divorce - who gets custody? does the man have to pay child support?

Property acquired AFTER marriage is divided 50-50. Men are supposed to pay support.

In many cases the man goes to work one day, and never returns. This means they have to hunt down the husband unless some friend in the CGST gives them his present address of record - which might not be correct. One spouse can apply to a court can apply for an ex-parte (only applicant appears) but property division restrictions apply until the other party is found.

Given it's status as a 'Developing' country, VietNam has some very 'Western' laws and the equitable division of property is surprising given the attitude north of the border. Fathres get sons and mothers get the daughters.

I have sat in on an employee's divorce proceeding and the (female) adjudicator handled the matter in a very relaxed atmosphere and defused any animosity between the parties, even making them shake hands and the end of the proceeding. The whole settlement proceedings took place at a large table with the spouses sitting on either end and the adjudicator in the middle.

There was some emphasis on the custody and maintenance aspects of their children and she invited them to contact her if there were matters to resolve. This happened in DakLak where the divorce list is not very long, and care could be taken over the matter.

All my female employees are single mothers (divorced/widows). They are loyal, stable and hard working!

The marriage and family law governs it

http://www.luathonnhangiadinh.com/marri … 010.1.html

It has many elements copied from the West. Concerning property: it is "community property" concept but also having "equitable distribution" element: i.e., the court will also consider fairness and may dictate more or less than half of the assets will be awarded to one spouse or the other.

Child support, even required by law, is not commonly enforced. There is no mechanism for enforcing it. In fact, the law itself does not specify what to do in case of non payment. One can also sue, but that is about it.

The parties can agree among themselves about custody, division of assets,....

The court differentiates between mutual consent divorce and divorce requested only by one party.

The key missing part in Vietnamese law: no legal concept of seperation/reconcilation period, even though it is very much done in practice. The courts even accept arguments that couples have long lived separately as supporting facts for irreconcilable differences in granting divorce requested only by one party.

Funny stuffs.  You guys have been too well indoctrinated.  That is not how real life is here:  whoever wields the most power, gets the cake.  Everything else is a show. 

Jaitch, you don't mean to tell me all the single mothers who are working for you receive child supports, or the 50-50 shananigans.  If they do, especially if it comes to the standards of the west, believe me, they would not be working for you!!!

Wild_1 wrote:

Jaitch, you don't mean to tell me all the single mothers who are working for you receive child supports, or the 50-50 shananigans.  If they do, especially if it comes to the standards of the west, believe me, they would not be working for you!!!

VNese like working for Western-owned companies because we look after them. We pay salary + Social Charges (and bonuses under the table). They get free dental treatment twice a year and we subsidise child care (two units away) - we used to pay the full shot until the robbers figured they could milk us blind.

In return, as I said, we get long-term employees, no attendance interruptions through getting beaten up by their husbands, loyalty and hard working as they know we are one of about 7 companies who pay well!

Can anyone tell me what is the divorce procedure for expats living in Vietnam. We are both South Africans. Does the law in Vietnam assist with South African marriages or must we get divorced in our own country. We have no children or property in Vietnam. At the moment one spouse is in Vietnam and the other back in South Africa. What is the best route to follow and who will be able to assist us with this.

You possible have to try your Embassy. They usually have have authority, but I know, many will not do. Vietnam will for sure not assist in such matter, unless in Vietnam and a Vietnamese partner is involved.