An inheritance dispute filed with the wrong court can be returned weeks later, pushing the entire case back to square one just as the limitation period keeps ticking. Since 1 July 2025, district-level people's courts no longer exist anywhere in Vietnam and have been replaced by regional people's courts, so the seemingly simple question of "which court do I file with" now has a different answer.
A relative passed away in Vietnam leaving a house, the co-heirs divided the estate on their own and left out your share, and now you want to sue to reclaim it but do not know which courthouse to approach now that the old district court is gone? You live abroad and once heard that a case with foreign elements must go to the provincial court, but is that still true in 2026? And if you file with the wrong court, where does your case go? These are the obstacles that cost many heirs months just to get a lawsuit started. This article analyses the legal framework on court jurisdiction after the 2025 reform, how to identify the right court by level and by territory, and the common mistakes to avoid when filing.
Inheritance disputes and the two layers of the jurisdiction question
Before asking "which court", you need to confirm whether your dispute falls within the jurisdiction of a court at all. When heirs disagree over who inherits, how much each receives, or whether a will is valid, or when someone has been left out of the estate distribution, that is a dispute over inheritance of property and falls within the court's jurisdiction under civil procedure.
Once you are sure this is a matter for the courts, "which court do I file with" is really two separate questions. The first is jurisdiction by level: whether the case is tried at first instance (the initial trial) by a regional people's court or a provincial people's court. The second is jurisdiction by territory: among the hundreds of courts of the same level across the country, which local court accepts the case. Only by answering both do you know exactly where to send your petition. It is the first layer that the 2025 reform changed the most.
From 1 July 2025, inheritance disputes are heard at first instance by the regional people's court
Since 1 July 2025, the court system has moved from four levels to three: the Supreme People's Court, the provincial people's courts, and the regional people's courts. The roughly 693 former district-level people's courts have been reorganised into 355 regional people's courts. Alongside that structural change, Law No. 85/2025/QH15 amended the Civil Procedure Code and assigned all first-instance jurisdiction over civil disputes to the regional people's courts.
Because inheritance disputes appear in Article 26 of the Code, they fall squarely within the group of cases heard at first instance by the regional people's court. Provincial people's courts no longer try these cases at first instance; they have moved up one rung.
This point matters especially for Vietnamese living abroad and for foreign nationals. Before 1 July 2025, if a dispute involved a party or assets abroad, or required judicial entrustment overseas, the old law removed it from the district court's jurisdiction and sent it to the provincial court for first-instance trial. Many people still remember this rule. However, the new Article 35 has removed that exception entirely: now every inheritance dispute, even one involving overseas Vietnamese, foreign nationals, or assets located abroad, is tried at first instance by the regional people's court. A foreign element no longer automatically pushes the case up to the provincial level.
| Inheritance dispute situation | First-instance court before 1/7/2025 | First-instance court from 1/7/2025 |
|---|---|---|
| All parties and the estate are within the country | District-level people's court | Regional people's court |
| A party or assets are abroad (overseas Vietnamese, foreign nationals) | Provincial people's court | Regional people's court |
Identifying the right regional people's court by territory
Knowing that the case belongs to the regional court level answers only half the question. There are hundreds of regional people's courts nationwide, so you must still determine which local court has the power to accept the case. The general rule is to sue at the court where the defendant resides or works, that is, where the person you are suing lives. But for inheritance estates, the real-estate exception is what decides most cases.
Because the estate most often disputed is a house and land, this rule means that when the dispute concerns a house or a plot of land, you must file with the regional people's court of the place where that property is located, regardless of whether the defendant lives in another province or abroad. This is the sole jurisdiction, with no alternative. Some situations have their own additional rules:
- If the defendant has no place of residence or work in Vietnam, or the estate is not real estate, the plaintiff may request the court of the defendant's last place of residence or the place where the defendant has assets to resolve the case.
- If the estate includes several properties located in different localities, the plaintiff may choose the court of the place where one of those properties is located.
- If regional people's courts within the same province or city dispute among themselves over which one has jurisdiction, the Chief Justice of the provincial people's court decides.
A new practical difficulty arose in 2025. After many provinces were merged and district courts were reorganised into regional courts, the names and territorial coverage of the courts changed compared with the addresses written on old property papers. A plot of land that previously fell under the People's Court of District X may now fall under a regional people's court with a different name, covering several rearranged communes and wards. Looking up the correct regional court that currently covers the area where the estate is located, according to the territorial jurisdiction published by the competent authority, is a step easily gotten wrong if you rely only on the old address.
