Rights and obligations of parents towards adopted children after divorce in Vietnam

In the judgment 03/2018/HNGĐ-ST dated January 23, 2018 on divorce, child custody disputes upon divorce have the following contents:

“Mrs. Huynh Thi Minh T and Mr. Nguyen Huu Th lived together and registered their marriage in 2003 at the People's Committee of Ayun Pa town, Ayun Pa district, Gia Lai province. Now that the couple has been living separately since 2015 until now, they no longer care for each other, so Ms. T asked the Court to grant her a divorce from Mr. Th. She and Mr. Th have three children together: Nguyen Thi N (born in 1985), Nguyen Huu Ngh (born in 1987), Nguyen Huynh Minh X (born in 2005). In addition, Mrs. T and Mr. Th also have one adopted child, grandchild Nguyen Huynh T, born in 2006. After the divorce, Mrs. T asked to raise two children together, grandson Ng, who has epilepsy, and grandson X. T is her adopted child and Mr. Th has been through the procedure of cutting his border, transferring schools and sending him to the Primary School of the Mother's Love Shelter in Kenh 7B, District T, Province K, so she did not ask the Court to consider the settlement.”

The People's Court of Ayun Pa town, Gia Lai province has decided: To assign Ms. Huynh Thi Minh T to directly look after, care for, educate and raise the common child of Nguyen Huu Nghe and Nguyen Huynh Minh X's grandchildren. Mr. Nguyen Huu Th is assigned to directly look after, care for, educate and raise his nephew Nguyen Huynh T until he becomes an adult or becomes disabled, has lost the capacity for civil acts, has no working capacity and has no property to support themselves.

Adoption is the establishment of a father, mother and child relationship between the adopter and the adopted person. In principle, the adoption must ensure the legitimate rights and interests of the adoptee and the adoptee, be voluntary, equal, do not discriminate between men and women, do not violate the law and social ethics. festival.

The Law on Marriage and Family 2014 of Vietnam stipulates:

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

1....

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.

According to the regulation, the raising and adoption of children in accordance with the law has given rise to rights and obligations between parents and adopted children. Therefore, the law does not distinguish between adopted children and common children. The rights and obligations of the adoptive father, mother and adopted child are not different from the rights and obligations of the father and mother towards the child. From the time the adoption relationship is established, the adoptive father, mother and adopted child have the rights and obligations prescribed in Article 78 of the Law on Marriage and Family of Vietnam

Article 78. Rights and obligations of adoptive fathers, adoptive mothers 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

...

The divorce of the adoptive parents does not automatically lose the rights and obligations towards the adopted child if it does not fall into the cases that terminate the adoption according to the provisions of the Law on Adoption 2010 of Vietnam. In case the adoption is terminated under a court decision, the rights and obligations of the adoptive father and mother towards the adopted child shall terminate from the date the court's decision takes legal effect.

After a divorce, parents have the rights and obligations to look after, care for, raise and educate their children according to the provisions of Article 81 of the Law on Marriage and Family. Adopted children also have the right to express their wish to live with their parents when they divorce and the Court's decision will respect the child's wishes. In case the parents want to give up responsibility for the adopted child and send the adopted child to social establishments, it is not in accordance with the provisions of the law. The exercise of rights and obligations of a parent towards an adopted child ends when the adoption is terminated.

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.

In conclusion, after a divorce, the father and mother still have to ensure the rights and obligations towards the adopted child in accordance with the law and there is no discrimination between the adopted children or the biological children to create the best environment for children to develop.