{"id":3137,"date":"2026-08-01T05:51:35","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:51:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/?page_id=3137"},"modified":"2026-08-07T05:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T22:48:42","slug":"divorce-in-thailand-property-division","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/fr\/divorce-in-thailand-property-division\/","title":{"rendered":"Property Division in Thai Divorce: How Section 1533 Actually Splits Your Assets"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most people arrive at divorce in Thailand property division expecting a judge to weigh who earned more, who raised the children, and who behaved badly. Thai law does none of that. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1533\/\">Section 1533<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/\">Civil and Commercial Code<\/a> says one thing: upon divorce, the marital property shall be divided in a manner which allows both spouses to receive equal portions. The court splits. It does not balance.<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"tlo-hublink wp-block-paragraph\">Property division follows the sin somros rules explained in our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-family-law\/\">Thai family law<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>One update most English-language guides have missed.<\/strong> The Civil and Commercial Code Amendment Act (No. 24), B.E. 2567, better known as the Marriage Equality Act, came into force in January 2025 and rewrote Book V. It repealed and replaced Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1532\/\">1532<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1533\/\">1533<\/a>, replaced &#8220;husband and wife&#8221; with &#8220;spouses&#8221; throughout, and made every ground for divorce reciprocal. We cover the reform itself in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/same-sex-marriage-in-thailand\/\">same-sex marriage in Thailand and the Marriage Equality Act<\/a>. The equal-shares rule survived the rewrite intact, so the substance below holds. It now applies to same-sex spouses on exactly the same terms. Pages still quoting Section 1533 as dividing property &#8220;between man and woman&#8221; are quoting the pre-2025 text.<\/p>\n\n<p>That single sentence changes every decision you make from here, including whether you divorce at the district office or in court, when you file, and what you sign. ThaiLawOnline has handled Thai family matters for foreign spouses since 2006, and the same three mistakes cost clients money every year: they wait too long to freeze assets, they sign a Thai-language agreement at the amphur without reading it, and they assume a judge will fix an unfair split later. A judge will not.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The rule in one line, and the myth to drop first<\/h2>\n\n<p>Thailand is not an equitable-distribution country. English, American, Canadian and Australian courts adjust the split according to the length of the marriage, each spouse&#8217;s contribution, and each spouse&#8217;s future needs. Thai courts have no such power over the marital pool. Section 1533 fixes the ratio at fifty-fifty and gives the judge no discretion to move it.<\/p>\n\n<p>Four things can still produce an uneven net outcome, and all four sit outside Section 1533:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1534\/\">Section 1534<\/a>:<\/strong> the court adds back property your spouse hid, sold or destroyed, then makes up your shortfall out of that spouse&#8217;s own share and personal property.<\/li>\n  <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1525\/\">Section 1525<\/a>:<\/strong> when the court orders one spouse to pay compensation, it takes that spouse&#8217;s share of the liquidated Sin Somros into account.<\/li>\n  <li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1535\/\">Section 1535<\/a>:<\/strong> you split the common debts equally too, which can swallow the asset side.<\/li>\n  <li><strong>Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1465\/\">1465<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1466\/\">1466<\/a>:<\/strong> a valid prenuptial agreement replaces the default regime entirely.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Argue about classification and about those four levers. Do not argue about the ratio.<\/p>\n\n<figure>\n  <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/thailand-divorce-property-division-section-1533-diagram.png\" alt=\"Divorce in Thailand property division decision path from asset classification under Sections 1471 and 1474 to the equal split under Section 1533\" width=\"1200\" height=\"950\">\n  <figcaption>The four questions a Thai court answers before it divides anything. Section 1533 only runs at the last step.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n<h2>Sin somros and sin suan tua: the two categories that decide everything<\/h2>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1470\/\">Section 1470<\/a> sets the default: everything the spouses own is Sin Somros unless a rule sets it aside as Sin Suan Tua. Your whole case turns on which bucket each asset falls into.<\/p>\n\n<table>\n  <thead>\n    <tr><th>Sin Suan Tua (personal, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1471\/\">s.1471<\/a>)<\/th><th>Sin Somros (marital, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1474\/\">s.1474<\/a>)<\/th><th>Who has to prove it<\/th><\/tr>\n  <\/thead>\n  <tbody>\n    <tr><td>Property you owned before the marriage<\/td><td>Property either spouse acquired during the marriage<\/td><td>The spouse claiming personal status<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td>Personal effects, clothing, ornaments suited to your station, and the tools of your profession<\/td><td>Property received during marriage by will or gift <em>where the will or deed of gift declares it to be Sin Somros<\/em><\/td><td>The spouse claiming personal status<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td>Property you received during the marriage by will or gift, unless the instrument declares it Sin Somros<\/td><td>The fruits of Sin Suan Tua: rent, dividends, interest, crop income<\/td><td>The spouse claiming personal status<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td>The khongman, or engagement property<\/td><td>Anything left in doubt, by force of the presumption in the final paragraph of s.1474<\/td><td>Nobody. Doubt defaults to marital.