Thai Family Law: Marriage, Divorce, Custody and Inheritance

Reviewed by ThaiLawOnline, a licensed Thai law firm practising in Thailand since 2006. Thai lawyer of record: Wichuda Atthamethakon, LL.M., Thai Bar Licence 3149/2556.

Last updated on August 20, 2026

Thai family law in one page

Thai family law is set out in Book 5 of the Civil and Commercial Code, sections 1435 to 1598/41. It governs engagement, marriage, marital property, divorce, parentage, custody, legitimation and adoption. Two things surprise most foreigners. First, only a marriage registered at an amphoe (district office) has legal effect in Thailand, so a temple ceremony or a hotel blessing on its own creates no rights at all. Second, Thailand splits everything a couple owns into sin suan tua (personal property, kept by the owner) and sin somros (marital property, divided in half on divorce), and that split is decided by when and how an asset was acquired, not by whose name is on the paperwork.

This page is the map. Each section below explains one area in plain language and links to the full guide for it. If your situation is urgent, such as a child taken abroad or a divorce already filed against you, go straight to booking a consultation.

Getting married in Thailand

A marriage in Thailand is created by registration at a district office, not by a ceremony. A foreigner normally needs an affirmation of freedom to marry from their embassy, translated into Thai and legalised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, before the district office will register anything. Once registered, the marriage is valid worldwide and carries immediate consequences for property, tax and immigration status.

Start with our full guide to getting legally married in Thailand, which covers the documents, the order of the steps and the common refusals. If you want to understand what changes the moment you sign, read the legal consequences of marriage in Thailand. We also handle the paperwork directly through our marriage registration service in Bangkok, and we explain where a religious ceremony fits in our guide to Buddhist marriage in Thailand.

Engagement, sin sod and the family expectations

The Code deals with engagement in sections 1435 to 1447, and it treats the engagement property (khongman) differently from the dowry paid to the bride’s family (sin sod). An engagement is only legally recognised if property is actually handed over, and if the engagement is then broken without justification the law decides who keeps what. In practice most disputes we see are about a sin sod that was paid in cash with no record of it at all.

Our guide to getting legally married in Thailand covers sin sod, what is customary and what is legally enforceable, and how to document a payment so that it can be traced later.

After the wedding: name and immigration status

Marriage does not change a spouse’s surname automatically in Thailand. Taking a spouse’s name is a separate registration, and it then has to be carried through to the passport, the bank and the Land Office records, which is where people usually get stuck. Marriage also opens an immigration route, but a marriage certificate on its own is not a visa.

See changing your name in Thailand for the registration steps, and our guide to the marriage visa and Non-O extension for foreign spouses for the immigration side, including the financial requirements and the annual renewal.

Same-sex marriage

Thailand legalised same-sex marriage through the Marriage Equality Act, and couples now register at the district office on the same footing as everyone else. The rights that follow are the same: marital property, inheritance, adoption and the ability to apply for a marriage-based extension of stay.

Our guide to same-sex marriage in Thailand sets out what the Act changed, what it did not change, and the practical steps for a couple where one partner is foreign.

Prenuptial agreements

A Thai prenuptial agreement has to be registered at the same time as the marriage itself, at the same district office, and signed in front of two witnesses. Sign it a day late and it is void. This single procedural rule is the reason most prenups brought from abroad fail in Thailand.

Read our guide to the prenuptial agreement in Thailand for the drafting and registration process. Before you sign anything, check what must never go into a Thai prenuptial agreement, because clauses on custody or on future income are routinely struck out. For how the courts have actually ruled, see our collection of Supreme Court decisions on prenuptial agreements.

Marital property: sin somros and sin suan tua

Property owned before the marriage, plus anything inherited or received as a personal gift during it, is sin suan tua and stays with that spouse. Almost everything else acquired during the marriage, including income and the fruits of personal property, is sin somros and is split equally on divorce. Putting an asset in one spouse’s name does not move it out of the marital pot.

Our guide to separation of assets in a Thai divorce explains the classification rules, and property division on divorce in Thailand works through how the split is actually carried out, including land and a condominium that a foreign spouse cannot hold outright.

Divorce

Thailand has two routes. An administrative divorce by mutual consent is registered at the district office, is quick and inexpensive, and requires both spouses to attend and agree on custody and property. A contested divorce is filed at the family court and must be based on one of the statutory grounds in section 1516, such as desertion, serious misconduct or living apart for the required period. There is no no-fault contested divorce in Thailand.

