What are the cases of deprivation of right to inherit in Vietnam?

What are the cases of deprivation of right to inherit in Vietnam? (Internet image)

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

1. What is deprivation of right to inherit in Vietnam?

Deprivation of right to inherit is mentioned in Article 624 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulating that a testator has the following rights:

- Appoint heirs or to deprive an heir of the right to inherit the estate;

- Determine those parts of the estate which each heir is entitled to;

- Reserve part of the estate as a gift or for worship purposes;

- Designate heirs to perform obligations;

- Appoint a custodian of the will, an administrator of the estate, and a distributor of the estate.

Thus, it can be understood that the act of deprivation of right to inherit is the right of the testator, the testator does not want to leave his or her inheritance to someone and this will is recorded in the will.

Note: A will to be legal must meet the statutory conditions. If the will is not legal, the content of the deprivation of right to inherit in the will is considered invalid.

2. Persons not entitled to inherit in Vietnam

Article 621 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates that the following persons are not entitled to inherit:

- Persons convicted of having intentionally caused the death of or harmed the health of the deceased, of having seriously mistreated or tortured the deceased, or of having harmed the honor or dignity of the deceased;

- Persons having seriously breached their duty to support the deceased;

- Persons convicted of having intentionally caused the death of another heir in order to obtain all or part of the entitlement of such other heir to the estate;

- Persons deceiving, coercing or obstructing the deceased with respect to the making of the will, or forging, altering or destroying the will in order to obtain all or part of the estate contrary to the wishes of the deceased.

Persons not entitled to inherit above may, nevertheless, inherit the estate if the deceased was aware of such acts but, nevertheless, allowed them to inherit the estate under the will.

3. Who is entitled to inherit when the previous heir is disqualified?

Pursuant to Clause 3, Article 651 of the Civil Code 2015, heirs at a lower level shall be entitled to inherit where there are no heirs at a higher level because such heirs have died, or because they are not entitled to inherit, have been deprived of the right to inherit or have disclaimed the right to inherit.

* Heirs at law:

Heirs at law are categorized in the following order of priority:

- The first level of heirs comprises: spouses, biological parents, adoptive parents, offspring and adopted children of the deceased;

- The second level of heirs comprises: grandparents and siblings of the deceased; and biological grandchildren of the deceased;

- The third level of heirs comprises: biological great-grandparents of the deceased, biological uncles and aunts of the deceased and biological nephews and nieces of the deceased.

Heirs at the same level shall be entitled to equal shares of the estate.

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