Phần thứ tư Bộ luật Dân sự 2005: Thừa kế

PART FOUR

INHERITANCE

Chapter XXII

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 631.- Inheritance right of individuals

Every individual shall have the right to make a testament to dispose of his/her property; to bequeath his/her property to his/her heir(s) at law; and to inherit property under a testament or according to law.

Article 632.- Individuals' right of equality in inheritance

Every individual shall be equal in the right to bequeath his/her property to another person and the right to inherit property under a testament or according to law.

Article 633.- Time and place for opening inheritance

1. The time for opening inheritance is the time the owner of property dies. In cases where the Court declares that a person is dead, the time for opening the inheritance shall be the date specified in Clause 2, Article 81 of this Code.

2. The place for opening inheritance is the last place of residence of the estate leaver; if such place cannot be identified, the place for opening inheritance shall be the place where all or most of his/her estate is located.

Article 634.- Estate

Estate includes the decedent's own property and his/her shares in property in common with others.

Article 635.- Heirs

If an heir is an individual, he/she must be alive at the time of opening the inheritance, or must be born and still alive after the time of opening the inheritance, but must be conceived before the death of the estate leaver. In cases where a testamentary heir is an agency or organization, such agency or organization must be in existence at the time of opening the inheritance.

Article 636.- Time at which the heir's rights and obligations arise

As from the time of opening the inheritance, the heirs shall have the property rights and obligations left by the decedents.

Article 637.- Performance of property obligations left by the decedent

1. The persons enjoying the inheritance shall have the responsibility to perform the property obligations within the limit of estate left by the decedent, unless otherwise agreed upon.

2. In cases where the estate has not yet been divided, the property obligations left by the decedent shall be performed by the estate administrator in accordance with the agreement among the heirs.

3. In cases where the estate has already been divided, then each of the heirs shall perform the property obligations left by the decedent, which correspond to, but not exceed, the portion of property he/she has received, unless otherwise agreed upon.

4. In cases where the State, an agency or organization enjoys an estate under a testament, it shall also have to perform the property obligations left by the decedent like an individual heir.

Article 638.- Estate administrators

1. An estate administrator is the person who is appointed in the testament or appointed under the agreement among the heirs.

2. In cases where the testament does not appoint an estate administrator and the heirs have not yet appointed an administrator, the person who possesses, uses, or administers the estate shall continue to administer it until the heirs appoint an administrator of the estate.

3. In cases where the heir(s) has/have not been identified and there is still no administrator of the estate, such estate shall be managed by a competent State agency.

Article 639.- Obligations of the estate administrator

1. The estate administrator defined in Clause 1 and Clause 3, Article 638 of this Code shall have the following obligations:

a/ To draw up the list of estate; recover the property of the decedent, which is being possessed by other persons, unless otherwise provided for by law;

b/ To preserve the estate; not to sell, exchange, donate, mortgage, pledge or dispose of it in any other manners, if not so consented in writing by the heirs;

c/ To notify the heirs of the estate;

d/ To compensate for damage, if he/she breaches his/her obligations, thereby causing damage;

e/ To hand back the estate at the request of the heir(s).

2. The person who currently possesses, uses or administers the estate as specified in Clause 2, Article 638 of this Code shall have the following obligations:

a/ To preserve the estate; not to sell, exchange, donate, mortgage, pledge or dispose of it in any other manners;

b/ To notify the heirs of the estate;

c/ To compensate for damage, if he/she breaches his/her obligations, thereby causing damage;

d/ To hand back the estate as agreed upon with the estate leaver in a contract or at the request of the heir(s).

Article 640.- Rights of the estate administrator

1. The estate administrator defined in Clause 1 and Clause 3, Article 638 of this Code shall have the following rights:

a/ To represent the heirs in their relations with a third party concerning the estate;

b/ To enjoy remuneration as agreed upon with the heir(s).

2. The persons who currently possess, use or administer the estate as defined in Clause 2, Article 638 of this Code shall have the following rights:

a/ To continue using the estate as agreed upon in the contract with the estate leaver or consented to by the heirs.

b/ To enjoy remuneration as agreed upon with the heirs.

Article 641.- Inheritance by persons entitled to mutually inherit each other's estate who die simultaneously

In cases where the persons who have the right to inherit each other's estate die simultaneously or are considered to have died simultaneously because it is impossible to determine who dies first, then they shall not have the right to inherit each other's estate and the estate of each person shall be inherited by his/her respective heir(s), except for case of inheritance by substitution as provided for in Article 677 of this Code.

