Foreign nationals who inherit a house and its land in Vietnam are often taken aback to learn they cannot be named on the title certificate (the "sổ hồng"), and worry that the inheritance will be "frozen" or lost entirely. In reality, your right to inherit is not lost; the only questions are the form in which you receive that share, how it is valued, and how to transfer the money home lawfully.
You are living abroad and have just inherited a house in Vietnam, but you have heard that foreign citizens cannot be named on the land title, so will you still receive anything? If the asset must be "converted to cash," who values the house and on what basis? And once it is sold, how do you transfer that money to your account abroad without breaching foreign-exchange rules? These three questions keep many overseas heirs anxious for months, sometimes leaving a case "on hold" for years simply because they do not know where to begin. This article analyses the current legal framework, the step-by-step procedure, how valuation works, and the pitfalls to avoid so that you receive the full value of your inheritance.
The right of foreigners to inherit real estate in Vietnam
First, a point to set your mind at ease: your right to inherit is not lost because you hold a foreign nationality. Vietnamese law does not make nationality a condition for whether a person may receive an inheritance. Where the estate is real estate located in Vietnam, the exercise of inheritance rights is determined by Vietnamese law, even when the deceased or the heir is a foreigner.
What makes the foreigner's situation different is this: being entitled to an inheritance is one thing; being able to register the land-use right in your name is another. The Land Law 2024 does not include foreign individuals among those eligible to be granted a Land Use Right Certificate (the "sổ hồng" or "sổ đỏ"). Accordingly, where all of the heirs are foreigners, they cannot be issued a certificate in their own names, but they are entitled to transfer or to gift the inherited land, that is, to receive its value rather than the asset in kind.
Two concepts are easily confused. A foreigner may still own housing in Vietnam, but only an apartment or a separate house within commercial housing projects that are permitted to sell to foreigners, subject to conditions and quantity limits under Article 17 of the Housing Law 2023. By contrast, "nhà đất" in the ordinary sense, a house attached to ordinary residential land (private-title residential land outside a project), is something a foreigner cannot receive as a land-use right; that portion is resolved by receiving its value. This is precisely why many people mishear it as "foreigners cannot inherit real estate"; in truth they cannot be named on the land title, not that they cannot benefit at all.
A note on scope: if you are a person of Vietnamese origin residing abroad and are permitted to enter Vietnam, your rights are broader, and in many cases you may receive residential land-use rights and be named on the certificate. This article focuses on holders of foreign nationality; if you fall within the "of Vietnamese origin" category, please discuss your case separately to identify your rights accurately, as the approach will differ.
The estate-declaration and transfer procedure for converting to cash
To turn inherited real estate into money lawfully, you, or the person you authorise, must go through a sequence of steps in the correct order, because the outcome of each step is a condition for the next:
- Prepare and legalise documents from abroad. Your passport, documents proving your relationship to the deceased (birth certificate, marriage certificate) and the death certificate, if issued abroad. All must undergo consular legalisation and notarised translation into Vietnamese before they can be used in Vietnam.
- Execute a deed of estate declaration or an agreement on division of the estate at a notarial office. Heirs by will or by law are entitled to request notarisation of the deed of estate division; the notary verifies the inheritance relationship and the documents of title.
- Public posting of the declaration for 15 days. This is a mandatory step to ensure that no other heir is omitted.
- Valuation of the estate to serve as the basis for division and transfer (discussed in a separate section below).
- Sign the contract to transfer (sell) the real estate. Because they are not named on the certificate, a foreign heir may still be named as the transferor in the contract, as permitted by land law.
- Complete tax and fee obligations, receive the proceeds, and remit them abroad.
The two procedurally decisive steps are notarising the deed of estate division and the public posting. The Notarisation Law 2024 requires the notarial organisation to post notice of receipt before notarising, and to notarise only after confirmation that the posting has been completed and that no complaint or denunciation has arisen regarding the omission or concealment of an heir.
The posting is carried out at the headquarters of the commune-level People's Committee of the deceased's last permanent residence and where the real estate is located. If the deceased's last place of residence was abroad or cannot be determined in Vietnam, the notarial organisation requests the provincial Department of Justice to publish the notice, a very common situation for families with a foreign element. Once completed, the notarised deed of estate division is the basis for registering the transfer of rights to the buyer when you sell the property.
An important advantage for those far away: you are not required to be present in Vietnam throughout the process. The Land Law 2024 allows an heir to authorise another person in writing to carry out the procedures; in practice, most clients abroad authorise a lawyer in Vietnam to act on their behalf with the notary, the tax authority and the bank from start to finish.
Valuing inherited real estate and the basis for determining value
The question of "who values it and on what basis" in fact has three different layers, and confusing them is one of the reasons heirs are easily disadvantaged.
First, valuation for division among co-heirs. If the estate is divided among several people, the value of the house must be determined so each person knows the size of their share. This is first done by agreement among the co-heirs. Where they cannot agree, the parties usually engage an independent valuation firm to obtain an objective figure. If a dispute arises and must go to court, valuation is carried out by a valuation council at the court's request.
Second, the value for calculating tax and fees. On transfer of title, the tax authority will not accept a declared price lower than the land price in the land price schedule issued by the provincial People's Committee; if the price stated in the contract is lower than the schedule, the tax authority will apply the schedule. In other words, whatever price the parties agree, there is a floor for calculating financial obligations.
Third, and the figure you actually receive: the market sale price. Because the foreigner's mechanism is to "receive the value" through a transfer, the amount actually received is the price at which the house is sold to the buyer, as stated in the notarised transfer contract. This is also the basis for calculating personal income tax on the sale. What this means for you: an internal valuation for division is only a reference; the final amount converted to cash depends on the price the house actually sells for and on selling it through the correct procedure.
