Unilateral divorce procedures: conditions and procedures

UNILATERAL DIVORCE PROCEDURES:

Thủ tục ly hôn đơn phương: Điều kiện, trình tự thủ tục được thực hiện như thế nào?

Image 1. Thinh Tri Law - Unilateral divorce procedure: How are the conditions and procedures performed?

In addition to the consensual divorce, the law still allows husband and wife to submit an application to a competent People's Court to request a unilateral divorce. So how will the unilateral divorce proceedings be resolved? Let's find out with Thinh Tri Law in the following article.

OUTLINES

Unilateral divorce is not the same as consensual divorce, which has the consent of both husband and wife, unilateral divorce is when one of the spouses requests a divorce.
Pursuant to Article 51 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, which stipulates who is eligible for a unilateral divorce, specifically:

Husband, wife or both husband and wife have the right to request the competent People's Court to settle the divorce;
Parents and other relatives of the couple have the right to request the People's Court to resolve the divorce when one of the spouses due to mental illness or other diseases is unable to perceive or control the divorce. Additionally, they are victims of domestic violence caused by their own husbands and wives, which seriously affects their lives, health and spirit.

Thus, based on Article 56 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, the People's Court will proceed with the divorce settlement in case there are grounds to believe that the marriage is falling into a serious situation, the common life of the spouses and the spouses of the spouses are not. husband and wife cannot last, their marital purposes cannot be achieved because;

One of the spouses commits domestic violence;
Husband or wife has seriously violated the rights and obligations of husband and wife (including: love, fidelity, respect, mutual help and sharing, living together unless otherwise agreed by husband and wife)...

At the same time, in Clause 2, Article 51 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 emphasizes the following:
The husband does not have the right to request a divorce in case the wife is pregnant, giving birth or the wife is raising a child under 12 months old.
Therefore, it can be seen that the unilateral divorce may be asked by the spouse or other relatives of the spouses (meeting the conditions prescribed by law) to request the competent People's Court to settle.

→ Read more: What is separation? During the separation period, it is possible to marry another person.

In order for the People's Court to have jurisdiction over a unilateral divorce, the petitioner for a unilateral divorce must fully prepare the following documents:

Unilateral divorce application (according to the form);
Original marriage registration certificate; if the petitioner for a unilateral divorce does not have the original, he/she may apply for a copy of the marriage registration certificate;
Authenticated copy of ID card/chip- based citizen card of husband and wife;
Authenticated copy of household registration book;
Authenticated copy of the child's birth certificate (if the couple has a common child);

In case husband and wife have common property: if they have common property and require division of common property upon divorce, prepare documents proving ownership of this common property, etc.

→ Read more: Detailed instructions on some regulations on child custody after divorce.

Pursuant to Article 39 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, when requesting for a unilateral divorce, the person who has requested a unilateral divorce should file an application at the People's Court of the place where the defendant resides and works.
At the same time, based on Clause 1, Article 35 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, disputes over marriage and family will be settled by district courts according to first-instance procedures.
However, if this divorce case, the involved party or the involved parties have assets abroad, the district-level People's Court will not have jurisdiction to settle, but this divorce case will fall under the jurisdiction of the Court. Provincial People's Court (Based on Article 37 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code).
Therefore, if two Vietnamese citizens divorce in the country, they will file a divorce petition at the district court where the person being asked for a unilateral divorce is residing and working. If the divorce case has foreign elements, it will be handled by the provincial People's Court.

Thời gian tiến hành thủ tục ly hôn đơn phương

Figure 2. Thinh Tri Law - Time to conduct unilateral divorce proceedings.

Procedures for unilateral divorce will be carried out as a civil case. Therefore, according to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 stipulating that the unilateral divorce time will have to go through stages such as: trial preparation, trial opening, etc.
Normally, the time for the Court to resolve a unilateral divorce case usually lasts at least 04 months. However, in reality there are many complicated cases, due to many force majeure reasons, this time period may be longer than expected.

In a unilateral divorce case, in addition to the request to settle the marital relationship, usually both husband and wife will ask the People's Court to divide the common property of the spouses.
Therefore, according to the provisions of Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14, if a divorce case without property settlement, the court fee is 300,000 VND.
In contrast, for divorce cases without a value, the Court will base on the value of the property that has been divided, the divorce court fee will be from 300,000 VND or more. In which, the highest with assets is over 04 billion VND, the court fee will be 112 million VND with 0.1% of the asset value exceeding 04 billion VND.

→ Read more:

→ Custody of children for a woman whose husband has died

→ Online divorce procedure consulting service