Dear readers,
I received an inheritance from my deceased father in the Netherlands. Be the sole heir. I myself got married under Thai law in 2017, I did not register the marriage in the Netherlands at the time. Now she wants half the inheritance, much to my surprise.
My question is, is she entitled to that?
Regards,
Roland
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If your marriage is not registered in the Netherlands, your wife can jump high and low, but she has no right to part of that inheritance.
A marriage that is only registered in Thailand has "no legal value" in the Netherlands as long as it is not also registered here (civil registry).
Under Dutch law, the inheritance remains with the heir and does not form part of the matrimonial property.
Only applies after 1 January 2018, before that it falls into the community of property and both spouses are then entitled to a share. But as I understand the inheritance is recent and whether or not the marriage performed in Thailand is registered or not does not matter anymore. The national government writes: Since 2018, rules have been in force that stipulate that inheritances and gifts no longer automatically fall into the community of property.
Johan your response is too short-sighted. Not registering a foreign marriage in NLD is punishable by law. If his wife brings this before the NLD court, there will be major problems. It is also important on what conditions they are married in Thailand. And then also important is International Private Law.
Hi Johan, what do you mean by no legal value
None of this has anything to do with jumping high or low, nor with not being married in the Netherlands. As mentioned by other responders, Roland has to register his Thai civil marriage in the Netherlands. Earlier I described the Thai situation, see my response at 05:14 am. In the Dutch situation, if the testator - the person who has died - does not explicitly name Roland's Thai wife in his will, she will not inherit anything either. But since Roland has not registered his Thai marriage and there can be no question of a registered partnership / cohabitation contract, only cohabitation is at issue. Only marriage and registered partnership are recognized in inheritance law. However, the wife can accuse Roland of administrative negligence, but she is still blunt because she is not listed as a beneficiary. Incidentally, it is strange that Roland did not inquire with the notary who executes the will. Anyway: the answer to Roland's question whether his Thai wife is entitled to half of his inheritance is, both in Thailand and in the Netherlands: no, she is not entitled to any part of his inheritance!
Hi Roland,
we got married in Europe, she is Thai.
So not (yet) married in Thailand.
According to her, your wife there has no right to your money from your father's inheritance.
I am very curious about the outcome.
Good luck, Will
Of course she has no right to that since you are not married for the Netherlands.
Both in the Netherlands and in Belgium, the laws are the same in this area.
Keep in mind that you are in violation of the law.
This question raises a few side questions:
â why did you not register your marriage in the Netherlands? I don't really need the answer because I know it.
â why is your wife now suddenly asking for half of YOUR inheritance? I also have a suspicion about that.
The answer is simple: no, she can't claim that.
Besides, if my Thai wife made such demands, I would divorce immediately.
Dear Roland, if you live in the Netherlands you are obliged to register your civil marriage with your municipality. But from your question I understand that you live in Thailand. In Thailand, the Civil Code determines the legal ins and outs of and in a marriage. The Civil Code of Thailand resembles that of what is common in Europe, after all, that of France (Code Napoleon) once served as a guideline. Well now:
1- in Thailand, all money and/or property before you got married from each marriage partner is personal.
2- Subsequently, all money and/or property obtained or purchased at the time of the marriage is jointly owned.
3- Points 1 and 2 may differ if otherwise agreed in prenuptial agreements, see: Civil Code Chapter 4 Section 1465.
4- Money and/or property obtained by will at the time of marriage belongs to the person who is favored in that will, see: Civil Code Ch 4 S1471 concerning Sin Suan Tua- Separate Property
6- Unless money or property has been favored to both partners in that will, see Ch 4 S1474 Sin Somros- Marital Assets.
In short, dear Roland, read your father's will again carefully and if your wife is not mentioned by name and surname, she is thus excluded from the beneficiary of the will. But please note: if you die, your money and/or property will still belong to her. You should therefore also make a will yourself if you wish otherwise, for example to donate children or foundations. Good luck!
Source: https://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/civil-and-commercial-code-marriage-section-1465-1493/
She is also not entitled to this under Thai matrimonial law in the case of a marriage concluded in community of property (āļŠāļīāļāļŠāļĄāļĢāļŠ :: Sin Somros).
See:
Section 1470 (Sin Suan Tua: personal non-marital property, ie generally all debts and assets owned and acquired before the marriage (including 'Khongman')) and
Section 1471 point (3) op
https://www.thailandlawonline.com/thai-family-and-marriage-law/civil-law-property-āļof-husband-and-wife
https://lawman.in.th/8680/āļāļāļ-āļĄāļēāļāļĢāļē-1471/
āļĄāļēāļāļĢāļē 1470 (āļŠāļīāļāļŠāđāļ§āļāļāļąāļ§)
āļĄāļēāļāļĢāļē 1471 (3)
People talk about a Thai marriage where the Thai and the foreigner would have the same rights. That is definitely not true. For example, a Thai must formally give up her property if she marries a foreigner. because otherwise that foreigner would also be entitled to her / his property in Thailand and he really does not get that with a marriage. But the foreigner can also formally waive his rights and then the Thai can keep her / his property. But formally, the Thai must renounce this kind of business when marrying a foreigner. But many don't and let it run its course. This can lead to unpleasant situations and even to expropriation. I don't remember the term, but the law states that the Thai gets a year to arrange the renunciation by sale or something. A Thai marriage with a foreigner still remains an unequal marriage in terms of rights and now with an inheritance pretending to be married in community of property? A marriage between a Thai and a foreigner is always on conditions. That foreigner does not become Thai just because of marriage.
Dear Wiebren,
are you sure about this?
As far as I know nothing is known about the renunciation by the Thai wife. Nor of the inheritance law that the foreign husband would not be entitled to the inheritance of his deceased wife. Whether he can keep it is another thing.
Nor the fact that SHE has one year, after the death of her foreign husband, to sell her property or to regularize things. What I do know is that the Foreign husband has one year, if he inherits real estate from his wife, to sell the land as he cannot own land in Thailand. I will make a thorough inquiry about this because that is the first I hear about this in this way.
Can someone provide a link where it is indicated that you are obliged to register your marriage in the Netherlands or declare it if you live abroad?
In my opinion, that is only mandatory if you live in NLâĶ
Correct Martin.
https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/trouwen-samenlevingscontract-en-geregistreerd-partnerschap/vraag-en-antwoord/trouwen-of-geregistreerd-partnerschap-sluiten-in-het-buitenland
The answer is very simple. Under Dutch law, only blood relatives can inherit. A spouse is not a blood relative. A non-blood relative must be specifically named as heir in a will if he or she is to be entitled to (part of) the inheritance.
Hermie