Can an illegitimate child claim alimony from the father?

This issue is specified by the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam in 2014 as follows:

"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."

5. Thus, the rights and obligations of parents to their children do not depend on their marital status. Therefore, whether they are children in or out of wedlock, parents are obliged to take care of, nurture, love as well as support in accordance with the law of Vietnam. In addition, if the father does not have a child certificate as well as the child's birth certificate, the mother should request the identification of the father for the child in accordance with Article 102 of the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam so that the court has a basis to settle the child support request."

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

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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."

"Article 101. Competence to settle identification of parents and children

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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 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 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."

Here are some judgments on support requirements for off-road children, their partners:

1. Judgment No. 14/2020/HNGĐ-PT dated August 21, 2020 on child support disputes

“Ms. H and Mr. Hoang Viet N know and live together as husband and wife. On 14-12-2016, Ms. H gave birth, named her son Pham Minh Q. Since Mr. N did not recognize Q as a child, Ms. H initiated a lawsuit against Mr. N on the confirmation of father to child at the People's Court of Vung Tau City. The People's Court of Vung Tau City has declared to accept Ms. H's lawsuit petition; identifying Pham Minh Q, born on December 14, 2016 as the common child between Ms. Pham Thi Thu H and Mr. Hoang Viet N.

On May 2, 2018, Ms. H filed a lawsuit requesting Mr. Hoang Viet N to support the child."

2. Judgment 720/HNGĐ-PT dated August 15, 2019 on dispute over determination of father for child and child support

“Mr. D has been married to Mrs. N since 2009. Around May 2017, Mr. D had an emotional relationship with Mrs. H. When she found out she was pregnant, Mrs. H reported to Mr. D. Mr. D asked Mrs. H to have an abortion. Due to the unsecured health condition, Mrs. H did not follow the request of Mr. D. On March 14, 2018, Mrs. H gave birth to a boy named A. Excerpt of birth certificate issued by the People's Committee of Ba Cong Town, Tri Ton District, An Giang Province without father's name.

On September 19, 2018, Ms. H filed a lawsuit, requesting the identification of child A as the natural child of Mr. D and requesting Mr. D to support the child."

3. Judgment No. 41/2018/HNGĐ-ST dated November 6, 2018 on support dispute

 “In 2012, Ms. T and Mr. D had a relationship and had a child, Vo Nguyen Dang K, born on May 28, 2013. Mr. D still visits and provides monthly child support, but since August 2018, he has not performed child support. She now request the Court to force Mr. Đ to support K children every month of VND 2,000,000, starting from August 2018 until he grows up.In addition, she's required to pay tuition fees for my child of VND 4,000,000. She have received 02 months of stipends in September and October 2018."

Key word: Children out of wedlock in Vietnam | alimony claims in Vietnam | child support in Vietnam | Vietnam's Law on Marriage and Family 2014 | alimony obligations in Vietnam | identifying father for children in Vietnam | Child support disputes in Vietnam |

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