Presumptive Marital Property Regime is Joint Ownership
- Laws
- Vietnam
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Under the Civil Code, marital property is presumed, by law, to be common ownership by integration, which means that each owner’s share is undetermined and each owner has rights and obligations to the whole (art. 217).Both common owners have equal rights to possess, use, and dispose of the whole of the property (art. 219).
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- Ethiopia
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All property and income acquired during the marriage is presumed to be common property (FC, Art 62, 63.
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- Rwanda
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Couples in registered marriages can elect one of three marital property regimes: (1) a community property regime in which property is held jointly; (2) a limited community of acquests in which the couple designates property acquired during marriage as either community or separate property; or (3) a separate property regime. If no choice is made, the default marital property regime is community of property (Law No. 22/1999 of 12/11/1999, Art 2).
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- Vietnam
- Commentary
The presumption of joint ownership protects women because in most patrilineal/patrilocal societies, the presumption is that all land is held by the man in the household.
Note: While the presumption of joint ownership always applies to property acquired during marriage by both spouses, often there are exceptions for inheritance, gifts, and property brought into the marriage by one spouse. This exception can reduce wives’ protection because in cases where wives move to their husband’s land, they would not have a legal right to that land (if he inherits it or is given it or brings it into the relationship.