Husband's responsibility of Thai wife's debts.

[Ripa]

Hi,

My wife has bought a motorbike to her son. The motorbike is on my wife's name. In the beginning the monthly installments were paid as planned, but suddenly my wife's son couldn't pay anymore the monthly installments, neither did my wife. Now the motorbike company wants me to pay the whole remaining part immediately. They claim that because I am married with my Thai wife, the company can withhold the amount from my pension received from Europe. Is that so ?

[Pinetree]

I've been there mate. My issue was the same and the Court action to sort it has just ended, in our favour, so this is  up to date. Firstly, did you sign any documentation, as a guarantor for your wife? If you did not, the debt is hers, not yours, and legally, if you are officially married, Cert and all, she cannot enter an agreement without you signing, if you are the one providing the money, this is different if she is working and using her own income as collateral for the loan. If you did sign as the loan Guarantor, then you can be chased for the debt,  but they cannot touch any foreign cash or income, unless they pursue you through the UK Civil Courts, and prove the debt exists,  which is highly unlikely. Returning the bike will cut down on an accumulating debt. I would go talk to a local Thai lawyer if I were you, to get advice on any negotiation with the lender.  That will not cost much and will help to clarify things in your mind.  Finally, absolutely forbid your wife, on pain of divorce, never to sign docs for other people.   Do PM ne if you need to talk. 

[Ripa]

Hi Pinetree. Thank you for your response. Some comments:

*Firstly, did you sign any documentation, as a guarantor for your wife? No I didn't.

 *if you are officially married, Cert and all, We are officially married with certificates.

 *if she is working and using her own income as collateral for the loan. She is working and paid the loan by herself. Later I gave her money to pay.

*but they cannot touch any foreign cash or income, But when the foreign money is on my Thai account, can "they" confiscate the money from my Thai accounts ?

*Returning the bike will cut down on an accumulating debt. Hehe...as usual. My wife's son sold the motorbike and kept the money. Actually he stole it. The bike was on my wife's name.

Thai lawyer if I were you, to get advice on any negotiation with the lender. My wife is trying to negotiate with the motorbike company. If unsuccessful, must think about to talk with the lawyer. I saw that there is some lawyer help from this Thaiger platform. 795 bht / month. Does anybody have any experience ? How much another Thai lawyer could cost ?

Thank you again Pinetree for your valuable advice.

 

[butterfly]

4 hours ago, Ripa said:

Hi,

My wife has bought a motorbike to her son. The motorbike is on my wife's name. In the beginning the monthly installments were paid as planned, but suddenly my wife's son couldn't pay anymore the monthly installments, neither did my wife. Now the motorbike company wants me to pay the whole remaining part immediately. They claim that because I am married with my Thai wife, the company can withhold the amount from my pension received from Europe. Is that so ?

in Thailand, married or not, that is common wife or legally married, you are automatically 50/50 with debt

that means if you take debt, she is also liable 50/50

I know a few farangs who had debt problems in the past, and the wife got sued by the debtor and she had to pay back the debt for him

[butterfly]

4 hours ago, Ripa said:

They claim that because I am married with my Thai wife, the company can withhold the amount from my pension received from Europe. Is that so ?

they are correct, and that's the law

the only case you could dispute this is when she takes money from loan sharks

going to court would clear the illegal debt

[butterfly]

2 hours ago, Ripa said:

My wife's son sold the motorbike and kept the money. Actually he stole it. The bike was on my wife's name.

how old is he? and how much was it?

take it as a loss and a lesson for your wife, explain to her that mistakes she make will come back to you

and now she owes you for that mistake,

and you can bring your mia noi home for a threesome for compensation 

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, butterfly said:

in Thailand, married or not, that is common wife or legally married, you are automatically 50/50 with debt

that means if you take debt, she is also liable 50/50

I know a few farangs who had debt problems in the past, and the wife got sued by the debtor and she had to pay back the debt for him

Utter nonsense.  It is nothing to do with the OP , the company can't come after him if he signed no paperwork.  Indeed, the issue is now one of theft by the idiot kid and is a criminal case.  No OP, you cannot be held resorbable and no, your money, held in your sole name, is safe.  I have the contact details of an excellent Thai lawyer based in Nong Phu who dealt with my case. 

