Today, when the economy is developing, many people possess a lot of property relatively, thus it is a common practice for them to prepare wills for their children and relatives to inherit their property. Wills make it easier to bequeath property. A will expresses the intention of the person with property for bequeath as he or she has arranged it himself/herself. We will provide and guide you with the latest will form for your reference!
What is a will?
According to the provisions of Article 624 of Civil Code 2015, it can be understood that: Will means an expression of the wishes of a natural person, made in order to bequeath his or her property to others after his or her death. In a will, an individual or a group of individuals is designated as the executor and administrator of the property until it is properly bequeathed according to the will.
A person that is determined to be an adult, of sound mind, and completely voluntary in doing so shall have the right to make a will. A person who is between fifteen and eighteen years of age may make a will with the consent of his or her parents or guardian.
When a person makes a will for disposition of his/her property, the will will only take effect from the time of commencing inheritance, i.e. when the person with the property dies or is
declared to be dead by the Court in accordance with regulations. Also, according to Article 643 of Civil Code 2015, a will is used as the basis for division of property when a person dies when it is determined to be a lawful and only will that he/she made before his/her death.
Legally recognized forms of wills
Will means an expression of the wishes of a natural person, made in order to bequeath his or her property to others after his or her death. There are two forms of wills: A will must be made in writing. If it is not able to be made in writing, it may be made orally. According to Articles 627, 628 and 629, a will is lawful when it is made in either of these two forms:
Written wills comprise:
- Unwitnessed written wills;
- Witnessed written wills;
- Written wills which are notarized;
- Written wills which are certified.
Oral wills:
Currently, oral will is still quite common. This is partly because many people think that oral wills are still lawful, there is no need to waste time writing a will. Also, Clause 5, Article 630 of Civil Code 2015 states that an oral will shall be deemed lawful only if the the testator is in a serious life-threatening situation; unable to make a written will (e.g. suffering from a dying illness, having an accident at risk of death, etc.).
The testator orally expressed his or her last wishes before at least two witnesses who immediately thereafter recorded those wishes in writing and signed or fingerprinted the document. Such will must be notarized or certified within five (05) working days of the date on which the testator orally expressed his or her last wishes.
If the testator is alive and is of sound mind three (03) months after he or she has made an oral will, such will shall automatically become invalid (Clause 2, Article 629 of Civil Code). If an oral will is annulled as mentioned above, to express his or her will on the division of property after his or her death, a person must make a written will.
There is also video will. A video will is also a form of oral will made when a person is still alive and wants to bequest his or her property to someone else when he or she dies. This form of will is valid when the conditions prescribed for oral wills are met.
Is it allowed to make a handwritten will?
As stated above, Articles 627 and 628 of Civil Code 2015 state that there are two common forms of wills, which are written and verbal wills. So, Civil Code 2015 only provides general clauses on wills but no specific clauses on handwritten wills and relevant matters. However, based on above provisions, a testator is legally allowed to make a will in the form of a written will. Meanwhile, a will, whether handwritten or typed, is in the form of document and paper.
Thus, a testator may be able to make a handwritten will, whether witnessesed or unwitnessed and whether certified or notarized. A handwritten will is valid when it strictly complies with above provisions, regardless of the legal validity of a handwritten will version a notarized or certified will.
Current forms of handwritten wills
Unwitnessed will form
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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM Today, day … month … year …. , at ……….. …….. (HH:MM), at ……………….. Under the state of sound mind, I am making this Will with following details: |
Witnessed will form
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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM WILL Day …………. Month ………….. Year …………. (Day ……….. Month ……….. Year ……………), at Now, I hereby make this Will to resolve my property as mentioned above as follows: PREPARED BY Witness(es): WITNESS TO THE WILL |
Instructions on preparing a handwritten will
Making a lawful will in accordance with provisions of law is important because it represents the
desire and intention of the person with property to be bequested to others to avoid
unnecessary future disputes. Therefore, when making a handwritten will, it is necessary to
recognize the testator’s intention first (the testator either writes it down or asks someone to
write it down). In particular, a will should include following contents:
- Specify the date, month, year and place of making the will.
- Information on the testator: Full name, household registration and permanent address.
- Full name of the person, agency or organization to receive the estate or clearly identifying the conditions for the individual, agency or organization to receive the estate.
- Legacy to be bequested and its location (specify information about the estate. For example, if it is land, it is necessary to specify details of the land plot such as: location, area, legal information, etc.).
- The person appointed to perform the obligation and the content of the obligation.
A will may not be written using abbreviations or other symbols. If a will consists of several pages, each page must be numbered and bear the signature or fingerprint of the testator.
We have provided you with the instructions on latest will forms and how to make a handwritten will.
Please contact us for more detailed instructions: letran@familylawyers.vn .
