If my husband dies, do I have to divorce before remarrying in Vietnam?

If my husband dies, do I have to divorce before remarrying in Vietnam?

My name is Yen and I am 35 years old. My ex-husband and I were married for 5 years when he died. I want to ask if I want to remarry now, do I have to go through divorce procedures with my ex-husband or can I automatically register my marriage?

Reply:

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 4 of Decree 123/2015/ND-CP stipulating birth registration and death registration contents as follows:

2. Essential contents of an application for death registration as prescribed the Law on civil status: The deceased’s full name, year of birth, personal identification number (if any); place of death; cause of death; date and time of death by solar calendar; and nationality (if the deceased is a foreigner).

Death registration contents shall be determined according to the death notice or equivalent document issued by the following competent authority:

a) If a person dies at a health facility, the head of health facility shall issue a death notice;

b) If a person dies as a result of enforcement of a death sentence, the President of the Board of death sentence shall issue a document certifying the enforcement of death sentence instead of a death notice;

c) If a person is given a declaration of presumed death by a court, the effective judgment/decision shall replace a death notice;

d) If a person dies in a vehicle, dies from accident, is killed, dies suddenly or dies with doubt, a document certifying the death issued by a police authority or findings of forensic examination agency shall replace a death notice;

dd) If a person dies from another cause other than those prescribed in Points a, b, c, and d of this Clause, the People’s Committee of commune where he/she dies shall issue a death notice.

In addition, Article 65 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates time of termination of marriage as follows:

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.

Thus, according to the above regulations in Vietnam, when a person dies at a medical facility or at home, the Head of the medical facility or the Commune People's Committee will issue a death certificate. From the time of his death and the death notice was issued, the marital relationship between you and your husband ended. So you can remarry without having to go through divorce procedures.

If my husband dies, do I have to divorce before remarrying in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

If my daughter's husband has a serious illness, do I have right to request the court for divorce in Vietnam?

I currently live in Long An, my daughter has been married for 2 years. I don't know if she will be happy when she returns her husband's home, but since my daughter's husband was diagnosed with tuberculosis, although he is still alert, he cannot work, sold his assets to seek treatment, and is currently unable to take care of my daughter too. I want to ask, do I have right to ask the court for a divorce?

Reply:

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 51 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates the right to request settlement of divorce as follows:

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.

Thus, according to the above regulations in Vietnam, even though your daughter's husband has tuberculosis, he still does not lose awareness and control of his behavior and at the same time, your daughter is not a victim of domestic violence. Therefore, you have no grounds to request a divorce settlement in Court.

If a house is gifted to spouses after wedding, does it have to be divided upon divorce in Vietnam? 

I want to ask, my husband and I registered our marriage and just after the wedding, my biological parents gave me and my husband a house. Now, I want to ask if the house has to be divided when we divorce?

Reply:

Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, provisions on common property are as follows:

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.

Pursuant to Clause 2, Article 59 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, it is stipulated that principles of settlement of property of husband and wife upon divorce:

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.

Thus, because the property is a house that your parents gave to you and your husband during the marriage period and there is no other agreement between you and your husband, it is considered common property and the principle of dividing common property when divorce is divided in half. However, the percentage of asset division depends on the above factors, it can be 50/50; 60/40 or 70/30...

Best regards!