AFTER THE DIVISION OF JOINTLY OWNED PROPERTY DURING THE MARRIAGE AND A SPOUSE DIED, CAN THE OTHER SP

According to Clause 1, Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code, legal heirs are determined in the following order:

a) The first line of heirs includes: the spouse, biological parents, adoptive parents, biological children, and adopted children of the deceased;

b) The second line of heirs includes: paternal grandparents, maternal grandparents, biological siblings of the deceased; biological grandchildren of the deceased, where the deceased is their paternal or maternal grandparent;

c) The third line of heirs includes: great-grandparents of the deceased; uncles, aunts of the deceased; biological grandchildren of the deceased where the deceased is their uncle or aunt; great-grandchildren of the deceased, where the deceased is their great-grandparent.

Thus, the spouse is a legal heir in the first line of heirs.

In addition, under Clause 1, Article 655 of the 2015 Civil Code, the rules on inheritance in the case of spouses who have divided their common property, are divorcing, or have remarried, are as follows:

1. In the case where the common property was divided while the marriage still existed and one spouse died, the surviving spouse is still entitled to inherit the estate.

2. If the spouses have filed for divorce but it has not been finalized, or a court judgment or decision granting the divorce has not yet come into legal effect, and one spouse dies, the surviving spouse is still entitled to inherit the estate.

3. If a person is married at the time of death, their surviving spouse will inherit the estate, even if they later remarry.

Thus, if the spouses have divided their jointly owned property during the marriage and one spouse has died while the marriage is still legally valid under the law, the other spouse will be the legal heir in the first inheritance order as stipulated by law.

Lawyer Phạm Thảo – FDVN Law Firm