Linda (name changed), an Australian citizen of Vietnamese origin, asked DEDICA:
"My mother passed away in Ho Chi Minh City more than two years ago, leaving a house with a title deed (sổ hồng). My sister and I have both become Australian citizens and live in Sydney. Some relatives on my father's side are living in that house and claim that our mother 'gave' it to them while she was alive, so they refuse to divide it. I want to sue to claim our share, but I don't know whether to sue in Australia or in Vietnam, and whether I would be required to fly back to Vietnam to attend court many times, because my job does not allow it."
DEDICA ADVISES You have every right to bring an inheritance dispute before the courts in Vietnam, even as a foreign citizen settled far away. For a house located on Vietnamese soil, this is effectively the only path: this type of dispute falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Vietnamese courts, and an Australian court cannot resolve it in their place. Just as important, the law lets you file and take part in the proceedings through an authorised representative, so a Vietnamese lawyer can handle almost everything on your behalf, and you need not give up your job to fly back and forth. Below are the legal grounds and the concrete steps.
Vietnamese courts have jurisdiction, and for real estate it is sole jurisdiction
Your mother passed away in Vietnam leaving an estate, while the heirs hold foreign citizenship and live abroad. That makes this an inheritance case "with a foreign element". Even so, the Vietnamese courts still have jurisdiction, because the house sits on Vietnamese soil and the people contesting your share reside in Vietnam itself. For real estate, the rule is more categorical still: a dispute over real property in Vietnam falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Vietnamese courts.
For you, "exclusive jurisdiction" has a very practical consequence: you cannot bring the dispute over the house in Ho Chi Minh City before a court in Australia. Even if a foreign court were to issue a judgment about that house, it would almost certainly not be recognised or enforced in Vietnam. In other words, Vietnam is both the correct forum and the only forum in which to resolve the matter. This is consistent with a settled principle: the exercise of inheritance rights over real estate is governed by the law of the country where the real estate is located, that is, Vietnamese law, not the law of the place where you live.
So where do you file? Where the estate is real property, only the court of the place where the property is located has jurisdiction. Since 1 July 2025, after the court system was reorganised, cases with a party residing abroad are heard at first instance by the Regional People's Court of the place where the house is located, rather than by the provincial-level court as before.
Suing from abroad: what you need to do, and whether you must return to Vietnam
This is the greatest worry for clients living far away, so let us be clear: you are not required to be present in Vietnam throughout an inheritance lawsuit. The law allows a person to file and take part in the proceedings through a lawful representative.
One point that is often misunderstood: the law prohibits authorising someone to take part in proceedings on your behalf only in divorce matters; for property and inheritance disputes, authorisation is fully permitted. So you may authorise a Vietnamese lawyer to file the claim, submit evidence, and attend conciliation and trial on your behalf, within the scope set out in the power of attorney. Suing from abroad usually involves the following steps:
- Prepare and legalise the power of attorney. You sign the authorisation for the lawyer at a Vietnamese diplomatic mission in your country of residence, or have it notarised locally and then consularly legalised and translated with notarisation so that it can be used in Vietnam.
- Gather the supporting documents. Your mother's death certificate; documents proving the mother-and-child relationship (birth certificate, civil status records); and documents for the house (the title deed). Documents issued abroad must also be consularly legalised and translated with notarisation.
- File the claim with the correct court. File at the Regional People's Court of the place where the house is located, together with a request to divide the estate and determine each heir's share.
- The lawyer pursues the case for you. From acceptance and conciliation through to trial, the representing lawyer deals with the court and the co-heirs; you follow from afar and return to Vietnam only if it is truly necessary.
- Enforcement and bringing the proceeds home. An effective judgment is the basis for transferring title and dividing the estate; the share awarded can be sold and the funds lawfully remitted abroad.
One thing not to put off is the timing of the lawsuit. While your share of the estate is in someone else's hands, the longer you wait the greater the risk: the house may be transferred into another person's name, sold to a third party, or the co-heirs may complete an estate declaration on their own that "omits" you.
Conclusion
In short, the answer is yes: you can bring an inheritance dispute in Vietnam, and for the house in Ho Chi Minh City the Vietnamese courts are the only forum with jurisdiction, not the Australian courts. Nor must you give up your job to attend court time and again. What to do: (1) sign a power of attorney for a Vietnamese lawyer and have your documents from Australia consularly legalised; (2) prepare the documents proving the inheritance relationship and the house; (3) file at the Regional People's Court of the place where the house is located and let the lawyer pursue the case for you; (4) act early, because the right to request the division of an estate is subject to a limitation period. Distance does not take away your share of the inheritance; what matters is suing in the right place, in the right way, and at the right time.
If you are abroad and your inheritance in Vietnam is being held or disposed of by others, DEDICA can act under a power of attorney on your behalf from start to finish: preparing and legalising documents from overseas, filing the claim and appearing in the court proceedings, following the matter through to enforcement, and advising on how to bring your share of the estate home. Contact DEDICA for a lawyer to assess your particular situation and the way forward for your case.
This content is for reference at the time of publication; each case has its own facts, so please consult a DEDICA lawyer for advice on your specific situation.