<\/td><\/tr>\n  <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<p>Two rules decide most contested cases.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1472\/\">Section 1472<\/a> traces your personal property forward.<\/strong> Sell a pre-marriage apartment in Manchester, wire the proceeds to Bangkok, buy a condominium: the condominium stays Sin Suan Tua, and so does any money left over. The tracing works only as far as your paperwork does. Keep the sale contract, the bank statement showing the transfer, and the purchase contract in one file. Clients who lose this argument almost never lose it on the law. They lose it because five years of statements are gone. The Supreme Court made the point directly in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/372-2567-sin-suan-tua-vs-sin-somros-tracing\/\">Decision 372\/2567<\/a>, which requires you to trace the funds once separate and marital money has been mixed.<\/p>\n\n<p><strong>The final paragraph of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1474\/\">Section 1474<\/a> breaks every tie against you.<\/strong> Where there is doubt whether property is Sin Somros, the court presumes that it is. Your spouse does not have to prove the asset is marital. You have to prove it is not. Read our companion guide on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/marital-property-thai-law\/\">marital property under Thai law<\/a> for the classification detail. Two decisions show the presumption doing its work: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/3122-2564-leasehold-acquired-during-marriage-presumed-sin-somros\/\">Decision 3122\/2564<\/a> on a commercial leasehold, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/2236-2562-cooperative-shares-funded-by-salary-are-marital-property\/\">Decision 2236\/2562<\/a> on cooperative shares bought by salary deduction. It cuts the other way too: in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/186-2565-spousal-gift-becomes-recipients-separate-property\/\">Decision 186\/2565<\/a>, land one spouse gave the other without naming it Sin Somros became the recipient&#8217;s personal property. Browse the whole line on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/\">Supreme Court decisions database<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Section 1532: the date your property pool freezes<\/h2>\n\n<p>Almost no English-language guide publishes this section, and it decides whether you should file today or negotiate for another six months. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1532\/\">Section 1532<\/a>, as replaced by the Marriage Equality Act, fixes the snapshot date two different ways:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li><strong>Divorce by mutual consent:<\/strong> the property to be divided is the property that <strong>exists at the time you register the divorce<\/strong>.<\/li>\n  <li><strong>Divorce by court judgment:<\/strong> the parts of the judgment governing property <strong>take retroactive effect from the day you instituted the action<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Work through what that means. Your spouse runs a business that is about to sign a large contract. If you file next week, the court values the pool as at your filing date and the later windfall falls outside it. If you spend eight months negotiating a consent divorce and register it after the contract lands, the windfall is inside the pool and you take half. The reverse applies to your own earnings. Everything you earn after the filing date in a contested case is yours.<\/p>\n\n<p>Filing a court action does more than start a case. It stops the clock on the asset pool.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Amphur divorce or court divorce: two completely different property outcomes<\/h2>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1514\/\">Section 1514<\/a> gives you two routes and no others: mutual consent, or a judgment of the court. Consent divorce must be in writing and signed by at least two witnesses, and under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1515\/\">Section 1515<\/a> it takes effect only when both of you register it at the district office. A court divorce takes effect when the judgment becomes final, and under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1531\/\">Section 1531<\/a> it does not bind a good-faith third party until you register it.<\/p>\n\n<p>Here is the part competitors leave out. <strong>At the amphur, Section 1533 never runs.<\/strong> Your own written agreement governs the property, and the registrar records it. A foreign spouse who signs a Thai-language divorce agreement waiving the house has waived the house. No later court will restore an equal split because the agreement was one-sided, and the district officer will not warn you.<\/p>\n\n<p>Read the Thai text or have it translated before you sign. If your spouse will not agree to an even split, use the court route and let Section 1533 do the work. Our guide to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/contested-divorce-in-thailand\/\">contested divorce in Thailand<\/a> sets out the ten statutory grounds under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1516\/\">Section 1516<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/divorce-in-thailand-with-a-foreign-marriage\/\">divorce in Thailand with a foreign marriage<\/a> covers what happens when you married abroad.