Cases where mothers are not eligible to directly raise children after divorce

Lawyer Nguyen Mai Phuong, YouMe Law Firm LLC, replied:

Clause 2, Clause 3, Article 81 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates the care, care, nurturing, and education of children after divorce as follows:

2. The husband and wife agree on the person who directly raises the child, the obligations and rights of each party after the divorce for the child; in case of no agreement, the Court decides to give the child to one party for direct supervision based on the child's rights in all aspects; if the child is 07 years old or older, the child's wishes must be considered.

3. Children under 36 months old are given to the mother for direct adoption, except in cases where the mother is not qualified to directly look after, care for, nurture, or educate the child or the parents have another agreement in accordance with the child's interests.

Clause 3, Article 6 of Resolution 01/2024/NQ-HDTP guiding the application of a number of legal provisions in handling cases of marriage and family stipulates:

3. Mothers who are not eligible to directly look after, care for, raise, and educate their children as prescribed in Clause 3, Article 81 of the Law on Marriage and Family are the cases where the mother belongs to one of the following cases:

a) Having a serious illness or other serious illness that cannot be cared for or cannot directly care for, care for, raise, or educate children;

For example: In case the mother has a stroke and is paralyzed on one side, and is no longer able to walk, the Court will not assign the child under 36 months old to the mother to directly look after, care for, raise, and educate the child.

b) Having a monthly income lower than half of the regional minimum wage at the place where the mother is residing and no other assets to look after, care for, nurture, or educate the child;

c) The mother does not have the minimum time to directly look after, care for, nurture, and educate the child.

Thus, in the above cases, mothers are not qualified to directly look after, care for, nurture, and educate their children after divorce.