Daniel (name changed), a German citizen, asked DEDICA:
"My wife is Vietnamese, and we live in Germany. She passed away suddenly, without leaving a will. Her estate includes a house attached to land in Vietnam, registered in her name from before our marriage. Her family says that as a foreigner I have no share, and that they should simply divide it among themselves. I cannot stay in Vietnam for long, and I do not know how I would receive my share if I have one, or whether the money can be brought back to Germany. I hope the lawyers can answer my questions."
DEDICA ADVISES Land inheritance rights of foreign nationals are the most misreported topic in the inheritance cases DEDICA has handled, and the claim that "a foreign son-in-law gets no share" sits right at the center of that confusion. Daniel's situation actually involves five separate questions: whether inheritance rights depend on nationality; how an estate consisting of land use rights is received; what happens to the house attached to the land; how someone living abroad completes the procedures; and whether the money received can be transferred out of Vietnam legally. DEDICA analyzes each in turn, so he can see the whole path before discussing anything with his in-laws.
Inheritance rights in Vietnam: nationality is not a condition
The first thing to dismantle is the very claim that worries Daniel. Vietnamese civil law identifies heirs based on marriage, blood or nurture relationships with the deceased. No provision excludes a person from the line of succession because that person holds a foreign passport.
His wife died without leaving a will, so the estate is divided by operation of law, following the statutory order of heirs:
As the lawful husband, Daniel stands in the first line of heirs together with his parents-in-law, each receiving an equal share. For estates that are real property in Vietnam, the Civil Code further provides that the exercise of inheritance rights follows the law of the country where the property is located (Article 680), meaning Vietnamese law decides how he receives this part of the estate. The right itself is his; what truly needs analysis is the form of receipt, and that is the subject of the next two sections.
When the estate is land use rights: no title deed, but no lost share
Land in Vietnam belongs to the entire people; what an individual holds, and passes on, is the land use right. The Land Law 2024 lists exactly who may receive this right in Article 4: domestic individuals, Vietnamese citizens settled abroad, persons of Vietnamese origin settled abroad, various categories of organizations... Foreign individuals are not on the list. The direct consequence: Daniel cannot be granted a Certificate of Land Use Rights, meaning he cannot be named on the title deed (commonly called the "pink book", Sổ hồng) for the inherited land the way a Vietnamese person would be.
But not being named on the title deed does not mean losing the share. The law reserves a specific mechanism for exactly this situation:
Under this provision (DEDICA quotes the consolidated text 44/VBHN-VPQH of 2026, which incorporates all amendments), an heir holding foreign nationality has three options. First, transfer the inherited share: he himself is named as the seller in the contract and receives the proceeds. Second, donate it to an eligible recipient. Third, if he does not wish to sell yet, file the inheritance with the land registration office so it is recorded in the cadastral book (Sổ địa chính): his share is officially recognized by the State, and he may authorize another person in writing to look after and temporarily use the land (Clause 5, Article 44). This mechanism carries no deadline forcing a sale: he can keep the recorded share and decide when he is ready.
Daniel's case also presents "mixed co-heirs": he is a foreigner, while his parents-in-law are Vietnamese. Clause 4 of Article 44 addresses precisely this: while the estate remains undivided, the heirs or their authorized representative file the inheritance for recording in the cadastral book; once division is complete, the parents-in-law receive Certificates for their portions, and his portion is settled under the Clause 3 mechanism above. Persons of Vietnamese origin settled abroad who are permitted to enter Vietnam enjoy a notably broader regime, receiving residential land use rights directly and being named on the title deed; DEDICA has analyzed that group in a separate article on overseas Vietnamese inheriting land.
The house attached to the land: the line between holding title and receiving value
Housing follows its own regime under the Housing Law 2023, and this is where many people get confused, because "foreigners can buy houses in Vietnam" is a true statement. True, but only within a narrow frame: a foreign individual permitted to enter Vietnam may only own housing (an apartment or a separate house) within a housing construction investment project, outside areas requiring national defense and security protection (Article 17), within a quota of no more than 30% of the apartments in one building or 250 separate houses in an area with a population equivalent to a ward (Article 19), and for a maximum term of 50 years, renewable once (Article 20). Inheriting an apartment that fits within that frame, a foreigner is still granted a Certificate and holds title.