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Your spouse is moving the money: what the code actually gives you<\/h2>\n\n<p>This is the call we take most often, and Thai law answers it in five sections.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Section 1476: the acts that need your consent<\/h3>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1476\/\">Section 1476<\/a> bars either spouse from acting alone on the Sin Somros in these cases. You must manage jointly, or one of you must obtain the other&#8217;s written consent under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1479\/\">Section 1479<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li>selling, exchanging, mortgaging, releasing a mortgage, or transferring a mortgage over immovable property or mortgageable movable property<\/li>\n  <li>creating or extinguishing a servitude, right of habitation, superficies, usufruct or charge over immovable property<\/li>\n  <li>letting immovable property for more than three years<\/li>\n  <li>lending money<\/li>\n  <li>making a gift, unless it is charitable, social or moral and suits the family&#8217;s condition<\/li>\n  <li>making a compromise, submitting a dispute to arbitration, or putting property up as security with an official or the court<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Anything outside that list, either spouse may do alone.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Sections 1480, 1483 and 1484: stopping it and undoing it<\/h3>\n\n<p>If your spouse did one of those acts without your consent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1480\/\">Section 1480<\/a> lets you apply to the court to revoke it. Two exceptions defeat you: your own later ratification, and a third party who acted in good faith and paid value. The deadline is strict. You must sue within <strong>one year from the day you learned of the ground for revocation<\/strong>, and in no case later than <strong>ten years from the day of the act<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n<p>You do not have to wait for the divorce. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1483\/\">Section 1483<\/a> lets you ask the court to forbid an act that is about to cause undue loss to the Sin Somros. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1484\/\">Section 1484<\/a> goes further: where a managing spouse causes undue loss, refuses support, becomes insolvent, incurs debts exceeding half the Sin Somros, obstructs your management, or behaves in a way that will ruin the pool, you may apply for sole management or for immediate division of the Sin Somros. The court may set temporary protective measures while it decides, and in an emergency the urgent-application rules of the Civil Procedure Code apply.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Section 1530: provisional orders once the case is filed<\/h3>\n\n<p>Under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1530\/\">Section 1530<\/a>, while a divorce action is pending the court may on your application make any provisional order it thinks proper, including orders about the Sin Somros, the lodging, maintenance, and the custody and maintenance of children. This is the practical freezing tool. Ask for it in the plaint. Do not wait for the first hearing. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/2109-2567-interim-maintenance\/\">Decision 2109\/2567<\/a> shows the court using this power for interim maintenance.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Section 1534: the clawback for property that is already gone<\/h3>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1534\/\">Section 1534<\/a> answers the fear behind the phone call. Where a spouse disposed of Sin Somros for their exclusive benefit, or disposed of it intending to injure you, or disposed of it without a consent the law required, or wilfully destroyed it, the court treats that property <strong>as if it still existed<\/strong> for the Section 1533 division. If your half still falls short, the spouse at fault makes up the arrears out of their share of the Sin Somros, and then out of their own Sin Suan Tua.<\/p>\n\n<p>Your spouse cannot spend their way out of an equal split. They can only make the accounting harder, so gather the evidence now: land office records, bank statements, transfer receipts, and dates.<\/p>\n\n<h2>The house and the land: where foreign spouses actually lose<\/h2>\n\n<p>A Thai national who buys land while married to a foreigner signs a joint declaration at the land office confirming that the purchase money is her own Sin Suan Tua and not Sin Somros. Land offices have required this since the Ministry of Interior regulation of 23 March 1999, which exists to stop foreigners acquiring land indirectly. We explain the document itself in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/understanding-confirmation-letter-in-thailand\/\">understanding the confirmation letter in Thailand<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>Foreign husbands ask the same question every month: I signed that letter, have I lost my claim? The honest answer sits between the two extremes the market sells.<\/p>\n\n<p>The declaration is an administrative form required by land office practice. It is not one of the four categories in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1471\/\">Section 1471<\/a>, so it does not by itself convert marital property into personal property. What it does is create strong documentary evidence that both of you stated an intention at the time of purchase, and a Thai court weighs that against your evidence about where the money actually came from. Bank records showing an overseas transfer on the purchase date do real work. A verbal understanding does not.