Phần thứ tư Bộ luật Dân sự 2015: Thừa kế

PART FOUR

INHERITANCE

Chapter XXI

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 609. Rights of inheritance

A natural person may make a will to dispose of his or her estate, may leave his or her property to an heir in accordance with law, or may inherit an estate left to him or her under a will or in accordance with law.

An heir not being natural person has the right to inherit estate under a will.

Article 610. Equality of individuals with respect to rights of inheritance

All natural persons are equal with respect to rights to bequeath their property to others and to inherit estates under wills or in accordance with law.

Article 611. Time and place of commencing inheritance

1. The time of commencement of an inheritance shall be the time when the deceased dies. Where a court declares that a person is dead, the time of commencement of the inheritance shall be the date provided in Clause 2 of Article 71 of this Code.

2. The place of commencement of the inheritance shall be the last place of residence of the owner of the estate. If the last place of residence is not able to be determined, the place of commencement of the inheritance shall be the place at which all or most of the estate is located.

Article 612. Estates

An estate comprises property which the deceased owned and property which the deceased jointly owned with other persons.

Article 613. Heirs

If an heir is an individual, such person must be alive at the time of commencement of the inheritance or, if such person is born and alive after the commencement of inheritance, must have been conceived prior to the time when the deceased dies. Where an heir under a will is a body or organization, it must be in existence at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Article 614. Time when rights and obligations of heirs arise

From the time of commencement of an inheritance, the heirs have the property rights and obligations left by the deceased.

Article 615. Performance of property obligations left by deceased

1. A person entitled to an inheritance has the responsibility to perform the property obligations within the scope of the estate left by the deceased, unless otherwise agreed.

2. Where an estate has not yet been divided, the property obligations left by the deceased shall be performed by the administrator of the estate as agreed by the heirs.

3. Where an estate has already been divided, each heir shall perform those property obligations left by the deceased corresponding to, but not exceeding, that part of the estate that the heir has inherited, unless otherwise agreed.

4. Where the heir inheriting an estate under a will is not a natural person, it must perform the property obligations left by the deceased in like manner as a natural person.

Article 616. Administrators of estates

1. Administrator of an estate means the person who is appointed in the will or by agreement of the heirs.

2. Where a will fails to appoint, and the heirs have not yet appointed, an administrator, any person currently possessing, using or managing property within the estate at the time of the commencement of the inheritance shall continue its administration until the heirs have appointed an administrator.

3. Where an heir has not yet been determined and there is not yet an administrator of the estate as prescribed in Clauses 1 and 2 of this Article, the estate shall be administered by a competent authority.

Article 617. Obligations of administrators of estates

1. An administrator of an estate as provided in Clauses 1 and 3 of article 616 of this Code has the following obligations:

a) Make a list of the property within the estate and collect any property belonging to the estate of the deceased which is possessed by others, unless otherwise provided by law;

b) Take care of the estate and do not sell, exchange, give, pledge, mortgage or otherwise dispose of property within the estate without the written consent of the heirs;

c) Notify the heirs of the estate;

d) Compensate for any damage if the administrator breaches any of its obligations, thereby causing damage;

dd) Deliver back the estate at the request of the heirs.

2. A person possessing, using or managing property within an estate as provided in Clause 2 of Article 638 of this Code has the following obligations:

a) Take care of the estate and do not sell, exchange, give, pledge, mortgage or otherwise dispose of property within the estate;

b) Notify the heirs of the estate;

c) Compensate for any damage if the administrator breaches any of its obligations, thereby causing damage;

d) Deliver back the estate as agreed with the deceased in a contract or at the request of the heirs.

Article 618. Rights of administrators of estates

1. An administrator of an estate as provided in clauses 1 and 3 of article 616 of this Code has the following rights:

a) Represent the heirs in dealings with any third parties in relation to the estate of inheritance;

b) Receive remuneration as agreed with the heirs;

c) Receive payment of costs of estate preservation.

2. A person possessing, using or managing property within an estate as provided in Clause 2 of Article 616 of this Code has the following rights:

a) Continue to use the estate as agreed with the deceased in a contract or with the consent of the heirs;

b) Receive remuneration as agreed with the heirs;

c) Receive payment of costs of estate preservation.

3. If the estate administrator fails to reach an agreement on the remuneration with the heirs, he/she shall be entitled to receive an appropriate remuneration.

Article 619. Inheritance by persons entitled to inherit each other's estate but dead at same time

Where persons who are entitled to inherit each other's estate die at the same time or are deemed to have died at the same time because it is impossible to determine who of them died first (hereinafter referred to as simultaneous death), they do not have the right to inherit each other's estate and the estate of each of the deceased shall be inherited by their respective heirs, except in the case of inheritance pursuant to Article 652 of this Code.

