Does the ancestral temple be granted a land use right certificate in Vietnam?

Does the ancestral temple be granted a land use right certificate in Vietnam?

Article 211 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates multiple ownership between communities as follows:

1. Multiple ownership between a community is the ownership by a family line, hamlet, village, tribal village, mountainous hamlet, ethnic hamlet, religious community or other community of property which is formed in accordance with customary practice, which is jointly contributed to and raised by the members of the community or which was given to the whole community, and property which is obtained from other lawful sources for the purpose of satisfying the common lawful interests of the entire community.

2. Members of a community shall jointly manage, use and dispose of multiple ownership property in the interests of the community as agreed or in accordance with customary practice, but not inconsistent with the law or social morals.

3. Multiple ownership property by a community is indivisible joint property.

Based on According to Article 5 of the 2013 Land Law regarding grant of the certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets to households, individuals and communities that are using land and have documents on land use rights as follows:

5. Communities using land with communal houses, temples, shrines, hermitages, worship halls or ancestral temples; agricultural land prescribed in Clause 3, Article 131 of this Law, and that land is dispute-free and is certified as the land used commonly by the community by the commune-level People’s Committee, shall be granted a certificate of land use rights and ownership of houses and other land-attached assets.

Therefore, according to the above provisions in Vietnam, the ancestral temple will be granted a certificate of land use rights by the competent authority.

Does the ancestral temple be granted a land use right certificate in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Can the ancestral temple be allowed to transfer ownership in Vietnam?

Based on Article 645 of the 2015 Civil Code regarding estates used for worship purposes as follows:

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.

Therefore, the testator designated to perform the worship (according to the will) who does not possess any land ownership certificates containing the ancestral temple is not allowed or entitled to transfer ownership in Vietnam.

Best Regards!