Closing the sale of inherited property in Vietnam yet finding the money stuck in a bank account, unable to be sent abroad, is a situation many overseas heirs discover only after they have signed the contract. The obstacle usually lies not in the sale itself, but in proving the funds are of lawful origin so the bank will agree to remit foreign currency abroad; a single file missing the right supporting documents is enough to freeze billions of dong for months.
A relative has left you a house in Vietnam, but you have settled abroad: if you hold foreign citizenship, can you transfer the title into your name and sell, just as a domestic resident would? Once sold, how do you remit that money to your account abroad lawfully? And what documents will the bank require before letting you buy foreign currency to send out? These are the three bottlenecks that cost many heirs months of delay, though most can be cleared if the groundwork is laid correctly from the outset. The article below examines the legal framework, the sequence of steps, and the risks to avoid when selling inherited property and remitting the proceeds abroad in 2026.
The right of an overseas heir to sell inherited property
What worries most people is citizenship. In practice, the right of inheritance arises the moment the deceased passes away and does not depend on which passport you hold. The Civil Code sets out this moment clearly:
The question is not whether you are entitled to inherit, but in what form. If you are a person of Vietnamese origin permitted to enter Vietnam, you fall within the category eligible to own a dwelling together with the right to use residential land, meaning you can take title and then resell as a domestic resident would. If you are a foreigner, or a person of Vietnamese origin who is not eligible to own a dwelling, the law still leaves a separate path for you to realise the value of the house:
In other words, whichever branch applies, the house can still be sold lawfully; the only difference lies in the path the paperwork takes. You either take title first and then sell, or you stand directly as the "transferring party" in the contract without needing a new certificate issued in your name. The common refrain that "if you cannot hold title, you cannot sell" is a widespread misconception, and it leads many people to give up an asset that should rightfully be theirs.
The sequence from declaring the estate to signing the sale
Holding the right of inheritance does not yet mean you can sign the sale straight away. The house is still registered in the name of the deceased, so before you can dispose of it, your status as an heir must be established through a notarised document dividing the estate. The entire chain of steps below can be carried out remotely through an authorised lawyer, in this exact order:
- Gather and standardise the documents: the death certificate, proof of relationship with the deceased, the property certificate, and the passport. Documents issued abroad must undergo consular legalisation (official authentication by a Vietnamese diplomatic mission) and notarised translation before they can be used in Vietnam.
- Sign the power of attorney appointing a lawyer at the Vietnamese representative mission in your country of residence, or have it notarised abroad and then consular-legalised. You need not be present in Vietnam.
- Declare and divide the estate at a notarial organisation, with public posting as required by law.
- Sign the notarised transfer contract, register the change of title if you are eligible for a certificate, or stand as the transferring party under Clause 3 Article 44 if not; then pay the taxes and fees.
- Receive the proceeds into an account in Vietnam, then carry out the procedure to remit the foreign currency abroad.
Two important procedural milestones sit within step 3. First, notarising the document dividing the estate must go through a 15-day public posting period at the People's Committee (local government authority) of the commune where the deceased last had permanent residence; if their last permanent residence was abroad, the notarial organisation requests the Department of Justice to post the notice on its electronic portal. Second, this procedure applies even where there is only a single heir, so even if you are an only child you must still execute a document dividing the estate before selling. This document is the key to every step that follows:
The real bottleneck on timing usually lies in documents issued abroad. Every civil-status document, such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate or death certificate issued abroad, must be consular-legalised and then translated into Vietnamese by a notarised translation before it can be submitted:
A notable change for 2026: Vietnam has acceded to the Apostille Convention, which will take effect for Vietnam on 11 September 2026. From that date, documents from member states need only bear an Apostille stamp in place of the multi-layered consular legalisation procedure used previously. Before this milestone, documents must still be consular-legalised the old way, so if you are preparing your file, confirm with your lawyer which approach applies to your case to avoid doing too much or too little.
Remitting the sale proceeds abroad: the lawful foreign-exchange route
This is the part least talked about yet the one most prone to getting stuck. After the sale, the money sits in an account in Vietnam in Vietnamese dong. To bring it home, foreign-exchange law classifies it as a "one-way remittance from Vietnam abroad", and the path depends on whether you are treated as a resident or a non-resident.
Most heirs settled abroad fall into the non-resident category, or are foreigners. For this group, the law clearly permits the value of lawful assets in Vietnam to be remitted abroad:
The proceeds from selling the inherited house are precisely the "lawful receipts in Vietnamese dong" referred to above. You use that money to buy foreign currency at an authorised bank, then remit it to your account abroad. Non-residents and foreigners may also open a Vietnamese-dong payment account at a bank under the foreign-exchange management rules, so you can readily hold a valid account to receive the sale proceeds before remitting them out.