[Gord]

3 hours ago, Ripa said:

Hi Pinetree. Thank you for your response. Some comments:

*Firstly, did you sign any documentation, as a guarantor for your wife? No I didn't.

 *if you are officially married, Cert and all, We are officially married with certificates.

 *if she is working and using her own income as collateral for the loan. She is working and paid the loan by herself. Later I gave her money to pay.

*but they cannot touch any foreign cash or income, But when the foreign money is on my Thai account, can "they" confiscate the money from my Thai accounts ?

*Returning the bike will cut down on an accumulating debt. Hehe...as usual. My wife's son sold the motorbike and kept the money. Actually he stole it. The bike was on my wife's name.

Thai lawyer if I were you, to get advice on any negotiation with the lender. My wife is trying to negotiate with the motorbike company. If unsuccessful, must think about to talk with the lawyer. I saw that there is some lawyer help from this Thaiger platform. 795 bht / month. Does anybody have any experience ? How much another Thai lawyer could cost ?

Thank you again Pinetree for your valuable advice.

I'm confused. How can the son sell the motorcycle legitimately without ownership documents?

Could not the police reacquire her bike? You and her have documents of motorbike?

[Pinetree]

1 hour ago, butterfly said:

they are correct, and that's the law

the only case you could dispute this is when she takes money from loan sharks

going to court would clear the illegal debt

Stop pushing out rubbish, none of what you say is correct,  Butt out. 

[Pinetree]

3 hours ago, Ripa said:

Hi Pinetree. Thank you for your response. Some comments:

*Firstly, did you sign any documentation, as a guarantor for your wife? No I didn't.

 *if you are officially married, Cert and all, We are officially married with certificates.

 *if she is working and using her own income as collateral for the loan. She is working and paid the loan by herself. Later I gave her money to pay.

*but they cannot touch any foreign cash or income, But when the foreign money is on my Thai account, can "they" confiscate the money from my Thai accounts ?

*Returning the bike will cut down on an accumulating debt. Hehe...as usual. My wife's son sold the motorbike and kept the money. Actually he stole it. The bike was on my wife's name.

Thai lawyer if I were you, to get advice on any negotiation with the lender. My wife is trying to negotiate with the motorbike company. If unsuccessful, must think about to talk with the lawyer. I saw that there is some lawyer help from this Thaiger platform. 795 bht / month. Does anybody have any experience ? How much another Thai lawyer could cost ?

Thank you again Pinetree for your valuable advice.

See what I wrote above and ignore that idiot Butterfly.  

[Pinetree]

OP, if your wife agrees, and she should, she, NOT YOU,  needs to make a Police report that the Son stole the bike and kept the money. She will then have a defense and a crime number, albeit that the debt remains on her, NOT YOU.  You need to keep yourself well clear of all of it, bar supporting your wife privately.  Of course, the kid is then in deep sxxt but who cares about that.  

[butterfly]

34 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

It is nothing to do with the OP , the company can't come after him if he signed no paperwork. 

he didn't sign the paper, but the law will still stand

if he is taken to court, he will lose

He would have had to sign a separate document to state that he is not taking part of this debt, but still this could be challenged in court

Listen I have seen this, and in every case the farangs or the Thais lost

Your spouse is responsible of your debt, period.

[butterfly]

23 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

Stop pushing out rubbish, none of what you say is correct,  Butt out. 

says who? you?

I speak from experience and from people who went to court over the same problems

Even in the west, you have to ask your spouse to sign a document to acknowledge she knows or you know about the debt, or else the debt is not underwritten

If she did this in your back, that's not the debtor problem, that's your problem and your wife problem

She probably declared she wasn't married to speed things up

You can take your wife to court over this, and you can win easy

[butterfly]

27 minutes ago, Gord said:

I'm confused. How can the son sell the motorcycle legitimately without ownership documents?

Could not the police reacquire her bike? You and her have documents of motorbike?

