When the husband passes away, are assets created jointly by the couple shared with the mother-in-law

Question:

After getting married, my husband and I made an effort to establish a house and land during our marriage time. The house and land were entirely self-accumulated by my husband and me, and my mother-in-law did not contribute any money. Before his death, my husband left a notarized will at the People's Committee Office, leaving the house and land to me and our children. Now, I've heard from my husband's siblings that my mother-in-law is also entitled to it. Is that correct? I would appreciate it if a lawyer could provide advice. Thank you, Lawyer!

Answer:

Thank you for submitting your question to the FDVN Law Firm. In response to your consultation requests, after researching relevant legal regulations, FDVN presents our legal opinion as follows:

Based on Article 612 of the Civil Code of 2015, “An estate comprises property which the deceased owned and property which the deceased jointly owned with other persons”. According to the information you provided, your husband left an inheritance that includes the portion of land shared with you. According to Clause 2, Article 66 of the Marriage and Family Law  2014, the inheritance left by your husband consists of half of the house and the land.

In the case where the husband's will is legally valid, the inheritance will be distributed according to the content of the will. However, Article 644 of the Civil Code 2015 stipulates provisions for heirs not dependent on the content of the will, as follows:

“Article 644. Heirs notwithstanding contents of wills

1. Where a testator does not grant any of the following persons an inheritance, or grants any such person an inheritance which is less than two-thirds of the share that person would have received if the estate had been distributed according to law, such person shall be entitled to a share of the estate equivalent to two-thirds of the share that he or she would have received if the estate had been distributed in accordance with law:

a) Children who are minors, father, mother, wife or husband of the testator;

b) Children who are adults but who are incapable of working.”

Accordingly, your mother-in-law is the heir notwithstanding the contents of the will. Compared to your case, if your husband makes a will but does not leave any inheritance to your mother-in-law, your mother-in-law still has the right to enjoy an inheritance equal to two-thirds of the legal heir's share. That means your mother-in-law still has the right to a portion of the house and land. However, if your mother-in-law refuses to receive the inheritance or falls into one of the cases where she is not entitled to inherit the inheritance mentioned in Article 621 of the Civil Code 2015, the above regulations will not be applied.

People who do not have the right to inherit inheritance include the cases specified in Clause 1, Article 621 of the Civil Code 2015, including:

a) 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;

b) Persons having seriously breached their duty to support the deceased;

c) 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;

d) 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.

Above is the advisory opinion from FDVN related to your consultation request based on the research of legal regulations. We hope FDVN's advisory opinion will be beneficial to you.

Nguyen Thi Thao Nguyen - FDVN Law Firm

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