Will the wife be entitled to the estate If the husband is not named in the will in Vietnam?

Specifically: At Judgment 47/2017/DS-ST dated September 8, 2017 on the inheritance division lawsuit.

“Mrs Vu Thi L married Mr. Nguyen Van S in 1978, she and her husband have no common children. Before that, Mr. S was married and had a stepchild named Nguyen Quang S. She and her husband were granted a certificate of land use right with an area of ​​100 m2 in parcel 68, map sheet No. 21 in Hai Giang commune on July 8, 1998. Before he died, Mr. S asked Mr. Mai Van Dong to help write the joint will of the couple, then he gave it to Mrs. L to sign. The content of the will is to leave all the land to Mr. Nguyen Quang S. Up to now, Ms. L completely disagrees with the content of the will, asking the Court to cancel the will and divide Mr. S's inheritance. left in accordance with the law.

The court said: The above 100 m2 land plot is the common property of Mr. S and Mrs. L, so Mr. S's inheritance is determined to be 1/2 of the land with an area of ​​​​100: 2 = 50 m2. Although in the content of the will, Mr. S does not allow Ms. L to enjoy Mr. S's share of the estate, according to the law, Ms. L is still entitled to two-thirds of the rate of an heir according to the law. The remainder of the estate will be divided equally among Mr.

The court decided: Allotted to Ms. L the right to manage and use an area of ​​​​100 m2 of residential land in parcel 68 above, but Ms. L must pay Mr. Nguyen Quang S 38,000,000 VND.

Everyone has the right to leave their property to others and has the right to inherit according to a will or law. In which, there are people who are not named in the will still inherit.

Compared with the provisions in Article 644 of the Civil Code 2015 of Vietnam on heirs regardless of the content of the will, the court applies as follows:

Article 644. Heirs notwithstanding contents of wills

1. Where a testator does not grant any of the following persons an inheritance, or grants any such person an inheritance which is less than two-thirds of the share that person would have received if the estate had been distributed according to law, such person shall be entitled to a share of the estate equivalent to two-thirds of the share that he or she would have received if the estate had been distributed in accordance with law:

a) Children who are minors, father, mother, wife or husband of the testator;

b) Children who are adults but who are incapable of working.

2. Clause 1 of this Article shall not apply to persons who have disclaimed their inheritance as prescribed in Article 620 or person who are not entitled to inherit as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 621 of this Code.

In the above case, Ms. L is Mr. S's wife, so Ms. L will inherit Mr. S's property in accordance with the law, even though Mr. S has left all assets to his stepchildren in the will.

Those who are not named in the will still be entitled to a share of the estate equal to 2/3 of the rate of a legal heir if the inheritance is divided according to the law.

Similarly, if the testator only allows them to inherit less than 2/3 of a legal inheritance, these subjects will still be entitled to 2/3 of the rate of a legal heir. 

In conclusion, in life, when we see our rights infringed, we should learn the relevant provisions of the law so that we can protect our legitimate interests.