English - CEDAW Southeast Asia

A Gendered and Rights-Based Review of Vietnamese Legal Documents through the Lens of CEDAW
There are also a number of provisions relating to property rights of husband and wife as
follows.
Mutual representation
Article 24 of the Marriage and Family Law guarantees mutual representation between
husband and wife: “Husband and wife may authorize each other to establish, perform or
terminate transactions which, as prescribed by law, must be agreed upon by both husband
and wife; such authorization must be made in writing.” Further, Article 24(1) of the Marriage
and Family Law also states that when either spouse loses civil act capacity, the other spouse
with full civil act capacity may represent the other. This also applies when one spouses civil
act capacity is limited.
Joint liability for transactions
Article 25 of the Marriage and Family Law provides: “Husband or wife must take joint liability
for lawful civil transactions conducted by either of them to satisfy their family’s daily-life
essential needs.”
Common property of husband and wife
The common property of the spouses includes “property created by husband and wife,
incomes generated from labor, production and business activities and other lawful incomes of
husband and wife during the marriage period; property jointly inherited or given to both, and
other property agreed upon by husband and wife as common property.” 727 Land-use rights
obtained by spouses after their marriage are their common property. Where obtained before
the marriage or personally inherited by husband or wife, land-use rights will be common
property only if so agreed upon by husband and wife. The Marriage and Family Law also
provides that “where a property under the common ownership of husband and wife is required
by law to be registered for ownership, the names of both husband and wife must be inscribed
in the ownership certificate thereof.” 728
Spouses have equal rights and obligation relating to the possession, use and
disposition of common property. 729 Common property of spouses is for ensuring the family
needs and performing common obligations. 730 Major transactions relating to the common
property - that is, involving a big value or the family’s sole means of livelihood - must be
agreed upon by both spouses. 731 Division of property during the marriage must be recorded in
writing. 732 Spouses may request the courts to intervene if they fail to reach an agreement. On
this matter, the Law on Gender Equality also contains provisions ensuring equality of wife and
husband in the possession common assets and in using their common income and in deciding
their family resources. 733
309
727
Marriage and Family Law, Article 27 (1)
728
Ibid., Article 27 (2)
729
Ibid., Article 28(1)
730
Ibid., Article 28(2)
731
Ibid., Article 28 (3)
732
Ibid., Article 29(1)
733
Law on Gender Equality, Article 18(2)
Marriage and family (Article 16 of CEDAW)