Article 642.- Disclaimer of inheritance

1. An heir shall have the right to disclaim an estate, except for cases where such disclaimer is aimed at shirking his/her property obligations toward another person.

2. A disclaimer of estate must be made in writing; the person who disclaims must notify other heirs, the person tasked to divide the estate, the Notary Public Office or the People's Committee of the commune, ward or township, where such inheritance is opened, of the disclaimer of estate.

3. The time limit for disclaiming an estate shall be six months counting from the date of opening the inheritance. After six months counting from the date of opening the inheritance, if there is no disclaimer of estate, the heirs are considered having accepted the inheritance.

Article 643.- Persons not entitled to enjoy estate

1. The following persons shall not be entitled to enjoy estate:

a/ Persons who are convicted of having intentionally infringed upon the life or health of the estate leavers, or of having maltreated, or physically or mentally abused the estate leavers, or of having seriously infringed upon the honor or dignity of such persons;

b/ Persons who seriously breach their obligations to support the estate leavers;

c/ Persons who are convicted of having intentionally infringed upon the life of other heirs for the purpose of acquiring part or all of the portion of the estate to which such heirs are entitled;

d/ Persons who deceive, coerce or hinder the estate leavers while the latter make their testaments; persons who forge, modify or destroy the testaments in order to acquire part or all of the estates against the will of the estate leavers.

2. The persons defined in Clause 1 of this Article shall still be entitled to enjoy the estate, if the estate leavers, though aware of their acts, still allow them to enjoy the estate under the testaments.

Article 644.- Estates without heirs shall belong to the State

In cases where there is no heir under the testament or at law or where there is an heir who is, however, not entitled to enjoy estate or disclaims his/her estate, the estate left after fulfilling the property obligations and without any heir shall belong to the State.

Article 645.- Statute of limitations for initiating inheritance-related lawsuits

The statute of limitations for an heir to request the division of estate, to determinate his/her rights to inheritance or deny the inheritance rights of another person shall be ten years counting from the time of opening the inheritance.

The statute of limitations for initiating a lawsuit to demand an heir to fulfill the property obligations left by the decedent shall be three years counting from the time of opening the inheritance.

Chapter XXIII

TESTAMENTARY INHERITANCE

Article 646.- Testaments

A testament is the expression of an individual's will to transfer his/her own property to other person(s) after his/her death.

Article 647.- Testators

1. A person who has attained adulthood is entitled to make a testament, except in cases where such person is affected by a mental disease or other ailment, which prevents him/her from being aware of, or controlling his/her acts.

2. A person aged between full fifteen years and under eighteen years may make a testament, if his/her father, mother or guardian so agrees.

Article 648.- Rights of the testator

The testator shall have the following rights:

1. To designate his/her heirs(s); to disinherit an heir;

2. To divide his/her estate for each of his/her heirs;

3. To set aside part of his/her estate for donation and/or worship;

4. To assign obligations to his/her heir(s);

5. To designate a person to keep the testament, the administrator of his/her estate and the distributor of the estate.

Article 649.- Forms of testament

A testament must be made in writing; if the testament cannot be made in writing, it can be made orally.

Ethnic minority people shall be entitled to make their testaments in their own ethnic minority scripts or languages.

Article 650.- Written testaments

A written testament may be:

1. A written testament made without witnesses;

2. A written testament made in the presence of witnesses;

3. A notarized written testament;

4. An authenticated written testament.

Article 651.- Oral testaments

1. In cases where a human life is threatened by a disease or other causes, which prevent him/her from making a written testament, he/she may make an oral testament.

2. After three months counting from the time the oral testament is made, if the testator is still alive and clear-minded, such oral testament shall be automatically annulled.

Article 652.- Lawful testaments

1. A testament shall be considered lawful when it meets all the following conditions:

a/ The testator is clear-minded while making the testament; he/she is not deceived, threatened or forced;

b/ The content of the testament is not contrary to law and/or social ethics; the form of testament is not contrary to the provisions of law.

2. The testament of a person aged between full fifteen years and under eighteen years must be made in writing and such person must get the consent of his/her parents or guardian.

3. The testament of a person who is physically handicapped or who is illiterate must be put into writing by a witness and notarized or authenticated.

4. A written testament without notarization or authentication shall be considered lawful only if it satisfies the conditions specified in Clause 1 of this Article.

