THE JOINT OBLIGATION TO PAY DEBTS OF HUSBAND AND WIFE

My wife hid from me gambling. She lost a large amount of money and borrowed a lot without my permission. When everyone knew her problem, her natural mother mortgaged a house to pay her debt. And at the time of borrowing from the bank, my wife and I signed the loan contract. However, later, my wife continued to gamble and lost all the money, so I decided to divorce. But, the wife’s family uses the reason that I signed into the loan contract, so I have to pay off the debt. May I ask that If I have to pay this debt?

FDVN’s opinions:

Thank you for concerning and trusting in FDVN’s legal services. Based on your consulting requirements, after studying the legal documents, FDVN Law Firm offers the following advice:

Pursuant to Article 27 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, which regulates the joint liability of husband and wife as follows: “Husband and wife shall take joint liability for transactions prescribed in Clause 1, Article 30 [Rights and obligations of husband and wife to meet their family’s essential needs], which are made by either of them or other transactions made in conformity with provisions on representation of Article 24 [Bases for determination of representation between husband and wife], 25 [Representation between husband and wife in business relations] and 26 [Representation between husband and wife in case only one spouse is named in the ownership or use right certificate of common property] of this Law.

1. Husband and wife shall take joint liability for the obligations prescribed in Article 37 of this Law.”

However,  in Clause 3 Article 45 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 regulates one of the separate property obligations of husband and wife is that “The obligations arising from transactions established and made by himself/herself not for meeting the family’s needs”.

In addition, in Clause 20 of Article 3 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 defines as follows: “Essential needs means ordinary needs for food, clothing, accommodation, learning, medical care and other ordinary needs which are indispensable in the life of each person and family.”

Your wife’s gambling, incurring debt, not for the needs of the family is that the wife’s obligation and is not related to you.

However, the bank loan is signed by your wife and you, so it is a transaction for the bank established by both husband and wife. In Clause 1 Article 37 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 stipulates: “Obligations arising from transactions established under their agreement, obligations to pay damages under their joint liability as prescribed by law.” Therefore, you can also be jointly responsible for the loan at the bank. 

In the process of resolving the divorce at Court, if you have grounds to prove that the amount of loan is used for payment debts caused by the act of gambling of your wife, and your signing of the loan contract is required by the Bank to complete the procedure, the Court can determine that the debt repayment obligation to the Bank belongs to the wife in accordance with the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 as mentioned above.

Above is FDVN LAW FIRM’s opinion for your consulting requests based on studying the relevant legal provisions. Hopefully, FDVN’s advice would be helpful to you.

Hoàng Thị Thúy Quỳnh – FDVN Law Firm

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