Luật Hôn nhân và gia đình 2014 số 52/2014/QH13

THE
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
———

THE
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM
Independence – Freedom – Happiness
—————

No.
52/2014/QH13

Hanoi,
June 26, 2014

 

LAW

ON MARRIAGE AND FAMILY

Pursuant to the Constitution of
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam;

The National Assembly
promulgates the Law on Marriage and Family.

Chapter I

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1. Scope
of regulation

This Law prescribes the marriage
and family regime, legal standards for conduct by family members;
responsibilities of individuals, organizations, the State and society in the
building and consolidation of the marriage and family regime.

Article 2. Fundamental
principles of the marriage and family regime

1. Voluntary, progressive and
monogamous marriage in which husband and wife are equal.

2. Marriage between Vietnamese
citizens of different nationalities or religions, between religious and
non-religious people, between people with beliefs and people without beliefs,
and between Vietnamese citizens and foreigners shall be respected and protected
by law.

3. To build prosperous, progressive
and happy families; family members have the obligation to respect, attend to,
care for, and assist one another; to treat children without discrimination.

4. The State and society and
families shall protect and support children, elderly people and persons with
disabilities in exercising marriage and family rights; assist mothers in
properly fulfilling their lofty motherhood functions; and implement family
planning.

5. To perpetuate and promote the
Vietnamese nation’s fine cultural traditions and ethics on marriage and family.

Article 3. Interpretation
of terms

In this Law, the terms below are
construed as follows:

1.
Marriage means the relation between husband and wife after they get married.

2. Family
means a group of persons closely bound together by marriage, blood ties or
raising relations, thus giving rise to obligations and rights among them as
prescribed in this Law.

3.
Marriage and family regime means all provisions of law on marriage, divorce;
rights and obligations between husband and wife, parents and children, and
among other family members; support; identification of parents and children;
marriage and family relations involving foreign elements and other matters
related to marriage and family.

4. Marriage
and family practices means rules of conduct with clear contents on rights and
obligations of parties in marriage and family relations, which are repetitive
over a long period of time and widely accepted in an area, a region or a
community.

5. Getting
married means a man and a woman’s establishment of the husband and wife
relation according to the provisions of this Law on marriage conditions and
registration.

6.
Illegally marriage means a man and a woman’s marriage already registered at a
competent state agency in which either or both of them violate(s) the marriage
conditions prescribed in Article 8 of this Law.

7.
Cohabitation as husband and wife means a man and a woman’s organization of
their living together and consideration of themselves as husband and wife.

8.
Underage marriage means getting married when one or both partners has or have
not reached the marriage age prescribed at Point a, Clause 1, Article 8 of this
Law.

9.
Forcing marriage or divorce means threatening, intimidating spiritually, maltreating,
ill-treating, demanding property or another act to force a person to get
married or to divorce against his/her will.

10.
Obstructing marriage or divorce means threatening, intimidating spiritually,
maltreating, ill-treating, demanding property or another act to obstruct the
marriage of a person eligible to get married under this Law or to force a
person to maintain the marriage relation against his/her will.

11. Sham
marriage means making use of a marriage for the purpose of immigration, residence
or naturalization in Vietnam or a foreign country; for enjoying preferential
regimes of the State or for another purpose other than that of building a
family.

12.
Demanding property in marriage means making excessive material demand and
considering it a marriage condition in order to obstruct a voluntary marriage
between a man and a woman.

13.
Marriage period means the duration of existence of the husband and wife
relation, counting from the date of marriage registration to the date of
marriage termination.

14.
Divorce means termination of the husband and wife relation under a court’s
legally effective judgment or decision.

15. Sham
divorce means making use of a divorce to shirk property obligations or violate
the policy and law on population or for another purpose other than that of
terminating a marriage.

16.
Family members include husband, wife; natural parent, adoptive parent,
stepfather, stepmother, parent-in-law; natural child, adopted child, stepchild,
child-in-law; full sibling, paternal half-sibling, maternal half-sibling,
brother- or sister-in law of full sibling, paternal half-sibling or maternal
half-sibling; paternal grandparent, maternal grandparent; paternal grandchild,
maternal grandchild; blood paternal aunt, maternal aunt, paternal uncle,
maternal uncle, niece and nephew.

17. People of the same direct blood line are those in the
consanguineous relationship in which a person gives birth to another in a
successive order.

18. Relatives within three generations are people born of the
same stock with parents constituting the first generation; full siblings,
paternal half-siblings and maternal half-siblings constituting the second
generation; and children of paternal aunts, maternal aunts, paternal uncles,
maternal uncles constituting the third generation.

19. Next of kin include people with marriage relation or
raising relation, people of the same direct blood line and relatives within
three generations.

20.
Essential needs means ordinary needs for food, clothing, accommodation,
learning, medical care and other ordinary needs which are indispensable in the
life of each person and family.

21.
Giving birth with assisted reproductive technology means giving birth through
artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization.

22.
Altruistic gestational surrogacy means a pregnancy carried voluntarily for
non-commercial purpose by a woman for a couple of whom the wife is unable to
carry a pregnancy and give birth even if assisted reproductive technology is
applied. The voluntary gestational carrier is impregnated and gives birth
through the transfer into her uterus of an embryo created by in vitro
fertilization from the ovule of the wife and sperm of the husband.

23.
Commercial gestational surrogacy means a pregnancy carried by a woman for
another person through assisted reproductive technology for enjoying economic
or other benefits.

24.
Support means an act whereby a person has the obligation to contribute money or
other kinds of property to meet the essential needs of another person who does
not live together with but has marriage, blood or raising relation with the
former and is a minor or an adult who has no working capacity and no property
to support himself/herself, or meets with financial difficulties as prescribed
by this Law.

25.
Marriage and family relation involving foreign elements means the marriage and
family relation in which at least one partner is a foreigner or an overseas
Vietnamese or in which partners are Vietnamese citizens but the bases for
establishing, changing or terminating that relation are governed by a foreign
law, or that relation arises abroad or the property related to that relation is
located abroad.

Article 4.
The State’s and society’s responsibilities for marriage and family

1. The State shall adopt policies
and measures to protect marriage and family and create conditions for males and
females to establish voluntary, progressive, monogamous marriage in which
husband and wife are equal; build prosperous, progressive and happy families
fulfilling all of their functions; intensify the dissemination and
popularization of and education about the law on marriage and family; and
mobilize people to abolish backward marriage and family customs and practices
and promote fine traditions, customs and practices embodying the identity of each
nationality.

2. The Government shall perform the
unified state management of marriage and family. Ministries and
ministerial-level agencies shall perform the state management of marriage and
family as assigned by the Government. People’s Committees at all levels and
other agencies shall perform the state management of marriage and family in
accordance with law.

3. Agencies and organizations shall
educate and mobilize their cadres, civil servants, public employees, laborers
and members as well as every citizen to build cultured families; promptly
conciliate family discords and protect the lawful rights and interests of
family members. Schools shall coordinate with families in educating about,
disseminating and popularizing the marriage and family law among young
generations.

Article 5. Protection
of the marriage and family regime

1. Marriage and family relations
established and implemented in accordance with this Law shall be respected and
protected by law.

2. The following acts are
prohibited:

a/ Sham marriage or sham divorce;

b/ Underage marriage, forcing a
person into marriage, deceiving a person into marriage, obstructing marriage;

c/ A married person getting married
to or cohabitating as husband and wife with another person, or an unmarried
person getting married to or cohabitating as husband and wife with a married
person;

d/ Getting married or cohabitating
as husband and wife between people of the same direct blood line; relatives
within three generations; adoptive parent and adopted child; or former adoptive
parent and adopted child, father-in-law and daughter-in-law, mother-in-law and
son-in-law, or stepparent and stepchild;

dd/ Demanding property in marriage;

e/ Forcing a person into divorce;
deceiving a person into divorce; obstructing divorce;

g/ Giving birth with assisted
reproductive technology for commercial purpose, commercial gestational
surrogacy, prenatal sex selection, cloning;

h/ Domestic violence;

i/ Taking advantage of marriage and
family rights for human trafficking, labor exploitation or sexual abuse or
committing another act for self-seeking purposes.

2. All acts of violating the
marriage and family law shall be handled strictly in accordance with law.

Agencies, organizations and
individuals have the right to request a court or another competent agency to
take measures to promptly stop and handle violators of the marriage and family
law.

3. The honor, dignity, prestige,
privacy and other privacy rights of parties shall be respected and protected in
the course of settlement of marriage and family-related cases and matters.

Article 6.
Application of the Civil Code and other relevant laws

For cases not prescribed by this
Law, provisions of the Civil Code and other laws related to marriage and family
relations may apply to marriage and family relations.

Article 7. Application
of marriage and family practices

1. For
cases not prescribed by law or not agreed by involved parties, fine practices
which embody the identity of each nationality, are not contrary to the
principles prescribed in Article 2 and do not involve prohibited acts
prescribed in this Law may apply.