5. An oral testament shall be considered lawful if the oral testator expresses his/her last will before at least two witnesses and immediately after that the witnesses write such down and jointly sign or press their fingerprints. Within five days as from the date the oral testator expresses his/her last will, the testament must be notarized or authenticated.

Article 653.- Contents of written testaments

1. A testament must contain:

a/ Day, month, year, on which the testament is made;

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

c/ Full names of the person(s), agency(ies) or organization(s) entitled to the estate or the clear definition of conditions for individuals, agencies or organizations to enjoy the estate;

d/ The inheritance estate bequeathed and the location of such estate;

e/ The person(s) appointed to perform the obligations and the contents of such obligations.

2. No abbreviations or symbols shall be used in testaments; if a testament comprises many pages, then each page must be ordinally numbered and signed or fingerprinted by the testator.

Article 654.- Witnesses to the making of testaments

Every person may serve as a witness to the making of a testament, except the following persons:

1. Heirs under the testament or at law of the testator;

2. Persons with property rights and obligations related to the contents of the testament;

3. Persons who have not yet reached full eighteen years or persons having no civil act capacity.

Article 655.- Written testaments made without witnesses

The testator must himself/herself write and sign the testament.

The making of written testaments without witnesses must comply with the provisions of Article 653 of this Code.

Article 656.-Written testaments made in the presence of witnesses

In cases where a testator is unable to write the testament by himself/herself, he/she may ask another person to write it, but in the presence of at least two witnesses. The testator must sign or fingerprint the testament in the presence of the witnesses; the witnesses shall certify the signature or fingerprint of the testator and sign the testament.

The making of testaments must comply with the provisions of Article 653 and Article 654 of this Code.

Article 657.- Testaments notarized or authenticated

Testators may request the notarization or authentication of their testaments.

Article 658.- Procedures for making testaments at public notary offices or People's Committees of communes, wards or townships

The making of testaments at public notary offices or People's Committees of communes, wards or townships must comply with the following procedures:

1. The testators shall announce the contents of their testaments before the public notaries or persons of commune/ward/township People's Committees, who are competent to authenticate them. The public notaries or the persons competent to authenticate must record in writing the contents stated by the testators. The testators shall sign or fingerprint the testaments after certifying that their testaments have been accurately recorded and correctly express their will. The public notaries or the persons competent to authenticate of commune/ward/township People's Committees then sign the testaments;

2. In cases where testators cannot read, hear, sign or fingerprint the testaments, they must request the assistance of witnesses who shall have to sign the testaments for certification in the presence of the public notaries or the persons competent to authenticate of commune/ward/township People's Committees. The public notaries or the persons competent to authenticate of commune/ward/township People's Committees shall certify the testaments in the presence of the testators and witnesses.

Article 659.- Persons not allowed to notarize or authenticate testaments

The public notaries or competent persons of commune/ward/township People's Committees must not notarize or authenticate testaments if they are:

1. Testamentary heirs or at-law heirs of the testators;

2. Persons whose fathers, mothers, spouses or children are testamentary heirs or at-law heirs;

3. Persons having their property rights and obligations related to the testaments' contents.

Article 660.- Written testaments are as valid as notarized or authenticated testaments

Written testaments which have the same validity as notarized or authenticated testaments shall include:

1. Testaments of army men in active service, certified by commanders of army units of the company or higher level, if such army men cannot request the notarization or authentication;

2. Testaments of persons traveling on board sea-going vessels or aircraft, certified by the commanders of such means of transport;

3. Testaments of persons undergoing medical treatment at hospitals or other health or convalescent establishments, certified by the persons in charge of such hospitals or establishments;

4. Testaments of persons conducting survey, exploration or research work in mountainous areas or on islands, certified by the persons in charge of their units;

5. Testaments of Vietnamese nationals residing abroad, certified by Vietnamese consular offices or diplomatic missions in those countries;

6. Testaments of persons being held in custody, serving their prison sentences or administrative handling measures at re-education camps or medical establishments, certified by the persons in charge of such establishments.

Article 661.- Testaments made by public notaries at places of residence

1. Testators may request public notaries to come to their places of residence to make their testaments.

2. The procedures for making testaments at places of residence shall comply with the procedures for making testaments at public notary offices under the provisions in Article 658 of this Code.

Article 662.- Amendment, supplementation, substitution and annulment of testaments

1. Testators may amend, supplement, substitute or annul their testaments at any time.

2. In cases where a testator makes any supplement to his/her testament, the already made testament and the supplement shall have equal legal effect; if a part of the already made testament and the supplement are contradictory, only the supplement shall have legal effect.

