Wills and Estates

Latest Written Will Forms and How to Make a Lawful Written Will

Author
Stephen Le

A will expresses the intention of the person with property for bequeath as he or she has arranged it himself/herself. A will may be made in several forms: written, oral, handwritten, typed, notarized, unnotarized, etc. It is not difficult to make a will, what matters is making a lawful will. Written form is the most commonly used form of will with the most legal validity and least errors.  We will provide you with the latest written will forms and show you how to make one!

Lawful wills

A will must satisfy the following requirements in order to be lawful:

  • The testator was of sound mind when he or she made the will; and he or she was not deceived, threatened or coerced into making the will.
  • The contents of the will are not contrary to law or social morals and the will complies with legal formalities.
  • A will made by a person between fifteen and eighteen years of age must be made in writing and with the consent of the parents or guardian of such person.
  • A will made by a person who is incapacitated or illiterate must be made in writing by a witness and must be notarized or certified.
  • A written will which is not notarized or certified shall be deemed lawful only if it satisfies the requirements. An oral will shall be deemed lawful only if 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.

Contents of a written will

Written will is a will made in a written form, including contents that are not contrary to the law and/or social ethics as follows:

  • The date on which the will is made.
  • The full name and place of residence of the testator.
  • The full names of the persons and the bodies or organizations entitled to inherit the estate.
  • The estate to be bequeathed and its location.

Apart from above contents, the will may have other contents.

  • 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.

Where a will has erasure or correction, the testator or the testament witness must sign beside erasing and corrected place.

Types of written wills

Written wills comprise:

Unwitnessed written wills:  According to Article 633 of Civil Code 2015, for this type of will, the testator must write and sign the will himself or herself.

Witnessed written wills:  According to Article 634 of Civil Code 2015, where a testator is not able to write a will by his or her own hand, the testator may request another person to write the will, but there must be at least two witnesses. The testator must sign or fingerprint the will in the presence of the witnesses; the witnesses shall acknowledge the signature or fingerprint of the testator and sign the will.

According to Article 632 of Civil Code 2015, any person may act as a witness to the making of a will, except the following persons:

  • Persons who are heirs of the testator under the will or at law.
  • Persons with property rights or obligations which relate to the will.
  • Minors, legally incapacitated persons, persons with limited cognition and behavior control.

Wills which are notarized or certified:  According to Articles 635 and 636 of Civil Code 2015, the testator may make a will at notary office or people’s committee of commune The notary public officer or the person having the authority to certify must record the wishes stated by the testator and the witnesses.

Latest written will forms

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Independence – Freedom – Happiness

———————

WILL

 Today, day …………. month ………. year, at ………………………………………………….

My name is (full name):………………………………………………….. Date of birth: ……/……./……..

ID Card No. :………….. dated …./…../…. issued by …………………………………….

Registered temporary residence: (Where there is no registered temporary residence, state the temporary residence) …………………………………………………………………….

Under the state of sound mind, I am making this Will with following details:

I am the owner of the following property:

1………………………………………………………………………………………………..

2………………………………………………………………………..

3………………………………………………………………………..

Documents of title issued by competent authorities include: ………………………

When I pass away, all of my above-mentioned estate will be bequested to my child(ren) ……………………………  born in ………….., ID Card No.:……………….. issued by Public Security of ………………….. issued on ……………………….., current permanent residence address:  ………………… for complete ownership.

In which case, my child ………………….. becomes the sole owner of the above-mentioned estate for inheritance, which cannot be disputed by anyone that may result in family conflict.

My child…………. is responsible for worshiping the ancestors and taking care of our debts and future affairs.

This will is written by myself (……………………) in accordance with my own will. After reading again full text of the Will myself, I acknowledge that it represents my wishes and intention. I hereby sign and imprint my right hand index fingerprint below as the proof.

                                                                                                            The testator

                                                                                                Signature, fingerprint and full name

Form 02:

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SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF VIETNAM

Independence – Freedom – Happiness

WILL

Day …………. Month ………….. Year …………. (Day ……….. Month ……….. Year ……………),

at (address):……………… before the presence of two witnesses, we, including:

  1. Mr.: ………………………………………………. Born in: ………………………………………

– ID Card No. …………………… issued by Public Security of ……………….. issued on ……………..

– Permanent residence address: …………………………………………………………………………………..

  1. Mrs. : ………………………………………………. Born in: ……………………………………….

ID Card: No. …………….. issued by Public Security of ………………… issued on …………………….

Permanent residence address: ……………………………………………………………………………………..

Today, under the state of sound mind, we voluntary make this Will for disposition of all of our estate (estate) with following details:

  1. The estate
    The estate to be disposed of under this Will includes all joint property of ours as well as separate property of each of ours acquired when we are alive, specifically as follows:1.The house and land plot at address: ……………………, City ……………………. under the certificate of house ownership and land use right No.: ……………………………, original case No.: ………………………………………. issued by People’s Committee of ……………………… issued on ……/……/……….2.Land plot No. ………….. at address: ……………………, City ……………………. under the certificate of house ownership and land use right No.: ……………………………, original case No.: ………………………………………. issued by People’s Committee of ……………………… issued on ……/……/……….3.The automobile with driving plate, model …………………., frame No. ……………, engine No. …………………….., paint color ……………………, registered under the name of …………4.The motorbike with driving plate, model …………………., frame No. ……………, engine No. …………………….., paint color ……………………, registered under the name of …………

    In addition to the property (estate) mentioned above, if any new property may be acquired after the date of this will until the effective date hereof (even after both of us pass away), it will be disposed of in accordance with this Will. If there is any change to any property as mentioned herein as of the commencement of this will, i.e. change to current conditions, increase or decrease in value, it will still be disposed of in accordance with this Will.

