Vietnam doubles fines for adultery under new decree effective

The government has issued Decree 109/2026 replacing Decree 82/2020 on stricter penalties across areas including judicial support, marriage and family, civil judgment enforcement, and bankruptcy.

The fines of VND5-10 million are imposed on the following behaviors:

- Individuals who are already married and marry someone else, or those who are unmarried but knowingly marry someone who is already married.

- Individuals who are already married and live as husband and wife with another person.

- Those who are unmarried but knowingly cohabit as husband and wife with someone who is already married.

- Marriage or cohabitation between individuals with certain familial relationships, including former adoptive parents and adopted children, fathers-in-law and daughters-in-law, mothers-in-law and sons-in-law, stepfathers and stepchildren, and stepmothers and stepchildren.

- Obstructing marriage, demanding property during marriage, or obstructing divorce proceedings.

More severe violations face fines ranging from VND10 million to VND20 million ($760), including:

- Marriage or cohabitation between direct blood relatives or relatives within three generations.

- Marriage or cohabitation between adoptive parents and adopted children.

- Coercion or deception in marriage or divorce.

Defining ‘cohabitation as husband and wife’

Vietnamese law defines ‘cohabitation as husband and wife’ as a man and woman organizing a shared life and presenting themselves as a married couple.

While the Law on Marriage and Family does not provide detailed guidance on the term, earlier inter-ministerial guidance offers practical criteria.

Accordingly, ‘cohabiting as husband and wife’ refers to a situation in which a person who is already married lives with another person, or an unmarried person lives with someone they clearly know to be married, whether openly or discreetly, while sharing a common life as a family.

Evidence may include having children together, being recognized by neighbors or society as a couple, sharing property, or continuing the relationship despite intervention from families or organizations.

The 2014 Law on Marriage and Family strictly prohibits individuals who are already married from entering into another marriage or cohabiting as husband and wife with a third party.

Likewise, unmarried individuals are forbidden from marrying or cohabiting with someone they know to be married.

Violators shall face administrative sanctions under Decree 82/2020, or the new decree after it takes effect, or in more serious cases, criminal liability under Article 182 of the Penal Code, which addresses breaches of monogamous marriage rules.