The time limit for dividing the inheritance in cases where the litigants are Vietnamese residing abroad

Legal situation: Dear Lawyer, my grandfather died in 1985, my grandmother died in 1980. My grandparents are Vietnamese but resided in France and passed away in France. When they died, they left 02 plots of land in Vietnam as inheritance. My grandparents have two children, my father and my uncle, being Vietnamese and residing in France. I would like to ask the lawyer whether, if my father files a lawsuit to request the division of the inheritance left by my grandfather, the time limit for filing the lawsuit is still valid or not. 

FDVN’s opinion: 

Thank you for trusting and sending your question to FDVN LawFirm. After researching the legal provisions, we have the following exchange: 

From the date the Civil Code 2015 comes into effect, according to point d, clause 1, Article 688 of the Civil Code 2015, and clause 4, Article 4 of Resolution No. 02/2016/NQ-HDTP dated June 30, 2016, of the Council of Judge of the Supreme People’s Court guiding the implementation of a number of provisions of Resolution No. 104/2015/QH13 dated November 25, 2015, of the National Assembly on the implementation of the Law on Administrative Procedure, it is stipulated that starting from January 01, 2017, clause 1 Article 623 of the Civil Code 2015 shall be applied for the time limit of inheritance, in order to accept and resolve civil cases of “Disputes over assets inheritance”. Accordingly, the time limit for an heir to request the division of inheritance for real estate is 30 years from the date the inheritance is opened.

For cases where the inheritance is opened before the date of September 10, 1990, the time limit to file a lawsuit regarding the division of inheritance, specifically real estate, shall be in compliance with the provisions of Article 36 of the Inheritance Ordinance in 1990, as guided in Resolution No.02/HDTP dated October 19,1990, of the Council of Judge of the Supreme People’s Court guiding the application of a number of provisions of the Inheritance Ordinance; Case Law No.26/2018/AL on the determination of the beginning period to calculate the time lime and the time limit to request to divide inheritance being real estate, To be specific, the time limit for filing a lawsuit is calculated from September 10, 1990. 

At the same time, the specific guidance is provided in Section I of the Official Dispatch No.01/GD-TANDTC dated January 05, 2018 of the Supreme People’s Court as follows: “in cases where disputes over inheritance division in which litigants are Vietnamese residing abroad, the period from July 01, 1996 to September 01, 2006 are not calculated to the time limit for suing”. 

Based on the information you provided, your grandfathers and heirs, including your father and uncle, are Vietnamese residing abroad. According to the regulations mentioned above, the time limit for filing a lawsuit to divide real estate inheritance is 30 years. The time to calculate the time limit for suing is from September 10, 1990. The period from July 1, 1996 to September 1, 2006 are not included in the time limit for filing a lawsuit. 

Let’s consider an example: If your father files a lawsuit in 2023, the period from September 10, 1990, until the present is 33 years. After deducting the period that is not included in the time limit, from July 1, 1996, to September 01, 2006 (which is ten years and two months), the remaining period is 23 years. This period does not exceed the 30-year time limit for filing a lawsuit regarding the division of inheritance. Therefore, the time limit for suing the division of inheritance remains valid.

The above is FDVN’s opinion based on research of legal provisions. We hope that FDVN’s advisory will be helpful to you. 

Phạm Cao Linh – FDVN Law Firm