Case Law 68 regarding the right to inherit property in the form of real estate for heirs who are Vietnamese residing abroad was approved by the People's Supreme Court on August 18, 2023, and publicly announced according to Decision No. 364/QĐ-CA dated October 1, 2023, by the Chief Justice of the People's Supreme Court ("Case Law 68").
Case Law 68 sets forth a legal scenario: when the deceased, who owned the property, passed away before the effective date of the 2013 Land Law and the 2014 Housing Law; disputes over the division of the inherited property are resolved by the Court at the time when the 2013 Land Law and the 2014 Housing Law were in effect. Accordingly, the appellate court will handle the case when these laws were in effect, but the court's ruling on determining the right to inherit a residential property for Vietnamese residing abroad is based on the older legal documents.
Therefore, the Director of the appellate court annulled the aforementioned judgment and provided guidance on the choice of applicable laws for this situation as follows:
- The court applies the 2013 Land Law and the 2014 Housing Law to resolve the case.
- In the case where the heir is a Vietnamese residing abroad, the heir shall inherit the property in the form of a residential house if they meet the conditions for home inheritance under the 2014 Housing Law, and the inheritance can be distributed in the form of the property.
Thus, Case Law 68 acknowledges the principle of applying the law in cases of resolving disputes over inherited property in the form of real estate for Vietnamese residing abroad, which is: applying the laws in effect at the time of trial.
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