Divorce procedures 2022: What documents are needed? Where to apply?

DIVORCE PROCEDURES 2022:

WHAT DOCUMENTS NEED? WHERE TO APPLY?

Thủ tục ly hôn 2022: Cần những giấy tờ gì? Nộp đơn tại đâu?

Figure 1. Thinh Tri Law - Divorce procedures 2022: What documents are needed? Where to apply?

Divorce is a final choice of marriage and no one wants it to happen. However, if divorce is the best choice for both, it is the "opening" of a new life. To come to a divorce decision, there are many legal issues involved, which you need to be aware of. In this article, Thinh Tri Law will review some issues related to divorce procedures.

OUTLINES

Detailed guidance on divorce procedures in 2022.

a) Who has the right to request a divorce?

b) Conditions for requesting divorce.

c) Documents to be prepared to proceed with the divorce.

d) Where to submit divorce?

e) Divorce process.

Detailed instructions on divorce procedures in 2022

a) Who has the right to request a divorce?

Divorce is the termination of the husband and wife relationship according to a legally effective judgment or decision of the Court. Therefore, in order to proceed with the divorce, the couple must determine who has the right to request the divorce settlement.
According to Article 51 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, a person has the right to request a divorce settlement, a spouse or both spouses have the right to request a competent People's Court to settle a divorce. A parent or relative of the couple has the right to request a competent People's Court to resolve a divorce when one of the spouses suffers from a mental illness or suffers from another disease that they cannot perceive or control; are victims of domestic violence caused by their husbands and wives, which seriously affects their lives, lives, health and mental health.
The husband is not entitled to divorce when his wife is pregnant, giving birth or raising a child under 12 months old. However, in case the wife becomes pregnant, gives birth or raises a child under 12 months old, the wife has the right to request the Court for divorce.
Therefore, we can see that the person who has the right to request a divorce can be a wife, husband or a third person in accordance with the law.

b) Requirements for divorce::

According to current law, there are two types of divorce, which are mutual divorce and unilateral divorce. Therefore, for each type of divorce, different conditions will be required. Specifically:

Conditions for an amicable divorce

Both husband and wife voluntarily divorce;
The husband and wife have agreed on child custody, common property division, child support obligations, etc.

Conditions for unilateral divorce

Husband and wife commit acts of domestic violence;
One person seriously violates the rights and obligations, causing the marriage to fall into a serious state and the common life cannot last;
The spouse is declared missing by the competent People's Court;
One person has a mental or other illness and is a victim of domestic violence perpetrated by the other.

c) Documents to prepare for the divorce:

Các giấy tờ cần chuẩn bị để tiến hành việc ly hôn

Figure 2. Thinh Tri Law - Documents to prepare for divorce.

Basically, the documents used in the case of an uncontested divorce or a unilateral divorce are the same, specifically:

Original marriage registration certificate;
Certified or notarized copy of ID card/CCCD of husband and wife;
Certified or notarized copies of the children's birth certificates;
A certified or notarized copy of the household registration book;
A certified or notarized copy of the document proving ownership of the common property (if there is a common property).

In case you do not keep the marriage certificate, you can contact the civil status agency where the marriage was registered to ask for a copy of the marriage certificate.
In case the spouse's identity card is not available, he/she can follow the instructions of the Court to submit other identification documents.
The only difference between the two forms of unilateral divorce and consensual divorce is the content of the divorce petition.

→ Read more: Principle of equality in divorce.

d) Where to submit divorce dossier?

According to the provisions of Article 35 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the district-level People's Court is the place with jurisdiction to settle divorce procedures at first instance.

In the case of an amicable divorce:

In case of divorce, the husband and wife can agree to go to the court of the place of residence of the spouse to conduct divorce procedures.
Within 03 working days from the date of receipt of the petition, enclosed documents and evidences, the Chief Justice of the People's Court shall assign the Judge to settle the case.

In case of unilateral divorce:

Pursuant to Article 39 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, the People's Court of the place where the defendant resides and works has the competence to settle according to first-instance procedures disputes over marriage and family. Therefore, in the case of unilateral divorce, the People's Court of the place having jurisdiction will be the place where the defendant resides and works.
Note: According to the provisions of Clause 4, Article 85 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, husband and wife are not allowed to authorize divorce for other people to participate in the proceedings, but can only ask to file applications, pay court fees, etc.

e) Divorce process:

For unilateral divorce:

Step 1: Competent People's Court to accept divorce petition
Spouse – A person who wants to get a unilateral divorce must prepare dossiers, documents and evidences to submit to the competent People's Court.
Step 2: Mediation Stage
After receiving the divorce petition, the Court will consider whether to accept and accept the divorce case. If it considers that there are grounds to consider the divorce case, the Court will ask the applicant to pay the court fee in advance and hold a mediation session.
If the conciliation is successful, the People's Court will issue a decision to recognize the successful conciliation; if the conciliation cannot be reached, the People's Court will bring the case to trial.

Step 3: Stage of opening the first-instance court session

After the trial, the People's Court will issue a judgment to terminate the marriage relationship between husband and wife.

For an amicable divorce:

Step 1: Competent People's Courts to accept applications

Husband and wife prepare documents and submit them to the competent People's Court.

Step 2: The stage of considering the application and opening a public meeting

Prepare to consider the petition, open a public meeting to deal with the request for recognition of the consent for divorce. During this period, the Court will review the consent divorce petition, the grounds for terminating the marital relationship and issue a notice of advance fee payment.
After paying the fee advance, the People's Court will open a public meeting to process the request for recognition of the consent of the divorce.
Step 3: The People's Court issues a decision to recognize the consent of the divorce
After conciliation is unsuccessful, the Court will issue a decision to recognize the divorce. On the contrary, if the Court conciliation is successful, it will proceed to suspend the settlement of the civil matter.