<\/p>\n\n<p>Be careful with the Supreme Court authority circulating on this point. Several English-language pages cite <strong>Decision 1523\/2565<\/strong> for the proposition that a land office letter cannot override Section 1474. The full judgment holds nothing of the kind. A Swedish plaintiff had sent 2,300,000 baht from Sweden in 2011 to buy two plots and a house, put the title in his Thai partner&#8217;s name, and had her sign a 2,400,000 baht loan agreement while he kept the deeds. They registered their marriage in Sweden only in 2014, so the purchase preceded the marriage and Section 1474 never applied. The court struck the loan agreement down as a sham under Section 155, found the real arrangement made her his agent under Section 797, and left the foreign-ownership question to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailand-land-code\/chapter-8\/\">Land Code Sections 86 and 94<\/a> because he had not pleaded it. He recovered nothing. Treat the case as a warning about sham loan agreements and about buying before you register the marriage, not as authority on the declaration. We track verified decisions on our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-prenuptial-agreements-thailand\/\">Supreme Court prenuptial agreement decisions<\/a> page.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Winning a share of land you cannot own<\/h3>\n\n<p>Suppose the court agrees the land is Sin Somros and awards you half. You still cannot register it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailand-land-code\/chapter-8\/\">Section 86 of the Land Code<\/a> lets a foreigner acquire land only under a treaty, and no such treaty operates in practice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailand-land-code\/chapter-8\/\">Section 94<\/a> requires land acquired unlawfully to be disposed of within a period the Director-General sets, which runs from 180 days to one year, after which the Director-General disposes of it. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailand-land-code\/chapter-8\/\">Section 96<\/a> applies the same machinery where a Thai holds land in place of a foreigner.<\/p>\n\n<p>Three routes convert your share into value:<\/p>\n\n<ol>\n  <li><strong>A money judgment<\/strong> for the value of your half, enforced against your former spouse&#8217;s other assets.<\/li>\n  <li><strong>An agreed sale<\/strong> to a third party with the proceeds split, usually negotiated into the settlement.<\/li>\n  <li><strong>A court-supervised disposal<\/strong> under the Land Code machinery above.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>The building is a separate question. Thai law treats a house as property distinct from the land beneath it, and the Land Code restricts the land only. A foreigner can own the structure outright, evidenced by the building permit and the house registration book. See <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/can-foreigners-own-a-house-in-thailand\/\">can foreigners own a house in Thailand<\/a>. Condominiums are easier again: hold the unit inside the 49 percent foreign quota with the funds imported correctly and the title is yours, as our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/buying-a-condominium-in-thailand\/\">buying a condominium in Thailand<\/a> explains. A registered usufruct also binds the land whoever owns it and does not lapse because the marriage ended. Compare the instruments in our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/usufruct-vs-lease-vs-superficies-thailand\/\">leases, usufructs and sap ing sith<\/a>, and see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/property-guide-for-foreigners-in-thailand\/\">buying property in Thailand<\/a> for the structures that hold up.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Debts: the half nobody plans for<\/h2>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1535\/\">Section 1535<\/a> makes both spouses liable equally for common debts once the marriage ends. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1490\/\">Section 1490<\/a> defines which debts qualify, and only these four:<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li>debts for managing the household and providing family necessaries, maintenance, household medical expenses, and proper education of the children<\/li>\n  <li>debts connected with the Sin Somros itself<\/li>\n  <li>debts from a business the spouses carried on in common<\/li>\n  <li>debts one spouse incurred for personal benefit <strong>but which the other ratified<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Everything else stays personal. Under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1488\/\">Section 1488<\/a> a spouse&#8217;s personal obligation is satisfied first out of their Sin Suan Tua, and only then out of their portion of the Sin Somros. So your former wife&#8217;s clothing habit is hers. Her car loan for the family vehicle is joint. The credit card she used to fund the business you ran together is joint. The loan she took for her brother, which you never approved, is hers alone.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Compensation and maintenance sit outside the split<\/h2>\n\n<p>Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1523\/\">1523<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1524\/\">1524<\/a> give a compensation claim in specific cases: divorce granted on the ground in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1516\/\">Section 1516<\/a>(1), and divorce where the party at fault under Sections 1516(3), (4) or (6) acted with the intention of making life intolerable. The Marriage Equality Act rewrote Section 1523 to run both ways, so either spouse may claim from the other spouse and from the third person involved. Under <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1525\/\">Section 1525<\/a> the court sets the amount according to the circumstances, and where the payer is your spouse the court takes into account the share that spouse received from the liquidation of the Sin Somros.