2. The
Government shall detail Clause 1 of this Article.

Chapter II

GETTING MARRIED

Article 8. Conditions
for getting married

1. A man and a woman wishing to
marry each other must satisfy the following conditions:

a /The man is full 20 years or
older, the woman is full 18 years or older;

b/ The marriage is voluntarily
decided by the man and woman;

c/ The man and woman do not lose
the civil act capacity;

d/ The marriage does not fall into
one of the cases prescribed at Points a, b, c and d, Clause 2, Article 5 of
this Law.

2. The State shall not recognize
marriage between persons of the same sex.

Article 9.
Marriage registration

1. A marriage shall be registered
with a competent state agency in accordance with this Law and the law on civil
status.

A marriage which is not registered
under this Clause is legally invalid.

2. A divorced couple who wish to
re-establish their husband and wife relation shall register their re-marriage.

Article 10. Persons
having the right to request annulment of illegal marriage

1. A person who is forced or
deceived into a marriage has, as prescribed by the civil procedure law, the
right to request by himself/herself, or propose a person or an organization
prescribed in Clause 2 of this Article to request, a court to annul his/her
illegal marriage due to violation of Point b, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Law.

2. The following persons, agencies
and organizations have, as prescribed by the civil procedure law, the right to
request a court to annul an illegal marriage due to violation of Point a, c or
d, Clause 1, Article 8 of this Law;

a/ The spouse of a married person
who gets married to another person; parent, child, guardian or another at-law
representative of a person who gets married illegally;

b/ The state management agency in
charge of families;

c/ The state management agency in
charge of children;

d/ The women’s union.

3. When detecting an illegal
marriage, other persons, agencies or organizations have the right to propose an
agency or organization prescribed at Point b, c, or d, Clause 2 of this Article
to request a court to annul such marriage.

Article 11. Handling
of illegal marriage

1. A court shall handle illegal
marriage in accordance with this Law and the civil procedure law.

2. In case at the time of a court’s
settlement of a request for annulment of an illegal marriage, both partners
fully satisfy the marriage conditions prescribed in Article 8 of this Law and
request recognition of their marriage relation, the court shall recognize that
relation. In this case, the marriage relation shall be established from the
time both partners fully satisfy the marriage conditions as prescribed by this
Law.

3. A court’s decision annulling an
illegal marriage or recognizing a marriage relation shall be sent to the agency
having registered that marriage for recording in the civil status register; to
the two partners of the illegal marriage; and to related persons, agencies and
organizations as prescribed by the civil procedure law.

4. 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 12. Legal
consequences of the annulment of illegal marriage

1. When an illegal marriage is
annulled, the two partners of such marriage shall stop their husband and wife
relation.

2. The rights and obligations of
parents and children shall be settled according to provisions on rights and
obligations of parents and children upon divorce.

3. Property relations, obligations
and contracts between the parties shall be settled according to Article 16 of
this Law.

Article 13. Handling
of ultra vires marriage registration

For a
marriage which is registered ultra vires, a competent state agency shall, upon
request, withdraw and cancel the marriage certificate in accordance with the
civil status law and request two partners to re-register their marriage with a
competent state agency. In this case, the marriage relation shall be
established on the date of the previous marriage registration.

Article 14. Settlement
of consequences of men and women cohabiting as husband and wife without
marriage registration

1. A man and woman eligible for
getting married under this Law who cohabit as husband and wife without
registering their marriage have no rights and obligations between husband and
wife. Rights and obligations toward their children, property, obligations and
contracts between the partners must comply with Articles 15 and 16 of this Law.

2. For a man and woman who cohabit
as husband and wife under Clause 1 of this Article and later register their
marriage in accordance with law, their marriage relation shall be established
from the time of marriage registration.

Article 15. Rights
and obligations of parents and children for men and women cohabiting as husband
and wife without marriage registration

Rights and obligations between a
man and woman cohabiting as husband and wife and their children must comply
this Law’s provisions on rights and obligations of parents and children.

Article 16.
Settlement of property relations and obligations and contracts between men and
women cohabiting as husband and wife without marriage registration

1. Property relations, obligations
and contracts between a man and woman cohabiting as husband and wife without
marriage registration shall be settled under the partners’ agreement. In case
there is no agreement, they shall be settled in accordance with the Civil Code
and other relevant laws.

2. The settlement of property
relations must ensure lawful rights and interests of women and children.
Housework and other related work to maintain the cohabitation shall be regarded
as income-generating labor.

Chapter III

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

Section 1.
PERSONAL RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

Article 17.
Equality in rights and obligations between husband and wife

Husband and wife are equal, having
equal rights and obligations in all family affairs and in the performance of
citizens’ rights and obligations prescribed in the Constitution, this Law and
relevant laws.

Article 18.
Protection of personal rights and obligations of husband and wife

Personal rights and obligations of
husband and wife prescribed in this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws
shall be respected and protected.

Article 19.
Husband and wife attachment

1. Husband and wife have the
obligations to love, be faithful to, respect, attend to, care for, and help
each other and share family work.

2. Unless otherwise agreed by them
or due to requirements of their occupations, work or study, or participation in
political, economic, cultural or social activities or for another plausible
reason, husband and wife have the obligation to live together.

Article 20.
Selection of domicile of husband and wife

The domicile of husband and wife
shall be selected as agreed by themselves without being bound by customs,
practices or administrative boundaries.

Article 21.
Respect for honor, dignity and prestige of husband and wife

Husband and wife have the
obligation to respect, preserve and protect each other’s honor, dignity and
prestige.

Article 22.
Respect for the right to freedom of belief and religion of husband and wife

Husband and wife have the
obligation to respect each other’s right to freedom of belief and religion.

Article 23.
Rights and obligations to study, work and take part in political, economic,
cultural and social activities

Husband and wife have the right and
obligation to create conditions for each other to select professions; study and
raise their educational levels and professional qualifications and skills; and
take part in political, economic, cultural and social activities.

Section 2.
REPRESENTATION BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE

Article 24. Bases
for determination of representation between husband and wife

1. The representation between
husband and wife in establishing, making and terminating transactions shall be
determined in accordance with this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws.

2. Husband and wife may authorize
each other to establish, make or terminate transactions which, as prescribed by
this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws, shall be agreed upon by both
spouses.

3. A spouse may represent the other
when the latter loses his/her civil act capacity while the former is eligible to
act as the guardian or when the latter has his/her civil act capacity
restricted while the former is designated by a court to act as the at-law
representative of his her spouse, unless the latter is required by law to
perform by himself/herself related rights and obligations.

When a spouse loses his/her civil
act capacity and the other requests a court to settle divorce, the court shall
designate another person to represent the partner who has lost his/her civil
act capacity for settlement of divorce in accordance with the Civil Code’s
provisions on guardianship.

Article 25. Representation
between husband and wife in business relations

1. When husband and wife jointly
run a business, unless otherwise agreed by the husband and wife before taking
part in the business relation or otherwise prescribed by this Law and other
relevant laws, the spouse directly involved in the business relation is the
lawful representative of the other in that relation.

2. In case husband and wife put
their common property into business activities, Article of this Law shall
apply.

Article 26. Representation
between husband and wife in case only one spouse is named in the ownership or
use right certificate of common property

1. Representation between husband
and wife in establishing, making and terminating transactions related to their
common property with ownership or use right certificates on which only one
spouse is named must comply with Articles 24 and 25 of this Law.

2. In case the spouse named in the
property ownership or use right certificate establishes, makes and terminates
on his/her own a transaction with a third party in contravention of this Law’s
provisions on representation between husband and wife, that transaction is
invalid, unless the interests of the third party in good faith are protected as
prescribed by law.

Article 27.
Joint liability of husband and wife

1. Husband and wife shall take
joint liability for transactions prescribed in Clause 1, Article 30, which are
made by either of them, or other transactions made in conformity with
provisions on representation of Articles 24, 25 and 26, of this Law.

2. Husband and wife shall take
joint liability for the obligations prescribed in Article of this Law.

Section 3.
MATRIMONIAL PROPERTY REGIME

Article 28. Application
of the matrimonial property regime

1.
Husband and wife have the right to choose to apply the statutory or agreed
property regime.

The
statutory matrimonial property regime is prescribed in Articles 33 thru 46 and
Articles 59 thru 64 of this Law.

The
agreed matrimonial property regime must comply with Articles 47, 48, 49, 50 and
59 of this Law.

2.
Articles 29, 30, 31 and 32 of this Law shall apply regardless of the property
regime chosen by husband and wife.

3. The
Government shall stipulate in detail the matrimonial property regime.

Article 29. General
principles of the matrimonial property regime

1. Husband and wife have equal
rights and obligations in the creation, possession, use and disposition of
their common property without discrimination between housework labor and
income-generating labor.

