If you spend money to buy a house for your wife to own, can the husband divide the property when divorcing?

Reader D.K (in Quang Ninh) asked: "I live abroad, married through matchmaking and have registered for marriage in Vietnam since 2016. When I was doing marriage procedures, my wife said that I had to buy a house in Vietnam to stabilize my life and told me to give money to buy a house and land. Because I thought that as husband and wife, we also need to live close to each other in the future, I completely agreed and returned to Vietnam to buy together, make papers and pay the seller.

When going to carry out procedures, my wife said that I am a foreigner so I cannot be named on the transfer papers, to avoid trouble, when going to notary, I only let her be named. Because I have lived abroad since childhood, I did not know the procedures, so I agreed with her opinion. When making the red book, I was also only named on my wife's name.

Up to now, due to many conflicts that cannot live together, she has kicked me out of the house and land that I bought when we got married. Because the house and land are in my wife's own name and were available before marriage registration, I have no right to divide them. She said that even if I divorce, I will leave empty-handed. I am very upset because the money to buy the above-mentioned house and land was given by me to my wife.

Although we bought it before registering for marriage, when buying the house and land, we completed the procedures for registering for marriage according to regulations and were just waiting to get the marriage certificate.

We also held a engagement ceremony and wedding according to local customs before the time of buying the house and land. I was the one who directly went with my wife to see the reality, negotiate and pay the seller.

Because my husband and I also have a child together, I don't want to push things too stressful. I will leave the house and land for my wife to live in and want her to pay with 1⁄2 of the property, which is the above-mentioned house and land, for me. Is my wish correct and is there anything too much? I would like to ask the lawyer for advice.

Regarding the legal issue you asked, Lawyer Duong Thu Hien - Thanh Lam Law Company Limited - advises as follows:

Clause 1, Article 33 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, amended and supplemented in 2025 stipulates the common property of husband and wife as follows:

1. Common property of husband and wife includes property created by husband and wife, income from labor, production and business activities, profits, profits arising from private property and other legal income during the marriage period, except for cases specified in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law; property that husband and wife are jointly inherited or jointly gifted and other property that husband and wife agree is common property.

The land use rights that husband and wife have after marriage are common property of husband and wife, except in cases where husband and wife are separately inherited, separately gifted or obtained through transactions with separate property.

Clause 2, Clause 3, Article 59 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014, amended and supplemented in 2025 stipulates the common property of husband and wife as follows:

2. Common property of husband and wife is divided in half but taking into account the following factors:

a) Family and spouse circumstances;

b) The contribution of husband and wife to the creation, maintenance and development of common property. The labor of husband and wife in the family is considered as income-generating labor;

c) Protect the legitimate interests of each party in production, business and occupation so that the parties have conditions to continue working to generate income;

d) The fault of each party in violating the rights and obligations of husband and wife.

3. Common property of husband and wife is divided in kind, if it cannot be divided in kind, it is divided according to value; whichever party receives the property in kind with a value greater than their own share, they must pay the other party the difference.

In Case No. 82/2025/AL approved by the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court on December 24, 2025 and announced according to Decision No. 339a/QD-CA dated December 25, 2025 of the Chief Justice of the Supreme People's Court, the content is:

Overview of the content of case law:

- Case precedent:

The couple has one side being a foreigner, and both sides have a marriage registration declaration and organized a wedding ceremony. After that, one side, the spouse, who is Vietnamese, is named to enter into a land use right transfer contract and is granted a certificate of land use rights before the couple registers for marriage. The transferring party confirms that the land use right has been transferred to the couple.

- Legal solution:

In this case, the Court must determine that the land use rights transferred by one party are common property of husband and wife.

Thus, in the case where your husband and wife already have a marriage registration declaration according to regulations and are just waiting for a marriage registration certificate, they have also organized a engagement ceremony and wedding according to local customs before the time of buying houses and land and notarizing the transfer of the Certificate of Land Use Rights.

On the other hand, you are the person who directly went with your wife to see the house and land, negotiate and pay the seller, so it must be determined that this is common property of you and your wife. The reason your wife gave is that only she is named on the Certificate of Land Use Rights, the house and land were before marriage registration, so you are not allowed to divide the above-mentioned house and land is unfounded, this house and land is still common property of you and your wife and you have rights to this property.

When divorcing, you have the right to request the Court to determine that this is common property of husband and wife and you have the right to request to divide 1⁄2 of the above-mentioned house and land. If necessary, you can request to determine the contributions of each person to the creation, maintenance and development of this common property to determine that you spent money to buy this house and land. At the same time, you can request to divide according to the specific value in money, if your wife receives the property in kind with a value greater than the value she receives, she must pay you the difference.

The above is the advice of the lawyer. Hopefully, it will help you have a basis to best protect your legitimate rights.