Article 620. Disclaimer of inheritance

1. An heir may disclaim an inheritance, unless such disclaimer is for the purpose of avoiding the performance of its property obligations to other persons.

2. A disclaimer of an inheritance must be made in writing. A person disclaiming must notify the other heirs and the person authorized to distribute the estate.

3. The disclaimer of an estate must be expressed before the time of inherit distribution.

Article 621. Persons not entitled to inherit

1. The following persons are not entitled to inherit:

a) Persons convicted of having intentionally caused the death of or harmed the health of the deceased, of having seriously mistreated or tortured the deceased, or of having harmed the honor or dignity of the deceased;

b) Persons having seriously breached their duty to support the deceased;

c) Persons convicted of having intentionally caused the death of another heir in order to obtain all or part of the entitlement of such other heir to the estate;

d) Persons deceiving, coercing or obstructing the deceased with respect to the making of the will, or forging, altering or destroying the will in order to obtain all or part of the estate contrary to the wishes of the deceased.

2. Persons provided in Clause 1 of this Article may, nevertheless, inherit the estate if the deceased was aware of such acts but, nevertheless, allowed them to inherit the estate under the will.

Article 622. Estates which no one inherits

Where there is no heir under a will and at law, or where there is an heir but such heir is not entitled to inherit the estate or disclaims the inheritance of the estate, the residual estate for which there is no heir shall, after fulfillment of property obligations, belong to the State.

Article 623. Prescriptive periods with respect to inheritance

1. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim of an heir for distribution of an estate shall be thirty years regarding immovable property or ten years regarding movable property from the time of commencement of the inheritance. Upon the expiry date of the aforesaid period, the estate shall belong to the estate administrator. In case where there is no estate administrator, the estate shall be dealt with as follows:

a) It shall belong to the person possessing it as prescribed in Article 236 of this Code;

b) It shall belong the State if there is no possessor prescribed in Point a of this Clause.

2. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim of an heir for a declaration of right of inheritance of the requester or to disallow the claim to inheritance of another shall be ten years from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

3. The prescriptive period with respect to a claim for an heir to fulfill property obligations of the deceased shall be three years from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Chapter XXII

INHERITANCE UNDER WILLS

Article 624. 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.

Article 625. Testators

1. An adult satisfying conditions prescribed in Point a Clause 2 Article 630 of this Code may make a will to dispose his/her property.

2. 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.

Article 626. Rights of testators

A testator has the following rights:

1. Appoint heirs or to deprive an heir of the right to inherit the estate;

2. Determine those parts of the estate which each heir is entitled to;

3. Reserve part of the estate as a gift or for worship purposes;

4. Designate heirs to perform obligations;

5. Appoint a custodian of the will, an administrator of the estate, and a distributor of the estate.

Article 627. Formalities for wills

A will must be made in writing. If it is not able to be made in writing, it may be made orally.

Article 628. Written wills

Written wills comprise:

1. Unwitnessed written wills;

2. Witnessed written wills;

3. Written wills which are notarized;

4. Written wills which are certified.

Article 629. Oral wills

1. Where a person is likely to die due to illness or any other reason and it is not possible for him or her to make a written will, such person may make an oral will.

2. If the testator is alive and is of sound mind three months after he or she has made an oral will, such will shall automatically become invalid.

Article 630. Lawful wills

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

a) 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;

b) The contents of the will are not contrary to law or social morals and the will complies with legal formalities.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. A written will which is not notarized or certified shall be deemed lawful only if it satisfies the requirements provided in Clause 1 of this Article.

5. 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 working days of the date on which the testator orally expressed his or her last wishes.

Article 631. Contents of written wills

1. A will must specify clearly the following:

a) The date on which the will is made;

b) The full name and place of residence of the testator;

c) The full names of the persons and the bodies or organizations entitled to inherit the estate;

d) The estate to be bequeathed and its location.

2. Apart from the contents prescribed in Clause 1 of this Article, the will may have other contents.

3. 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.

Article 632. Witnesses to making of will

Any person may act as a witness to the making of a will, except the following persons:

1. Persons who are heirs of the testator under the will or at law;

2. Persons with property rights or obligations which relate to the will;

3. Minors, legally incapacitated persons, persons with limited cognition and behavior control.

Article 633. Unwitnessed written wills

A testator must write a will by his or her own hand and must sign it.

The drawing up of a written will without witnesses must comply with article 631 of this Code.

Article 634. Witnessed written wills

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.

