Support Relationship Between Grandparents and Grandchildren

receive alimony from the other person. There are even judgments in the decision section that only state “accepting the agreement of the parties on the issue of common children and common property” but do not state the specific agreement of the parties. We think that the issue of alimony in these cases depends entirely on the voluntariness of the person with the obligation to provide alimony. Therefore, Article 11 of Resolution No. 02/2000/NQ-HDTP dated December 23, 2000 of the Council of Judges of the Supreme People's Court clearly stipulates how to implement the obligation to provide alimony after divorce: “According to the provisions of Clause 1, Article 92, the person who does not directly raise the child has the obligation to provide alimony. This is a mandatory obligation of the father and mother to the child after divorce. Therefore, regardless of whether the person directly raising the child has economic capacity or not, the person who does not directly raise the child still has the obligation to provide alimony. In cases where the person directly raising the child does not request the person not directly raising the child for some reason, the Court needs to explain to them that child support is the child's right to ensure the child's legitimate rights and interests. If it is considered that their not requesting support is voluntary and they have the ability and conditions to raise the child, the Court will not force the other party to provide child support" [44, pp. 65-66].

Parents provide support for their illegitimate children: The law stipulates that all children have equal rights to receive support from their parents. Therefore, biological children, adopted children, children in marriage, and illegitimate children all receive the same support from their parents. This provision comes from the basic principle of the Law on Marriage and Family that the State and society do not discriminate between children. This is a great step forward of the socialist marriage and family regime compared to the feudal marriage and family regime. Normally, when parents voluntarily adopt their children at the People's Committee, the person declared as the parent of the illegitimate child has the obligation to care for and raise the child. If they do not live directly with the child, they must have the obligation to support the child. If they do not fulfill their obligation

If the child is born out of wedlock, the child's legal representative or the Women's Union, the Population and Family Committee where the child resides has the right to request the Court to force the parents to support the child. In the case where the Court determines that the parent is the child born out of wedlock, the Court must clearly state in the judgment that the person not living with the child has the obligation to support the child. For example: In judgment No. 05/DSLH dated April 17, 2005 of the People's Court of Vinh City, the matter of determining the father of the child between the plaintiff, Ms. Nguyen Phi Nga, and the defendant, Mr. Le Anh Tuan, was resolved. Based on Ms. Nga's testimony and Mr. Tuan's admission, the Court determined that Le Tuan Hai, born on July 5, 1996, is Mr. Tuan's child. Mr. Tuan asked to directly take care of Hai, but Hai's wish was to live with his mother, so the Vinh City People's Court assigned Hai to Ms. Nga to directly raise and care for him, and Mr. Tuan was obliged to provide Hai with 300,000 VND/month from the date the first instance judgment came into effect until he turned 18. In the case where the Court annuls an illegal marriage or declares that the marital relationship is not recognized, but in principle, the relationship between parents and children does not depend on whether the parents have a legal marriage or not. Therefore, when the Court annuls an illegal marriage, if the two parties living together have a minor child or an adult child who is unable to work and has no property to support himself, the parents must have the obligation to support the child, so the judgment must include a decision on who will raise the child and the party who does not directly raise the child must have the obligation to support the child.

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There are also many cases where due to work conditions, both parents cannot directly raise their children and must send their children to someone else to look after. Both parents must have the obligation to support their children by contributing money to the person directly raising the children. In this case, the parents voluntarily

Because of the obligation to support children, requests for child support in court are very rare.

In reality, there are cases where a minor or adult stepchild is disabled, unable to work and has no assets to support himself or herself, and has the right to request his or her stepfather or stepmother to provide maintenance for him or her in the event that the parties live together and the stepfather or stepmother does not fulfill the obligation to provide maintenance. However, we should also remember that a stepchild still has his or her biological father or mother, so the stepchild must also request his or her biological father or mother to provide maintenance for him or her because he or she does not live with his or her biological parents.

