Vietnam: Between adopted children and biological nephews/nieces, who will receive the inheritance when the deceased does not leave a will?
If the deceased does not leave a will, how is the inheritance divided?
According to the provisions of Article 650 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam, cases of inheritance at law in Vietnam are as follows:
Cases of inheritance at law in Vietnam
1. Inheritance at law shall apply in the following cases:
a) There is no will;
b) The will is unlawful;
c) All heirs under the will died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying, or the bodies or organizations which are entitled to inherit under the will no longer exist at the time of commencement of the inheritance;
d) The persons appointed as heirs under the will do not have the right to inherit or disclaimed the right to inherit.
2. Inheritance at law shall also apply to the following parts of an estate:
a) Parts of an estate in respect of which no disposition has been made in the will;
b) Parts of an estate related to an ineffective part of the will;
c) Parts of an estate related to heirs under the will not having the right to inherit, having disclaimed the right to inherit, or having died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying; and parts of an estate related to bodies or organizations entitled to inherit under the will but no longer existing at the time of commencement of the inheritance.
According to the above provisions, if the deceased does not leave a will, the property of this person will be distributed as inheritance at law.
Vietnam: Between adopted children and biological nephews/nieces, who will receive the inheritance when the deceased does not leave a will?
Between adopted children and biological nephews/nieces, who will receive the inheritance when the deceased does not leave a will?
According to Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam on the heirs at law as follows:
Heirs at law
1. Heirs at law are categorized in the following order of priority:
a) The first level of heirs comprises: spouses, biological parents, adoptive parents, offspring and adopted children of the deceased;
b) The second level of heirs comprises: grandparents and siblings of the deceased; and biological grandchildren of the deceased;
c) The third level of heirs comprises: biological great-grandparents of the deceased, biological uncles and aunts of the deceased and biological nephews and nieces of the deceased.
2. Heirs at the same level shall be entitled to equal shares of the estate.
3. Heirs at a lower level shall be entitled to inherit where there are no heirs at a higher level because such heirs have died, or because they are not entitled to inherit, have been deprived of the right to inherit or have disclaimed the right to inherit.
Thus, when the deceased does not leave a will to divide the property, this property will be divided and inherited at law.
If the inheritance is divided according to the law, the adopted children of the deceased will be in the first level of heirs, and the biological nephews/nieces of the deceased are only in the third level of heirs.
And also according to the law, heirs at a lower level shall be entitled to inherit where there are no heirs at a higher level because such heirs have died, or because they are not entitled to inherit, have been deprived of the right to inherit or have disclaimed the right to inherit.
Therefore, if the adopted child of the deceased is still alive and has the right to inherit, and does not refuse to receive the inheritance, at this time the heir will be the adopted child of the deceased.
In addition, the distribution of estate in this case also needs to pay attention to whether the spouse, natural parents, adoptive parents, biological children of the person leaving the estate is still alive.
Is the heir obligated to repay the debt left by deceased?
Pursuant to Article 615 of the 2015 Civil Code of Vietnam stipulating the performance of property obligations left by deceased as follows:
Performance of property obligations left by deceased
1. A person entitled to an inheritance has the responsibility to perform the property obligations within the scope of the estate left by the deceased, unless otherwise agreed.
2. Where an estate has not yet been divided, the property obligations left by the deceased shall be performed by the administrator of the estate as agreed by the heirs.
3. Where an estate has already been divided, each heir shall perform those property obligations left by the deceased corresponding to, but not exceeding, that part of the estate that the heir has inherited, unless otherwise agreed.
4. Where the heir inheriting an estate under a will is not a natural person, it must perform the property obligations left by the deceased in like manner as a natural person.
Thus, the heir is obliged to repay the debt of the deceased within the scope of the estate left by the deceased, unless otherwise agreed.
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