What is ones rights

[Topendken]

Six years ago I was married to an indo lady,( both of us Australian citizens ) married in indonesia and we decided to settle in Indo, just recently everything went pear shaped she had me locked up on false charges and was under duress to sign an agreement to pay her an amount of money then I would be released, which I signed and have not payed the said amount..Upon release I flew overseas and have not returned. Taken my funds etc with me and have it in various bank accounts. I still have an asset in indo which is a leasehold property, part of a chain of apartments.I have nothing in joint names with her as before i married her I had everything in my name. She has not contributed anything to the marriage since we met.
Q 1. Can she go to the courts in indo and claim 50% or any part of my assets.
Q 2. Can she find out where I live and have that country freeze my assets ( constantly moving )
Q 3. Would it be advisable not to go back to Indo incase BS warrants are out on me.

I have been to an Indonesian lawyer and havent had any reasonable response from them except keep on paying them fees and getting no where and no real legal replys.
I do fear for my life as she will go to any lengths to either have me put away or never to be found again.
So long to a peacefull retirement.

TK

[El_Goretto]

Very little information to go for but here are some answers. Disclaimer: I am not an expert.

Q 1. In theory, unless you signed a prenuptial agreement prior to getting married stating separation of assets, she should be entitled to 50% according to Indonesian law. I am not sure how the nationality of both spouses affects this rule in your case. (see my questions below)
Q 2. Whether she finds out where you live or not depends on how careful you are. I would highly suggest changing passwords to all your online accounts (emails, forums, facebook, etc). Here is a link (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/35/15/39360410.pdf) to the extradition treaty between Australia and Indonesia which should give you some light on where you are standing.
Q 3. No, I would not advise going back to Indonesia. Certainly not before talking to several lawyers and finding out whether you have been found guilty of something or not.

What kind of charges has she pressed on you?
You said everything went pear shaped, would you be able to elaborate?
What exactly are you trying to achieve? Do you want to fight the criminal charges? Protect your assets?
You said you are both Australian citizens. Does she still hold Indonesian citizenship?

In any case, you must get proper legal protection. Someone recommended a lawyer in Bali in another thread: http://www.austrindo.com (http://www.austrindo.com/) It might be worth contacting them.

[Topendken]

Thanks for taking some interest in my problem here.
I'll just give some background info.

We are both Australian citizens and decided to get married in indo,she gave up her indo citizenship 20 yrs ago.
We dont have any properties in joint names etc bank accounts.
I dont own anything in indo, only lease property which a management company looks after.
I dont have bank accounts in indo.


Answer to your queries.
She had me put in jail for assault, later dropped as i signed an agreement to pay her a large sum on a certain date, now i believe it is a civil matter against me to collect the money.
I am currently in the process of being divorced, any day now we will know if its successful or not, not an easy thing to do in indo.
If not succesfull I fear she may have me put up on charges of adultry,,which could put me in jail for min 6 months,however need to be proven.
Somehow if I return to indo it would be unlikley that I could have peace there, accidents happen every day.
Austrindo Law are in Bali,,I would much rather use a Jakarta lawyer.

TK

[marcus]

About your assets :

Here is a partial copy of the info at http://www.expat.or.id/info/marriage...lications.html (http://www.expat.or.id/info/marriagelegalimplications.html)

[The property brought by the husband and wife separately and the property earned of respective parties as gifts or inheritance stays under their own possession, unless otherwise specified by respective parties. Each of the parties shall separately retain all rights and interests in all property of any kind which he or she owns to dispose of such separate property.

The property acquired during the marriage becomes joint property of a married couple. The husband and /or wife have a legal capacity to dispose of such property upon approval of both parties. In accordance with the Indonesian Marriage Law, such property shall be referred to as marital property.]

The above is probably based on Article 35 of the Indonesian marriage Law (Undang-undang Republik Indonesia Nomor 1 Tahun 1974
Tentang Perkawinan) :

[BAB VII - HARTA BENDA DALAM PERKAWINAN

Pasal 35
(1) Harta benda yang diperoleh selama perkawinan menjadi harta bersama
(2) Harta bawaan dari masing-masing suami dan isteri dan harta benda yang diperoleh masing-masing sebagai hadiah atau warisan, adalah di bawah penguasaan masing-masing sepanjang para pihak tidak menentukan lain.]

You can use Google Translate (http://translate.google.com/#id%7Cen%7C) to convert the above to English .

