A blended family carries three asset blocks of different origins — each spouse’s pre-marriage property, the new marriage’s joint property, and inheritance shares the stepchildren already received from a deceased biological parent — so a generic single will for the whole household almost certainly creates disputes. This article guides how to make wills for a blended family fairly: separate the asset blocks correctly first, then decide where each block goes.
Legal basis for wills for blended families
The will-making framework sits in Articles 624 to 648 of the 2015 Civil Code (91/2015/QH13): a testator may designate heirs and allocate estate portions to each person, and a will is lawful under Article 630 when the testator is lucid and voluntary and its content is not contrary to law. In a blended family, this freedom is the main tool to move beyond intestate lines, which do not distinguish your children, my children and our children the way the family wishes.
The hard limit of that freedom is Article 644 of the 2015 Civil Code: minor children, parents, the spouse and adult children unable to work are heirs independent of the will’s content, receiving two-thirds of an intestate share even if the will says otherwise. In a blended family, this limit matters especially for the new spouse and each side’s young children, because a will leaving everything to one’s own children must still reserve this compulsory portion.
The most often skipped task is determining which assets the testator may dispose of: under the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family (52/2014/QH13), each person may only bequeath their own separate property and their half share in the joint property with the current spouse. Assets a previous spouse left to their own stepchildren do not sit in this block, and a will attempting to dispose of another person’s part is invalid as to the excess.
Applying the rules to each question about wills for blended families
How should a remarried couple make their wills? A remarried couple should make two separate wills, one for each spouse covering the asset block under their own disposal, instead of one joint will signed by both names, a form Vietnamese law does not design a template for. The two separate wills can coordinate like a mirror pair: the same division principles, the same review timing, but each will touches only its maker’s own assets.
What about each side’s own children? Each side’s children are protected by two different layers in a blended family will: the inheritance they already received from their deceased biological parent belongs to them absolutely and no one may re-dispose of it, while a share from a stepfather or stepmother comes only through direct designation in that person’s will. A fair family writes both layers down clearly, instead of orally promising that later all the children will be treated the same.
How to prevent later disputes? Preventing later disputes in a blended family uses three drafting techniques: list assets by specific documents instead of emotional descriptions, designate an estate manager and a guardian for minor children right in the will, and notarise the will under Article 635 of the 2015 Civil Code so it has a place of custody and an indisputable time stamp. Each technique removes a distinct dispute source: asset ambiguity, an executor vacuum and forgery suspicion.
Safe steps for wills for blended families
- Map the blended family’s three asset blocks: each spouse’s separate property, the current marriage’s joint property, and shares stepchildren received from biological parents.
- Calculate the Article 644 compulsory portion for each testator to know how much real freedom of disposal remains.
- Each spouse makes a separate will, notarises it and agrees on its place of custody and who is notified when the inheritance opens.
- Set a review schedule for the blended family’s wills every two years or immediately after any major change in assets or members.
Common risks in wills for blended families
The biggest risk of a blended family will is making a single one while relations are warm, handing all assets to the new spouse in the belief they will re-divide fairly among the stepchildren — a belief with no enforcement mechanism behind it. When the new spouse later makes a different will for their own biological children, the first deceased’s stepchildren can lose entirely the share their parent intended to leave them.
A fair will for a blended family is not a will dividing everything equally among everyone, but a will that correctly separates the three asset blocks, respects the Article 644 compulsory portion and writes each group of children’s share clearly. Doing those three things on paper while everyone is still healthy cuts away most of the disputes of later years by the family’s own hand.
Frequently asked questions about wills for blended families
How should a remarried couple make their wills?
Wills for a blended family should be reviewed after every major event — buying another home, having a joint child, a stepchild turning eighteen — because a will that was fair in the wedding year can become clearly unfair after just a few years of asset change. A remarried couple should make two separate wills, one for each spouse covering the asset block under their own disposal, instead of one joint will signed by both names, a form Vietnamese law does not design a template for. The two separate wills can coordinate like a mirror pair: the same division principles, the same review timing, but each will touches only its maker’s own assets.
What about each side’s own children?
The new spouse in a blended family often needs an assured right to remain in the shared home after the other dies, and this should be written as a fixed-term stay clause or a right to the home’s value, rather than left for the relationship between them and the deceased’s stepchildren to sort out. Each side’s children are protected by two different layers in a blended family will: the inheritance they already received from their deceased biological parent belongs to them absolutely and no one may re-dispose of it, while a share from a stepfather or stepmother comes only through direct designation in that person’s will. A fair family writes both layers down clearly, instead of orally promising that later all the children will be treated the same.
How to prevent later disputes?
Adult stepchildren should be invited to know the division principles in the blended family’s wills at an appropriate level, because complete surprise on the day the inheritance opens is the most common fuse for disputes in these families. Preventing later disputes in a blended family uses three drafting techniques: list assets by specific documents instead of emotional descriptions, designate an estate manager and a guardian for minor children right in the will, and notarise the will under Article 635 of the 2015 Civil Code so it has a place of custody and an indisputable time stamp. Each technique removes a distinct dispute source: asset ambiguity, an executor vacuum and forgery suspicion.
