1. What is legal inheritance?
Inheritance according to law is the transfer of the deceased ‘s assets to the survivors according to the line of inheritance , conditions and order of inheritance prescribed by law .
Individuals have ownership rights to their assets . After death , the remaining assets are divided equally among the heirs . People who are heirs according to the law are those who are related by blood , by marriage , or by foster care.
People who are entitled to inheritance according to the provisions of law do not depend on the level of behavioral capacity . Everyone is equal in enjoying the inheritance of the deceased and performing the obligations that the deceased has not performed within the scope of the inheritance received.
The range of heirs is very wide , so the law stipulates many lines of inheritance . Among them , the first row are those with the closest marriage and blood relations compared to the other rows . The second and third rows are reserve rows if the deceased does not have people in the first row or does but they do not receive or do not have the right to receive .
2. Cases of inheritance according to law
According to the provisions in Article 6 , 50 of the 2015 Civil Code , inheritance by law is applied in the following cases:
– There is no will;
– The will is not legal ;
– The heirs according to the will all die before the testator ; The agency or organization entitled to inherit under the will no longer exists at the time of opening the inheritance ;
– People who are designated as heirs according to the will but do not have the right to inherit or deny the right to inherit;
Inheritance by law also applies to the following parts of inheritance :
– The portion of the estate not determined in the will;
– The part of the estate related to the part of the will is not legally effective ;
– Part of the inheritance is related to the heirs according to the will but they do not have the right to receive the inheritance, refuse the right to receive the inheritance , die before or at the same time as the testator ; related to agencies and organizations that are entitled to the inheritance according to the will but no longer exist at the time of opening the inheritance.

3. Identification and inheritance according to law
3.1. Face the heirs
The class of heirs is the range of people who have the right to enjoy the inheritance of the deceased according to the provisions of law. The status of heirs is determined based on 3
relationship with the person leaving the estate : marriage relationship , blood relationship and foster relationship .
– Marital relationship comes from marriage ( between husband and wife ) .
– Blood relationship is a relationship due to the fact of being born from the same ancestor ( such as between great – grandparents and grandparents ; between grandparents and parents ; between biological parents and children ; between siblings of the same family . parents, same mother , different father , same father , different mother ) .
– Fostering relationship is a relationship based on adoption , recognized by law between adoptive father , mother and adopted child.
3.2. Inherited goods according to law
The heirs are arranged in three rows of inheritance . Inheritance is divided according to the following principles : Inheritance is only divided among one line of inheritance in order of priority : 1 , 2 , 3 . Heirs in the same row are entitled to equal shares of the estate . Those in the next row of heirs are only entitled to inherit if there is no one in the previous row of heirs who has died and has no right to inherit . , disqualified from inheritance or refused to receive inheritance.
3.2.1. First line of inheritance
The first line of inheritance includes : Spouse , biological father , biological mother , adoptive father , adoptive mother, biological children , and adopted children of the deceased .
– The heir is the spouse :
The basis for husband and wife to inherit each other ‘s property is the marital relationship . Husband and wife relationship is established through marriage . Article 9 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family stipulates :
” first . Marriage must be registered and performed by a competent state agency in accordance with the provisions of this Law and the law on civil status .
A marriage that is not registered in accordance with the provisions of this Article has no legal value .
2 . If a divorced couple wants to re – establish their relationship , they must sign a marriage contract .
In case a husband and wife apply for a divorce but have not been granted a divorce by the court through a judgment or decision that has not yet taken legal effect, if one person dies, the surviving person will still inherit the estate (Clause 2 , Article 655 of the Civil Code) .
A person who is a person’s spouse at the time of that person’s death, even if he or she later marries someone else, still inherits the estate (Clause 3, Article 655 of the 2015 Civil Code ).
In cases where husband and wife have divided common property while the soul is still alive and then one person dies , the surviving person will still inherit the deceased person ‘s estate .