2. Husband and wife have the
obligation to ensure conditions for meeting their family’s essential needs.

3. When the performance of property
rights and obligations of husband and wife infringes upon lawful rights and
interests of the wife, husband, their family or other persons, compensation
shall be paid.

Article 30.
Rights and obligations of husband and wife to meet their family’s essential
needs

1. Husband and wife have the right
and obligation to make transactions to meet their family’s essential needs.

2. When husband and wife have no
common property or their common property is not enough to meet their family’s
essential needs, they shall contribute their separate property according to
their financial capacity.

Article 31.
Transactions related to the home being the sole domicile of husband and wife

The
establishment, making and termination of transactions related to the home being
the sole domicile of husband and wife shall be agreed by both of them. In case
the home is under the separate ownership of the husband or wife, the owner has
the right to establish, make and terminate transactions related to that
property but shall ensure domicile for the couple.

Article 32.
Transactions with third parties in good faith related to bank accounts,
securities accounts and other movable assets not required by law to be
registered for ownership and use

1. In
transactions with third parties in good faith, the spouse who is the holder of
the bank or securities account shall be regarded as the person having the right
to establish and make transactions related to that property.

2. In
transactions with third parties in good faith, the spouse who is possessing a
movable asset which is not required by law to be registered for ownership shall
be regarded as the person having the right to establish and make transactions
related to that asset in case the Civil Code prescribes protection of third
parties in good faith.

Article 33. Common
property of husband and wife

1. Common property of husband and
wife includes property created by a spouse, incomes generated from labor,
production and business activities, yields and profits arising from separate
property and other lawful incomes in the marriage period; except the case
prescribed in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law; property jointly inherited by
or given to both, and other property agreed upon by husband and wife as common
property.

The land use rights obtained by a
spouse after marriage shall be common property of husband and wife, unless they
are separately inherited by, or given to a spouse or are obtained through
transactions made with separate property.

2. Common property of husband and
wife shall be under integrated common ownership and used to meet family needs
and perform common obligations of husband and wife.

3. When exists no ground to prove
that a property in dispute between husband and wife is his/her separate
property, such property shall be regarded as common property.

Article 34.
Registration of ownership and use rights for common property

1. For a common property which is
required by law to be registered for ownership or use, both spouses shall be
named in the ownership or use right certificate, unless otherwise agreed by the
couple.

2. In case only one spouse is named
in the property ownership or use right certificate, transactions related to
such property must comply with Article 26 of this Law. Any dispute related to
that property shall be settled under Clause 3, Article 33 of this Law.

Article 35. Possession,
use and disposition of common property

1. The
possession, use and disposition of common property shall be agreed by husband
and wife.

2. The
disposition of the following common property shall be agreed in writing by
husband and wife:

a/ Real
estate;

b/
Movable assets which are required by law to be registered for ownership;

c/ Assets
which are the major income-generating source for the family.

Article 36. Common
property used for business activities

When
husband and wife reach agreement on either spouse’s use of common property for
business activities, this spouse has the right to make transactions related to
that common property on his/her own. This agreement shall be made in writing.

Article 37. Common
property obligations of husband and wife

Husband
and wife have the following common property obligations:

1.
Obligations arising from transactions established under their agreement,
obligations to pay damages under their joint liability as prescribed by law;

2.
Obligations performed by a spouse in order to meet the family’s essential
needs;

3.
Obligations arising from the possession, use and disposition of common
property;

4.
Obligations arising from the use of separate property for maintaining and
developing common property or for generating major incomes for the family;

5. Obligations
to pay damages caused by their children as prescribed by the Civil Code;

6. Other
obligations as prescribed by relevant laws.

Article 38. Common
property division during the marriage period

1. During the marriage period,
except the case prescribed in Article 42 of this Law, husband and wife have the
right to reach agreement on division of part or whole of common property. If
they fail to reach agreement, they have the right to request a court to settle
it.

2. An agreement on common property
division shall be made in writing. This agreement shall be notarized at the
request of husband and wife or as prescribed by law.

3. At the request of a spouse, a
court shall settle the common property division according to Article 59 of this
Law.

Article 39. Effective
time of common property division during the marriage period

1. The
effective time of a common property division shall be agreed by husband and
wife and stated in the written agreement. If such time is not stated in the
written agreement, it is the date of making the agreement.

For
divided property whose transactions must be under a certain form as prescribed
by law, the common property division takes effect on the time the division
agreement complies with the form prescribed by law.

For
common property divided by a court, the division takes effect on the legally
effective date of the court’s judgment or decision.

Property
rights and obligations between husband and wife and a third party which arise
before the effective time of common property division remain legally effective,
unless otherwise agreed by involved parties.

Article 40.
Consequences of common property division during the marriage period

1. When
common property of husband and wife is divided, unless otherwise agreed by
husband and wife, divided property and yields or profits arising from separate
property of each spouse after common property division are separate property of
each spouse. The undivided property portion remains common property of husband
and wife.

2. The
agreement between husband and wife prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article shall
not change property rights and obligations previously established between them
and a third party.

Article 41.
Termination of effect of common property division during the marriage period

1. After common
property is divided during the marriage period, husband and wife have the right
to agree to terminate the effect of such division. The form of agreement must
comply with Clause 2, Article 38 of this Law.

2. From
the effective date of the agreement between husband and wife prescribed in
Clause 1 of this Article, the determination of common property and separate
property of husband and wife must comply with Articles 33 and 43 of this Law.
Unless otherwise agreed by husband and wife, the property portion divided to
the husband or wife remains his/her separate property.

3. Unless
otherwise agreed by the parties, property rights and obligations arising before
the termination of the effect of common property division remain effective.

4. In
case common property is divided during the marriage period under an effective
court judgment or decision, the agreement on termination of the effect of
common property division shall be recognized by the court.

Article 42. Invalidated
common property division during the marriage period

Common property division during the
marriage period shall be invalidated when:

1. It seriously harms the family’s
interests; or lawful rights and interests of minor children or adult children
who have lost their civil act capacity or have no working capacity and no
property to support themselves;

2. It aims to shirk the following
obligations:

a/ Raising and support obligations;

b/ Damages payment obligations;

c/ Payment obligations when
declared bankrupt by a court;

d/ Debt payment obligations;

dd/ Tax payment obligations or
other financial obligations toward the State;

e/ Other property obligations as
prescribed by this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws.

Article 43.
Separate property of husband and wife

1. Separate property of a spouse
includes property owned by this person before marriage; property inherited by
or given separately to him/her during the marriage period; property divided to
him/her under Articles 38,39 and 40 of this Law; property to meet his/her
essential needs and other property under his/her ownership as prescribed by
law.

2.
Property created from separate property of a husband or wife is also property
of his/ her own. Yields and profits arising from separate property during the
marriage period must comply with Clause 1, Article 33, and Clause 1, Article
40, of this Law.

Article 44. Possession,
use and disposition of separate property

1. A
spouse has the right to possess, use and dispose of his/her separate property,
and to merge or refuse to merge separate property into common property.

2. When a
spouse cannot manage his/her separate property himself/herself and does not
authorize another person to manage it, the other spouse has the right to manage
such property. The property management must ensure benefits for the property
owner.

3. Each
spouse’s separate property obligations shall be performed with his/her separate
property.

4. When
yields or profits from separate property of a spouse constitute the family’s
sole livelihood, the disposition of such property is subject to the other
spouse’s consent.

Article 45. Separate
property obligations of husband and wife

A spouse
has the following separate property obligations:

1. The
obligations he/she has before marriage;

2. The
obligations arising from the possession, use and disposition of his/her
separate property, other than the obligations arising from the preservation,
maintenance and repair of his/her separate property under Clause 4, Article 44
or Clause 4, Article 37 of this Law;

3. The
obligations arising from transactions established and made by himself/herself
not for meeting the family’s needs;

4. The
obligations arising from his/her illegal acts.

Article 46. Merger of
separate property into common property

1.
Separate property of a spouse shall be merged into common property according to
the agreement between the husband and wife.

2. For
property merged into common property whose transactions are required by law to
be under a certain form, the merger agreement must ensure that form.

3. Unless
otherwise agreed by husband and wife or prescribed by law, obligations related
to separate property already merged into common property shall be performed
with common property.

Article 47. Agreement
on establishment of the matrimonial property regime

For a
married couple that selects the agreed property regime, this agreement shall be
made in writing before their marriage and be notarized or certified. The agreed
matrimonial property regime shall be established on the date of marriage
registration.

Article 48.
Basic contents of an agreement on the matrimonial property regime

1. The
basic contents of an agreement on the property regime include:

a/
Property determined as common property and separate property of the husband and
wife;

b/ Rights
and obligations of the husband and wife toward common property, separate
property and related transactions; property to meet the family’s essential
needs;

c/
Conditions, procedures and principles of property division upon termination of
the property regime;

d/ Other
related contents.