Second case where children provide support for their parents:

"Father's love is like Thai Son mountain

Mother's love is like water flowing from the source"

The above folk song has shown us the boundless merit of parents for their children. Therefore, it is necessary and important to regulate the child's obligation to provide support to their parents. To determine that, Article 35 of the 2000 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates: "Children have the duty to love, respect, be grateful, and be filial to their parents, listen to their parents' correct advice, and preserve the family's reputation and good traditions." In addition, Article 57 of the 2000 Law on Marriage and Family further stipulates: "Children who have reached adulthood and do not live with their parents have the obligation to provide support to parents who are unable to work and do not have property to support themselves." Thus, according to the spirit of the law, providing support to parents is not only the duty of children to their parents but also a legal obligation of every child to every parent, regardless of whether they live with their parents or not. In principle, all children have equal obligations and rights in caring for and supporting their parents, especially when their parents are sick, old, or infirm.... Family structure

In the past, there were: Five generations under one roof, Four generations under one roof, Three generations under one roof, but today, due to the impact of the market mechanism and global integration in all aspects, the family structure has changed significantly. Currently, there is only a nuclear family form consisting of two generations: Parents and children living together. But in reality, parents only live with their minor children or their adult children who are not married. When getting married, partly due to professional activities, partly due to the desire for a free life, most children have separated from their parents to live separately. Thus, according to the spirit of the law, adult children who are able to work and do not live with their parents have the obligation to support their parents and vice versa, minor children who do not have their own property or adult children who are unable to work do not have the obligation to support their parents. That means not all children have the obligation to support their parents. However, minors who are 15 years of age or older, have the ability to work and have their own property, must be responsible for supporting their parents, although the law does not stipulate that they must have the obligation to support their parents when their parents are unable to work or have no property to support themselves. However, if they do not live with their parents to directly support them, these people must have the obligation to support their parents according to their ability.

One issue that lawmakers are concerned about is whether stepchildren who live with their stepfather or stepmother but avoid fulfilling their child support obligations have to fulfill their child support obligations for their stepfather or stepmother or not? According to Clause 2, Article 38 of the 2000 Law on Marriage and Family, "Stepchildren have the obligation and right to care for and raise their stepfather or stepmother who live with them according to the provisions of the Law on Marriage and Family." Article 51 of the Law on Marriage and Family stipulates, "Those who have the child support obligations but avoid fulfilling those obligations are required to fulfill their child support obligations." From the guidance of the laws

From the above, we can conclude that stepchildren who live with their stepfathers and stepmothers but avoid the obligation to support them must also fulfill the obligation to support their stepfathers and stepmothers. This is also natural and completely in line with Vietnamese morality because stepfathers and stepmothers live with their spouses' children since they were young, and they have cared for and raised them as their own children. Therefore, when the children reach adulthood and are able to work, they must have the obligation to support their stepfathers and stepmothers when they live with them. If the stepfathers and stepmothers do not have the assets to support themselves and the stepchildren are indifferent and avoid taking care of their stepfathers and stepmothers' essential needs, they must provide support according to the provisions of law.

The child's obligation to provide support to his or her parents is usually voluntarily agreed upon by the children. In the case where the child takes the parent back to raise, the support obligation is converted into a nurturing obligation. The support obligation only ends when the parent is able to work or has assets to support himself or herself or when the parent dies.

Thus, the law stipulates that parents and children have the obligation to support each other. Parents have equal rights and obligations to support their children and vice versa, children also have equal obligations to support their parents. If parents have many children, the children must care for and support their parents together and together fulfill the obligation to support according to their abilities.

2.2.2. Maintenance relationship between brothers and sisters

Brothers and sisters are people with the same parents, the same father but different mothers, the same mother but different fathers. These are people who have close blood relations. Between brothers and sisters there is an irreplaceable feeling, that is the feeling of blood.

Siblings are like indispensable parts of a human body.