In reality, there may be cases where husband and wife have conflicts and do not want to divorce but want to live separately , so they divide their common property . After that, if one person dies , legally they are still husband and wife, so the surviving person can still inherit the deceased person ‘s estate .
When the husband or wife dies , the wife or husband is the first heir . If they do not refuse to inherit , they will naturally have the right to own the property they inherit .
In fact , due to objective conditions , our country ‘s law also recognizes the de facto marriage of the dead ( see marriage and family law ) .
– Heirs are father, mother, or child:
Father and mother are the first-line heirs of their biological children, and biological children are the first-line heirs of their biological father and mother. The concept of biological children includes both illegitimate and illegitimate children, so illegitimate children are also the first-line heirs of their parents.
Adopted children, adoptive fathers and adoptive mothers can inherit each other’s property and can also inherit property according to the provisions of Article 652 and Article 653 of the 2015 Civil Code .
On the family side , the adoptive father , adoptive mother , and adopted child only have inheritance relationships with the adoptive father and adoptive mother , but do not have inheritance relationships with the adoptive parents and biological children . The biological parents of an adoptive child are also not entitled to inherit that adopted child .
In case the adoptive father or adoptive mother marries another person , the adopted child does not automatically become that person ‘s adopted child , so they are not each other ‘s heirs according to the law . law.
A person who has adopted another person still has an inheritance relationship with his or her father , biological mother , grandfather , maternal grandfather , paternal grandmother , maternal grandmother, biological brother, biological sister, younger sibling , uncle , aunt , uncle , A biological uncle is like someone who is not adopted by someone else.
Stepchildren and stepfathers and stepmothers , if they have a relationship of caring for and nurturing each other like father-son and mother-child, will inherit each other’s property and also inherit property according to the provisions of Article 65 2 and Article 65 . 653 Civil Code 2015 .
3.2.2. Second line of inheritance
The second line of inheritance includes: Grandfather , grandmother , maternal grandfather , maternal grandmother , biological brother , biological sister , younger sibling of the deceased ; Grandchildren call the dead grandfather , grandmother , grandfather , grandmother .
Grandfather, grandmother, maternal grandfather , and maternal grandmother are the second – line heirs of their grandchildren . On the contrary , the law foresees that in cases where the deceased has no children or has children but the children do not have the right to inherit and refuse to receive the inheritance, the grandchildren will inherit from their grandparents.
Brothers , sisters , and younger siblings are each other ‘s second-line heirs . Brothers , sisters , and younger siblings are siblings of the same mother or father. No matter how many biological children a mother has , that many of those children are siblings of each other, regardless of whether the children have the same or different fathers , are children of wedlock or illegitimate. wedlock.
The wife’s stepchild and the husband ‘s stepchild are not siblings.
A person’s adopted child does not automatically become that person ‘s adopted child . Therefore , a person ‘s adopted children and biological children are not each other ‘s second- line heirs ( because they are not biological brothers or sisters ) .
Someone else ‘s adopted child is still the second-line heir of his or her biological siblings . A person whose biological brother or sister is adopted by another person is still the second – in-line heir of that person who is the adopted child of that other person.
3.2.3. Third line of inheritance
The third line of inheritance includes : Paternal and maternal great -grandparents of the deceased ; paternal uncle , paternal uncle , paternal uncle , paternal aunt , paternal aunt of the deceased ; nephew of the deceased and the deceased is a paternal uncle , maternal uncle , paternal uncle , maternal aunt , maternal aunt ; The deceased ‘s great – grandchildren are paternal and maternal great-grandchildren.
A person’s great-grandfather is the person who gave birth to that person ‘s grandfather or grandmother . A person ‘s maternal great-grandfather is the person who gave birth to that person ‘s grandfather or grandmother .
In case the paternal or maternal grandparents die without any heirs , including children and grandchildren, or if there are heirs but they both refuse to receive the inheritance or do not have the right to enjoy the inheritance, the great-grandchildren will inherit the grandfather’s inheritance.