2. For
matters arising in the implementation of the agreed property regime which have
not been agreed or unclearly agreed by husband and wife, Articles 29, 30, 31
and 32 of this Law and corresponding provisions of the statutory property
regime shall apply.

Article 49.
Modification of the agreement on the matrimonial property regime

1.
Husband and wife have the right to modify their agreement on the property
regime.

2. The
form of modification of the agreement on the property regime must comply with
Article 47 of this Law.

Article 50.
Invalidated agreement on the matrimonial property regime

1. An
agreement on the matrimonial property regime shall be declared to be invalid by
a court when:

a/ It
fails to meet the conditions on effect of transactions prescribed the Civil
Code and other relevant laws;

b/ It
violates Article 29, 30, 31 or 32 of this Law;

c/ Its
contents seriously infringe upon the rights to be supported and inherit and
other lawful rights and interests of parents, children and other family
members.

2. 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 Clause 1
of this Article.

Chapter IV

TERMINATION OF MARRIAGE

Section 1.
DIVORCE

Article 51. The right
to request settlement of divorce

1.
Husband or wife or both has or have the right to request a court to settle
their divorce.

2. A
parent or another next of kin of a spouse has the right to request a court to
settle a divorce when the spouse is unable to perceive and control his/her acts
due to a mental disease or another disease and is concurrently a victim of
domestic violence caused by his/her spouse which seriously harms his/her life,
health or spirit.

3. A
husband has no right to request a divorce when his wife is pregnant, gives
birth or is nursing an under-12-month child.

Article 52.
Encouragement of grassroots-level conciliation

The State
and society shall encourage grassroots-level conciliation when a husband or
wife requests a divorce. The conciliation must comply with the law on
grassroots-level conciliation.

Article 53. Acceptance
of divorce petitions

1. A
court shall accept divorce petitions in accordance with the civil procedure
law.

2. For a
couple who has not registered their marriage but requests a divorce, the court
shall accept the case and declare non-recognition of their spousal relationship
under Clause 1, Article 14 of this Law; and shall settle any children- or
property-related requests according to Articles 15 and 16 of this Law.

Article 54.
Conciliation at court

After accepting a divorce petition,
a court shall conduct conciliation in accordance with the civil procedure law.

Article 55.
Divorce by mutual consent

When both
spouses request a divorce, a court shall recognize the divorce by mutual
consent if seeing that the two are really willing to divorce and have agreed
upon the property division, looking after, raising, care for and education of
their children on the basis of ensuring the legitimate interests of the wife
and children. If the spouses fail to reach agreement or have reached an
agreement which -fails to ensure the legitimate interests of the wife and
children, the court shall settle the divorce.

Article 56. Divorce
at the request of one spouse

1. When a
spouse requests a divorce and the conciliation at a court fails, the court
shall permit the divorce if it has grounds to believe that a spouse commits
domestic violence or seriously infringes upon the rights and obligations of the
husband or wife, which seriously deteriorates the marriage and makes their
common life no longer impossible and the marriage purposes unachievable.

2. When
the spouse of a person who is declared missing by a court requests a divorce,
the court shall permit the divorce.

3. For
request for a divorce under Clause 2, Article 51 of this Law, a court shall
permit the divorce if it has grounds to believe that the domestic violence
committed by one spouse seriously harms the life, health or spirit of the
other.

Article 57. Time of
termination of marriage and responsibility to send divorce judgments or
decisions

1. The
marriage relation shall terminate on the date a court’s divorce judgment or
decision takes legally effective.

2. The
court that has settled a divorce shall send the legally effective divorce judgment
or decision to the agency registering such marriage for recording in the civil
status register; the divorced partners; and other persons, agencies and
organizations as prescribed by the Civil Procedure Code and other relevant
laws.

Article 58. Rights and
obligations of parents and children after divorce

The
looking after, care for, raising and education of children after divorce must
comply with Articles 81, 82, 83 and 84 of this Law.

Article 59. Principles
of settlement of property of husband and wife upon divorce

1. 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.

2. Common
property shall be divided into two, taking into account the following factors:

a/
Circumstances of the family, husband and wife;

b/ 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
income-generating labor;

c/
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;

d/ Each
spouse’s faults in the infringement of spousal rights and obligations.

3. 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.

4.
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.

5. 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.

6. 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 60. Settlement
of property rights and obligations of husband and wife toward a third party
upon divorce

1.
Property rights and obligations of husband and wife toward a third party remain
effective after divorce, unless otherwise agreed by husband and wife and that
party.

2. When a
dispute arises over property rights and obligations, the settlement of such
dispute must comply with Articles 27, 37 and 45 of this Law and the Civil Code.

Article 61. Division
of property for a couple living with their family

1. When a
couple living with their family get a divorce, if their property cannot be
determined separately from the common property of the family, the husband or
wife is entitled to division of part of the family’s common property based on
the couple’s contributions to the creation, maintenance and development of the
family’s common property as well as to the common life of the family. The
couple shall reach agreement with their family on their portion divided from
the family’s common property. If they fail to reach agreement thereon, they may
request settlement by a court.

2. For a
couple living with their family whose property can be determined separately
from the family’s common property, upon divorce, such property portion of the
couple shall be deducted from the family’s common property for division under
Article 59 of this Law.

Article 62. Division
of land use rights of husband and wife upon divorce

1. Land
use rights being separate property of a spouse remain under his/her ownership
upon divorce.

2. The
division of land use rights being common property of husband and wife upon
divorce shall be divided as follows:

a/ For
agricultural land under annual crops or aquaculture, if both partners have the
need and conditions to directly use the land, the land use rights shall be
divided under their agreement. If they fail to reach agreement thereon, they
may request a court to settle it according to Article 59 of this Law.

When only
one partner has the need and conditions to directly use the land, that partner
may continue to use the land but shall pay to the other the portion of the land
use right value the latter is entitled to;

b/ When
husband and wife share the right to use agricultural land under annual crops or
aquaculture with their household, upon divorce, the couple’s portion of the
land use right shall be separated and divided under Point a of this Clause;

c/ For
agricultural land under perennial trees, forestry land for forestation or
residential land, the land use rights shall be divided according to Article 59
of this Law;

d/ The
division of the rights to use land of other categories must comply with the
land law.

3. For
husband and wife living with their family and sharing no land use rights with
the latter, upon divorce, the interests of the partner who has no land use
rights and does not continue to live with the family shall be settled according
to Article 61 of this Law.

Article 63. The right
to stay of a spouse upon divorce

A house
which is separate property of a spouse and has been put to common use remains
under his/her ownership upon divorce. In case the other partner has
accommodation difficulties, unless otherwise agreed by the partners, he/she has
the right to stay at the house for 6 months at most from the date of
termination of the marriage relation.

Article 64. Division
of common property used for business activities

A spouse
who is carrying out business activities related to common property has the
right to receive that property and shall pay the other the property value that
the latter is entitled to, unless otherwise prescribed by the business law.

Section 2. MARRIAGE TERMINATED AS A SPOUSE IS DEAD OR
DECLARED TO BE DEAD BY COURT

Article 65. Time of
termination of marriage

A marriage
is terminated from the time of death of a spouse.

In case a
court declares a spouse to be dead, the time of termination of the marriage is
the date of death stated in the court’s judgment or decision.

Article 66. Settlement
of property of husband and wife in case a spouse is dead or declared to be dead
by a court

1. When a
spouse is dead or declared to be dead by a court, the other shall manage common
property, unless another person is designated to manage the estate under
his/her testament or the heirs agree to designate another person to manage the
estate.

2. When
there is a request for division of the estate, unless the couple has reached
agreement on the property regime, common property of husband and wife shall be
divided into two. The property portion of the spouse who is dead or declared to
be dead by a court shall be divided in accordance with the inheritance law.

3. In
case the division of the estate would seriously affect the life of the living
spouse and the family, this spouse has the right to request a court to restrict
the division of the estate in accordance with the Civil Code.

4. Unless
otherwise prescribed by the business law, property of husband and wife used for
business activities shall be settled according to Clauses 1, 2 and 3 of this
Article.

Article 67. Personal
and property relations upon return of a spouse who is declared to be dead

1. When a
court issues a decision to cancel the declaration of death of a person and that
person’s spouse has not got married to another person, their marriage relation
shall be restored from the time of their marriage. In case there is a court’s
decision permitting a divorce under Clause 2, Article 56 of this Law, this
decision remains legally valid. In case the spouse of that person has got
married to another person, the marriage relation established later is legally
effective.

2. The
property relation between the person declared to be dead who returns and his
spouse shall be settled as follows:

a/ If
their marriage is restored, the property relation shall be restored on the
effective date of the court’s decision canceling the declaration of death of
the person who is the husband or wife. The property acquired by his/her spouse
from the effective date of the court’s decision declaring death of the husband
or wife to the effective date of the court’s decision canceling such
declaration is separate property of that spouse;

b / If
their marriage is not restored, property created before the effective date of
the court’s decision declaring death of the husband or wife which has not been
divided shall be settled as for property division upon divorce.