3. In cases where a testator replaces his/her testament with a new testament, then the previous testament shall be annulled.

Article 663.- Joint testament of husband and wife

Husband and wife may make a joint testament to dispose of their common property.

Article 664.- Amendment, supplementation, substitution and annulment of joint testaments

1. Husband or wife may amend, supplement, substitute or annul their joint testament at any time.

2. When a wife or husband wishes to amend, supplement, substitute or annul their joint testament, she or he must get the consent of the other; if one of them has already died, the other can only amend or supplement the testament related to his/her own part of property.

Article 665.- Custody of testaments

1. A testator may request a public notary office or another person to keep his/her testament in its/his/her custody.

2. In cases where the public notary office keeps the testament, it must maintain and preserve the testament in accordance with the provisions of law on notary public.

3. The individual entrusted to keep the testament shall have the following obligations:

a/ To keep its contents confidential;

b/ To safeguard and preserve the testament; if the testament is lost or damaged, he/she must immediately notify the testator thereof;

c/ To hand back the testament to the testator's heir(s) or to the person competent to announce the testament upon the testator's death. The hand-over of the testament must be made in writing with the signatures of the person who hands it over and the recipient, and in the presence of two witnesses.

Article 666.- Lost or damaged testaments

1. If from the time of opening the inheritance, a testament is lost or damaged to such an extent that it does not fully express the will of the testator nor is there any evidence to demonstrate the true wish of the testator, the testament shall be deemed non-existent and the provisions of law on inheritance at law shall apply.

2. In cases where the testament is found out before the estate is divided, then the estate shall be divided according to the testament.

Article 667.- Legal effect of testaments

1. A testament shall take effect as from the time of opening the inheritance.

2. A testament shall be considered invalid wholly or partially in the following cases:

a/ The testamentary heirs die before or at the same time with the testator;

b/ The agency or organization designated as a heir is no longer in existence at the time of opening the inheritance.

In cases where there are more than one testamentary heir and one of them dies before or at the same time with the testator, or one of the agencies or organizations designated as heirs is no longer in existence at the time of opening the inheritance, then only the part of the testament that relates to the person who died before or simultaneously with the testator, or such defunct agency or organization shall be legally ineffective.

3. A testament shall have no legal effect if the estate left to the heir(s) is no longer in existence at the time of opening the inheritance; if only part of such estate is still in existence, then the testamentary part related to the remaining part of the estate shall remain effective.

4. If a part of the testament is unlawful but does not affect the validity of the rest of the testament, then only such part shall have no legal effect.

5. If a person leaves more than one testament regarding a property, then only the latest testament shall take legal effect.

Article 668.- Legal effect of joint testament of husband and wife

A joint testament of husband and wife shall take effect as from the time the last of them dies or at the time both the husband and wife die simultaneously.

Article 669.- Heirs independent from contents of testaments

The following persons shall still be entitled to an estate portion which is equivalent to two-thirds of the portion given to an heir at law, if the estate is divided according to law, in cases where they are not allowed by the testator to enjoy the estate or are allowed to enjoy only a portion less than two-thirds of their due part, unless they disclaim the estate according to the provisions of Article 642 or they are not entitled to the estate according to the provisions of Article 643 of this Code:

1. Minor children, father, mother, wife or husband;

2. Adult children without working capacity.

Article 670.- Estate used for worshiping

1. In cases where a testator has allocated part of the estate for worshiping, that part of his/her estate shall not be divided for inheritance, but shall be entrusted to a person designated in the testament for management to service the worship; if the designated person fails to comply with the testament or with the heirs' agreement, the heirs shall be entitled to entrust such part of the estate to another person for management and use thereof for worshiping.

In cases where the estate leaver does not designate an administrator of the worship estate, the heirs shall designate a person to manage the worship estate.

In cases where all the testamentary heirs have died, the estate portion reserved for worshiping shall belong to the current lawful administrator of such estate among people entitled to inheritance at law.

2. In cases where the whole property of the decedent is not enough for fulfillment of his/her property obligations, no part of the estate shall be reserved for worshiping.

Article 671.- Testamentary donation

1. A testamentary donation means the reserve of part of an estate by a testator as gift to another person. The testamentary donation must be clearly stated in the testament.

2. The testamentary donee shall not have to fulfill any property obligation related to the testamentary donation, except in cases where the whole estate is not enough for performance of the property obligations of the donor, the testamentary donation shall be also used to perform the remaining part of the obligations of such person.

