A relative in Vietnam put the entire inheritance in their own name: what can you do?

Ngoc (name changed), an overseas Vietnamese based in the US, asked DEDICA:

"Both of my parents passed away in Vietnam, leaving a house in Da Nang and no will. I have lived in the US for many years and rarely manage to return. Recently I learned that my younger brother in Vietnam had the entire house transferred into his sole name, telling me that because I live abroad I no longer have any rights. Can I reclaim my share, and where do I begin when I cannot travel to Vietnam often?"

DEDICA ADVISES Living abroad does not strip you of your inheritance rights. As a child of the deceased, you belong to the first rank of heirs and are entitled to a share equal to your brother's, so the claim that "living abroad means losing your rights" is a common misconception with no legal basis. One person unilaterally registering an entire property and cutting you out can certainly be challenged and the estate redivided, because notarizing a document that divides an estate requires the participation of all heirs and a public posting. What matters now is acting early: gathering your documents and authorizing a lawyer in Vietnam to handle the matter on your behalf.

Your inheritance rights while residing abroad

Your parents died without leaving a will, so the house became an estate to be divided under the law. In that case the estate passes to those in the first rank of heirs, and heirs of the same rank receive equal shares. You and your brother are both biological children standing in the same rank, so in principle each of you is entitled to one half of the value of the house.

Nationality and place of residence are not among any of the grounds that cause a person to lose the right to inherit. This is precisely the most misunderstood point: many people believe that holding a foreign nationality, or living abroad for years, means they can no longer inherit in Vietnam. That is not correct. Your right to the estate remains intact; what may differ is only the form in which you receive it. For real estate, depending on whether you qualify as a person of Vietnamese origin or as a foreigner, you may be able to be named on the certificate of title, or to receive the corresponding value in cash when the house is sold or divided. Either way, your brother being named for 100% does not erase your share; it is merely a procedure carried out with an omission, and it can be corrected.

Steps to reclaim your inheritance share when you cannot return to Vietnam

First, you need to understand how your brother came to be the registered owner. To transfer title to an inherited house, one almost always has to execute a document declaring or dividing the estate at a notarial organization. The law regulates this step very tightly: the notary must correctly identify all those entitled to the estate, and the file must be publicly posted before notarization.

The posting runs for 15 days at the commune-level People's Committee (the local authority) where your parents last resided, under Government Decree 104/2025. Notably, the posted notice must expressly state whether there is any complaint or denunciation about "omitting or concealing an heir". In other words, the law established this step precisely to protect people like you. If your brother declared that he was the only heir, concealing your existence, then that document dividing the estate shows signs of a violation and may be declared invalid by a court, which in turn unwinds the transfer of title. From there, the steps to reclaim your share generally follow this sequence:

1. Gather and legalize your documents. You will need your parents' death certificates, documents proving that you are their child (your birth certificate), and identity documents such as your passport. Documents issued abroad must undergo consular legalization and certified translation before they can be used in Vietnam.
2. Verify the legal status of the house. Check at the Land Registration Office whether the house has already been transferred to your brother and, more importantly, whether it has been sold, gifted or mortgaged to anyone else. This status determines whether you can recover the house itself or only its value.
3. Choose your approach: negotiation or litigation. If dialogue is still possible, your lawyer can, on your behalf, send a formal request asking your brother to acknowledge your share and to adjust the division together. If he refuses, you file a lawsuit asking the court to declare the document dividing the estate invalid and to redivide the estate under the law. Because you live abroad, this is a case with a foreign element and falls within the jurisdiction of the Vietnamese court where the house is located.
4. Authorize a lawyer in Vietnam. You execute a power of attorney, signed at a Vietnamese representative mission abroad or notarized in your country of residence and then consularly legalized, so that the lawyer can work with the notary, the Land Registration Office and the court on your behalf. You do not need to be present in Vietnam for most of the process.

If you suspect that your inheritance share has been registered by a relative without your consent, DEDICA can check the legal status of the property, assess your prospects of recovering the asset itself or its value, and act under a power of attorney to negotiate or litigate in Vietnam on your behalf. Contact DEDICA for a lawyer to review your file and advise on the right approach for your specific situation.

This content is for reference at the time of publication; each case has its own particulars, so please consult a DEDICA lawyer for advice on your specific situation.