A Biological Father May Retain Inheritance Rights Where The Parent-Child Relationship Is Legally Recognized

Whether a biological father who did not personally raise or support his child from an early age remains entitled to inherit from the child’s estate depends primarily on whether the parent-child relationship is legally recognized and whether any statutory grounds for disqualification from inheritance apply.

1.     Inheritance Rights of the Biological Father

Under Point a, Clause 1, Article 651 of the 2015 Civil Code, the biological father and mother of a deceased person are first-line heirs. Heirs in the same line are entitled to equal shares of the estate pursuant to Clause 2, Article 651. Accordingly, where a person dies intestate, or where the estate is otherwise distributed by operation of law, the deceased’s biological father is entitled to inherit provided that the parent-child relationship is legally recognized and none of the grounds for disqualification under Article 621 of the 2015 Civil Code applies.

Vietnamese law does not make the right to inherit conditional upon the biological father having personally raised or supported the child. The fact that the child was raised by another person, or that the biological father did not provide care in practice, does not, by itself, extinguish his statutory inheritance rights.

2.     Establishing the Parent-Child Relationship

The parent-child relationship may be established through a birth certificate, a decision recognizing parentage issued by a competent authority, a court judgment or decision, or other legally valid documents.

Point b, Clause 2, Article 6 of Decree No. 154/2024/ND-CP, for example, recognizes various documents evidencing a parent-child relationship, including:

“a birth certificate;

a certificate or decision concerning adoption;

a decision recognizing parentage;

confirmation issued by the commune-level People’s Committee or, where there is no commune-level administrative unit at the place of residence, the relevant district-level People’s Committee;

a valid passport containing information evidencing the parent-child relationship; and

a court decision, civil status extract, or written confirmation issued by a competent medical, forensic or other authority”.

Therefore, where a biological father can establish the legally recognized parent-child relationship, the fact that the deceased was raised by a stepfather or another person does not, in itself, deprive the biological father of his status as an heir.

3.     Where the Deceased Leaves a Will

Where the deceased leaves a valid will, the estate is generally distributed in accordance with the will pursuant to Article 659 of the 2015 Civil Code.

However, Vietnamese law protects certain persons through the statutory regime of heirs entitled to an estate regardless of the contents of the will under Article 644 of the 2015 Civil Code. Under Article 644, the deceased’s parents, among other protected heirs, may be entitled to a compulsory portion equivalent to two-thirds of the share they would have received had the estate been distributed by law, where they are not provided for under the will or are provided with less than such statutory portion.

This protection does not apply where the relevant person has renounced the inheritance in accordance with Article 620 or falls within the statutory grounds for disqualification from inheritance under Clause 1, Article 621 of the Civil Code. Accordingly, the biological father may be entitled to an inheritance regardless of the contents of the will, provided that the conditions under Article 644 are satisfied. Where the will excludes the biological father from inheritance or grants him less than the protected portion, the estate must be distributed in accordance with the compulsory-heir rules to the extent provided by law.

The biological father’s inheritance rights therefore depend not only on whether the deceased left a will, but also on the contents of the will and whether the statutory conditions under Article 644 are met.

Conclusion:

The fact that a biological father did not personally raise or support his child from an early age does not, by itself, deprive him of inheritance rights.

Where the parent-child relationship is legally recognized, the biological father is a first-line heir where the estate is distributed by law and may also be entitled to a compulsory portion regardless of the contents of the will, subject to the conditions under Article 644 of the 2015 Civil Code.

The specific share of the estate to which the biological father is entitled must be determined by reference to the applicable mode of succession, the contents of the will (if any), the value of the estate, the deceased’s property obligations and the other relevant heirs.

Legal Basis: Articles 609, 613, 621, 644, 651 and 659 of the 2015 Civil Code; Article 6 of Decree No. 154/2024/ND-CP.

Legal Counsel: Lawyer Lê Hà My – MY LEGAL COUNSEL

Compiled and Edited by: Phan Kim Hoàng

Source: This article is based on and adapted from the legal advice provided by Lawyer Lê Hà My to Tuổi Trẻ newspaper.

Original Article: https://tuoitre.vn/con-rieng-cua-vo-toi-mat-thi-co-phai-chia-thua-ke-cho-cha-ruot-cua-chau-khong-20250124165849978.htm.