To be clear, I'm talking about prenup agreements when a foreigner marries an Indonesian.
I've been having these ongoing discussions for almost as long as I've been living here, which is going on 17 years.
During that time I've met plenty who ascribe to their necessity, and an equal number of those who dismiss the need all together.
Usually the importance of a prenup centers around the national government having the right to make an “execusi” or seizure of the land property of an Indonesian national who marries a foreigner without a prenup, and where the foreign spouse has died. However, in my neck of the woods, which is Bali, I have never heard of the government stepping in and declaring ownership of any property with the Hak Milik (land deed) issued to the Indonesian spouse post marriage to a foreigner and where the foreign spouse subsequently passed away.
Has anyone ever heard of this happening? And by that question, can we dismiss hearsay or rumor, and be factual?
In the event this discussion gets serious, and one which is engaging to other readers, allow me to inject a few “curve balls.”
What if in that union of Indonesian/foreigner there are dual national children?
And, with the assumption that a prenup is indeed important, what about a “postnup” agreement…or is the consensus that the couple needs to remarry (and now with a prenup), because a postnup will simply not be sufficient?