ANH EM RUỘT CÓ PHẢI CẤP DƯỠNG CHO NHAU KHÔNG? / ARE BIOLOGICAL SIBLINGS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE ALIMONY

Legal situation: Dear Lawyer, I am 65 years old, unmarried and childless. I don’t have anything to sustain myself and I’m heavily in debt. Currently, I am living with a relative who is supporting me. My parents passed away a long time ago. I have an older brother who is 67 years old and a younger sister who is 55 years old. Both are married, have their own homes, and are financially well-off. So according to current legal regulations are my brother and sister legally obligated to provide financial support for me? If they refuse to fulfill this responsibility what legal actions can I take? I sincerely hope for legal advice on this matter. Thank you very much.

Response:

Thank you for sending your question to FDVN Law Firm. Regarding your question, after studying the relevant legal regulations, FDVN has some discussion as follows:

According regulation at Clause 24 Article 3 Law on marriage and family “Support means an act whereby a person has the obligation to contribute money or other kinds of property to meet the essential needs of another person who does not live together with but has marriage, blood or raising relation with the former and is a minor or an adult who has no working capacity and no property to support himself/herself, or meets with financial difficulties as prescribed by this Law”

Also according Clause 1 Article 102 Law marriage and family 2014 support obligation determined follow up:

"Article 107. Support obligation

The support obligation shall be performed between parents and children; among siblings; between paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents and grandchildren; between aunts, uncles and nieces, nephews; and between husband and wife in accordance with this Law.

The support obligation can be neither replaced by another obligation nor transferred to other people."

On the other hand, Article 112 Law marriage and family also stipulates The support obligation among siblings.

"Article 112. The support obligation among siblings

In case they no longer have parents or their parents have no working capacity and no property to support their children, adult elder siblings who do not live together with their younger siblings have the obligation to support their minor siblings who have no property to support themselves or adult younger siblings who have no working capacity and no property to support themselves; adult younger siblings who do not live together with their elder siblings have the obligation to support their elder siblings who have no working capacity and no property to support themselves."

Accordingly, the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family explicitly stipulates that siblings have an obligation to provide financial support for one another when their parents are deceased or unable to work and do not have assets to support their children. This obligation of support cannot be replaced by another obligation or transferred to another person. If you are unable to work, do not have a spouse or children, lack assets to support yourself, are in significant debt, and are not living with your siblings, you have the right to claim financial support from them. In case your siblings deliberately refuse to fulfill their support obligation, you may, based on Clause 1, Article 119 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, submit a request to the competent court to compel your siblings to fulfill their support obligation.

Article 109 Law marriage and family also stipulates: "In case many persons have the obligation to support one person or many persons, they shall agree mutually upon methods and levels of contribution suitable to the actual income and ability of each supporting person and the essential needs of the supported person(s); if they fail to reach agreement, they may request a court to settle it."

The above is FDVN's legal advice regarding your inquiry, based on our analysis of relevant legal regulations. We hope that FDVN's advice will be helpful to you.

Nguyen Loan - FDVN Lawyer