How to solve the dispute over the right to manage the worshiping heritage in Vietnam?

Typically, Judgment 08/2018/DS-PT dated January 30, 2018 on the dispute over the right to manage the worshipping heritage and reclaim property. Specifically:

Mr. Tran Minh T's parents named Tran K (born in 1929, died on March 6, 2014) and Mai Thi L (born in 1928, died in 2009) gave birth to 05 children, namely Mr. Tran Huu G, Mr. Ms. Tran Thi Thu L, Ms. Tran Thi Que H, Ms. Tran Thi Le T (died September 30, 1997, Ms. T had 2 biological children, Pham Duy Q, Nguyen Anh D) and had 1 adopted son, Mr. Tran Chi Th.

According to the division of inheritance according to the law of Mr. and Mrs. Tran K, Mrs. Mai Thi L. Mr. G has the right to own land plot No. AA (revised) cadastral map sheet No. BB-(CC), ward PH , an area of 84.7 m2, and has 01 level 4 house, located at ABC number TN street, city X, province Y on it. At the same time, Mr. G must return to Mr. Tran Minh T 65,247,780 dong of the value of the inheritance that Mr. T is divided according to law.

At the first-instance trial, he changed his petition, specifically: Requesting Mr. G to hand over to him the right to directly manage the heritage for worship. He did not request the division of inheritance for these heritages for worshipping and also did not require the removal of worshipping objects from house number ABC, TN street, street 05, PH ward, city X. He requested directly manage these properties for worship at house number ABC, TN street, quarter 05, PH ward, city X".

♦ Compared according to the provisions of law in Article 645 of the Civil Code 2015 of Vietnam, which stipulates the heritage used for worshiping as follows:

Article 645. Estates used for worship purposes

1. Where a testator designates part of his or her estate for worship purposes, such part of the estate shall not be distributed among the heirs and shall be delivered to the person appointed in the will to manage for worship purposes. If such appointee fails to implement strictly the will or the agreement of the heirs, the heirs have the right to appoint another person to manage for worship purposes.

Where the testator fails to appoint a person to manage that part of his or her estate which is designated for worship purposes, the heirs shall appoint a person to manage such part of the estate.

Where all heirs under a will have died, that part of the estate which is designated for worship purposes shall belong to the person managing that part of the estate for worship purposes provided that he or she is an heir at law.

2. Where the entire estate of the deceased is insufficient to satisfy all property obligations of the deceased, no part of the estate may be designated for worship purposes.

♦ Clause 1, Article 670 of the 2005 Civil Code also stipulates: In cases where a testator has allocated part of the estate for worshiping, that part of his/her estate shall not be divided for inheritance, but shall be entrusted to a person designated in the testament for management to service the worship; if the designated person fails to comply with the testament or with the heirs' agreement, the heirs shall be entitled to entrust such part of the estate to another person for management and use thereof for worshiping.

The administrator of the estate used for worship is based on one of two grounds: According to the will of the testator or appointed by the heirs.

The determination of the person who is managing the estate used for worshiping is or is not a legal heir has legal significance in inheriting the estate when: "All the heirs under the will have died, the inheritance property used for worship belongs to the person who is lawfully managing the estate among the legal heirs”.

According to the above provisions, the estate used for worshipping belongs to the person who is lawfully managing it with two conditions:

+ All heirs according to the will have died;

+ The person who is managing the estate used for worship must be an heir according to the law of the person who left the estate.

♦ The rights of an estate administrator specified in Article 618 of the 2015 Civil Code are as follows:

Article 618. Rights of administrators of estates

1. An administrator of an estate as provided in clauses 1 and 3 of article 616 of this Code has the following rights:

a) Represent the heirs in dealings with any third parties in relation to the estate of inheritance;

b) Receive remuneration as agreed with the heirs;

c) Receive payment of costs of estate preservation.

2. A person possessing, using or managing property within an estate as provided in Clause 2 of Article 616 of this Code has the following rights:

a) Continue to use the estate as agreed with the deceased in a contract or with the consent of the heirs;

b) Receive remuneration as agreed with the heirs;

c) Receive payment of costs of estate preservation.

3. If the estate administrator fails to reach an agreement on the remuneration with the heirs, he/she shall be entitled to receive an appropriate remuneration.

- In this case, at the previous first-instance judgment, the inheritance according to the law of Mr. Tran K and Mai Thi L. Mr. G has the right to use and own land parcel number AA (revised) cadastral map sheet BB-(CC), PH ward, area of 84.7 m2, on land there is 01 house of grade 4, located at ABC number TN street, city X, province Y.

- The remaining brothers, sisters, and brothers all gave Mr. G the right to own the entire inheritance received by Mrs. L to worship her ancestors at house number ABC, TN street, city X, province Y. And the heritages for worship at this house number ABC TN Street have been managed by Mr. G so far, so they do not agree to divide the inheritance, or assign others to manage these estates. At the same time, the heritage of worship at the house number ABC, TN street, city X, province Y is left by the ancestors, Mr. G has been given the right to own this house number ABC, TN street, Mr. G has the duty to worship ancestors, so Mr. G has the right to manage these worshiping properties.

-  At the same time, his parents died leaving an estate without a will and did not appoint a manager of the worship estate, so the heirs appointed a manager of the worship estate. Therefore, Mr. Tran Minh T's claim to directly manage the worshiping heritage is completely inconsistent with the law. As such, Mr. G will have the rights related to the management of the inheritance according to the provisions of Article 618 mentioned above.

Worship is a long-standing cultural life of our people, showing respect for the dead. Therefore, the State respects and protects those fine traditions, allows individuals to spend part of their property for worship and does not consider it as an inheritance.

This legacy can be a specific property. However, the Administrator may not use them for his own purposes and does not have the right to dispose of this estate. In case the person who is managing the estate used for worship does not have the conditions to continue to manage the estate, the heirs will agree to assign another person to manage.