Typical cases in the West:The couple lived together for more than 30 years, built a large amount of assets including real estate, shrimp farms, bird's nest houses... and jointly held a bank loan worth 1.5 billion VND. After separation, the wife continued to use the house to raise bird's nest and do furniture business, and was the one who paid most of the debt. When filing for divorce, the husband suddenly denied responsibility, saying: "The loan is used by the wife, the profits are also enjoyed by the wife - I am not involved so I don't have to pay."

However, the Court rejected this argument and came to a clear conclusion:

"The loan is made during the marriage period, both husband and wife sign a loan contract and mortgage the common property. The fact that only one party directly exploits and uses the property does not change the nature of the legal obligation. This iscommon debt, both must jointly pay.”

Notably, the husband alsoCould not provide specific evidenceWhich shows that the wife is the only beneficiary of the loan. The wife's continued business on common property after separationnot enough groundsto turn the debt into a separate obligation.

Important legal lessons:

1. Debt incurred during marriage is often determined to be joint debt, unless there is clear evidence proving that it is a separate debt.

2. CourtConsider the timing and nature of the loan obligation, not just who is using assets or paying down more debt.

3. When settling a divorce,It is necessary to clearly define both assets and liabilities, especially credit loans with collateral.

There are divorce cases that seem to be "split in half and done", but if financial obligations are overlooked, post-divorce disputes can easily arise - even leading to counter-suits.

Advice from DEDICA:For all divorce cases that involve property or debt, preparation is neededComprehensive solution for both ownership and financial obligations, so that divorce is truly the end – not the beginning of a series of new legal problems.