The will must be made in compliance with articles 631 and 632 of this Code.

Article 635. Wills which are notarized or certified

A testator may request that the will be notarized or certified.

Article 636. Procedures for preparation of wills at notary office or people's committee of commune

The preparation of a will at a notary office or the people's committee of the commune must comply with the following procedures:

1. The testator shall declare the contents of his or her will to a notary public officer or a member of the people's committee of the commune who has the authority to certify it. The notary public officer or the person having the authority to certify must record the wishes stated by the testator. The testator shall sign or fingerprint the will after acknowledging that it has been recorded accurately and that it expresses faithfully the intentions of the testator. Thereafter, the notary public officer or the member of the people's committee of the commune shall sign the will;

2. Where the testator is not able to read or hear the will or not able to sign or fingerprint it, there must be a witness who must acknowledge the will by signing it before a notary public officer or a member of the people's committee of the commune who has the authority to certify it. The notary public officer shall notarize the will, or the member of the people's committee of the commune who has the authority to certify the will shall certify it, in the presence of the testator and the witnesses.

Article 637. Persons not permitted to notarize or certify wills

A notary public officer or a member of the people's committee of the commune who has authority shall not be permitted to notarize or certify a will if such person is:

1. An heir of the testator under the will or at law;

2. A person whose father, mother, wife, husband or child is an heir under the will or at law;

3. A person having property rights or obligations relating to the will.

Article 638. Written wills valid as though notarized or certified

1. A written will made by a serving soldier who is not able to request a notarization or certification of his or her will provided that such will is certified by the head of his or her unit having the rank of a company commander or higher.

2. A written will made by a person travelling on a seagoing vessel or aircraft provided that the will is certified by the captain of the vessel or aircraft.

3. A written will made by a person undergoing medical treatment in a hospital or other medical establishment or sanatorium provided that the will is certified by the person in charge of such hospital or establishment or sanatorium.

4. A written will made by a person conducting surveys, explorations or research in mountainous areas, forests or offshore islands provided that the will is certified by the person in charge of the unit.

5. A written will made by a Vietnamese citizen residing abroad provided that the will is certified by a Vietnamese consular or diplomatic representative mission in that country.

6. A written will made by a person held in temporary detention, serving a prison sentence or administrative penalty, or at an educational or medical facility provided that the will is certified by the person in charge of such facility.

Article 639. Wills prepared by notary public officers at places of residence of testators

1. A testator may request a notary public officer to visit his or her place of residence in order to prepare a will.

2. Such will shall be prepared in accordance with the procedures for the preparation of wills at a State notary public provided in article 636 of this Code.

Article 640. Amendment of, addition to, replacement or revocation of wills

1. A testator may amend, add to, replace or revoke his or her will at any time.

2. If a testator adds to his or her will, the original will and the codicil shall have equal validity. If a part of the original will and the codicil conflict with each other, the codicil shall prevail.

3. Where a testator replaces a will with a new will, the previous will shall be deemed to have been revoked.

Article 641. Custody of wills

1. A testator may request a notary office or another person to keep custody of the will of the testator.

2. Where a will is kept in custody by a notary office, it must be taken care of and looked after in accordance with the law on notaries.

3. An individual keeping custody of a will has the following obligations:

a) Keep the contents of the will confidential;

b) Take care of and look after the will. If the will is lost or damaged, the person must notify immediately the testator;

c) Upon the death of the testator, to deliver the will to his or her heirs or to the person authorized to announce the will. The delivery of the will must be recorded in writing and signed by the person delivering the will, and by the person receiving it, in the presence of two witnesses.

Article 642. Loss and damage of wills

1. If, from the commencement of the inheritance, the will is lost or damaged to the extent that it is incapable of indicating clearly the wishes of the testator and there is no evidence of the true wishes of the testator, it shall be deemed that no will exists and inheritance at law shall apply.

2. Where the will is found prior to distribution of the estate, the estate shall be distributed according to the will.

3. Within the prescriptive periods for requesting estate distribution, if a will is found after the distribution of the estate, the estate shall be distributed according to the will at the request of the heir under will.

Article 643. Legal effectiveness of wills

1. A will shall become legally effective from the time of commencement of the inheritance.

2. All or part of a will shall be legally ineffective in any of the following cases:

a) An heir under the will dies prior to or at the same time as the testator dying;

b) A body or organization named as an heir no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Where there are several heirs under a will and one of them dies prior to or at the same time as the death of the testator or one of the bodies or organizations named as an heir under the will no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance, only that part of the will which relates to the individual, body or organization no longer existing shall be legally ineffective.