Begin with the main guide to divorce in Thailand, which covers both routes, the grounds and the timeline. If your spouse will not consent, read contested divorce in Thailand. If you married outside Thailand, the recognition question is dealt with in divorce in Thailand with a foreign marriage certificate. For budgeting, see what a divorce costs in Thailand, and if you need proof of a completed divorce, the Thai divorce certificate.

Child custody

Thai courts decide custody on the welfare of the child, and parental power can be held jointly or by one parent alone. The trap for unmarried foreign fathers is that they have no parental power at all until legitimation is complete, no matter what the birth certificate says. Custody agreed in a consent divorce is recorded at the district office and is enforceable.

Our guide to child custody in Thailand explains parental power, how the court weighs welfare, and what happens to custody after a divorce. If a child has been taken out of the country, read child abduction in Thailand and act quickly, because delay weakens a Hague Convention application. For court representation, see our child custody lawyers in Bangkok. Travel with a child often needs written consent from the other parent, which is covered in the travel permit for children.

Custody and money are separate questions, and the money question stays open. Parents are bound to maintain and educate a child during minority, and an adult child only where that child is disabled and unable to earn a living (Section 1564). Parents routinely agree to do more, typically supporting a child through university, and that promise is enforceable: Supreme Court Decision No. 1694/2569 (Juvenile and Family Division) confirms it. The same decision confirms the other half of the picture. Maintenance remains variable at any time under Section 1598/39, even when the figure was fixed by a compromise the court approved, and a settlement clause promising support “until a bachelor’s degree or the highest level of education” ends on whichever of the two comes first. In that case the father was released from all payments, and the mother’s own maintenance, which had been pegged to her son’s graduation, ended with his degree. See child custody in Thailand for the full analysis.

Legitimation of a father’s rights

A child born to unmarried parents is legally the mother’s child alone. The father acquires parental rights only by legitimation, which happens either by agreement with the mother and registration at the district office, or by a court order when she does not consent. Without it there is no right to custody, no say in schooling or travel, and no automatic inheritance link.

See our full guide to legitimation of a father’s rights in Thailand for both routes and the evidence the court expects.

Adoption

Adoption in Thailand runs through the Department of Children and Youth, with a probation period before the adoption is finalised and registered. Adopting a Thai spouse’s child from a previous relationship is the most common case we see and is simpler than an intercountry adoption, which adds the Child Adoption Board and, where it applies, the Hague Convention machinery.

Our Thailand adoption guide covers eligibility, consent, the step-by-step process, real costs and timelines, post-placement reports, and how adoption affects nationality and inheritance.

Surrogacy

Commercial surrogacy is prohibited in Thailand. A surrogate cannot be paid anything beyond medical and related expenses, so only altruistic surrogacy is lawful under the Protection of Children Born from Assisted Reproductive Technologies Act. The eligibility rules are narrow, including a marriage requirement, a Thai nationality link and a surrogate who must be a relative and already a mother, and they exclude most foreign intending parents.

Read our analysis of surrogacy law in Thailand before committing to any arrangement or agency.

Domestic violence

Domestic violence is handled both as a criminal matter and through protective measures under the Domestic Violence Victim Protection Act, and it is also a ground for divorce under section 1516. A protection order can be sought alongside the divorce rather than after it.

Our guide to domestic violence in Thailand explains reporting, protection orders and how the family court treats the evidence.

Inheritance and family

Marriage and parentage decide who inherits. A surviving spouse is a statutory heir alongside the deceased’s children and, in some configurations, their parents and siblings. A Thai will is the only reliable way to control that outcome, and it also settles who administers the estate.

See our inheritance law guide for foreigners and, when you are ready to act, making a will in Thailand.

The statute itself

Everything above comes from Book 5 of the Civil and Commercial Code. You can read the annotated bilingual text, section by section, in our Civil and Commercial Code, Book 5: Family. Marriage and marital property run from section 1435, divorce from section 1501, and parentage, legitimation and adoption from section 1536.

What it costs and how to start

Every family matter starts with a one-hour consultation at 2,000 THB per hour, after which you get a written fee estimate before any work begins. Two of the most common matters are fixed price: a prenuptial agreement is 8,900 THB and a divorce by mutual consent is 9,900 THB. Contested divorce, custody and Hague Convention cases are quoted individually, because the work depends entirely on what the other side does.

The prenuptial agreement is one of the services you can order and pay for online. You then follow the drafting in your own client portal, uploading documents against a checklist and approving the draft before you sign. See all our fixed-fee services.

If you would rather speak to someone first, our family lawyers in Bangkok page explains how we work, or you can book a consultation directly.

✓ Checked against 84,000+ Supreme Court decisions, Vortex database