A different situation arises where the person handling matters in Vietnam is a Vietnamese citizen residing domestically who wishes to remit the inheritance share to an heir abroad. In that case, a specific rule for the purpose of remitting an inheritance applies:
What both routes have in common is that the bank will release funds only when you can prove the money is of lawful origin. In practice, the set of documents a bank typically requires comprises the notarised document dividing the estate, the notarised transfer contract, proof that taxes and fees have been paid, together with your personal identification. The bank must also comply with anti-money-laundering rules, so the details of the remitter and the beneficiary must match and be transparent. As for tax, selling the house triggers personal income tax on the transfer of real estate at a rate of 2% on the transfer price, applicable to both residents and non-residents; whereas inheriting real estate between immediate family members, such as parents and children, is tax-exempt. These two amounts are distinct and must be calculated correctly from the outset to avoid being caught off guard on cost.
Legal risks and common mistakes in practice
Cases that drag on usually do so not because the law forbids the sale, but because the file snags on a specific link. Below are the most frequent situations and their consequences.
The co-heirs have not reached agreement. If the house has several heirs and one of them is uncooperative or cannot be reached, the notarial organisation cannot complete the document dividing the estate, and the entire sale stalls at the root. This is why you should identify and connect with all co-heirs before putting the property on the market.
Foreign documents not consular-legalised or not translated by a notarised translation. A birth certificate or marriage certificate issued abroad that has not been legalised, or whose translation has not been notarised, will be rejected by both the notarial organisation and the bank, even where the power of attorney has been signed. The file must be redone from the start, costing several more weeks.
Worrying about the remittance only after the sale. Many people sign the sale first and only then ask how to remit the money, discovering at that point that they lack the documents the bank requires to prove the source of funds. The money has reached the account but cannot be sent out, and they must go back and supplement the paperwork for each prior transaction.
Routing the money through someone else's account for "convenience". Asking a relative in Vietnam to receive the money and remit it abroad on your behalf may sound quick, but it breaks the chain of proof of the funds' source and readily runs into anti-money-laundering rules, causing the transaction to be refused or to be subject to a demand for explanation. Keeping the funds flowing directly from the sale into your own account is always safer.
One misconception worth correcting: many people believe they must return to Vietnam in person to sell the house and remit the money. In reality, the entire process, from declaring the estate and signing the sale to buying and remitting foreign currency, can be carried out through an authorised representative, provided the power of attorney is properly drawn up and the documents are fully legalised.
How DEDICA helps with selling inherited property and remitting the proceeds abroad
For an heir who is far away, the value of a lawyer lies not merely in handling formalities, but in arranging the whole journey in the right order so that no step has to be redone. DEDICA reviews your status to determine whether you take title and then sell, or sell directly under Clause 3 Article 44; drafts a properly compliant power of attorney for you to sign at the Vietnamese representative mission in your country of residence; and then, on your behalf, declares the estate, notarises the sale contract, and pays the taxes and fees.
Just as importantly, DEDICA standardises the set of documents proving the source of funds from the outset and works with the bank on the procedure for buying and remitting foreign currency, so that once the sale closes, the money can be remitted to your account abroad without being frozen for want of paperwork. You track progress remotely and need only be present for the steps that are genuinely required, if any.
Conclusion
To sell inherited property in Vietnam and remit the proceeds home while you are abroad, the sequence comprises four steps: (1) determine your status and sign a valid power of attorney from your country of residence to a lawyer in Vietnam; (2) declare and divide the estate at a notarial organisation, with a 15-day public posting period, applicable even where you are the sole heir; (3) sign the notarised transfer contract, take title or stand as the transferring party under Clause 3 Article 44, then pay the 2% transfer tax; (4) prove the funds are of lawful origin in order to buy foreign currency and remit it to your account abroad under the foreign-exchange rules. The three mistakes that drag files out the longest are: the co-heirs not reaching agreement, documents issued abroad not being consular-legalised, and leaving the proof-of-funds step until after the sale. Getting all three right from the outset will spare you from having to redo each transaction.
Every file for selling inherited property with a foreign element has its own particulars as to citizenship, the number of heirs, and the types of documents involved. DEDICA Law Firm accompanies you from reviewing your status, legalising the file, representing you in declaring the estate and signing the sale, through to the moment the money is remitted to your account abroad, even when you cannot be present in Vietnam. Contact DEDICA to have a lawyer assess your file and propose a concrete roadmap for your case.
The content of this article is for reference based on the law in force at the time of writing. Each case has its own particulars; please consult a DEDICA lawyer for advice tailored to your situation.