Article 672.- Announcement of testaments

1. In cases where a written testament is kept at a public notary office, the public notary shall be the person to announce the testament.

2. In cases where the testator appoints a testament announcer, the latter shall have the obligation to announce the testament; if the testator does not appoint or has appointed a testament announcer but the appointee refuses to announce the testament, the surviving heirs shall agree to appoint the testament announcer.

3. After the time of opening the inheritance, the testament announcer must send copies of the testament to all concerned persons related to the contents of the testament.

4. The persons who receive copies of the testament shall be entitled to request the comparison thereof with the original.

5. In cases where the testament is made in a foreign language, it must be translated into Vietnamese and must be notarized.

Article 673.- Interpretation of testaments

In cases where the contents of a testament are unclear leading to different interpretations, then the testament announcer and the heirs must together interprete the testament contents, based on the true will of the decedent before his/her death, taking into consideration the relationship between the decedent and his/her testamentary heir(s). Where such persons fail to agree on the interpretation of the contents of the testament, such testament shall be deemed non-existent and the estate shall be divided in accordance with the provisions of law on inheritance at law.

In cases where a part of the testament cannot be interpreted but does not affect the rest of the testament, only the uninterpretable part shall be invalid.

Chapter XXIV

INHERITANCE AT LAW

Article 674.- Inheritance at law

Inheritance at law is inheritance in accordance with the ranks, conditions and order of inheritance provided for by law.

Article 675.- Cases of inheritance at law

1. Inheritance at law shall apply in the following cases:

a/ There is no testament;

b/ The testament is unlawful;

c/ All the testamentary heirs die before or at the same time with the testator; the agency or organization designated as testamentary heir is no longer in existence at the time of opening the inheritance;

d/ The persons designated as testamentary heirs shall not have the right to inherit or have disclaimed their inheritance rights.

2. Inheritance at law shall also apply to the following parts of the estate:

a/ Part of the estate, which is not disposed of in the testament;

b/ Part of the estate, which is related to the invalid part of the testament;

c/ Part of the estate, which is related to a testamentary heir, who, however, does not have the right to inherit or who has disclaimed his/her inheritance rights, or who dies before or at the same time with the testator; or related to an agency or organization which is designated as testamentary heir, which is, however, no longer in existence at the time of opening the inheritance.

Article 676.- Heirs at law

1. Heirs at law are classified in the following order:

a/ First rank of inheritance shall include wife, husband, biological father, biological mother, adoptive father, adoptive mother, biological children and adopted children of the decedent;

b/ Second rank of inheritance shall include paternal grandfather, paternal grandmother, maternal grandfather, maternal grandmother, natural brother(s) and sister(s) of the decedent; grand-children of whom the decedent is the paternal grandfather or grand-mother, maternal grandfather or grandmother;

c/ Third rank of inheritance shall include paternal and maternal great-grandparents; paternal and maternal uncles and aunts by blood of the decedent; nephews and nieces of whom the decedent is the paternal or maternal uncle or aunt by blood; great grand-children of whom the decedent is the paternal or maternal great grandparents.

2. Heirs belonging to the same rank of inheritance shall be entitled to equal portions in the estate.

3. Heirs belonging to the subsequent rank of inheritance shall be entitled to inheritance only if none of the heirs of the preceding rank of inheritance is left as they have died, are not entitled to the estate, are disinherited or disclaim the estate.

Article 677.- Inheritance by substitution

In cases where a child of an estate leaver dies before or at the same time with the estate leaver, then his/her grandchild shall be entitled to inherit the part of the estate that his/her father or mother would have inherited if he or she is still alive; if such grandchild also dies before or at the same time with the estate leaver, then the great grandchild of the estate leaver shall be entitled to inherit the part of the estate that his/her father or mother would have inherited if he or she is still alive.

Article 678.- Inheritance relation-ship between adopted children and their adoptive fathers, adoptive mothers and their biological parents

An adopted child and his/her adoptive father and/or mother shall be entitled to inherit each other's estate and also inherit the estate in accordance with the provisions of Articles 676 and 677 of this Code.

Article 679.- Inheritance relation-ship between stepchildren and their stepfathers and/or stepmothers

If a stepchild and his/her stepfather and/or stepmother have a relationship of mutual care and support as between a biological father and a biological child or between a biological mother and a biological child, they shall be entitled to inherit each other's estate and also inherit the estate in accordance with the provisions of Articles 676 and 677 of this Code.

