Supreme People's Court's responses to issues regarding the determination of the date of death of a person declared dead in Vietnam

Supreme People's Court's responses to issues regarding the determination of the date of death of a person declared dead in Vietnam

The issue raised is as follows:

When addressing a request to declare a person as deceased, how does the court determine the date of death for the individual who is requested to be declared as deceased in the situation stipulated at point d, clause 1, Article 71 of the Civil Code 2015?

First viewpoint: The date of death is the date when the court's decision declaring a person as deceased takes legal effect.

Second viewpoint: The date of death is the first day following the conclusion of the 5-year consecutive period of disappearance.

Third viewpoint: The date of death is the date of the last known information about the individual.

The Supreme People's Court of Vietnam provides clarification on this matter as follows:

According to the provisions at point d, clause 1, Article 71 of the Civil Code 2015: “Persons with related rights and interests may request the court to issue a decision declaring a person as deceased in the following cases:

... d) Missing for 05 consecutive years or more without any reliable information confirming they are still alive; this timeframe is calculated according to the provision in clause 1, Article 68 of this Code.”

Clause 2, Article 71 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates: “Based on the cases specified in clause 1 of this Article, the court determines the date of death for the person declared as deceased.”

When resolving the request to declare a person as deceased as stipulated at point d, clause 1, Article 71 of the Civil Code 2015, the court determines the date of death according to the second viewpoint.

The date of death for the individual requested to be declared as deceased is determined as the first day following the conclusion of the 05 consecutive years from the date of the last known information about the individual; if the exact date of the last information cannot be determined, this period is calculated from the first day of the month following the month of the last known information; if the exact date and month of the last information cannot be determined, this period is calculated from the first day of the year following the year of the last known information. The determination of the time limit’s conclusion is carried out according to the provisions of Article 148 of the Civil Code 2015.

More details can be found in Official Dispatch 163/TANDTC-PC dated September 10, 2024.

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