When the parent who owes child support leaves Vietnam for home and cuts contact, the parent who stayed faces a two-layer problem: obtaining a Vietnamese support decision is one thing, turning it into regular money arriving from abroad is quite another. The child-support duty under Marriage and Family Law 52/2014/QH13 does not end because the obligated parent changed residence.
Suing for support in Vietnam while the defendant is abroad
The custodial parent may sue for support before the Vietnamese court where the child resides, and the foreign-related case follows the jurisdiction rules of the Civil Procedure Code 92/2015/QH13 with service abroad through judicial-assistance channels or other statutory methods. The defendant’s absence does not automatically block the case: after valid service and expiry of the time limits, the court may try the case in absence. The file should include any prior custody judgment or agreement, proof of the child’s actual costs, and every known detail of the defendant’s address and assets abroad.
Enforcing the support decision: inside and outside Vietnam
If the obligated parent still holds assets in Vietnam — real estate, accounts, shares — the civil judgment enforcement agency can enforce against those assets under the Law on Civil Judgment Enforcement like any other money obligation. If all assets and income sit abroad, the Vietnamese judgment bites only when the foreign state recognises and enforces it under a judicial-assistance treaty or its own foreign-judgment recognition procedure. That is why identifying the evading parent’s remaining Vietnamese assets early has such high practical value.
Can the defendant’s home authorities collect for you?
This depends entirely on the law of the defendant’s country of residence and its judicial-assistance relationship with Vietnam. Some states run relatively open recognition regimes for foreign maintenance decisions, especially within convention networks on maintenance; Vietnam is not universally inside those networks, so a lawyer in that country is usually needed to seek recognition or to sue afresh on the basis of the Vietnamese judgment. Meanwhile the custodial parent should apply domestic pressure in parallel: seize remaining assets and, where statutory conditions are met, seek exit restrictions should the defendant return to Vietnam.
Practical steps: sue early in Vietnam to anchor a support decision, trace and freeze the evading parent’s domestic assets, and budget for counsel in the defendant’s country for the recognition stage — only these three tracks running in parallel produce real money.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if a parent fled home without paying support?
The support duty does not vanish when the obligated parent goes home. Sue in Vietnam for a support decision under Marriage and Family Law 52/2014/QH13, trace any assets they still hold in Vietnam for enforcement, and prepare recognition proceedings in their country of residence.
Can you sue in Vietnam while the defendant is abroad?
Yes. A foreign-related case falls within Vietnamese court jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Code 92/2015/QH13; the court serves documents abroad through statutory channels and may try the case in absence after valid service, though progress is usually slower than in domestic cases.
Can foreign authorities enforce collection for you?
Only where that country recognises a Vietnamese support decision under a judicial-assistance treaty or its own foreign-judgment recognition procedure. Vietnam is not inside a universal maintenance-convention network, so in practice local counsel must file for recognition or a fresh claim.