<\/p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1526\/\">Section 1526<\/a> adds a living allowance where the divorce arises from the fault of one party alone and the other is left destitute with insufficient income. It comes with a trap that has cost clients everything: <strong>the right is extinguished if you do not raise it in the plaint or counterclaim in the divorce action<\/strong>. Not in a later suit. Not in negotiation afterwards. In the pleadings, or never. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/7108-2551-post-divorce-maintenance\/\">Decision 7108\/2551<\/a> shows how the courts treat maintenance after a divorce has already been granted.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Can a prenuptial agreement override Section 1533?<\/h2>\n\n<p>Yes, and it is the only reliable way to change the ratio in advance. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1465\/\">Section 1465<\/a> lets spouses set their own property regime by agreement made before the marriage. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1466\/\">Section 1466<\/a> voids the agreement unless you enter it in the marriage register at the time you register the marriage, or make it in writing signed by both spouses and at least two witnesses and note in the register that it is annexed. Miss the registration and the whole document is worthless. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1476-1\/\">Section 1476\/1<\/a> lets a valid prenuptial agreement vary the joint-management rules as well.<\/p>\n\n<p>Two limits matter. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1467\/\">Section 1467<\/a> stops you altering the agreement after marriage except by court authorisation. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1469\/\">Section 1469<\/a> lets either spouse void an agreement they made <em>during<\/em> the marriage at any time while married, or within one year of its dissolution, which is why a property agreement signed mid-marriage is a weak substitute for a prenup. Our guide to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/prenuptial-agreement-thailand\/\">prenuptial agreement in Thailand<\/a> covers the drafting and the registration, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/postnuptial-agreement-in-thailand\/\">postnuptial agreements in Thailand<\/a> explains what you can still do after the wedding. Three decisions mark the boundaries: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/6711-2537-prenuptial-immovable-property\/\">6711\/2537<\/a> on immovable property inside a prenup, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/1885-2541-prenuptial-maintenance-void\/\">1885\/2541<\/a> where a maintenance clause was struck down, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/supreme-court-decisions\/2159-2562-prenuptial-public-order\/\">2159\/2562<\/a> on the public-order limit.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Assets outside Thailand<\/h2>\n\n<p>A Thai court liquidates Thai property. It will not retitle a house in Vancouver, split a UK workplace pension, or reach an offshore account, and the Thai judgment does not execute itself abroad. Foreign assets need a parallel process in the country where they sit, and the two proceedings need to be coordinated so you do not settle the same asset twice or lose it in both. Raise cross-border assets at the first meeting with your lawyer, not after the Thai judgment lands.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Deadlines at a glance<\/h2>\n\n<table>\n  <thead>\n    <tr><th>Section<\/th><th>What it governs<\/th><th>Deadline<\/th><\/tr>\n  <\/thead>\n  <tbody>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1480\/\">1480<\/a><\/td><td>Revoking a sale, mortgage or gift your spouse made without your consent<\/td><td>1 year from the day you knew the ground, and never later than 10 years from the act<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1529\/\">1529<\/a><\/td><td>Divorce actions on grounds 1516(1), (2), (3) and (6), and compensation under 1523<\/td><td>1 year from when you knew or should have known the facts<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1526\/\">1526<\/a><\/td><td>Living allowance after a fault-based divorce<\/td><td>Must be raised in the plaint or counterclaim, or it is extinguished<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1469\/\">1469<\/a><\/td><td>Voiding an agreement made between spouses during the marriage<\/td><td>Any time during the marriage, or within 1 year of its dissolution<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1532\/\">1532<\/a><\/td><td>The date that fixes the property pool<\/td><td>Registration date (consent) or filing date (court)<\/td><\/tr>\n    <tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thailand-land-code\/chapter-8\/\">Land Code 94<\/a><\/td><td>Disposing of land a foreigner acquired unlawfully<\/td><td>Between 180 days and 1 year, as the Director-General prescribes<\/td><\/tr>\n  <\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n<h2>Frequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n<h3>Is marital property in Thailand always split 50\/50?<\/h3>\n<p>The Sin Somros is, under Section 1533, and the court has no power to vary that ratio. Your personal property under Section 1471 is not divided at all. What changes the net figures is classification, the Section 1534 clawback, compensation under Section 1525, and the equal split of common debts under Section 1535.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Does the house count if it is registered only in my Thai spouse&#8217;s name?<\/h3>\n<p>Registration records who holds title. It does not decide classification. If your spouse acquired the property during the marriage, Section 1474 presumes it is Sin Somros, and the spouse claiming otherwise carries the burden of proof.