Legal consequences of getting married without registering marriage in Vietnam

Typically in the judgment 999/2017/HNGĐ-ST dated August 17, 2017 by the People's Court of District H, Ho Chi Minh City for the first-instance trial on divorce.

The summary of the case is as follows: Ms. Dao Thi My A and Mr. Nguyen Van L voluntarily held the wedding and did not have a marriage certificate in 2008. When living together, married life was not happy, so on December 23, 2016, Ms. A filed a lawsuit requesting a divorce from Mr. Nguyen Van L.

The trial panel found that Ms. A and Mr. L had been living together since 2008 but had not registered their marriage, so they were not recognized as husband and wife. Therefore, based on Article 14 of the Law on Marriage and Family, it was declared not to recognize the husband and wife relationship between Ms. Dao Thi My A and Mr. Nguyen Van L.

Article 14 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 has the following specific provisions:

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

Therefore, except for cases of cohabiting before January 3, 1987, according to Resolution 35/2000/NQ-QH10 on the implementation of the Law on Marriage and Family, they are still recognized as husband and wife. In other cases where the marriage is not registered, even though a large wedding is held, which is recognized by everyone, it is still not recognized by the law as husband and wife, so there will be no divorce between them.

In conclusion, when the parties decide to get married together, they should carry out the marriage registration procedures in accordance with the law so that the marriage relationship is legal and protected by the law.

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