I suspect the wife is not telling him everything, and sold the bike with the son and took the money

classic Thailand

[butterfly]

32 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

See what I wrote above and ignore that idiot Butterfly.  

I speak from experience, do you? :)

[butterfly]

25 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

OP, if your wife agrees, and she should, she, NOT YOU,  needs to make a Police report that the Son stole the bike and kept the money. She will then have a defense and a crime number, albeit that the debt remains on her, NOT YOU.  You need to keep yourself well clear of all of it, bar supporting your wife privately.  Of course, the kid is then in deep sxxt but who cares about that.  

In Thailand, the law states that you and your spouse share all debt taken by either party by default. Period.

[WilliamG]

12 minutes ago, butterfly said:

Listen I have seen this, and in every case the farangs or the Thais lost

Who lost, the falangs or the Thais, explain yourself please.

[butterfly]

2 hours ago, Pinetree said:

She is working and paid the loan by herself. Later I gave her money to pay.

and that will be further evidence in court that you knew about the debt, making you automatically liable.

You can't claim you didn't know. You even co-paid for it.

You are <deleted content>

If it's less than 100K THB, pay it off, and be done.

Court could be expensive with the same results.

Edited December 20, 2023 by BigHewer
Expletive removed

[butterfly]

1 minute ago, WilliamG said:

Who lost, the falangs or the Thais, explain yourself please.

both when their spouse took the debt,

the Thai wife when the farang husband took the debt, in this case it was 40m THB

the farang when the wife took some consumer credit card debt to pay for some crap she couldn't pay back

the law says we are co-dependent in debt,

so be very careful with your Thai wife credit card debt,

the only exception is the loan shark situation,

 

[QECE]

The only winners are the banksters and finacial mafias. 

Suckers. 

[butterfly]

in the west now, it has been like this for some 10 years I think, maybe more

you need to have your spouse sign a document to acknowledge the debt or your participation in some investment scheme (like Life insurance)

That assume that you declare you were married, but usually the debt underwriter will ask and check your marital status

If you don't declare it, and they find out, they have a special provision when they can ask the whole debt to be pay back immediately, for misleading the underwriter contracts conditions

I suspect this is what happens with the OP

she lied about her marital status, didn't have her spouse co-sign the document,

and now the law says that both have to pay back everything,

unfair maybe, but that's how it works.

[butterfly]

9 minutes ago, QECE said:

The only winners are the banksters and finacial mafias. 

Suckers. 

I bought a small motocy for my partner, she wanted to pay in credit, because it was cheap

the authorized motorcycle re-seller automatically ask for my passport etc.. for the paperwork even if the title was under her name

the paperwork was all in Thai BS, so I declined, and they refused to sell the motocy

so I paid cash instead, it was only 50K

why bother?

[Pinetree]

OP, I'm sure that you have realised that Butterfly is writing BS.  He knows nothing and spouts nonsense.  Ignore him, as we all tend to do, as I am sure that you are doing and get your wife to see a Thai lawyer.  You stay well clear of it all.  Don't even go to the lawyer with her. Your marital status will not be an issue if you have not signed any documentation pertaining to the bike. 

[butterfly]

14 minutes ago, Pinetree said:

OP, I'm sure that you have realised that Butterfly is writing BS.  He knows nothing and spouts nonsense.  Ignore him, as we all tend to do, as I am sure that you are doing and get your wife to see a Thai lawyer.  You stay well clear of it all.  Don't even go to the lawyer with her. Your marital status will not be an issue if you have not signed any documentation pertaining to the bike. 

of course the marital status will be an issue

on what planet are you?

have you ever been to a Thai court? obviously not,

and taking your girlfriend experience to court because she took some money from you is not comparable and she will not be regarded as a common wife, so her debt is not yours

if you have lived with your wife for some time, then your assets are put in common, including the debt she took while you were with her, and that part is very very important for the court, believe me

technically the motorcycle she bought, is also part of your common assets, so you can take the son to court for stealing your motorcycle

the motorcycle is technically also yours, even if the title doesn't have your name

now you know what to do,

[QECE]

It's even simpler than one might suspect.

Stop playing their game credit and loans.