Tax, fees and the procedure for remitting inheritance funds abroad
There are two distinct moments when tax obligations arise: when you receive the inheritance and when you sell to convert it to cash. The rules are in a transitional period, so both the current milestone and the new one must be noted.
Tax on receiving the inheritance. If you inherit real estate from a relative within the statutory scope (spouses; parents and children; grandparents and grandchildren; siblings, and so on), that inheritance is exempt from personal income tax. This exemption applies consistently both under the current guidance (Article 3 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC, applicable until the end of 30 June 2026) and under the Personal Income Tax Law 2025, effective from 1 July 2026.
If the deceased does not fall within the group of relatives above, the inherited real estate is subject to a tax rate of 10%. The difference between the two periods is the taxable threshold: under the current rules, tax is calculated on the portion exceeding VND 10 million per receipt (Article 16 of Circular 111/2013/TT-BTC); from 1 July 2026, the threshold is raised to VND 20 million (Articles 18 and 26 of the Personal Income Tax Law 2025).
Tax on selling to convert to cash. The transfer of real estate is subject to personal income tax of 2% of the transfer price. This rate applies to both resident and non-resident individuals, and most overseas heirs are classified as "non-resident individuals" under tax law.
There are also a registration fee ("lệ phí trước bạ") and notarial fees arising when title is transferred to the buyer. After the financial obligations are completed and you have received the sale proceeds (in Vietnamese dong), the final step is to remit them abroad lawfully. This is usually the step heirs worry about most, but the foreign-exchange rules are clear.
What this means: the proceeds from selling inherited real estate, provided their lawful origin can be proven by the notarised transfer contract and tax-payment receipts, may be used to purchase foreign currency at a licensed bank and remit it to your account abroad. If the person making the transfer is a co-heir or representative who is a Vietnamese citizen, the law also allows them to remit inheritance funds to the heir abroad. The bank will require a set of documents proving the inheritance right and the source of funds, so keeping complete paperwork from the outset is decisive in ensuring this final step is not blocked.
Legal risks and common mistakes in practice
Most difficulties come not from the law but from doing the steps in the wrong order or leaving things too late. The following situations recur again and again.
Leaving the file "on hold" too long. Many people abroad delay because they find the procedure daunting, and by the time they return, documents are lost, witnesses are gone, or the house is being managed or used by someone else. It is worth noting that the law sets a limitation period for requesting division of an estate.
Being "omitted" as an heir. A very common scenario: co-heirs in Vietnam declare the estate themselves and omit a relative living abroad. You still have the right to sue for re-division, but if the house has already been transferred to a bona fide third party, recovering it is far more complicated, yet another reason not to delay.
Declaring a low sale price to avoid tax. Stating a contract price lower than the real price to reduce the 2% tax carries serious risks: the tax authority may reassess and collect arrears, impose penalties, and even affect the validity of the transaction and trigger a dispute with the buyer. For someone abroad who can hardly pursue the fallout, the apparent "saving" is usually not worth it.
Selling through the wrong mechanism. Because a foreigner is not named on the certificate, the contract must be set up correctly: the heir is named as the transferor in accordance with the rules, rather than having someone else "hold it on their behalf" and then dispute the money. Getting this step wrong can render the transaction invalid.
Getting stuck at the foreign-exchange step. If you cannot maintain the chain of documents proving the funds are lawful (the deed of estate declaration, the notarised transfer contract, the tax receipts), the bank may refuse to sell and remit foreign currency abroad, leaving the money "stuck" in Vietnam even though you are legally the lawful owner.
DEDICA's role in handling real-estate inheritance with a foreign element
Given that clients are abroad and find it hard to come to Vietnam, DEDICA Law Firm designs an overall strategy from the outset: guiding the preparation and consular legalisation of documents from abroad, acting under power of attorney to declare the estate at a notarial office, organising valuation and transfer through the correct "receive the value" mechanism, handling tax obligations, and liaising with the bank to remit the funds to your account abroad. As a result, you hardly need to fly back and forth to pursue the procedures.
Where a dispute arises (for example, co-heirs have declared the estate and omitted you, or cannot agree on a division plan), DEDICA represents you in negotiations among the parties and in litigation before the court to seek re-division of the estate, accompanying you through the judgment-enforcement stage so that you actually receive your share.
Conclusion
Foreigners are fully entitled to inherit real estate in Vietnam; the difference is that they cannot be named on the land-use right but receive its value through a transfer. The procedure for converting to cash involves six steps: (1) consular legalisation and notarised translation of personal-status documents from abroad; (2) executing a deed of estate declaration or agreement on division at a notarial office; (3) public posting for 15 days; (4) valuation of the estate; (5) signing the transfer contract as the transferor; (6) completing tax and fees, then purchasing foreign currency to remit to your account abroad. The three mistakes that most often prolong a case or cause loss are: acting too late (running into the limitation period, lost documents, being omitted), failing to have foreign documents consularly legalised, and declaring a low sale price to avoid tax. If you cannot return to Vietnam, authorise a lawyer to handle matters from the document-review stage onward. That is the surest way to avoid starting over.
Every inheritance case with a foreign element has its own particulars of nationality, family relationship, type of real estate and place of residence. DEDICA Law Firm accompanies you from reviewing and legalising documents, declaring the estate, valuation and transfer, through to the funds reaching your account abroad, even when you cannot be present in Vietnam. Contact DEDICA for a lawyer's advice on the specific plan for your case.
This article is for reference based on the law at the time of writing. Each case has its own particulars; please consult a DEDICA lawyer for accurate advice on your situation.