Article 680.- Inheritance in cases where wife and husband have divided their common property, are applying for divorce or have married another person

1. In cases where husband and wife have divided their common property while their marriage still exists and one of the spouses thereafter dies, then the survivor shall still be entitled to inherit the other's estate.

2. In cases where wife and/or husband have/has applied for divorce but the divorce has not yet been approved or has already been approved by a court through a judgment or decision which is not legally effective yet, and one of the spouses thereafter dies, then the survivor shall still be entitled to inherit the other's estate.

3. A person who was still wife or husband of the decedent at the time the latter dies shall still be entitled to inherit the decedent's estate even if he/she later has married another person.

Chapter XXV

PAYMENT AND DIVISION OF ESTATE

Article 681.- Meeting of heirs

1. After the notice on the opening of the inheritance is made or the testament is announced, the heirs may hold a meeting to agree on the following issues:

a/ The appointment of an administrator of the estate, a distributor of the estate and the determination of the rights and obligations of these people, if the estate leaver has failed to make such appointments in the testament;

b/ The method of dividing the estate.

2. Any agreement among the heirs must be made in writing.

Article 682.- Estate distributors

1. The estate distributor may also be the estate administrator designated in the testament or appointed by the heirs under their agreement.

2. The estate distributor must divide the estate in strict accordance with the testament or as agreed upon by the heirs at law.

3. The estate distributor is entitled to remuneration, if so allowed by the estate leaver in the testament or so agreed upon by the heirs.

Article 683.- Priority order of payment

Property obligations and expenses related to the inheritance shall be paid in the following order:

1. Reasonable funeral expenses in accordance with practices;

2. Unpaid support allowance;

3. Support allowances for dependents of the decedent;

4. Labor wage;

5. Compensation for damage;

6. Taxes and other debts owed to the State;

7. Fines;

8. Other debts owed to any individuals, legal persons or other subjects;

9. Expenses for the preservation of the estate;

10. Other expenses.

Article 684.- Division of estates in accordance with testaments

1. The estate shall be divided according to the will of the testator; if the testament does not clearly determine the share of each heir, then the estate shall be divided equally among the persons indicated in the testament, unless otherwise agreed upon.

2. In cases where the testament specifies the division of an estate in kind, the heirs shall be entitled to receive their shares in kind together with the yields or profits gained therefrom or must bear any depreciation in value of such shares in kind up to the time of the division of the estate; if the shares in kind have been destroyed due to another person's fault, the heirs shall be entitled to demand compensation for such damage.

3. In cases where the testament only specifies the division of the estate by percentages of the total value of the estate, then such percentages shall be calculated on the basis of the estate value remaining at the time of estate division.

Article 685.- Division of estate by law

1. If at the time of estate division, an heir of the same rank of inheritance has been conceived but not yet born, then a part of the estate equal to the share which another heir of the same rank is entitled to shall be set aside for inheritance by the unborn heir if he/she is born alive; if this heir is still-born, then the other heirs shall be entitled to his/her share.

2. The heirs shall have the right to demand that the estate be divided in kind; if the estate cannot be divided equally in kind, the heirs may agree on the evaluation of the assets in kind and on the persons who shall receive them; if no agreement can be reached, the assets in kind shall be sold for division.

Article 686.- Restrictions on division of estate

If by the will of the testator or by the agreement of all heirs, the estate can only be divided after a certain period of time, then it shall only be divided after the expiration of that time limit.

In cases where the estate division is requested and will seriously affect the life of the living spouse and his/her family, the living spouse shall have the right to request the Court to determine the estate shares to be enjoyed by the heirs but not to allow the estate division within a certain time limit which, however, shall not exceed three years as from the time of opening the inheritance; if the time limit set by the Court has expired or the living spouse has married another person, the other heirs may request the Court to permit the division of the estate.

Article 687.- Division of estates in cases where new heirs appear or where heirs are disinherited

1. In cases where an estate has been already divided and a new heir has appeared, the estate in kind shall not be re-divided but the heirs who have received their respective shares of estate must pay the new heir a sum of money corresponding to his/her share of estate at the time of estate division in proportion to the received share of estate, unless otherwise agreed upon.

2. In cases where an estate has been already divided and an heir is disinherited, such heir must return his/her share of estate or pay a sum of money corresponding to the value of the estate he/she has enjoyed at the time of dividing the estate to the heirs, unless otherwise agreed upon.