment dates for maintenance, or no method for splitting joint debt.
Divorce by judgment requires pleading a statutory ground and proving it. Where one side will not sign, or is abroad and unreachable, the court route is the only one left. We therefore assess at the outset which ground the client's evidence supports and what else must be gathered.
Custody and maintenance arrangements that hold
Courts weigh the child's best interests, not adult fault. What carries practical weight is evidence of actual care: who takes the child to school, who attends medical appointments, who pays the fees. We therefore ask clients to keep those records systematically rather than assembling argument screenshots that say nothing about care.
Maintenance set as a bare figure is often unpaid beyond the first year. A durable agreement fixes the amount, the payment date, the channel, the mechanism for adjustment when income changes, and the consequence of default — and it separates who carries tuition, medical costs and extracurricular expenses.
Marital property, personal property and foreign spouses
Dividing assets starts with classifying each item as marital or personal. Property owned before marriage, or received by inheritance or gift, is in principle personal; the real difficulty is mixed property — a house bought before marriage but paid down with marital income, where the portion accrued during the marriage must be separated out.
Foreign-spouse cases add two issues. One is recognition of the divorce in the spouse's home country, which usually needs translation and legalisation in the order that jurisdiction demands. The other is the restriction on foreign land ownership, which forces the division to be structured differently — monetary equalisation or a transfer of long lease rights.
Cost structure: government fees vs professional fees
| Item | Official fee | Professional fee | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drafting the agreement recorded with a consensual divorce | Registry fee for recording the divorce at the set rate | THB 15,000–40,000 | The cheapest and fastest route once children and property are agreed |
| Divorce petition with a custody claim | Family court fees at the set rate, plus value-based fees on any property claimed | THB 70,000–180,000 | Duration depends on whether the parties engage with court mediation |
| Claiming maintenance or applying to vary the amount | Fees calculated on the aggregate maintenance claimed at the set rates | THB 40,000–90,000 | Requires evidence of the other side's income and the child's actual costs |
| Translation and legalisation of divorce papers for overseas use | Ministry of Foreign Affairs certification per document, plus destination embassy fees | THB 6,000–18,000 by document count and language | We confirm the destination's required order before submitting |
A parenting arrangement still working three years on
Situation: Both agreed to divorce but clashed over the child's overnight schedule and international school fees.
What we did: We built a monthly care calendar with a holiday-rotation method and split tuition out from the monthly maintenance.
Outcome: The divorce and agreement were registered in one appointment, with no fresh dispute since.
Separating a house paid down during the marriage
Situation: One spouse bought a house before marriage but paid it down for seven further years with marital income.
What we did: We rebuilt the amortisation schedule to isolate principal paid before and after marriage, then proposed monetary equalisation instead of joint title.
Outcome: A settlement figure was agreed without selling the house, so the child did not change school.
When to act, and when waiting is fine
Choose consensual divorce while communication still works
It costs less and leaves you more control than a court-imposed outcome.
Litigate when the other side refuses to sign or cannot be reached
Assemble evidence of the statutory ground in full before filing.
Settle the children before the property, always
A firm parenting agreement makes the property negotiation easier in every case.
Never sign an agreement without payment dates and default consequences
Missing those two makes it hard to enforce and it usually returns as a new case.
Documents in detail
| Document | Issued by | Certification / translation | Validity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marriage certificate (Kor Ror 3) or marriage register (Kor Ror 2) | The district office where the marriage was registered | For overseas use, translate and have the Department of Consular Affairs certify the translation | Obtain a fresh copy if the old one is damaged or over six months old |
| Birth certificate of each child | The local registrar | Needed for custody and child-maintenance determinations | Use a certified copy under six months old when filing |
| Schedule of marital assets and joint debts | Prepared by the spouses from title documents and statements | Attach title deeds, vehicle registration, and lender balance letters | Refresh the figures before the mediation date |
| Income evidence for both spouses | Employer, or the Revenue Department for self-employed spouses | Payslips or one year of filed tax returns | The most recent 6–12 months |
Timeline and who does what
| Stage | Owner | Duration | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assess whether consent divorce is available or a suit is required | Handled by our team | 2–4 working days | Consent divorce at the district office is fastest, but child and property terms must be settled first. |
| Draft the divorce settlement annexed to the register | Handled by our team | 3–7 working days | We write custody, visitation, the amount and dates of maintenance, and an asset split that is actually enforceable. |
| Register the divorce at the district office | Depends on the agency | Usually completed in one day | Two witnesses and both spouses must attend; if one is abroad, the embassy channel or a compliant power of attorney is required. |
| If suing: file and attend mediation | Depends on the agency | Roughly 6–14 months | The Juvenile and Family Court prioritises mediation; many cases end in a court-approved agreement as enforceable as a judgment. |
| Update civil records and downstream documents | Handled by our team | 5–10 working days | We update house registration, title of address, insurance beneficiaries, and notify the relevant agencies. |
Common pitfalls
Vague maintenance wording such as 'as appropriate' cannot be enforced
State the amount, payment date, transfer channel, and escalation terms
Divorce completed but assets never transferred as agreed
Schedule the land-office or registry transfer on the same day as the agreement
Foreign spouses assuming a Thai court order applies automatically at home
Check the destination country's recognition rules before agreeing child terms
Relocating a child abroad without the other custodial parent's consent
Obtain written consent and write travel terms into the agreement from the outset
Doing it yourself vs working with us
| Aspect | On your own | With our team |
|---|---|---|
| Child arrangements | Verbal arrangements typically break down within months | We write a concrete schedule and communication channel that reduces repeat disputes |
| Property division | Failing to separate marital from personal property skews the split | We classify assets by acquisition date and funding source before proposing a fair share |
| Privacy | Disputes escalate into hearings that air private matters in court | We aim to close at negotiation and use a court-approved agreement when needed |
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Married in Thailand to a foreigner — where to divorce?
Divorce in Thailand and legalize via MFA + embassy for foreign recognition.
Is inheritance marital property?
No — inheritance and gifts are personal property (§1471).
Can grandparents get custody?
Yes if parents are unfit — petition Family Court.
Adultery compensation amount?
Actual damages — typically THB 100k–1M.
Are prenups enforceable?
Yes, if registered at marriage and not contrary to law.
We married abroad — can we divorce in Thailand?
Often yes, but the marriage certificate must first be translated and legalised; we check the conditions case by case.
Can the maintenance amount be varied later?
Yes, where income or the child's needs change materially; it is done by application to the court.
Does the at-fault spouse lose all parenting rights?
No; the court centres the child's interests, and fault towards a spouse is not decisive on its own.
Am I liable for debt one spouse incurred alone?
It depends whether it was a joint family debt; we separate the items and source documents before negotiating.
Written by: Thai Law & Accounting Services — attorneys and licensed accountants
Reviewed by: Reviewed by a Notarial Services Attorney registered with the Lawyers Council of Thailand.
Last updated: 2026-08
Information as of August 2026. Government fees and processing times change — verify with the relevant agency before acting, or let our team verify for you.