The house Daniel's wife left behind is a separate house outside any project, so it falls under the following rule:
"Entitled to the value" operates very concretely under Article 22: he is not granted a Certificate for the house, but he may sell it or donate it, directly or through an authorized person. Where the co-heirs include both people entitled to own (the parents-in-law) and people not entitled to own (Daniel), Clause 3 of Article 22 gives the parties two options to agree on: the parents-in-law take the house and pay him the value corresponding to his inherited share; or the whole family sells the house and splits the proceeds by share. One more detail worth knowing: a foreign individual married to a Vietnamese citizen living in Vietnam may own housing like a Vietnamese citizen. That rule applies while the marriage exists, so it does not change Daniel's options, but it is very useful for couples where one spouse is a foreigner and who want to arrange their assets early.
In short, for the house: he cannot keep it under his own name, but he receives the full value of his share through one of the two routes above.
Handling the procedures from abroad: authorization is the key
"I cannot return to Vietnam" is the worry DEDICA hears most often, and also the one most completely solvable. The entire process, from executing the inheritance declaration or the estate division agreement at a notarial practice organization, filing for the cadastral book update, selling the property, through to working with the bank, can be carried out through an authorized representative in Vietnam. From Germany, Daniel needs to prepare:
- Marriage certificate: the German-issued document must be consularly legalized and translated with notarization into Vietnamese before it can be used in Vietnam;
- Passport, still valid;
- Power of attorney for a lawyer or representative in Vietnam: executed at a Vietnamese diplomatic mission in Germany, or notarized in Germany and then consularly legalized;
- His wife's death certificate and the property papers: usually collected in Vietnam; the representative can handle this on his behalf.
Foreign documents that have not been consularly legalized are the most common reason files get rejected by notarial organizations or banks, so this is the step to handle first. In many cases DEDICA has represented, the client abroad never had to return to Vietnam at all: from the inheritance declaration and negotiations with co-heirs to the final sale of the property, every step ran through authorization.
Transferring the inheritance money out of Vietnam
Once the value is received, Daniel's final question remains: will the money get "stuck" in Vietnam? Current foreign exchange law answers clearly. Transferring inheritance money to an heir abroad is a lawful one-way remittance purpose (Point dd, Clause 2, Article 7 of Decree 70/2014/NĐ-CP); a foreigner with lawful income in Vietnamese dong (such as the proceeds from selling an inherited share) may buy foreign currency at a licensed bank to transfer abroad (Clause 3, Article 7 of Decree 70/2014/NĐ-CP; Clause 4, Article 8 of the Foreign Exchange Ordinance). The transfer amount is not capped at any fixed figure:
The condition lies in the document set: the bank will require the notarized inheritance declaration or division agreement, the transfer contract, and proof that the related taxes and fees have been settled. Experience from the cases DEDICA has handled: blockages at the bank stage almost always trace back to documents from earlier steps being missing or inconsistent (names, passport numbers), so the remittance plan should be mapped out from the moment the inheritance declaration begins, not when you walk into the bank.
Conclusion
In sum, German nationality does not cost Daniel his inheritance rights: he belongs to the first line of heirs, with a share equal to that of his parents-in-law. The only difference is the form of receipt: with a house and land outside a project, he is not named on the title deed but receives the full value of his share through transfer, donation, or a cadastral book recording that preserves his share until the right moment. The sensible order of action: (1) consularly legalize the marriage certificate and execute a power of attorney for a representative in Vietnam; (2) sign no disclaimer or division document before understanding his share; (3) declare the inheritance together with the co-heirs and agree on how to handle the house; (4) prepare the remittance document set from the very start so the money reaches Germany without getting blocked at the bank stage.
If you are abroad and a family member has left land or a house in Vietnam, DEDICA can verify the legal status of the property, represent you under a power of attorney to declare the inheritance, negotiate with the co-heirs, and handle the sale of the property and the remittance file; you do not need to be present in Vietnam at any point. Send DEDICA scanned copies of the death certificate and the property papers, and a lawyer will give you a preliminary assessment of how to receive your inheritance.
This content is for reference as of the date of publication; every case has its own facts (type of asset, state of the documents, number of co-heirs, whether there is a will...). Please consult a DEDICA lawyer for advice tailored to your specific situation.
