At each historical period, The nuclear family form is a factor that creates the social structure that will change in accordance with the objective circumstances. So; nowadays a family is not just a wife; husband; common children but also includes children of a spouse. When society arises stepfather relationship; stepmother and stepchild, new laws are prescribe for adjustment; including the law on inheritance. However, In fact, many individuals still confused about how to regulate the inheritance rights of their own children when there is a dispute? Today, LSX Lawfirm will give you an article about “Inheritance rights of stepchildren in case of dispute in Vietnam“, as follows:
Legal grounds
Law on marriage and family 2014
Inheritance of stepchildren according to will
According to the provisions of Article 624 of the 2015 Civil Code, a Will is an expression of an individual’s will to transfer his/her property to another person. passed away. So stepfather’s stepmothers have the right to designate their own children as heirs and are entitled to part or all of the estate according to their will; expressed in the will. Therefore, in this case, the stepchild has the right to inherit the estate of his stepfather and stepmother.
However, in practice in some cases such as the person leaving the estate without making a will, or making an illegal will, or the part of the estate that is not determined in the will, etc., the inheritance right will be determine. prescribed by law.
Inheritance rights of stepchildren according to current law
According to the provisions of Article 654 of the Civil Code 2015; if stepchild and stepfather; stepmother has a caring relationship; nurture each other like father and son; mother and child are entitle to inherit each other’s estates and also inherit their estates according to the provisions of the law on inheritance and status inheritance. So according to this Law, in principle between a stepchild and a stepfather; stepmothers are not entitle to each other’s inheritance. However, because of the process of coexistence; stepchildren know how to take care of; If you take care of your stepfather and stepmother and treat them as your own biological father and mother, the law still recognizes the right of inheritance of your stepchildren.
In addition
Accordingly, the first stepchild of the stepfather, the stepmother has the right to inherit according to the first line of inheritance as prescribed at Point a, Clause 1, Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code. Because; when they have taken care of and raised their stepfather; stepmother and considered as his biological parents; then in the opposite direction they are recognize as the biological children of stepfather, stepmother. Therefore, in case the first line of inheritance has only stepchildren, they are still entitled to the entire estate of the stepfather, even though there are still people who have blood relations with the person who left the inheritance. property such as paternal grandparents, or maternal grandparents, siblings.
Secondly, stepchildren also have the right to inherit the position as prescribed in Article 652 of the Civil Code 2015. In this case, it is understood that if the stepchild of the stepfather, the stepmother who left the estate dies before or at the same time with them. then the grandchild is entitled to the portion of the estate that his or her father or mother would have enjoyed if he were still alive; if the grandchild also dies before or at the same time as the person leaving the estate, the great-grandchild will enjoy the portion of the estate that the great-grandchild’s father or mother would have enjoyed if he was still alive.
Dispute settlement order and procedures
Although the law clearly stipulates the inheritance rights of stepchildren. However, in practice, disputes related to the right to inherit this object are still common. Before, In order to resolve disputes between members, Vietnamese people often have a tradition of “closing doors and telling each other” in the direction of reconciliation and negotiation on the basis of mutual respect. The current trend of dispute settlement methods has changed; but specifically similar to Western countries, litigation in Courts has taken place more commonly. Whereby, sequence, Court proceedings governed by civil procedure law:
Firstly, the involved parties file a lawsuit petition at a competent court to request the settlement of inheritance disputes.
Secondly, the Court will consider the petition, if all conditions met, it will accept by the Court.
Thirdly, the case has entered the pre-trial and conciliation stage. At this stage, the Court will open a meeting to check and hand over; disclosure of evidence and conciliation. The purpose is for the involved parties to agree with each other on the direction to solve the case and provide evidence to the involved parties. Finally, The court will issue a decision to bring the case to trial according to the first-instance order.
So, in principle, stepchildren will not inherit from stepfathers and stepmothers. However, if in the process of cohabitation, stepchildren know how to nurture, care for, and treat them like fathers; of their own mother, the law will recognize the right to inherit the inheritance of their stepchildren. In practice; Disputes arising from inheritance rights are becoming more and more common due to the change of traditional family forms over time. So, Instead of the parties settling disputes by their own agreement as before, the tendency to initiate lawsuits at Court is increasing.
Law of inheritance when there is a conflict in the family
Article 651 Civil Code 2015
“Article 651 Legal heirs”
The legal heirs are specified in the following order:
a) The first line of inheritance includes: wife, husband, biological father; natural mother, adoptive father; and adoptive mother, biological child or adopted child of the deceased;
b) And The second line of inheritance includes: grandfather; paternal grandmother, grandfather, maternal grandmother, biological brother, biological sister, biological brother of the deceased; the biological grandchildren of the deceased and the deceased are grandfathers, grandmothers, maternal grandfathers, grandmothers;
c) The third line of inheritance includes: paternal and maternal great-grandfathers of the deceased; biological uncle, biological uncle, biological uncle, aunt, biological aunt of the deceased; biological grandchildren of the deceased and the deceased are biological uncles, biological uncles, biological uncles, biological aunts, biological aunts; great-grandchildren of the deceased, but the deceased is a paternal great-grandmother.
The heirs of the same row entitle to an equal share of the estate.
So the people in the following line of inheritance entitle to inherit only. if there is no one left in the first line of succession due to death, no right to inherit, disqualification, or refusal to receive the estate
Related article
Some notes on inheritance with foreign elements
The current Law on inheritance with foreign elements
After a divorce, until when do parents have to support their children
Related questions
The born child is determined to be the child of the person asking for surrogacy, so the responsibility for birth registration belongs to the husband or wife asking for surrogacy (Based on Article 15 of the Law on Civil Status 2014).
The 2013 Constitution of our country also stipulates. Everyone has the right to inviolability of their body and to be protected by law in terms of health. From that, it can be understood that no one has the right to harm the health and body of others. Even if that person is a biological father or mother, they do not have this right. Therefore, the act of beating children of parents is a violation of the law.
According to the provisions of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP, the act of preventing the right to visit and care for grandparents and grandchildren; between parents and children, except where the parents have restricted visitation rights under a court decision; between husband and wife; between brothers, sisters, brothers, and sisters will be fined from 5,000,000 VND to 10,000,000 VND.
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