Is a will effective when the inheritance no longer exists in Vietnam? Can testators amend the inheritance in their will in Vietnam?

Is a will effective when the inheritance no longer exists in Vietnam?

Article 643 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates legal effectiveness of wills as follows:

1. A will shall become legally effective from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

2. All or part of a will shall be legally ineffective in any of the following cases:

a) An heir under the will dies prior to or at the same time as the testator dying;

b) A body or organization named as an heir no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Where there are several heirs under a will and one of them dies prior to or at the same time as the death of the testator or one of the bodies or organizations named as an heir under the will no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance, only that part of the will which relates to the individual, body or organization no longer existing shall be legally ineffective.

3. A will shall not be legally effective if the estate left to the heirs no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance. If only part of the estate left to the heirs remains, only that part of the will which relates to such part of the estate shall be legally effective.

4. Where a will contains provisions which are unlawful but such provisions do not affect the effectiveness of the remainder of the will, only such provisions shall be legally ineffective.

5. Where a person leaves behind more than one will with respect to certain property, only the most recent of such wills shall be legally effective.

Thus, according to the above provisions in Vietnam, the will will not be effective if the inheritance left to the heir at the time of opening the inheritance no longer exists. Your father left you a house when he made the will, but when your father passed away, the house was sold, so the will is considered invalid.

Is a will effective when the inheritance no longer exists in Vietnam? Can testators amend the inheritance in their will in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

Can testators amend the inheritance in their will in Vietnam?

According to Article 640 of the 2015 Civil Code, regulations on amendment of, addition to, replacement or revocation of wills are as follows:

1. A testator may amend, add to, replace or revoke his or her will at any time.

2. If a testator adds to his or her will, the original will and the codicil shall have equal validity. If a part of the original will and the codicil conflict with each other, the codicil shall prevail.

3. Where a testator replaces a will with a new will, the previous will shall be deemed to have been revoked.

Pursuant to Article 56 of the Notary Law 2014, regulations on notarization of testaments are as follows:

1. A testator shall personally request notarization of his/her testament but may not authorize another person to request the notarization.

2. In case the notary doubts that a testator suffers a mental disease or another disease making him/her unable to perceive and control his/her acts or has grounds to believe that the testament has been made deceitfully or under threat or coercion, the notary shall request the testator to clarify the matter or may refuse to notarize that testament if the testator cannot clarify the matter.

In case the life of a testator is under threat, the notarization requester is not required to produce all the papers specified in Clause 1, Article 40 of this Law but shall clearly state such in the notarized document.

3. The testator who wishes to modify, supplement, replace, or cancel part or the whole of, his/her notarized testament may request any notary to notarize such modification, supplementation, replacement or cancellation. In case the testament was previously kept at a notarial practice organization, the testator shall notify this organization of the modification, supplementation, replacement or cancellation of the testament.

Therefore, according to the above provisions in Vietnam, the testator can change the inheritance of a previously made will.

When the testator wishes to change the inheritance, he or she can contact any notary to notarize the change of inheritance in that will if the will was made by that person. In the case of making a will at a notary office and keeping it at the office, the testator must notify the office about the change in inheritance in the will in Vietnam.

Best regards!