Chapter V

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Section 1. RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS BETWEEN PARENTS AND
CHILDREN

Article 68. Protection
of rights and obligations of parents and children

1. The
rights and obligations of parents and children under this Law, the Civil Code
and other relevant laws shall be respected and protected.

2.
Children who are born regardless of their parents’ marital status all have the
same rights and obligations toward their parents prescribed in this Law, the
Civil Code and other relevant laws.

3.
Adopted children and adoptive parents shall have rights and obligations of
parents and children prescribed in this Law, the Adoption Law, the Civil Code
and other relevant laws.

4. All
agreements between parents and children related to personal and property
relations must not harm the lawful rights and interests of minor children,
adult children who have lost their civil act capacity or have no working
capacity and no property to support themselves and parents who have lost their
civil act capacity or have no working capacity and no property to support
themselves.

Article 69.
Obligations and rights of parents

1. To
love, and respect opinions of, their children; to attend to the study and
education of their children to ensure their healthy physical, intellectual and
moral development in order to become dutiful children of the family and useful
citizens of the society.

2. To
look after, raise, care for, and protect the lawful rights and interests of
their minor children and adult children who have lost their civil act capacity
or have no working capacity and no property to support themselves.

3. To act
as the guardian of or represent in accordance with the Civil Code their minor
children or adult children who have lost their civil act capacity.

4. Not to
discriminatorily treat their children due to their gender or the marital status
of the parents; not to abuse the labor of their minor children or adult children
who have lost their civil act capacity or have no working capacity; not to
incite or force their children to act against law or social ethics.

Article 70. Rights and
obligations of children

1. To be
loved and respected by their parents and perform and enjoy their lawful
personal and property rights and interests in accordance with law; to study and
be educated; to be entitled to healthy physical, intellectual and moral
development.

2. To
love, respect, show gratitude and dutifulness to and support their parents, to
preserve the honor and good traditions of their family.

3. For
minor children or adult children who have lost their civil act capacity or have
no working capacity and no property to support themselves, to live with their
parents, to be looked after, nursed and cared for by their parents.

For minor
children, to do housework suitable to their age and not in contravention of the
law on protection, care for and education of children.

4. For
adult children, to select at their free will professions and places of
residence, to study and raise their educational level and professional
qualifications and skills; to participate in political, economic, cultural and
social activities according to their aspirations and abilities. When living
with their parents, to do housework and participate in working, production and
income-generating activities to ensure the common life of the family; to
contribute their incomes to meeting the family’s needs suitable to their
capacity.

5. To
enjoy property rights corresponding to their contributions to the family’s
property.

Article 71. Obligation
and right to care for and raise

1. Father
and mother have equal obligation and right to jointly care for and raise their
minor children or adult children who have lost their civil act capacity or
have-no working capacity and no property to support themselves.

2.
Children have the obligation and right to care for and support their parents,
especially when their parents lose their civil act capacity, are sick, become
old and weak or have disabilities. For a family with several children, these
children shall together care for and support their parents.

Article 72. Obligation
and right to educate children

1.
Parents have the obligation and right to educate their children, attend to and
create conditions for their study.

Parents
shall create conditions for their children to live in a happy and harmonious
family environment; set good examples for their children in every aspect; and
closely collaborate with schools, agencies and organizations in educating their
children.

2.
Parents shall guide their children in selecting professions; respect their
children’s rights to select professions and participate in political, economic,
cultural and social activities.

3. When
facing difficulties which cannot be solved by themselves, parents may request
concerned agencies and organizations to assist them in educating their
children.

Article 73. Representation
for children

1.
Parents are representatives at law of their minor children or adult children who
have lost their civil act capacity, except when the children have other persons
to be their guardians or representatives at law.

2. A
parent has the right to make transactions on his/her own to meet essential
needs of their minor children or adult children who have lost their civil act
capacity or have no working capacity and no property to support themselves.

3.
Transactions related to real estate or movable assets with registered ownership
or use rights or property used for business activities of minor children or
adult children who have lost their civil act capacity must obtain their
parents’ consent.

4.
Parents shall take joint responsibility for making transactions related to
their children’s property prescribed in Clauses 2 and 3, this Article and as
prescribed by the Civil Code.

Article 74.
Compensation for damage caused by children

Parents
shall pay compensation for damage caused by their minor children or adult
children who have lost their civil act capacity in accordance with the Civil
Code.

Article 75. Children’s
right to have their own property

1.
Children have the right to have their own property which includes property
separately inherited by or given to them, incomes from their work, yields and
profits arising from their own property and other lawful incomes. Property
created from children’s own property is also their own property.

2. If
they have incomes, children who are full 15 years or older and live with their
parents have the obligation to attend to the family’s common life and make contributions
to meeting the family’s essential needs.

3. Adult
children have the obligation to contribute their incomes to meeting the
family’s essential needs according to Clause 4, Article 70 of this Law.

Article 76. Management
of children’s own property

1.
Children aged full 15 or older may themselves manage or ask their parents to
manage their own property.

2.
Property of children who are under 15 or children who have lost their civil act
capacity shall be managed by their parents. Parents may authorize other persons
to manage their children’s own property. Unless otherwise agreed by parents and
children, children’s own property managed by their parents or other persons
shall be given to them when they are full 15 years or older or have fully
restored their civil act capacity.

3.
Parents shall not manage their children’s own property when their children are
under the guardianship of other persons as prescribed by the Civil Code; or
when the persons giving or bequeathing under testament property to their children
have designated other persons to manage such property, or in other cases as
prescribed by law.

4. In
case parents are managing property of their minor children or adult children
who have lost their civil act capacity and their children are assigned to other
guardians, the children’s property shall be delivered to the guardians for
management under the Civil Code.

Article 77.
Disposition of property of minor children or adult children who have lost their
civil act capacity

1.
Parents or guardians who manage under-15 children’s own property have the right
to dispose of such property in the interests of the children and shall take
into account the children’s desire if they are full 9 years or older.

2.
Children aged between full 15 and under 18 have the right to dispose of their
own property other than real estate, movable assets with registered ownership
and use rights or property used for business activities the disposal of which
is subject to written consent of their parents or guardians.

3.
Guardians of adult children who have lost their civil act capacity may dispose
of the latter’s own property.

Article 78. Rights and
obligations of adoptive parents and adopted children

1. An
adoptive parent and his/her adopted child have the rights and obligations of
parents and children prescribed in this Law from the time the adoption
relationship is established under the Adoption Law.

In case
of termination of an adoption under a court’s decision, the rights and
obligations of an adoptive parent toward his/her adopted child shall terminate
from the legally effective date of the court’s decision.

2. The
rights and obligations of natural parents and their children who have been
adopted by other persons must comply with the Adoption Law.

3. The
rights and obligations of natural parents and their children shall be restored
from the time the adoption relationship terminates. When they no longer have
natural parents or their natural parents cannot afford to raise minor children
or adult children who have lost their civil act capacity or have no working
capacity and no property to support themselves, a court shall settle the
adoption termination and designate guardians for the children in accordance
with the Civil Code.

Article 79.
Obligations and rights of stepparents and stepchildren

1. A step
parent has the rights and obligations to look after, raise, care for and
educate stepchildren who live with him or her according to Articles 69, 71 and
72 of this Law.

2. A
stepchild has the rights and obligations to care for and support his/her step
parent who lives with him or her according to Articles 70 and 71 of this Law.

Article 80. Rights and
obligations of daughters-in-law, sons-in-law and parents-in-law

In case a
daughter- or son-in-law lives with her/his parents-in-law, all parties have the
rights and obligations to respect, attend to, care for, and assist one another
according to Articles 69, 70, 71 and 72 of this Law.

Article 81. Looking
after, care for, raising and education of children after divorce

1. After
a divorce, parents still have rights and obligations to look after, care for,
raise and educate minor children or adult children who have lost their civil
act capacity or have no working capacity and no property to support themselves
in accordance with this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws.

2.
Husband and wife shall reach agreement on the person who directly raises their
children and on his and her obligations and rights toward their children after
divorce. If they fail to reach agreement, the court shall appoint either of
them to directly raise the children, taking into account the children’s
benefits in all aspects. If a child is full 7 years or older, his/ her desire
shall be considered.

3. A
child under 36 months of age shall be directly raised by the mother, unless the
mother cannot afford to directly look after, care for, raise and educate the
child or otherwise agreed by the parents in the interests of the child.

Article 82.
Obligations and rights of the parent who does not directly raise children after
divorce

1. The
parent who does not directly raise a child shall respect the child’s right to
live with the person who directly raises him/her.

2. The
parent who does not directly raise a child shall support this child.

3. After
divorce, the person who does not directly raise a child has the right and
obligation to visit and care for this child without being obstructed by any
person.