Foreign elements: why you must still sue in a Vietnamese court
For someone settled abroad, a natural question is whether they can sue in the court where they live for convenience, instead of pursuing the case in Vietnam. For an estate that is real estate on Vietnamese territory, the law answers firmly that this is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Vietnamese courts.
Exclusive jurisdiction means no foreign court is regarded as having authority over a dispute about real estate in Vietnam. A foreign court's judgment over a plot of land in Vietnam, if any, will not be recognised and enforced in Vietnam either. So wherever you are, an inheritance dispute over a house or land in Vietnam must come back to the correct regional people's court of the place where the property is located. In return, the law guarantees the right to sue for those abroad.
When taking part in proceedings, foreigners have the same procedural rights and obligations as Vietnamese citizens. In other words, holding a foreign nationality does not strip you of the right to sue to claim your inheritance share before a Vietnamese court, nor does it place you in a less favourable procedure. You can fully authorise a lawyer in Vietnam to file and pursue the lawsuit on your behalf, instead of having to fly back yourself.
Common risks and mistakes when identifying the court
Most cases that stall right at the filing stage do so not because the dispute is weak on the merits, but because the court with jurisdiction was identified incorrectly. Below are the most common errors and their real consequences.
Filing with the provincial court out of old habit. Many people, including some advice based on pre-reform information, still think a case with foreign elements must be filed with the provincial court. Filing that way today is the wrong level: the provincial court no longer accepts cases at first instance, the petition will have to be transferred, and you lose time waiting.
Filing at the court where the plaintiff lives. Heirs living abroad or in another province sometimes file at their own place of residence for convenience. For a dispute over a house or land, this conflicts with the rule that only the court where the real estate is located has jurisdiction, so the petition is not accepted in the right place.
Mistaking which regional court covers the area. After the mergers, identifying the regional court from the old address on the land title easily leads to filing with a neighbouring court by mistake. The file must then go through a transfer to the correct court, prolonging the timeline.
Considering a lawsuit in a foreign court. For a house or land in Vietnam, this is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Vietnamese courts, so a foreign court's judgment will not help you transfer title or reclaim the property within the country.
DEDICA's role in filing with the right court
In an inheritance dispute with foreign elements, the hard part often lies in the client being far away and not keeping up with a court system that has just changed. DEDICA helps identify the correct regional people's court with jurisdiction over the area where the estate is located after the boundaries were rearranged, and reviews and standardises the litigation file, including personal documents issued abroad that must be consularly legalised and translated under notarisation before filing.
More importantly, with a valid power of attorney, DEDICA's lawyers take part in the proceedings on the client's behalf, working with the co-heirs and the relevant authorities, so the client does not have to fly back to Vietnam for each hearing. DEDICA accompanies you from negotiation among the co-heirs, through filing and trial, to the judgment-enforcement stage and the plan for lawfully transferring the value of the inheritance share abroad.
Conclusion
To file an inheritance dispute with the right court in 2026, follow four steps. First, confirm that this is a dispute over inheritance of property, that is, a civil case within the court's jurisdiction. Second, on the level of court, first-instance trial now belongs to the regional people's court, even when the case involves overseas Vietnamese, foreign nationals, or assets abroad, and is no longer sent up to the provincial court as before 1 July 2025. Third, on territory, if the estate is a house or land, only the regional court of the place where the real estate is located has jurisdiction; otherwise it follows the defendant's place of residence. Fourth, for a house or land in Vietnam, this is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Vietnamese courts, so it cannot be replaced by suing abroad. The three errors that most often delay a file are filing with the provincial court out of old habit, filing where the plaintiff lives instead of where the property is, and mistaking which regional court has jurisdiction by relying on the old address. If you are abroad, authorising a lawyer to identify the right court and file from the very start will help you avoid having to start over and avoid the risk of losing your rights to an expired limitation period.
Every inheritance dispute with foreign elements differs in where the estate is located, where the parties reside, and what type of property is in dispute, so identifying the right court must be placed in your specific circumstances. DEDICA Law Firm helps you pinpoint the regional people's court with jurisdiction, prepare the file, and represent you under a power of attorney in proceedings in Vietnam, even when you cannot return. Contact DEDICA for advice from a lawyer on your specific inheritance dispute.
This article is for reference based on the law in effect at the time of writing. Each case has its own facts; please consult a DEDICA lawyer for accurate advice.