[Hiram]

If you are both Australian citizens and are getting the divorce in Australia, then I don't see why you should be worried about Indonesian laws as long as you don't go back - I'd be more scared of the Australian laws, if I were you.

There's a couple of issues here:

1. You are both Australian citizens. So if the divorce is done in Australia, Australian laws regarding property etc. will most likely apply to some extent.
2. If you were ordered by a court in Indonesia to pay some money, you may be able to avoid paying it by having fled the country, but that may not stop your (soon to be ex-)wife from suing you for the amount in question in Australia.

Want my honest opinion? Stop focussing your worries on Indonesia, count the property there as a temporary loss, and get a good lawyer... in Australia.

[OnHoliday]

Hi there,

A very interesting story you have. Before you even consider who gets what in the divorce settlement, in my opinion you should first consider your (and your wife) citizenship status in relation to the Indonesian property law.

A very old post by a forum member explains how the foreigner can own a land in Indonesia and the implication, which might/might not relevant to your case. But I think it is relevant to consider when you are trying to rule out any irrelevant issues to your case:
www.livinginindonesiaforum.org/archive/index.php/t-15884.html?c

Quotation from the post:

"...However, the property obtained by one spouse as a gift or inheritance, in which case such property remains the exclusive property of that spouse, unless the parties determine otherwise.
In order to negate the general rule of joint property, the marriage couple may enter a prenuptial agreement. The said agreement stipulates that all property acquired by either spouse during the marriage remains the separate property of the spouse.

A foreigner who obtains a Right of Owner (“Hak Milik”) on land as result of marriage has obligation to release such rights within a period of one year as of the date such right is obtained. If the said foreigner fails to fulfill this obligation, then the land would fall into the State’s possesion. This provision also applies to Right of Cultivation (“Hak Guna Usaha”) and Right of Building Utility (“Hak Guna Bangunan”).
Therefore a foreign spouse’s ownership rights in the joint property of the marriage any lands rights acquired by the Indonesian partner (except by inherintance) would automatically result in the foreigner having ownership rights, in consequence triggering the divestment requirement. The Indonesian spouse of a foreign citizen still has the rights over the lands, if the Indonesian spouse:

a. Enters into a prenuptial agreement stipulating that during the marriage all property would remain under the exclusive ownership of obtaining spouse, so that there would be no joint property. This prenuptial agreement must be in notarial deed form and executed prior to the effective date of the marriage.

b. Obtains the property as a gift or inherintance.
In absence of the above-mentioned, such land rights fall into the State’s possesion. However, it may be possible to convert such rights to Rights of Use (“Hak Pakai”) by submitting a request to the Sate. Hak Pakai is a land title that foreginers may hold, however the cost of converting the existing title to Hak Pakai may be prohibitive.
Women’s Business Transactions After Marriage
After marriage, a woman still retains the right to perform any type of legal act in her own right. But she shall be obtained approval from her spouse for any dealing with the joint property of the marriage pursuant to Law 1/74.

The Indonesian citizen who marries a foreigner also technically loses their right to hold shares in ‘ordinary’ privately held Indonesian limited liability companies. Only Indonesian is permitted to hold shares in privately held the Ordinary Indonesian companies (non foreign investment companies). So, the said shares shall be transferred to a qualified Indonesian national within one (1) year.
A share acquired after marriage by an Indonesian national married to a foreigner is the joint property of the couple, i.e., the foreigner has certain (although limited) ownership rights in the share. So, because of the marriage relationship the share is no longer owned (solely) by an Indonesian...."

[Topendken]

Thanks for all the input guys,
I will try to put things a little clearer for all.
Firstly, I dont live in indo anymore or australia,I dont have any cash or bank accounts in either country, I live elsewhere in asia.
The only assets I have in indo is a leasehold apartment that I get a monthly income from rentals ie, apartment.
ex wife is still australian citizen living in indo,for how long I dont know.
I suspect she is staying in indo to try and freeze my asset through the court system, which I owned prior to marrying her, does she have any legal grounds here?
I was told by my lawyer that she would have a better chance to sue me through the aus system

[annchen]

I'm not a law expert but what Marcus posted seems pretty clear to me. If you leased it before your marriage she shouldn't be able to claim anything.


The property brought by the husband and wife separately and the property earned of respective parties as gifts or inheritance stays under their own possession, unless otherwise specified by respective parties. Each of the parties shall separately retain all rights and interests in all property of any kind which he or she owns to dispose of such separate property