People who are biological uncles, paternal uncles, paternal aunts , paternal uncles , and paternal aunts are understood as follows:
A biological uncle is the biological brother or sister of the child’s biological father or biological mother . My biological uncle and aunt are my biological father’s younger siblings . My biological uncle and aunt are my biological mother ‘s younger siblings .
In case the deceased is a paternal uncle , maternal uncle , maternal aunt , maternal uncle , or maternal aunt but there are no first or second-line heirs or there are but they do not receive the inheritance or do not have the right to receive the inheritance, the grandchildren The intestate will enjoy the inheritance . On the contrary , if a biological grandchild dies without a first- or second -line heir or if there is one but they do not receive the inheritance or do not have the right to receive the inheritance , then the paternal uncle , paternal uncle, paternal aunt , paternal uncle , the deceased’s maternal aunt is entitled to the estate.
4. Inheritance
As a general rule, the heir is the person who is alive at the time of opening the inheritance. However, our country’s inheritance law also stipulates that when the child of the person leaving the legacy dies before the person leaving the legacy, that person’s grandchildren will enjoy the inheritance that their father or mother would enjoy if they were still alive. If the grandchild also dies before the person leaving the estate, the great-grandchild will enjoy the portion of the estate that the parent would enjoy if still alive. These cases are called hereditary succession. In addition , the law also stipulates special cases : if the father or mother dies at the same time as the grandparent, the grandchild will take the place of the parent and receive the grandparent’s inheritance ( Article 652 of the 2015 Civil Code ).
Therefore , hereditary inheritance is the act of descendants and great – grandchildren taking the place of their father or mother (grandparents ) to enjoy their grandparents’ ( or great-grandparents’) inheritance in the case of a father or mother . (grandfather or grandmother ) died before or died with him or her ( or great-grandfather ) . Substitute heirs are entitled to the inheritance that their father , mother ( or grandparents ) would have enjoyed if they were still alive , divided equally with the other heirs .
You must live at the time of your grandfather’s or grandmother ‘s death to be the heir to your grandfather’s or grandmother’s position . The great -grandchild must also be alive at the time of his death to be the heir to his property .
Article 653 of the 2015 Civil Code regulates the inheritance relationship between adopted children and adoptive fathers , adoptive mothers and biological fathers and biological mothers : ” An adopted child and an adopted father and adoptive mother shall inherit each other ‘s property and can also inherit their property according to the provisions in Articles 651 and 652 of this Code . ”
According to the provisions of Clause 3 , Article 68 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 : ” Between the child and the parents , the mother has the rights and obligations . The duties of parents and children are regulated in this Law , the Law on Adoption of Adopted Children , the Ministry of Civil Law and other relevant laws .
The Law on Adoption stipulates the consequences of adopting a child in Clause 1, Article 2 4: “ 1 . From the date of adoption , the adoptive parents and adopted child have full rights and obligations of parents and child ; Between the child and other members of the family , the parents also have rights and obligations towards each other according to the provisions of law . marriage and family law , civil law and other relevant legal provisions .
The regulations in Article 78 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014 on the rights and obligations of adoptive parents , adoptive mothers and adopted children : “ 1 . Adoptive fathers , adoptive mothers , and adoptive children have the rights and obligations of fathers , mothers , and children as prescribed in this Law from the time the adoption relationship is established . according to the provisions of the Law on Adoption .
Based on the provisions in Articles 104, 106, 113, 114 of the 2014 Law on Marriage and Family, adopted children have no relationship with rights and obligations related to care, education, and upbringing. for relatives of the adoptive father and mother’s family such as the adoptive father’s and mother’s parents, biological siblings of the adoptive parents, uncles, aunts, and uncles of the adoptive parents. . In other words, the adopted child cannot be the biological grandchild of these people, so the adopted child cannot be the heir of the above people. However, a person who adopts another person still has a relationship with the biological parents’ family, so is an heir according to the provisions of Article 651 and Article 652 of relatives.