In this Q&A, we look at whether a child holding foreign nationality may inherit property from a Vietnamese parent, particularly a house attached to residential land in Việt Nam, and how such inheritance is handled under Vietnamese law.

I am a British national married to a Vietnamese woman. We have a son who holds British nationality. My wife now wishes to make a will leaving him her estate, including a house attached to residential land in Việt Nam. Is he entitled to inherit the property and be granted a land use rights certificate?

Yes. Your son is entitled to inherit property from his mother.

Under Article 626 of the 2015 Civil Code, a testator has the right to designate heirs, disinherit heirs, allocate parts of the estate to each heir, set aside part of the estate for donation or worship purposes, assign obligations to heirs and appoint persons to keep the will, manage the estate and distribute the estate.

In other words, your wife is free to name your son as her heir, regardless of whether he is a Vietnamese citizen or a British national. The fact that he holds foreign nationality does not, by itself, affect his right to inherit her property.

Please note that inheritance rights are not absolute in all circumstances. Article 621.1 of the Civil Code sets out cases in which a person is not entitled to inherit. These include where the person:

- is convicted of intentionally infringing upon the life or health of, or seriously mistreating, abusing, or infringing upon the honour or dignity of, the estate leaver;

- seriously breaches the obligation to support the estate leaver;

- is convicted of intentionally infringing upon the life of another heir in order to obtain part or all of the estate to which that heir is entitled; or

- deceives, coerces or obstructs the estate leaver in making the will, or forges, modifies or destroys the will in order to obtain part or all of the estate against the estate leaver’s wishes.

However, even in these cases, such a person may still inherit the estate if the estate leaver, despite knowing of the conduct, still allows him or her to inherit the estate under the will.

The more specific issue in your question concerns the house attached to residential land. Under Articles 37 and 44 of the 2024 Land Law, a foreign national may lawfully inherit land use rights in Việt Nam, whether by law or under a will. However, as foreign individuals are not among the subjects eligible to be granted a land use rights certificate, they may not have the inherited land use rights registered under their own name.

Applied to your son’s case, this means that although he may inherit the house attached to residential land from your wife, he will not be granted a land use rights certificate for the land because he has foreign nationality. He may, however, transfer or donate the inherited land use rights in accordance with Vietnamese law, and may be named as the seller in a house sale and purchase contract or as the donor in a land donation contract.

If your son has not yet decided whether to sell or donate the inherited property, he may authorise another person to carry out the inheritance procedures on his behalf and submit the required documents to the land registration authority for updating the cadastral records.

He may also authorise another person to look after and temporarily use the land, as well as perform land-related obligations in accordance with law.

Can my wife make her will in a foreign country and, if so, how will its validity be determined?

Yes. Your wife may make her will while she is in a foreign country.

Under Article 630 of the 2015 Civil Code, a will is considered lawful if:

-  The testator is of sound mind and has clear judgment when making it; is not deceived, threatened or coerced; and

- The contents of the will neither violate prohibitions of law nor contravene social ethics.

In addition, the form of the will must comply with law. As a general rule, a will must be made in writing but when possible, it may be made orally.

A written will may be notarised or certified, and may be made with or without witnesses, depending on the circumstances. If a written will is made without witnesses, the testator must personally write and sign it.

An oral will may be considered lawful only if the testator expresses his or her last wishes before at least two witnesses, who must immediately write them down and jointly sign or press their fingerprints on the written record. An oral will is automatically revoked if, after three months from the date it is made, the testator is still alive, lucid and of sound mind.

For a Vietnamese citizen making a will in a foreign country, the will will have the same validity as a notarised or certified will if it is certified by a Vietnamese consular office or diplomatic mission in that country. In that case, the will may be recognised as lawful in Việt Nam, provided that it also satisfies the above conditions on the testator’s capacity, voluntariness, content and form.

If my wife makes her will in a foreign language, can it be notarised in Việt Nam?

Yes, but it must be translated into Vietnamese for notarisation.

Article 627 of the 2015 Civil Code provides that a will may be made in written or oral form, and does not restrict the language or script used. This means a person may make a will in a foreign language, provided that it complies with the procedures and formalities prescribed by law.

However, if the will is to be notarised or certified in Việt Nam, Vietnamese must be used in the notarisation process. Under Article 7 of the 2024 Law on Notarisation, the spoken and written language used in notarisation is Vietnamese.

Therefore, where a will is written in a foreign language, the person requesting notarisation should have it translated into Vietnamese before carrying out notarisation or certification procedures in accordance with law. VNS