Cross-Border Inheritance Disputes in Vietnam

When heirs live abroad, estate assets sit in multiple countries, or a will was made abroad, an inheritance dispute becomes a cross-border litigation puzzle: which country’s court has jurisdiction, which country’s law applies, and will one country’s judgment be enforced in another?

What counts as a foreign-element inheritance dispute

Under Article 663 of the 2015 Civil Code, an inheritance relationship is deemed to have foreign elements when it falls into one of three cases: at least one party is a foreign individual or legal entity; the grounds for establishing, altering, or terminating the relationship arose abroad; or the inherited assets are abroad. In a dispute, a single “foreign” link suffices — for example, a co-heir settled in Germany, a will made in the US, or a house in Vietnam left by a French citizen — to give the case foreign elements and subject it to special procedural rules.

The core difference from purely domestic disputes is that the court must answer two preliminary questions: does a Vietnamese court have jurisdiction, and which country’s law governs the substance. Getting either answer wrong can send the entire lawsuit off course. For the general inheritance legal framework, see inheritance, wills and estate division.

Does a Vietnamese court have jurisdiction?

Article 469 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code lists the cases where Vietnamese courts have general jurisdiction over foreign-element civil cases — including where the defendant or plaintiff is an individual residing, doing business, or living in Vietnam. It takes only one party with a real connection to Vietnam for a Vietnamese court to have a basis for acceptance.

Alongside general jurisdiction, Article 470 provides exclusive jurisdiction: disputes over rights to immovable property in Vietnam belong solely to Vietnamese courts; the parties cannot agree to transfer them to a foreign court — even if all parties live abroad, even if the will was made abroad. As for court level, foreign-element cases fall under provincial People’s Courts (Article 37).

Disputes over real estate in Vietnam: exclusive jurisdiction of Vietnamese courts

The Article 470 rule has major practical significance: families cannot “escape” Vietnamese courts by suing each other abroad when the disputed asset is real estate in Vietnam. Even a foreign court judgment on real estate in Vietnam is unlikely to be recognised and enforced in Vietnam because it infringes exclusive jurisdiction.

Within the Vietnamese court system, disputes over immovables are resolved by the court where the property is located (point c, clause 1, Article 39). For foreign-element cases, that is the provincial People’s Court where the property sits — determine this correctly from the start to avoid wasted time transferring files. For an in-depth analysis of domestic real-estate inheritance disputes, see real estate inheritance disputes.

Applying foreign law in inheritance cases in Vietnam

Vietnamese court jurisdiction does not mean Vietnamese law always applies. Under Article 680 of the 2015 Civil Code, inheritance is determined by the law of the country of which the deceased was a national immediately before death; for immovables, the law of the place where the property is located. Article 681 provides that testamentary capacity follows the law of the country of the testator’s nationality at the time of making the will, while the form of the will follows the law of the place of making (and is recognised if consistent with one of the relevant systems).

Example: the deceased was a Japanese citizen, with a house in Vietnam and deposits in Japan. The Vietnamese court accepts the dispute over the house (exclusive jurisdiction), but determines the heirs and their shares under Japanese law; whether an heir may be registered as the house owner in Vietnam follows Vietnamese law. For planning strategies to avoid this situation, see cross-border estate planning.

Proving the content of foreign law: whose burden?

Applying foreign law on paper is one thing; proving its content before the court is another. As a principle, the party invoking foreign law bears the responsibility of providing its content — through statutory texts, expert opinions from the relevant country, or confirmation by competent authorities.

Trial practice shows this is the stage most prone to “getting stuck”: inaccurate translations of foreign statutes, contradictory expert opinions, or missing original texts. Advice: as soon as it is determined that foreign law will apply, engage a lawyer in that country to prepare a complete file (statutory texts, notarised translations, expert opinions) rather than waiting until the trial stage.

Gathering evidence abroad: judicial assistance

Evidence located abroad — death certificates, personal documents, bank statements, property papers — cannot be collected directly and must go through judicial assistance procedures. The Vietnamese court sends the request through the Ministry of Justice to the competent authority of the foreign country, under a bilateral mutual legal assistance treaty (if any) or on the basis of reciprocity.