3. A will shall not be legally effective if the estate left to the heirs no longer exists at the time of commencement of the inheritance. If only part of the estate left to the heirs remains, only that part of the will which relates to such part of the estate shall be legally effective.

4. Where a will contains provisions which are unlawful but such provisions do not affect the effectiveness of the remainder of the will, only such provisions shall be legally ineffective.

5. Where a person leaves behind more than one will with respect to certain property, only the most recent of such wills shall be legally effective.

Article 644. Heirs notwithstanding contents of wills

1. Where a testator does not grant any of the following persons an inheritance, or grants any such person an inheritance which is less than two-thirds of the share that person would have received if the estate had been distributed according to law, such person shall be entitled to a share of the estate equivalent to two-thirds of the share that he or she would have received if the estate had been distributed in accordance with law:

a) Children who are minors, father, mother, wife or husband of the testator;

b) Children who are adults but who are incapable of working.

2. Clause 1 of this Article shall not apply to persons who have disclaimed their inheritance as prescribed in Article 620 or person who are not entitled to inherit as prescribed in Clause 1 Article 621 of this Code.

Article 645. Estates used for worship purposes

1. Where a testator designates part of his or her estate for worship purposes, such part of the estate shall not be distributed among the heirs and shall be delivered to the person appointed in the will to manage for worship purposes. If such appointee fails to implement strictly the will or the agreement of the heirs, the heirs have the right to appoint another person to manage for worship purposes.

Where the testator fails to appoint a person to manage that part of his or her estate which is designated for worship purposes, the heirs shall appoint a person to manage such part of the estate.

Where all heirs under a will have died, that part of the estate which is designated for worship purposes shall belong to the person managing that part of the estate for worship purposes provided that he or she is an heir at law.

2. Where the entire estate of the deceased is insufficient to satisfy all property obligations of the deceased, no part of the estate may be designated for worship purposes.

Article 646. Testamentary gifts

1. A testator may designate part of his or her estate as a testamentary gift to another person. The testamentary gift must be expressly stated in the will.

2. The grantee of the testamentary gift must be alive at the time of commencement of the inheritance or he/she must bear and alive after the time of commencement of the inheritance he/she must be conceived before the death of the estate leaver. If the grantee of the testamentary gift is not a natural person, it must exist at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

3. The grantee of a gift shall not be required to fulfill property obligations with respect to that part of the estate granted as a gift, unless the whole estate is insufficient to satisfy all property obligations of the grantor, in which case the part of the estate granted as a gift shall also be applied towards satisfying the remainder of the obligations of the grantor.

Article 647. Announcement of wills

1. Where a written will is kept by a notary office, the notary officer shall be the person announcing the will.

2. Where a testator has appointed a person to announce the will, such person shall announce the will. If the testator fails to appoint a person or has appointed a person but the appointee refuses to announce the will, the heirs shall agree on the appointment of a person to announce the will.

3. After the time of commencement of an inheritance, the person announcing the will must send copies of the will to all persons with an interest in the contents of the will.

4. A recipient of a copy of a will has the right to verify the copy against the original.

5. Where a will has been prepared in a foreign language, it must be translated into Vietnamese and notarized.

Article 648. Interpretation of contents of wills

Where the contents of a will are unclear and may be interpreted in different ways, the person announcing the will and the heirs must interpret jointly the contents of the will based on the true wishes of the deceased, taking into consideration the relationship of the deceased with the heirs under the will. If such persons fail to agree on the interpretation of the contents of the will, they have the right to request a court for settlement.

Where part of the contents of a will is not able to be interpreted but the remainder of the will is not affected, only that part which is not able to be interpreted shall not be legally effective.

Chapter XXIII

INHERITANCE AT LAW

Article 649. Inheritance at law

Inheritance at law means inheritance in accordance with the order of priority of inheritance and the conditions and procedures of inheritance provided by law.

Article 650. Cases of inheritance at law

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

a) There is no will;

b) The will is unlawful;

c) All heirs under the will died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying, or the bodies or organizations which are entitled to inherit under the will no longer exist at the time of commencement of the inheritance;

d) The persons appointed as heirs under the will do not have the right to inherit or disclaimed the right to inherit.

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

a) Parts of an estate in respect of which no disposition has been made in the will;

b) Parts of an estate related to an ineffective part of the will;

c) Parts of an estate related to heirs under the will not having the right to inherit, having disclaimed the right to inherit, or having died prior to or at the same time as the testator dying; and parts of an estate related to bodies or organizations entitled to inherit under the will but no longer existing at the time of commencement of the inheritance.