The
parent who directly raises a child has the right to request a court to restrict
the right of the other parent who does not directly raise this child if the
latter takes advantage of his/her visit to and care for the child to obstruct
or adversely affect the looking after, care for, raising and education of this
child.

Article 83.
Obligations and rights of the parent directly raising children toward the
person not directly raise children after divorce

1. The
parent directly raising a child has the right to request the person not
directly raising this child to fulfill the obligations prescribed in Article 82
of this Law and request this person and family members to respect his/her right
to raise the child.

2. The
parent directly raising a child and family members may not obstruct the person
not directly raising the child from visiting, caring for, raising and educating
this child.

Article 84. Change of
the person directly raising children after divorce

1. At the
request of a parent or a person or an organization prescribed in Clause 5 of
this Article, a court may decide to change the person directly raising a child.

2. Change
of the person directly raising a child shall be settled when there is one of
the following grounds:

a/ The
parents agrees on change of the person directly raising a child in the
interests of this child;

b/ The
person directly raising the child no longer has sufficient conditions to
directly look after, care for, raise and educate the child.

3. Upon
change of the person directly raising a child aged full 7 or older, this
child’s desire shall be taken into account.

4. When
seeing that both parents fail to have sufficient conditions to directly raise a
child, a court shall decide to assign this child to a guardian in accordance
with the Civil Code.

5. When
there is the ground prescribed at Point b, Clause 2 of this Article, in the
interests of a child, the following persons, agencies or organizations have the
right to request change of the person directly raising this child:

a/ Next
of kin;

b/ The
state management agency in charge of families;

c/ The
state management agency in charge of children;

d/ The
women’s union.

Article 85.
Restrictions on parents’ rights toward their minor children

1. A
parent shall have his/her rights toward a minor child restricted when:

a/ He/she
is convicted of one of the crimes of intentionally infringing upon the life,
health, dignity or honor of this child or commits acts of seriously breaching
the obligations to look after, care for, raise and educate children;

b/ He/she
disperses property of the child;

c/ He/she
leads a depraved life;

d/ He/she
incites or forces the child to act against law or social ethics.

2. On ạ
case-by-case basis, a court shall itself, or at the request of the persons,
agencies or organizations prescribed in Article 86 of this Law, issue a
decision disallowing a parent to look after, care for and educate a child or manage
the child’s own property or act as the child’s representative at law for
between 1 and 5 years. The court may consider shortening this period of time.

Article 86. Persons
entitled to request a court to restrict a parent’s rights toward a minor child

1. A
parent or guardian of a minor child has, as prescribed by the civil procedure
law, the right to request a court to restrict a parent’s rights toward this
child.

2. The
following persons, agencies and organizations have, as prescribed by the civil
procedure law, the right to request a court to restrict a parent’s rights
toward a minor child:

a/ Next
of kin;

b/ The
state management agency in charge of families;

c/ The
state management agency in charge of children;

d/ The
women’s union.

3. When
detecting a parent committing violations of Clause 1, Article 85 of this Law,
other persons, agencies and organizations have the right to request the
agencies and organizations prescribed at Points b, c and d, Clause 2 of this
Article to propose a court to restrict this parent’s rights toward the minor
child.

Article 87. Legal
consequences of restriction on parents’ rights toward their minor children

1. When a
parent has his/her rights toward a minor child restricted by a court, the other
parent shall exercise the rights to look after, raise, care for and educate
this child, manage the child’s own property and acts as the child’s
representative at law.

2. A
guardian shall be assigned to look after, care for and educate a minor child
and manage the child’s own property in accordance with the Civil Code and this
Law in the following cases:

a/ Both
parents have their rights toward the minor child restricted by a court;

b/ The
parent who does not have his/her rights toward the minor child restricted does
not have sufficient conditions to perform the rights and obligations toward the
child;

c/ A
parent has the rights toward the minor child restricted and the other parent of
the child has not been identified yet.

3. A
parent who has the rights toward a minor child restricted by a court shall
still perform the obligation to support this child.

Section 2.
IDENTIFICATION OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN

Article 88. Identification
of parents

1. A
child who is born or conceived by the wife during the marriage period is the
common child of the husband and wife.

A child
who is born within 300 days from the time of termination of a marriage shall be
regarded as a child conceived by the wife during the marriage period.

A child
who is born before the date of marriage registration and recognized by his/her
parents is the common child of the husband and wife.

2. When a parent does not recognize
a child, he/she must have evidence and such non- recognition shall be
determined by a court.

Article 89. Identification
of children

1. A person who is not recognized
as the parent of a person may request a court to identify that the latter is
his/her child.

2. A person who is recognized as
the parent of a person may request a court to identify that the latter is not
his/her child.

Article 90. Right to
recognize parents

1. A
person has the right to recognize his/her parent even in case the parent has
died.

2. An
adult may recognize his/her parent without consent of the other parent.

Article 91. Right
to recognize children

1. A
parent has the right to recognize his/her child even in case this child has
died.

2. A
married person may recognize his/her child without consent of his/her spouse.

Article 92.
Identification of parents and children in case requesting persons have died

When a
person who requests identification of his/her parent or child dies, his/her
next of kin has the right to request a court to identify the parent or child
for him/her.

Article 93.
Identification of parents in case of giving birth with assisted reproductive
technology

1. When a
wife gives birth to a child with assisted reproductive technology, the
identification of parents must comply with Article 88 of this Law.

2. A
single woman who gives birth to a child with assisted reproductive technology
is the mother of that child.

3. No
parent-child relationship shall arise between a person who donates sperm, egg
or embryo and the child born with assisted reproductive technology.

4. The
identification of parents in case of altruistic gestational surrogacy must
comply with Article 94 of this Law.

Article 94.
Identification of parents in case of altruistic gestational surrogacy

A child born in case of altruistic
gestational surrogacy is the common child of the husband and wife who ask for
such gestational surrogacy from the time this child is born.

Article 95. Conditions
for altruistic gestational surrogacy

1. Altruistic gestational surrogacy
shall be based on the voluntariness of involved parties and established in
writing.

2. Husband and wife have the right
to ask for a person’s gestational surrogacy when they fully meet the following
conditions:

a/ The wife is certified by a
competent health organization as unable to carry a pregnancy and give birth
even with assisted reproductive technology;

b/ The couple has no common child;

c/ The couple has received health,
legal and psychological counseling.

3. A gestational carrier must fully
satisfy the following conditions:

a/ She is a next of kin of the same
line of the wife or husband who asks for gestational surrogacy;

b/ She has given birth and is
permitted for gestational surrogacy only once;

c/ She is at a suitable age and is
certified by a competent health organization as eligible for gestational
surrogacy;

d/ In case she is married, she
obtains her husband’s written consent;

dd/ She has received health, legal
and psychological counseling.

4. Altruistic gestational surrogacy
must not contravene the law on giving birth with assisted reproductive
technology.

5. The Government shall detail this
Article.

Article 96. Agreement
on altruistic gestational surrogacy

1. An
agreement on altruistic gestational surrogacy between husband and wife who ask
for gestational surrogacy (below referred to as gestational surrogacy
requesting party) and husband and wife who give gestational surrogacy (below
referred to as gestational carrier party) must contain the following basic
contents:

a/ Full
information on the gestational surrogacy requesting party and the gestational
carrier party according to the related conditions prescribed in Article 95 of
this Law;

b/
Commitment to fulfill the rights and obligations prescribed in Articles 97 and
98 of this Law;

c/
Settlement of consequences in case of occurrence of obstetrical incidents;
support for ensuring reproductive health for the gestational carrier during the
period of pregnancy and delivery, child recognition by the gestational
surrogacy requesting party, rights and obligations of both parties in case the
child has not been delivered to the gestational surrogacy requesting party and
other related rights and obligations;

d/ Civil
liabilities in case one or both parties breach commitments under the agreement.

2. An
agreement on gestational surrogacy shall be made in writing and notarized. In
case the couple requesting gestational surrogacy or the couple giving
gestational surrogacy authorizes the other to make the agreement, such
authorization shall be made in writing and notarized. Authorization to a third
party is legally invalid.

In case
an agreement on gestational surrogacy between the gestational carrier party and
the gestational surrogacy requesting party is made concurrently with the
agreement between them and the health establishment conducting the birth giving
with assisted reproductive technology, this agreement must be certified by a
competent person of this health establishment.

Article 97. Rights and
obligations of the altruistic gestational carrier party

1. A
gestational carrier and her husband have the rights and obligations as parents
in reproductive health care and care for and nursing of the child until this
child is delivered to the gestational surrogacy requesting party; and shall
deliver the child to the gestational surrogacy requesting party.

2. A
gestational carrier shall comply with the Ministry of Health’s regulations on
examination and screening for detecting and treating fetal abnormalities and
defects.

