Regulations on prescriptive periods with respect to inheritance in Vietnam

1. What is an estate?

According to Article 612 of Vietnam's Civil Code 2015, estate is defined as follows:

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

Regulations on prescriptive periods with respect to inheritance in Vietnam (Source: Internet)

2. Time and place of commencing inheritance

According to Article 611 of Vietnam's Civil Code 2015, the time and place of inheritance are as follows:

- 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 81 of the Civil Code 2015.

- 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.

3. Prescriptive periods with respect to inheritance

According to Article 623 of Vietnam's Cilvil Code 2015, the statute of limitations for inheritance is as follows:

- 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:

+ It shall belong to the person possessing it as prescribed in Article 236 of Vietnam's Civil Code 2015. Specifically, t person unlawfully but in good faith possessing, or deriving benefits from, property continuously and in an overt manner for ten (10) years with respect to moveable property, and for thirty (30) years with respect to immoveable property, shall become the owner of such property from the moment of commencement of possession, unless otherwise prescribed by Civil Code 2015 and other relevant laws. 

+ It shall belong the State if there is no possessor prescribed in Point a, Clause 1, Article 236 of Vietnam's Civil Code 2015.

- 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.

- 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, after 30 years for real estate assets and 10 years for movable assets, if no one requests to divide the estate, it will belong to the administrator of that estate.

Chi Nhan

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