How Much Money Does Unilateral Divorce Cost?

At the beginning of the divorce proceedings, the level of Court fees is quite concerning to couples. How much does a unilateral divorce cost? Who has to pay the Court fee? When to pay? Let’s find out!

What is Unilateral Divorce?

First of all, let us reiterate the concept of unilateral divorce. What is a unilateral divorce? Divorce is the termination of a conjugal relationship according to a legally effective judgment or decision of a Court. Divorce is either consented or not consented by both parties, wife and husband. Therefore, unilateral divorce can be understood as one of the parties files for a divorce without the other party’s consent. According to the law on marriage and family, when receiving the application for a unilateral divorce, the Court will conduct a mediation to conciliate between the parties. If conciliation fails, the Court will proceed with the divorce proceedings accordance with the law.

How long does a unilateral divorce take?

Unilateral divorce settlement time  can be short or long depending on the complexity of each divorce case.

Unilateral divorce process starts from when a spouse submits the request at the Court. The other party may disagree with the divorce, which often will cause difficulties to process the divorce. Therefore, the period of unilateral divorce in practice will usually be longer than prescribed by the law. Here are some statutory duration:

• Within 5 working days after receiving the statement of claim, the Court must proceed with the case commencement procedures. Accordingly, the Court will notify the applicant about the Court fees advance. The court will commence the case  after it receives the fees advance receipt.
• Within 4 months from the commencement date, the Court shall, on a case-by-case basis, issue one of the following decisions: Recognize the parties’ agreement to divorce; Temporarily suspend the case; Termination the case; Bring the case to trial.
• Within 5 working days from the date recognize the parties’ agreement, the Court must send this decision to the parties.
• Within 1 month from the date of issuance of the decision to bring the case to trial, the Court must commence the trial.
• After 30 days from the date of official judgment, if there is no appeal or protest, the judgment will take effect.

How much does a unilateral divorce cost?

First-instance divorce Court fees

The Court fees for a unilateral divorce is divided into tiers, including divorce cases of property disputes with monetary value, and divorces without monetary value.

A divorce involving no monetary value is a case where there is a dispute over property that is not a specific amount or cannot be measured in monetary terms. In the case of a divorce dispute without the monetary value, the first-instance Court fee is VND 300,000 and the involved parties must pay a Court fees advance of exactly VND 300,000 to the relevant competent Court.

A property dispute divorce case involving a monetary value is a divorce case in which the disputed property is a specific amount of money or property that can be determined or measured in value in a specific amount. The first-instance Court fee will depend on the value of the disputed property.

According to the provisions of Resolution No. 326/2016/NQ-UBTVQH14, specifically as follows:

• Assets valued at less than VND 6,000,000: VND  300,000.
• Property valued from over VND6,000,000 to VND 400,000,000: 5% of the disputed property value.
• Assets valued from over VND 400,000,000 to VND 800,000,000: VND 20,000,000 + 4% of the of the disputed property value exceeding VND 400,000,000.
• Assets valued from VND 800,000,000 to VND 2,000,000,000: VND 36,000,000 + 3% of the of the disputed property value exceeding VND 800,000,000.
• Assets valued between VND 2,000,000,000 and VND 4,000,000,000: VND 72,000,000 + 2% of the of the disputed property value exceeding VND 2,000,000,000.
• Assets valued at over VND 4,000,000,000: VND 112,000,000 + 0.1% of the of the disputed property value exceeding VND 4,000,000,000.

For a divorce case involving monetary values, the  Court fees advance that the involved parties must pay to the Court is 50% of the Court fee amount calculated on the value of the disputed property.

Court fees for appellate divorce

According to the list of Court costs and fees promulgated together with Resolution 326/2016/UBTVQH14, the appellate divorce Court fee is VND 300,000. For appellate divorce Court fees, the law does not provide for division by quota or non-quota, but common Court fees are applied to all forms of divorce.

In addition to the above-mentioned legal costs, the involved parties must also pay other procedural expenses such as costs for interpreters and lawyers; foreign judicial entrustment expenses; cost of assessment, asset valuation, if any.

Unilateral divorce costs when there are foreign elements

Unilateral divorce with foreign elements: A unilateral divorce procedure between Vietnamese and foreign spouses; between husband and wife who are Vietnamese but one party is living and working in a foreign country; between husband and wife who are foreigners permanently residing in Vietnam…

Expenses for unilateral divorce with foreign elements: The current law on Court fees and fees does not have any provisions to distinguish the costs of a unilateral divorce without foreign elements from those with foreign elements. Accordingly, the cost of a unilateral divorce with foreign elements applies similarly to the cost of a unilateral divorce as stated above.

Who is subject to Court fees for a unilateral divorce?

According to the provisions of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code, Resolution No. 326/2016/UBTVQH14, the obligation to bear the Court fees in the event of a unilateral divorce is regulated as follows:

Plaintiffs must bear first-instance civil Court fees in divorce cases regardless of whether the Court accepts or rejects the plaintiff’s claim.

The involved parties in a marriage and family case having a dispute over the division of common property of husband and wife shall, in addition to bearing the preliminary civil Court costs as prescribed, must also bear the Court costs for the part of the property disputes such as civil cases have a value corresponding to the value of the property they are divided.

When to pay the unilateral divorce Court fee?

Article 195 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code stipulates that, after receiving an application for a unilateral divorce, the Judges shall immediately notify the litigators thereof so that they come to the Court to receive notice of  Court fees advance. The submission time is within 07 working days, from the receipt date of the Court notice.

Those who are exempted from payment of legal Court advances and unilateral divorce Court fees

Cases eligible for exemption from Court fees advance and Court costs in civil cases specified in Clause 1, Article 12 of Resolution 326/2016/UBTVQH14 include: Individuals belonging to poor,  near-poor households; the elderly; people with disabilities; people with meritorious services to the revolution; ethnic minorities in communes with particularly difficult economic conditions; martyrs’ relatives are granted certificates of martyrs’ families by competent State agencies.

We hope we have assisted you in determining the expenses of unilateral divorce  as well as issues related to Court fees during a divorce. If you want more detailed instructions, please contact us here: letran@familylawyers.vn.