3. A
gestational carrier is entitled to the maternity regime as prescribed by the
labor and social insurance laws until the child is delivered to the gestational
surrogacy requesting party.

When the
duration from the date of giving birth to a child to the date of delivering
that child is less than 60 days, a gestational carrier is still entitled to the
maternity regime for full 60 days. The child born from gestational surrogacy
shall not be counted into the number of children under the policy on population
and family planning.

4. The
gestational carrier party has the right to request the gestational surrogacy
requesting party’s support and care for reproductive health.

In the
interest of her life or health or for fetal development, a gestational carrier
has the right to on the number of embryos and continuation or discontinuation
of the pregnancy in accordance with the laws on reproductive health care and
giving birth with assisted reproductive technology.

5. When
the gestational surrogacy requesting party refuses to receive the child, the
gestational carrier party has the right to request a court to oblige the former
to receive that child.

Article 98. Rights and
obligations of altruistic gestational surrogacy requesting party

1. The
gestational surrogacy requesting party shall pay actual expenses for ensuring
reproductive health according to the Ministry of Health’s regulations.

2. Rights
and obligations of the altruistic gestational surrogacy requesting party toward
their child shall arise from the time the child is born. The mother requesting
gestational surrogacy is entitled to the maternity regime in accordance with
the labor and social insurance laws from the time of receiving her child to the
time the child is full 6 months.

3. The
gestational surrogacy requesting party may not refuse to receive their child. A
gestational surrogacy requesting party that delays receipt of his/her child or
breaches the child nursing and caring obligations shall support this child in
accordance with this Law and be handled in accordance with relevant laws. If
causing damage to the gestational carrier party, he/she shall pay damages. In
case the gestational surrogacy requesting party dies, the child is entitled to
inheritance of the former’s estate in accordance with law.

4. A
child born from gestational surrogacy and other members of the family of the
gestational surrogacy requesting party have the rights and obligations
prescribed in this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws.

5. When
the gestational carrier party refuses to deliver the child, the gestational
surrogacy requesting party has the right to request a court to oblige the
former to deliver the child.

Article 99. Settlement
of disputes related to giving birth with assisted reproductive technology and
altruistic gestational surrogacy

1. The
court is competent to settle disputes over giving birth with assisted
reproductive technology and gestational surrogacy.

2. When
both husband and wife being the gestational surrogacy requesting party die or
lose their civil act capacity before the child is delivered to them, the
gestational carrier party has the right to raise this child. If the gestational
carrier party refuses to raise the child, the guardianship and support for the
child must comply with this Law and the Civil Code.

Article 100. Handling
of violations related to giving birth with assisted reproductive technology and
gestational surrogacy

Parties
involving in giving birth with assisted reproductive technology and gestational
surrogacy that violate conditions, rights and obligations prescribed in this
Law shall be handled for civil, administrative or penal liabilities depending
on the nature and severity of their violations.

Article 101.
Competence to settle identification of parents and children

1. The
civil status registry is competent to identify parents and children in
accordance with the civil status law in case there is no dispute.

2. The
court is competent to identify parents and children in case there is a dispute
or the person requested for being identified as parent or child has died and in
the case prescribed in Article 92 of this Law.

A court’s
decision identifying a parent or child shall be sent to the civil status
registry for recording in accordance with the civil status law; to parties
involved in the parent and child identification; and to related persons,
agencies and organizations as prescribed by the civil procedure law.

Article 102. Persons
having the right to request identification of parents and children

1. An
adult parent or child with civil act capacity has the right to request the
civil status registry to identify his/her child or parent in the case
prescribed in Clause 1, Article 101 of this Law.

2. A
parent or child, as prescribed by the civil procedure law, has the right to
request a court to identify his/her child or parent in the case prescribed in
Clause 2, Article 101 of this Law.

3. The
following persons, agencies and organizations, as prescribed by the civil
procedure law, have the right to request a court to identify the parent(s) of a
minor child or an adult child who has lost his/her civil act capacity; or
identify the child for a minor parent or a parent who has lost his/her civil
act capacity in the case prescribed in Clause 2, Article 101 of this Law:

a/
Parent, child, guardian;

b/ The
state management agency in charge of families;

c/ The
state management agency in charge of children;

d/ The
women’s union.

Chapter VI

RELATIONS AMONG OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS

Article 103. Rights
and obligations among other family members

1. Family
members have the right and obligation to care for, look after, assist and
respect one another. Lawful personal and property rights and interests of
family members prescribed in this Law, the Civil Code and other relevant laws
shall be protected by law.

2. Family
members that live together have the obligations to participate in housework and
income-generating activities; contribute their efforts, money or other
properties to maintaining family life suitable to their actual capabilities.

3. The
State shall adopt policies to create conditions for familial generations to,
care for look after, and assist one another for the purpose of preserving and
upholding the fine traditions of Vietnamese families; shall encourage individuals
and organizations in the society to jointly participate in preserving and
upholding the fine traditions of Vietnamese families.

Article 104. Rights
and obligations of paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents and
grandchildren

1.
Paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents have the right and obligation
to look after, care for and educate their grandchildren, lead exemplary lives
and set good examples for their children and grandchildren; for minor
grandchildren, adult grandchildren who have lost their civil act capacity or
have no working capacity and no property to support themselves and no raising
people as prescribed in Article 105 of this Law, paternal grandparents and
maternal grandparents have the obligation to raise these grandchildren.

2.
Grandchildren have the obligation to respect, care for and support their
paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents; for paternal grandparents or
maternal grandparents who have no children to raise them, their adult
grandchildren have the obligation to raise them.

Article 105. Rights
and obligations of siblings

Siblings
have the right and obligation to love, care for and assist one another; in case
they no longer have parents or their parents have no conditions to look after,
raise, care for and educate their children, they have the right and obligation
to raise one another.

Article 106. Rights
and obligations of aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews

Aunts,
uncles, nieces and nephews have the right and obligation to love, care for and
assist one another; have the right and obligation to raise one another in case
those who need to be raised no longer have parents, children and people
prescribed in Articles 104 and 105 of this Law or still have these people but
these people have no conditions to perform their raising obligation.

Chapter VII

SUPPORT

Article 107.
Support obligation

1. The
support obligation shall be performed between parents and children; among
siblings; between paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents and
grandchildren; between aunts, uncles and nieces, nephews; and between husband
and wife in accordance with this Law.

The
support obligation can be neither replaced by another obligation nor
transferred to other people.

2. In
case persons having the support obligation shirk this obligation, at the
request of the persons, agencies or organizations prescribed in Article 119 of
this Law, courts shall compel these persons to perform the support obligation
in accordance with this Law.

Article 108. One
person supporting many persons

In case a
person has the obligation to support many persons, the supporting person and
supported .persons shall reach agreement on methods and levels of support
suitable to the actual income and ability of the supporting person and
essential needs of supported persons; if failing to reach agreement, they may
request a court to settle it.

Article 109. Many
persons jointly supporting one person or many persons

In case
many persons have the obligation to support one person or many persons, they
shall agree mutually upon methods and levels of contribution suitable to the
actual income and ability of each supporting person and the essential needs of
the supported person(s); if they fail to reach agreement, they may request a
court to settle it.

Article 110. Support
obligation of parents toward children

Parents
who do not live with their children or live with their children but violate the
support obligation have the obligation to support minor children and adult
children who have no working capacity and no property to support themselves.

Article 111.
Support obligation of children toward parents

Adult
children who do not live with their parents have the obligation to support
their parents who have no working capacity and no property to support
themselves.

Article 112. The
support obligation among siblings

In case
they no longer have parents or their parents have no working capacity and no
property to support their children, adult elder siblings who do not live
together with their younger siblings have the obligation to support their minor
siblings who have no property to support themselves or adult younger siblings
who have no working capacity and no property to support themselves; adult
younger siblings who do not live together with their elder siblings have the
obligation to support their elder siblings who have no working capacity and no
property to support themselves.

Article 113. Support
obligation between paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents and
grandchildren

1. Paternal grandparents and
maternal grandparents who do not live with their grandchildren have the
obligation to support their minor grandchildren or their adult grandchildren
who have no working capacity, no property to support themselves and have no one
to support them as prescribed in Article 112 of this Law.

2. Adult grandchildren who do not
live together with their paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents have
the obligation to support their paternal grandparents and maternal grandparents
who have no working capacity, no property to support themselves and have no one
else to support them as prescribed by this Law.

Article 114. Support
obligation among aunts, uncles and nieces, nephews

1. Aunts, uncles who do not live
with their nieces, nephews have the obligation to support their minor nieces,
nephews or their adult nieces, nephews who have no working capacity, no
property to support themselves and have no one else to support them as
prescribed by this Law.

2. Adult nieces, nephews who do not
live with their aunts, uncles have the obligation to support their aunts,
uncles who have no working capacity, no property to support themselves and have
no one else to support them as prescribed by this Law.

