Property division between husband and wife upon divorce in Vietnam

Hi DMS Law firm in Vietnam! I and my ex-spouse have divorced but we did not agree on common property division. May I file a suit for division of common property not divided ? How to settle disputes on common property not divided after a divorce ? What are the principles to settle property division of spouses after a divorce ? What happens to common property after a divorce in Vietnam ?

Hi!

Marriage and family-related disputes falling under the courts' jurisdiction, include: divorces, disputes over child rearing or property division upon divorces; post-divorce division (Clause 1 Article 28 Law on Civil Procedure Code No. 92/2015/QH13 dated November 25, 2015).

The settlement of property shall be agreed upon by the concerned parties in case of applying the statutory matrimonial property regime. If they fail to reach agreement thereon, at the request of a spouse or both, a court shall settle it according to Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article and Articles 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 of this Law. In case of applying the agreed matrimonial property regime, the settlement of property upon divorce must comply with such agreement. In case the agreement is insufficient or unclear, the settlement must comply with corresponding provisions of Clauses 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article and Articles 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 of this Law.

Common property shall be divided into two, taking into account the following factors: Circumstances of the family, husband and wife; each spouse’s contributions to the creation, maintenance and development of common property. The housework done in the family by a spouse shall be regarded as incomegenerating labor; protecting the legitimate interests of each spouse in their production, business and career activities to create conditions for them to continue working to generate incomes; each spouse’s faults in the infringement of spousal rights and obligations.

Common property of husband and wife shall be divided in kind, if impossible to be divided in kind, common property shall be divided based on its value. The partner who receives the property in kind with a value bigger than the portion he/she is entitled to receive shall pay the value difference to the other.

Separate property of a spouse shall be under his/her ownership, except for separate property already merged into common property in accordance with this Law. A spouse who requests division of separate property which has been merged into or mixed with common property shall be paid for the value of his/her property contributed to common property, unless otherwise agreed by husband and wife.

The lawful rights and interests of the wife, minor children or adult children who have lost their civil act capacity or have no working capacity and no property to support themselves shall be protected. The Supreme People’s Court shall assume the prime responsibility for, and coordinate with the Supreme People’s Procuracy and the Ministry of Justice in, guiding this Article (Article 59 Law on Marriage and Family No. 52/2014/QH13 dated June 19, 2014).

Upon divorce, husband and wife have the rights to mutual agree all issues, including property division. If they fail to reach an agreement and have request, then the Court shall decide applying agreed matrimonial property regime or statutory matrimonial property regime, depend on each particular situation, the Court may resolve as follows: in case there is no written agreement on matrimonial property regime or such agreement is declared to be invalid by a court, then the statutory matrimonial property regime shall be applied to devide property of spouses upon divorce; in case there is a written agreement on matrimonial property regime and the whole agreement is not declared to be invalid by a court, then such agreement shall be applied to devide property of spouses upon divorce; For matters which have not been agreed or unclearly agreed by husband and wife, or the agreement is invalid, then corresponding provisions in Clauses 2,3,4 and 5 Article 59 and Articles 60, 61, 62, 63 and 64 of the Law on Marriage and Family No. 52/2014/QH13 dated June 19, 2014) shall apply to devide common property of husband and wife upon divorce (Article 7 Joint Circular No. 01/2016/TTLT-TANDTC-VKSNDTC-BTP dated January 06, 2016).

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Property division after a divorce in Viet Nam