<\/p>\n\n<h3>I signed a declaration at the land office saying the money was hers. Have I lost my claim?<\/h3>\n<p>Not automatically. The declaration is an administrative form required since the Ministry of Interior regulation of 23 March 1999, not a statutory exclusion under Section 1471. It is strong evidence of the intention you both stated at the time, and a court weighs it against your evidence about the actual source of the funds. Bring the transfer records.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Can I get half the land itself, or only half its value?<\/h3>\n<p>Half the value, in practice. Land Code Section 86 blocks a foreigner from registering the land, so the court converts your share into money, an agreed sale, or a supervised disposal. You can hold the house on that land in your own name, and a condominium unit inside the foreign quota outright.<\/p>\n\n<h3>What happens to property if we divorce at the amphur instead of in court?<\/h3>\n<p>Your written agreement governs the property and Section 1533 never runs. Whatever you sign at the district office binds you. Have the Thai text translated before you sign it.<\/p>\n\n<h3>My spouse sold a condominium last month. Can I still claim a share?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, on two tracks. Section 1534 treats the unit as if it still existed when the court divides the Sin Somros, and makes up your shortfall out of your spouse&#8217;s share and personal property. Section 1480 may let you revoke the sale itself if your consent was required under Section 1476 and the buyer did not act in good faith for value, but you must sue within one year of learning the ground.<\/p>\n\n<h3>How long after the divorce can I bring a property claim?<\/h3>\n<p>It depends which claim. Revocation under Section 1480 runs one year from knowledge and ten years from the act. Compensation under Section 1523 runs one year under Section 1529. A living allowance under Section 1526 dies unless you plead it inside the divorce action. Bring the whole property claim inside the divorce case wherever you can.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Are we both liable for my spouse&#8217;s credit card debt?<\/h3>\n<p>Only if it falls inside Section 1490: household and family necessaries, debts connected to the Sin Somros, a business you ran in common, or a personal debt you ratified. Everything else stays with the spouse who incurred it and comes first out of that spouse&#8217;s Sin Suan Tua under Section 1488.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Does a prenuptial agreement override Section 1533?<\/h3>\n<p>A valid one does. It must comply with Sections 1465 and 1466, which means entering it in the marriage register at the time you register the marriage. An unregistered prenuptial agreement is void, and an agreement you sign after the wedding can be voided by either spouse under Section 1469.<\/p>\n\n<h3>Will a Thai court divide my pension or my house back home?<\/h3>\n<p>No. Thai courts liquidate property in Thailand. Foreign pensions, offshore accounts and overseas real estate need proceedings where those assets sit, coordinated with the Thai case.<\/p>\n\n<h2>What to do next<\/h2>\n\n<p>If you are approaching a divorce in Thailand, three actions protect you more than anything else. Build the paper trail that proves which assets are yours under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1471\/\">1471<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1472\/\">1472<\/a>, because the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1474\/\">Section 1474<\/a> presumption decides every gap against you. Decide the timing deliberately, because <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1532\/\">Section 1532<\/a> freezes the pool on the day you register or the day you file. And if money is already moving, apply under Sections <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1483\/\">1483<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1484\/\">1484<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1530\/\">1530<\/a> now rather than relying on the Section 1534 clawback later, because recovering value from a spouse who has already spent it is slower and more expensive than stopping the transfer.<\/p>\n\n<p>ThaiLawOnline has advised foreign spouses on Thai family matters since 2006. If you want your position assessed against the sections above before you sign anything, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/divorce-in-thailand\/\">start with our divorce in Thailand overview<\/a> and get in touch. Our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/family-law-consultation\/\">family law consultation<\/a> page sets out how that works. Where children are involved, read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/child-custody-in-thailand\/\">child custody in Thailand<\/a> alongside this guide, since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thailawonline.com\/thai-civil-code\/section-1520\/\">Section 1520<\/a> requires a written parental power agreement in every consent divorce.<\/p>\n\n<p><em>This guide states the law as at July 2026, including the Civil and Commercial Code as amended by the Marriage Equality Act (Amendment Act No. 24, B.E. 2567). It gives general information and not legal advice on your situation. Thai courts decide classification on the evidence in each case, and the amounts at stake in a property division justify taking advice from a Thai lawyer before you sign, file or transfer anything.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Is marital property in Thailand always split 50\/50?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Sin Somros is, under Section 1533 of the Civil and Commercial Code, and the court has no power to vary that ratio. Personal property under Section 1471 is not divided at all. 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