“ Brothers are like arms and legs

"The torn and the healthy help each other, the bad and the strong help each other"

According to Vietnamese family tradition, when children are young, siblings live with their parents and are cared for and raised by them. When they grow up, they build their own families and separate from their parents, but the bond between siblings in terms of affection and responsibility is extremely tight and lasting. They care for, look after, help and protect each other. On that basis, the Law on Marriage and Family 2000 stipulates: "Siblings have the duty to love, care for, and help each other, have the obligation and right to protect and raise each other in cases where there are no parents or the parents do not have the conditions to look after and educate their children" [24, p.28] and "In cases where there are no parents or the parents are unable to work or do not have property to support their children, adult siblings who do not live with their younger siblings have the obligation to support their minor siblings who do not have property to support themselves or adult siblings who are unable to work and do not have property to support themselves (Article 58 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2000).

The above provision shows that the obligation to provide support between siblings is a mandatory legal obligation. However, this must be understood as an additional obligation to provide support when the person receiving support does not receive support from his or her own parents - children or spouse. That means that the spouses or their parents - children have the obligation to support or provide support for them, but if the spouses or their parents - children are no longer there or are not capable of supporting or providing support, then the provisions on support between siblings will apply. Because according to the provisions of Article 679 of the 1995 Civil Code, parents - children, spouses are people in the line of inheritance.

First-order heirs, siblings belong to the second-order heirs. Therefore, the obligation to provide support between siblings only arises when the following conditions exist:

- Parents are no longer or are unable to provide support.

- The person receiving support is a minor sibling or an adult sibling who is unable to work and has no assets to support himself or herself.

- The person who must provide support is an adult and has the conditions and assets to fulfill the support obligation.

With the aim of ensuring a stable life for a minor or an adult with a disability who is unable to work, the support relationship between siblings arises from the time when legal events occur such as: parents die, siblings become disabled and this support relationship ends when one of the two parties dies or the person receiving support is adopted, has the ability to work or has assets to support themselves. In case the siblings are unable to fulfill their support and support obligations, they can request assistance from competent authorities such as the Population, Family and Children Committee, Women's Union.

In the maintenance relationship between siblings, there may be a case where some siblings need maintenance while many others have the obligation to provide maintenance. In this case, it can be affirmed that the siblings of that person have the same maintenance obligation and each person must provide maintenance according to his or her ability to meet the essential needs of the person receiving maintenance. On the contrary, there is a case where a person must provide maintenance for many of his or her siblings. In this case, the maintenance ability of this person is divided among all the people receiving maintenance. However, the level of maintenance for each person is different so that it is suitable for the ability of the person with the maintenance obligation and meets the essential needs of the people receiving maintenance.

In fact, there are very few cases of maintenance between siblings in the Courts. This may stem from many reasons, but the main reason is that this obligation has been performed based on the voluntary and mutual agreement of the parties. When there are siblings who need to be raised or provided for, the others voluntarily perform their obligations with feelings of attachment, sharing, and protection. If the person who is capable of raising or providing maintenance does not voluntarily perform his obligations, he will be condemned by public opinion.

2.2.3. Support relationship between paternal and maternal grandparents and grandchildren

In Vietnam today, the three-generation family structure is relatively common. Families usually have grandparents, parents and the third generation of children (grandchildren). Grandparents are the oldest members of the family, those with a lot of life experience and are always the most respected by everyone in the family. Grandparents and grandchildren are people of the same bloodline. In the family, paternal and maternal grandparents have the same role in their relationship with their grandchildren. Article 47 of the 2000 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates: “Paternal and maternal grandparents have the obligation and right to care for and educate their grandchildren, live exemplary lives and set good examples for their children and grandchildren. In the case of minor grandchildren or adults who are disabled, lose civil act capacity, are unable to work and have no property to support themselves and have no one to raise them as prescribed in Article 48 of this law, paternal and maternal grandparents have the obligation to raise their grandchildren. Grandchildren have the duty to respect, care for, and support their paternal and maternal grandparents. This is the legal basis for the appearance of the support relationship between paternal and maternal grandparents and grandchildren in Article 59 as follows: “Paternal and maternal grandparents who do not live with their grandchildren have the duty to support their minor grandchildren or grandchildren who are adults and are unable to work and have no property to support themselves and have no one to support them, as prescribed in Article 58 of this law.

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