The young men and women are free to choose their partners. Each marriage goes through two stages. In the first stage, the young man and women become husband and wife. The bride comes to live with her husband's family and take the family name of the husband according to custom of the Ha Nhi in Lai Chau province. The second stage is organised when the couple get rich or have a child.
Funeral customs vary according to regions, but some common practices are observed.
When a person dies, the partition marking off the bedroom of the deceased is dismantled, as well as the altar to the ancestors. The dead body is placed on a bed in the kitchen, and auspicious hours and days must be chosen for burial. To determine the place of burial, an egg is tossed in the air and the grave dug where the egg hits the ground and breaks. There are no cemeteries. Around the grave, stones are piled up to make a funeral house or a protective fence.