Can you get a divorce if you have joint debt?

Can you get a divorce if you have joint debt?

I want to ask about the following issue: My husband and I buy an apartment in Hanoi and have a mortgage of 400 million VND to pay for the house. So if my husband and I are getting a divorce, can the court handle the divorce? Because my husband and I are still in debt the bank has 400 million VND. If the divorce is resolved, what are the documents and procedures?

Dear customers, with the above questions, LP&P Law Firm consults as follows:

According to Article 27, Article 37, and Clause 1, Article 60 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 as follows:

“Property rights and obligations of husband and wife toward a third party remain effective after divorce unless otherwise agreed by husband and wife and that party”.

In your case, the bank loan used to pay for the apartment purchase is a joint debt and when you divorce, the two parties will still continue to perform financial obligations for the bank loan. Therefore, the court will resolve the divorce for husband and wife if there are still joint debts and the third person has no objection. After the divorce, the parties will perform financial obligations towards the third person according to the Court’s Decision/Judgment.

Documents and procedures to be carried out in case the husband and wife agree to divorce are as follows:

Dossier includes

According to Clause 2, Article 29 of the Civil Procedure Code 2015 as follows:

“Article 29. Marriage and family-related petitions falling under the court’s jurisdiction

2. The petitions for recognizing voluntary divorces and agreements on child custody and property division upon divorce”.

In order to be processed by the Court according to divorce procedures, you need to prepare the following documents:

• Application for recognition of consent to the divorce, made according to form No. 01-VDS, issued together with Resolution 04/2018/NQ-HDTP;
• Original Marriage Certificate. If you don’t keep it or don’t have it, you can contact the civil status agency where the marriage was registered before to issue a copy;
• Certified copy of ID/Passport. If not, you can follow the instructions of the Court to submit other identification documents;
• Certified copies of the birth certificates of the children (if they have children);
• Certified copy of household registration book;
• Documents and evidence of common property such as Certificate of land use rights, ownership of houses and other land-attached assets (red book); vehicle registration; …
• Documents and evidence proving that the agreement on the consent to divorce, the agreement on child custody, and the division of property upon divorce are grounded and lawful.
• Documents, evidence, and papers proving the debts and property obligations of the husband and wife during the marriage period (copy);
• Other documents as prescribed by law.

Implementation procedure

According to the Civil Procedure Code 2015, the procedure includes the following steps:

• Step 1: Prepare documents and submit them to the competent court.

Apply at the People’s Court of the district where the wife or husband resides and works (if the wife or husband is abroad, the application must be filed at the provincial People’s Court).

• Step 2: Prepare to consider the application form and open a public meeting to resolve the request for recognition of the consent for divorce. 

During this period, the Court will consider the application form, the grounds for terminating the marital relationship and issue a notice to pay the advance fee.

After the husband and wife pay the fee in advance, the Court will open a public meeting to settle the request for recognition of the consent of the divorce.

• Step 3: Make a decision to recognize the consensual divorce. After mediation without success, the Court will issue a decision to recognize the divorce. On the contrary, if the conciliation is successful, the Court will carry out procedures to terminate the resolution of civil matters.

Here are our answers.

In case of needing lawyer support and specific guidance on related legal issues, please contact LP&P Law Firm by email: phongnhansu.lpp@gmail.com or zalo: 0902 803 295 – 0961 494 965 to receive detailed advice from a team of lawyers.

Best regards./.