Vietnam: What is meant by illegitimate children? Are illegitimate children entitled to inheritance at law?
What is meant by illegitimate children in Vietnam?
Currently, Vietnamese law has not provided specific regulations to explain illegitimate children. However, an illegitimate child can be understood as a child born in cases where the parents are not husband and wife and do not have a marriage relationship as prescribed by law.
Vietnam: What is meant by illegitimate children? Are illegitimate children entitled to inheritance at law in Vietnam?
What are the regulations on the identification of parents for illegitimate children in Vietnam?
- According to the provisions of Article 88 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam stipulating the identification of parents for illegitimate children in Vietnam as follows:
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.
Thus, the identification of parents for illegitimate children in Vietnam according to the following regulations:
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.
When a parent does not recognize a child, he/she must have evidence and such non- recognition shall be determined by a court.
- At the same time, Article 90 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam stipulates that children have the right to recognize their parents, even in cases where the parent is dead.
An adult may recognize his/her parent without the consent of the other parent.
Are illegitimate children entitled to inheritance from their parents?
Pursuant to Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam on the level of heirs at law. According to that, the first level of heirs comprises: spouses, biological parents, adoptive parents, offspring and adopted children of the deceased.
Thus, in case of an illegitimate child, the child who is determined to be the biological child of the deceased will still be entitled to inheritance from his or her biological parents.
What obligations and rights do parents have for their illegitimate children?
Obligations and rights of parents towards their children (regardless of illegitimate or legitimate children) are specified in Article 69 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam, specifically:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
In addition, according to the provisions of Article 70 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam, children have the following rights and obligations:
- 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.
- To love, respect, show gratitude and dutifulness to and support their parents, to preserve the honor and good traditions of their family.
- 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.
- 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.
- To enjoy property rights corresponding to their contributions to the family’s property.
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