Article 115.
Maintenance obligation between husband and wife after divorce

When
divorced, if the party facing financial difficulties requests maintenance for
plausible reasons, the other party has the obligation to provide maintenance
according to his/her ability.

Article 116. Support
level

1. The support level shall be
agreed upon by the person with the support obligation and the supported person
or the latter’s guardian on the basis of the actual income and ability of the
person with the support obligation and the essential needs of the supported
person; if they fail to reach agreement, they may request a court to settle it.

2. When there is a plausible
reason, the support level may change. The change of the support level shall be
agreed upon by the parties; if they fail to reach agreement, they may request a
court to settle it.

Article 117.
Support method

Support
may be provided on a monthly, quarterly, biannual, annual or one-off basis.

In case
the person with the support obligation falls into a difficult financial
circumstance, thus being unable to perform his/her support obligation, the
parties may reach agreement to change the method of support or temporarily
cease the support; if they fail to reach agreement, they may request a court to
settle it.

Article 118.
Termination of support obligation

The support obligation shall
terminate in the following cases:

1. The supported person has become
adult and has working capacity or property to raise himself or herself;

2. The supported person is adopted;

3. The supporting person directly
raises the supported person;

4. The supporting or supported
person dies;

5. The supported person re-marries
after divorce;

6. Other cases prescribed by law.

Article 119. Persons
having the right to request performance of the support obligation

1. The supported person, his/her
parent or guardian has the right in accordance with the civil procedure law to
request a court to force the person who fails to voluntarily perform the
support obligation to perform such obligation.

2. The following individuals,
agencies or organizations have the right in accordance with the civil procedure
law to request a court to force the person who fails to voluntarily perform the
support obligation to perform such obligation:

a/ Next of kin;

b/ State management agencies in
charge of families;

c/ State management agencies in
charge of children;

d/ Women’s unions.

3. Other individuals, agencies and
organizations have the right, when detecting acts of shirking the performance
of the support obligation, to request the agencies or organizations prescribed
at Points b, c and d, Clause 2 of this Article to request a court to force the
people who fail to voluntarily perform the support obligation to perform such
obligation.

Article 120.
Encouragement of assistance from organizations and individuals

The State and society shall
encourage organizations and individuals to provide assistance in cash or kind
to families and individuals in extremely difficult and needy circumstances.

Chapter VIII

MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATIONS INVOLVING FOREIGN
ELEMENTS

Article 121.
Protection of lawful rights and interests of parties to marriage and family
relations involving foreign elements

1. In the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam, marriage and family relations involving foreign elements shall be
respected and protected in accordance with Vietnamese law and treaties to which
the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party.

2. In their marriage and family
relations with Vietnamese citizens, unless otherwise provided by Vietnamese
law, foreigners in Vietnam have the same rights and obligations like Vietnamese
citizens.

3. The Socialist Republic of
Vietnam State shall protect lawful rights and interests of Vietnamese citizens
abroad in their marriage and family relations in accordance with Vietnamese
law, the host country’s law and international laws and practices.

4. The Government shall detail the
settlement of marriage and family relations involving foreign elements in order
to protect lawful rights and interests of the parties and guarantee the
implementation of Clause 2, Article 5 of this Law.

Article 122.
Application of laws to marriage and family relations involving foreign elements

1. Unless otherwise provided by
this Law, the legal provisions of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam concerning
marriage and family are applicable to marriage and family relations involving
foreign elements.

In case a treaty to which the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party contains provisions
different from those of this Law, the provisions of such treaty prevail.

2. In case this Law and other legal
documents of Vietnam refer to the application of a foreign law, such foreign
law shall apply, provided such application does not contravene the fundamental
principles laid down in Article 2 of this Law.

In case a foreign law refers back
to the Vietnamese law, Vietnam’s marriage and family law shall apply.

3. In case a treaty to which the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party refers to the application
of a foreign law, such foreign law shall apply.

Article 123. Competence
to settle cases and matters of marriage and family involving foreign elements

1. The competence to register civil
status related to marriage and family relations involving foreign elements must
comply with the law on civil status.

2. The competence to settle cases
and matters of marriage and family involving foreign elements at court must
comply with the Civil Procedure Code.

3. District-level People’s Courts
of localities where Vietnamese citizens reside are competent to cancel illegal
marriages, settle divorce cases, disputes over the rights and obligations of
husband and wife, parents and children, recognition of parents, children, child
adoption and guardianship between Vietnamese citizens residing in border areas
and citizens of neighboring countries living in areas bordering on Vietnam in
accordance with this Law and other Vietnamese laws.

Article 124.
Consular legalization of papers and documents on marriage and family

Papers established, granted or
certified by competent foreign agencies for use in the settlement of cases and
matters of marriage and family shall be consularly legalized, except cases
eligible for exemption from consular legalization under treaties to which the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam is a contracting party or on the principle of
reciprocity.

Article 125.
Recognition and writing of judgments and decisions of foreign courts and
competent foreign agencies on marriage and family

1. The recognition of judgments and
decisions on marriage and family of foreign courts with request for enforcement
in Vietnam must comply with the Civil Procedure Code.

2. The Government shall prescribe
the writing in civil status registers of matters of marriage and family
according to judgments and decisions of foreign courts without request for
enforcement in Vietnam or without request for non-recognition in Vietnam; and
decisions on marriage and family of other competent foreign agencies.

Article 126.
Marriage involving foreign elements

1. For marriages between Vietnamese
citizens and foreigners, each party shall comply with his/her country’s law on
marriage conditions; if their marriage is conducted at a competent Vietnamese
state agency, the foreigner shall also comply with this Law’s provisions on
marriage conditions.

2. Marriages between foreigners
permanently residing in Vietnam at competent Vietnamese agencies must comply
with this Law’s provisions on marriage conditions.

Article 127. Divorce
involving foreign elements

1. Divorce between a Vietnamese
citizen and a foreigner or between two foreigners permanently residing in
Vietnam shall be settled at a competent Vietnamese agency in accordance with
this Law.

2. In case a partner being a
Vietnamese citizen does not permanently reside in Vietnam at the time of
request for divorce, the divorce shall be settled in accordance with the law of
the country where the husband and wife permanently co-reside; if they do not
have a place of permanent co-residence, the Vietnamese law shall apply.

3. The settlement of a divorced
couple’s immovables in a foreign country must comply with the law of the
country where such immovables are located.

Article 128.
Identification of parents and children involving foreign elements

1. Vietnamese civil status
registration agencies are competent to settle the identification of parents and
children without any disputes between Vietnamese citizens and foreigners or
between Vietnamese citizens at least one of whom settles abroad, or between
foreigners at least of one of whom permanently resides in Vietnam in accordance
with the law on civil status.

2. Competent Vietnamese courts
shall settle the identification of parents and children involving foreign
elements in the cases prescribed in Clause 2 of Article 88, Articles 89,
Article 90, Clauses 1 and 5 of Article 97, Clauses 3 and 5 of Article 98, and
Article 99 of this Law; and other cases involving disputes.

Article 129. Support
obligation involving foreign elements

1. The support obligation must
comply with the law of the country where the requester for support resides. In
case the requester for support has no place of residence in Vietnam, the law of
the country of his/her citizenship shall apply.

2. Agencies competent to settle
written requests for support of the persons prescribed in Clause 1 of this
Article are agencies of the country of residence of the requester. ‘

Article 130. Application
of the agreed matrimonial property regime; settlement of consequences of the
co-living of men and women as husband and wife without marriage registration
involving foreign elements

In case of receiving requests for
settlement of the application of the agreed matrimonial property regime; or
relations of men and women co-living as husband and wife without marriage
registration involving foreign elements, competent Vietnamese agencies shall
apply the provisions of this Law and other relevant Vietnamese laws to settle
these requests.

Chapter IX

IMPLEMENTATION PROVISIONS

Article 131.
Transitional provisions

1. Marriage and family relations
established before this Law takes effect shall be settled in accordance with
the law on marriage and family applicable at the time of establishment.

2. For cases and matters of
marriage and family received by courts before this Law takes effect but not yet
settled by the courts, the procedures prescribed in this Law shall apply.

3. This Law shall not be applied to
lodging protests according to cassation or review trial procedures with regard
to cases and matters which courts have settled in accordance with the law on
marriage and family effective before the effective date of this Law.

Article 132. Effect

This Law takes effect on January 1,
2015.

Marriage and Family Law No.
22/2000/QH10 ceases to be effective on the date this Law takes effect.

Article 133.
Detailing and implementation guidance

The Government shall detail
articles and clauses as assigned in this Law.

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 articles and clauses as
assigned in this Law.

This Law was passed on June 19,
2014, by the VIIIth National Assembly of the Socialist Republic of
Vietnam at it’s 7th session.-

 

 

CHAIRMAN
OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Nguyen Sinh Hung