    Above-mentioned property are earned, acquired, and saved by us during our lifetime. Our children are still small and young, and they haven’t known how to take care of these property, so we are not confident to bequest these property to them…

  2. Individuals to receive the estate
    Considering the conditions, circumstances, personalities, and abilities of our children, as well as our affection for them, we make this Will for disposition of all of our estate as mentioned in section I hereof as follows:When both of us pass away, all of property under my lawful ownership (estate) as mentioned in section I of this will shall be bequested to our children in blood named below:
    1. Son: ………………………………………….. Date of birth ……………………………………..

    ID Card No.: ……………………………. issued by Public Security of …………………… issued on…../…./……..

    Permanent residence address: ……………………………………………………………………………………

    1. Daughter: ………………………………………….. Date of birth ……………………………………..

    ID Card No.: ……………………………. issued by Public Security of …………………… issued on…../…./……..

    Permanent residence address: ……………………………………………………………………………………

    In addition to our above-mentioned children and relatives, we bequest none of our estate to any other person.

    We hereby agree that: This will is only valid when both of us pass away. If either of us passes away before the other, the alive person (husband or wife) shall continue managing and operating all of our estate. When both of us pass away, our children shall then be entitled to the division of our estate in accordance with the terms hereof.

    When either of us passes away before the other (the Will has not yet taken legal effect), but any of our children files an action to claim any of our estate or is subject to any administrative or criminal action for acts of infringing upon the life, health, honor and dignity of other heirs, the violator shall be disqualified from inheriting our estate.

    If there is any heir not listed herein upon the commencement of the inheritance under the operation of the law, a part of the estate mentioned herein shall be bequested (2/3 of each division under the operation of law) to that heir in accordance with the law on estate, while the remaining estate shall still be divided in accordance with this Will.

  3. Person keeping and announcing the Will
    If either of us passes away before the other, the remaining person shall keep the Will and manage our estate. This Will shall only be announced and division of estate be proceeded when both of us pass away.In case both of us pass away while our children are not adult yet, their parents, Mr. …………. and Mrs. ………… shall become the administrator of the estate and keeper of the Will.Our children must unite, love and help each other, they may not fight each other because of personal selfishness for our heritage, causing loss of affection in the family. Our children should respect our final wishes according to the content of this Will.
  4. Acknowledgment of the testator.
  • The personal information and information on property and estate as specified in this Will are true and correct.
  • All documents served as the basis for making this Will are provided by us, these documents are issued by competent authorities, without any forgery, erasure, addition or modification, and falsification of the content.
  • All of movable and immovable property to be disposed of in this Will are our lawful property in accordance with the law.
  • The preparation of this Will is completely voluntary, under sound state of mind, and without any fraud or forceful act.

We have heard the witness read the entire text of this Will and we have also personally re-read the entire content of the Will, fully understood and agreed to all the contents stated herein and signed and fingerprinted hereupon in the presence of two witnesses. The two witnesses named in this Will were voluntarily invited by us to witness our preparation of the will. The will is accurately recorded and expressed in accordance with my intention and wishes. I haven’t made any modification or addition.

This Will consists of ……….. pages in Vietnamese print and is made into 02 original copies of the same validity.

THE TESTATOR

(Signature, fingerprint and full name)

Witness(es):

  1. Mr.: ……………………………………….; Born in: Mr./Ms ……………………

ID Card: No. …………………. Issued by Public Security of ………………………

issued on …………………………………………………………………………

Permanent residence address: …………………………………………………………..

  1. Ms.:……………………; Born in: …………………………………………

ID Card: No. ……………. Issued by Public Security of  ……………………………

issued on …………………………………………………………………………

Permanent residence address: …………………………………………………………..

The witnesses acknowledge that they themselves witnesses Mr…..

and Mrs… ……….. voluntarily prepare, sign, and fingerprint onto this Will.

WITNESS TO THE WILL

(Signature and full name)

Instructions on preparing a written will

First step is to recognize the testator’s intention:  The testator may write his or her intention in the disposition of his or her estate, or may ask another person to do so, provided that the will must contain following key details (Article 631, Civil Code 2015):

  • The date on which the will is made;
  • The full name and place of residence of the testator;
  • The full names of the persons and the bodies or organizations entitled to inherit the estate;
  • The estate to be bequeathed and its location.

Second step is, as appropriate, to engage a witness or, to better assure the rights and benefits of the subjects, the will should be notarized or certified.

Do we help you prepare a lawful Will with this article?  Please contact us for more detailed instructions: letran@familylawyers.vn .

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