As for funeral money, is it an inheritance in Vietnam?

As for funeral money, is it an inheritance in Vietnam?

Mr. An has just passed away and left an inheritance to his children according to his will. Because he is the General Director of a large joint stock company in the area, he has a lot of friends, so the problem arises that his funeral money is a lot and his children do not know how to divide it by inheritance. May I ask, is his funeral money after his death considered an inheritance?

Answer: Pursuant to Article 612 of the 2015 Civil Code, inheritance includes the following assets:

An estate comprises property which the deceased owned and property which the deceased jointly owned with other persons.

Thus, the estate of the deceased will include the following assets:

- Personal property of a deceased person: means property that that person has obtained by lawful income during his/her life such as salary or bonus; properties are donated, inherited, won the lottery; property means of living, personal belongings, business investment capital, housing, property rights arising after the person's death as a result of that event (such as a life insurance participant, if he dies in the absence of specifying who the beneficiary is, the insured amount will be his property and be distributed according to the law or will.).

- Common property of the deceased in the common property with other people: This property is available in case that person cooperates in business, labors in production, does business together, makes joint investment, or the property of husband and wife is created during marriage.

In addition, based on Article 611 of the 2015 Civil Code, the time of inheritance opening is as follows:

1. The time of commencement of an inheritance shall be the time when the deceased dies. Where a court declares that a person is dead, the time of commencement of the inheritance shall be the date provided in Clause 2 of Article 71 of this Code.

2. The place of commencement of the inheritance shall be the last place of residence of the owner of the estate. If the last place of residence is not able to be determined, the place of commencement of the inheritance shall be the place at which all or most of the estate is located.

Thus, it can be determined that the money is not an inheritance because it arises after the time of commencing the inheritance (after the death of the property owner). Therefore, the distribution of funeral money will be agreed upon by the relatives involved, after deducting funeral expenses.

If the child is born after the death of his father, will he receive the inheritance in Vietnam?

Mr. An is the owner of XNX sole proprietorship. An only has relatives including his wife, Binh, and one child, Xuan. Due to a traffic accident, An died suddenly and left an inheritance. After burying Mr. An for 10 months, the family began to carry out the procedures for dividing the inheritance. The problem arose when Ms. Binh also gave birth to a son (temporarily named Yen). Yen was determined by the doctor to be born prematurely. So Yen can receive the inheritance of Mr. An? Legal basis for the implementation? I hope you can advise me.

Answer: Pursuant to Article 613 of the 2015 Civil Code provides for heirs as follows:

If an heir is an individual, such person must be alive at the time of commencement of the inheritance or, if such person is born and alive after the commencement of inheritance, must have been conceived prior to the time when the deceased dies. Where an heir under a will is a body or organization, it must be in existence at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Besides, Clause 1, Article 611 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates the time of inheritance opening as follows:

1. The time of commencement of an inheritance shall be the time when the deceased dies. Where a court declares that a person is dead, the time of commencement of the inheritance shall be the date provided in Clause 2 of Article 71 of this Code.

Thus, it is necessary to consider whether Ms. Binh is pregnant with Yen and becomes pregnant before the time of inheritance opening or not. Because normally, the fetus must be born after 9 months of pregnancy, but in Yen's case, it took 10 months from the time Mr. An died. However, it is possible to base on the doctor's conclusion that Binh gave birth to a premature baby to initially serve as a basis for determining whether Yen became pregnant before the time of inheritance opening or not? If Yen becomes pregnant before the time of inheritance, Yen will receive inheritance and vice versa in Vietnam.

When the statute of limitations for inheritance expires, can I initiate a lawsuit to divide the inheritance in Vietnam? 

My father died in 1995 and left a legacy of 5000 taels of gold. At that time, my two brothers were young, so my father's second wife was the one who managed that 5000 taels. At the moment, my brother and I have grown up and because our stepmother is planning to move again, we want to redistribute our father's assets. At the same time I also learned that my father did not leave a will and that 5000 taels of gold was left by my grandfather to my father before marrying my mother. Please, in this case, do my brothers and sisters have right to ask the court to redistribute the father's inheritance?

Answer: Pursuant to Article 612 of the 2015 Civil Code regulates inheritance as follows:

An estate comprises property which the deceased owned and property which the deceased jointly owned with other persons.

According to the information you provided, the above 5000 gold will be identified as your father's private property because it is the property of the grandfather left to his father before marriage. When your father dies, the legal heirs will include your stepmother, 02 brothers; Pursuant to Clause 1, Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulating the legal heirs. However, the problem arises because your father passed away for too long (24 years ago), so it is necessary to consider the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit against the inheritance specified in article 623 of the 2015 Civil Code as follows:

1. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim of an heir for distribution of an estate shall be thirty years regarding immovable property or ten years regarding movable property from the time of commencement of the inheritance. Upon the expiry date of the aforesaid period, the estate shall belong to the estate administrator. In case where there is no estate administrator, the estate shall be dealt with as follows:

a) It shall belong to the person possessing it as prescribed in Article 236 of this Code;

b) It shall belong the State if there is no possessor prescribed in Point a of this Clause.

2. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim of an heir for a declaration of right of inheritance of the requester or to disallow the claim to inheritance of another shall be ten years from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

3. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim for an heir to fulfill property obligations of the deceased shall be three years from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Thus, the statute of limitations for initiating an inheritance lawsuit for 5000 taels of gold (as movable property) is 10 years from the time of opening the inheritance in Vietnam. From that, it can be determined that the two brothers no longer have the right to sue for the above 5000 taels of gold. Therefore, this property will go to the heir who is managing the estate, which is your stepmother.

Here is the content of the consultation.

Best Regards!