Is it possible to make a will to leave real estate but not sell it?

A will is understood as an individual's expression of will to transfer his or her property to another person after death.

According to the provisions of Article 609 of the 2015 Civil Code, the right to inheritance is stipulated as follows: Individuals have the right to make a will to dispose of their property; leave their property to legal heirs; and inherit property according to the will or according to the law. Therefore, making a will to dispose of property after death is completely in accordance with the provisions of the law.

A valid will is a case where the will is made in accordance with the provisions of Article 630 of the 2015 Civil Code.

Article 630. Legal will

1. A valid will must satisfy the following conditions:

a) The testator is of sound mind and clear-headedness when making the will; he/she is not deceived, threatened or coerced;

b) The content of the will does not violate the prohibitions of the law or social ethics; the form of the will does not violate the provisions of the law.

2. The will of a person from fifteen years of age to under eighteen years of age must be made in writing and must have the consent of the father, mother or guardian.

3. The will of a physically handicapped person or an illiterate person must be made in writing by a witness and notarized or authenticated.

4. A written will that is not notarized or certified shall only be considered legal if it satisfies all the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

5. An oral will is considered legal if the testator orally expresses his or her last will in front of at least two witnesses and immediately after the testator orally expresses his or her last will, the witnesses record it, sign or fingerprint it. Within 05 working days from the date the testator orally expresses his or her last will, the will must be notarized or certified by a competent authority to confirm the signature or fingerprint of the witness.

Article 631. Contents of a will

1. The will includes the following main contents:

a) Date, month, year of making the will;

b) Full name and place of residence of the testator;

c) Full name of the person, agency or organization receiving the inheritance;

d) The legacy left behind and where the legacy is located.

2. In addition to the contents specified in Clause 1 of this Article, the will may have other contents.

3. A will must not be abbreviated or written in symbols. If the will consists of several pages, each page must be numbered and have the signature or fingerprint of the testator.
In case a will has erasures or corrections, the testator or the witness to the will must sign next to the erasure or correction.

Based on the above provisions, a valid will is a will made at a time when the testator is of sound mind, and the making of the will and the division of the inheritance are according to their wishes, without being deceived or forced by anyone. The content of the will does not violate the provisions of law and social ethics, and ensures the correct form of the will.

Is it possible to make a will to leave land but not sell it?

Regarding this issue, Clause 1, Article 645 of the 2015 Civil Code stipulates:

In case the testator leaves a part of the inheritance for worship purposes, that part of the inheritance shall not be divided and shall be handed over to the person designated in the will to manage and carry out the worship; if the designated person fails to properly carry out the will or does not comply with the agreement of the heirs, they have the right to hand over the part of the inheritance for worship purposes to another person to manage and carry out the worship purposes.

In case the testator does not appoint a person to manage the ancestral estate, the heirs shall appoint a person to manage the ancestral estate.

In case all the heirs according to the will have died, the portion of the inheritance used for worship belongs to the person who is legally managing the inheritance among those eligible to inherit according to the law.

However, in case the entire estate left by the deceased is not enough to pay off his/her property obligations, a portion of the estate cannot be used for worship (according to Clause 2, Article 645 of the 2015 Civil Code). That is, if the entire estate left by the deceased is not enough to “pay off the debt”, the house and land must be used to pay off the debt, even if the will clearly states that it is for use for worship.

In short:

- If the will states that it is not for sale but only for worship purposes, the heir has no right to sell, except in cases where the entire estate of the deceased is not enough to fulfill his/her obligations (not enough to pay debts, the house and land must be sold or transferred to the creditor).

- If the will does not contain the content of "use for worship", the heir still has full rights of the land user, including the right to transfer.

Minh Hoa (t/h)

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