This procedure often takes many months, sometimes over a year. To shorten it, parties should proactively collect evidence in parallel: authorise relatives or lawyers abroad to obtain documents, legalise them, and send them back to Vietnam.

Party abroad with unknown address: Precedent 06/2016/AL

The common scenario: a co-heir left the country years ago, the family lost contact, and no one knows the current address. If the case were stalled indefinitely for this reason, the rights of the remaining parties would be seriously affected. Precedent 06/2016/AL resolves this deadlock: if the court has carried out judicial assistance and evidence collection in accordance with regulations but still cannot determine the address of the heir abroad, the court will still resolve the plaintiff’s claims.

The absent person’s share of assets is temporarily handed to someone living in the country for management, to be handed over later — not given outright. The temporary custodian must preserve the assets and hand them over when the absent person appears and proves their rights. For parties abroad who remain contactable, authorisation is much simpler — see overseas Vietnamese receiving inheritance in Vietnam.

Serving court documents abroad

All court documents — notices of acceptance, summonses, judgments — sent to parties abroad must be served through judicial assistance channels or under mutual legal assistance treaties, unless the party has authorised a representative in Vietnam to receive them on their behalf. Improper service is grounds for a judgment to be protested and annulled — so this is not a mere formality.

Advice for plaintiffs: in the petition itself, provide the fullest information on the defendant’s address abroad (including email and phone numbers) and request service through multiple channels. If the defendant has relatives in Vietnam, persuade them to execute an authorisation for someone in Vietnam — this both shortens service time and demonstrates cooperative goodwill before the court.

Recognition and enforcement of foreign inheritance judgments in Vietnam

Where a dispute has been adjudicated by a foreign court and enforcement in Vietnam is sought (for example, against assets in Vietnam), the procedure for recognition and enforcement of the foreign court’s judgment must be completed. Conditions: the judgment has taken legal effect under the law of the adjudicating country, and recognition does not contravene the fundamental principles of Vietnamese law or infringe the exclusive jurisdiction of Vietnamese courts.

Jurisdiction over recognition requests belongs to provincial People’s Courts — where the person subject to enforcement resides, works, has headquarters, or where the relevant assets are located (Article 37, point d, clause 2, Article 39). The application is heard in a session by a panel of three judges (Article 436). The key exclusion: foreign judgments concerning immovables in Vietnam are almost impossible to recognise, because such disputes fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Vietnamese courts under Article 470.

The 3-year limitation and the Ministry of Justice procedure

Article 423 of the 2015 Civil Procedure Code provides a 3-year limitation for requesting recognition and enforcement of foreign civil judgments, counted from the date the judgment took legal effect. Within this period, the person entitled to enforcement (or their lawful representative) submits the application to Vietnam’s Ministry of Justice under an international treaty to which both countries are parties, or directly to the competent Vietnamese court if no relevant treaty exists.

Under Article 432, within 5 days of receiving the file, the Ministry of Justice must transfer it to the competent court. The court accepts the case, notifies the parties, and prepares to open the hearing session (Article 436). The file must include the judgment (or certified copy) with confirmation of legal effect, documents proving proper service on the absent party, and a notarised Vietnamese translation — a missing link leads to return of the file.

Mediation in cross-border inheritance disputes

Cross-border disputes are all the more worth mediating, because litigation costs in two countries, language barriers, and prolonged timelines often “erode” much of the disputed value. Practical mediation options: dividing assets by country (the person in each country takes the assets there, with cash equalisation); one party takes all assets in Vietnam and pays the other; or jointly authorising a trusted third party to manage, exploit, and share the income.

Agreements reached should be put in writing, notarised in Vietnam (for the Vietnam-situated assets), and legalised for use abroad if needed. If the case is already before a court, a successful mediation will be confirmed by a court decision recognising the agreement — enforceable like a judgment. For the overall legal context, see services for foreigners, overseas Vietnamese.

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