Article 651. Heirs at law

1. Heirs at law are categorized in the following order of priority:

a) The first level of heirs comprises: spouses, biological parents, adoptive parents, offspring and adopted children of the deceased;

b) The second level of heirs comprises: grandparents and siblings of the deceased; and biological grandchildren of the deceased;

c) The third level of heirs comprises: biological great-grandparents of the deceased, biological uncles and aunts of the deceased and biological nephews and nieces of the deceased.

2. Heirs at the same level shall be entitled to equal shares of the estate.

3. Heirs at a lower level shall be entitled to inherit where there are no heirs at a higher level because such heirs have died, or because they are not entitled to inherit, have been deprived of the right to inherit or have disclaimed the right to inherit.

Article 652. Succeeding heirs

Where a child of a testator died prior to or at the same time as the testator, the grandchildren of the testator shall inherit that part of the estate which their father or mother would have been entitled to inherit had such father or mother still been alive. If the grandchildren also died prior to or at the same time as the testator, the great-grandchildren of the testator shall inherit that part of the estate which their father or mother would have been entitled to inherit had such father or mother still been alive.

Article 653. Inheritance relations between adopted children and their adoptive parents and biological parents

An adopted child and his or her adoptive parents may inherit each other's estates and may also inherit in accordance with articles 651 and 652 of this Code.

Article 654. Inheritance relations between stepchildren and their stepparents

If a stepchild and his or her stepparents care for and support each other as though they were biologically related, they may inherit each other's estates and may also inherit in accordance with articles 652 and 653 of this Code.

Article 655. Inheritance where wives and husbands have divided multiple ownership property, have applied for divorce or have remarried

1. Where a wife and husband have divided their multiple ownership property while they are still married and one of them subsequently dies, the surviving spouse shall still be entitled to inherit the estate of the deceased.

2. Where a wife and husband have applied for but not yet obtained a legally effective divorce pursuant to a judgment or decision of a court, or they have obtained such a divorce but the judgment or decision of the court is not yet effective, and one of them dies, the surviving spouse shall, nevertheless, be entitled to inherit the estate of the deceased.

3. A person who is the wife or husband of the deceased at the time when his or her spouse dies shall be entitled to inherit the estate of the deceased even if that person subsequently remarries.

Chapter XXIV

SETTLEMENT AND DISTRIBUTION OF ESTATES

Article 656. Meeting of heirs

1. After being notified of the commencement of an inheritance, or after a will has been announced, the heirs may meet to agree on the following matters:

a) If the testator has failed to appoint an administrator of the estate or a distributor of the estate, or has not determined the powers and obligations of such persons, the appointment of such persons and the determination of their powers and obligations, as the case may be;

b) Method of distributing the estate.

2. All agreements by the heirs must be made in writing.

Article 657. Distributors of estates

1. A distributor of an estate may also be the administrator of the estate appointed in the will or by agreement of the heirs.

2. A distributor of an estate must distribute it strictly in accordance with the will or the agreement of the heirs at law.

3. A distributor of the estate may receive remuneration if so allowed by the testator in the will or if so agreed by the heirs.

Article 658. Order of priority of payment

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

1. Reasonable funeral expenses in accordance with customary practice;

2. Outstanding support payments;

3. Expenditures on preservation of estate;

4. Allowances for dependants of the deceased;

5. Wages;

6. Monetary compensation for any damage;

7. Taxes and other liabilities owed to the State;

8. Other liabilities owed to other natural persons or juridical persons;

9. Fines;

10. Other expenses.

Article 659. Distribution of estates in accordance with wills

1. An estate shall be distributed in accordance with the wishes of the testator. If the will fails to specify the share of each heir, the estate shall be divided equally between the persons named in the will, unless otherwise agreed.

2. Where a will provides for the distribution in kind of an estate, each of the heirs shall be entitled to receive his or her share in kind, plus the benefits and income derived therefrom, or must bear the depreciation in value of such share in kind up to the time when the estate is distributed. If the property which is the subject of a share in kind has been destroyed due to the fault of another person, the heir has the right to demand compensation for damage.

3. Where a will provides for the distribution of an estate according to certain proportions of the total value of the estate, such proportions shall be calculated on the basis of the value of the estate at the time of distribution.

Article 660. Distribution of estates in accordance with law

1. If, at the time of distribution, an heir has been conceived but not yet born, a part of the estate equal to the share of another heir at the same level of heirs shall be set aside for the unborn heir. If the heir is born alive, he or she shall inherit such part of the estate. If the heir does not survive his or her birth, the other heirs at the same level of heirs shall be entitled to his or her share.

2. The heirs have the right to demand the estate to be distributed in kind. If the estate is not able to be equally distributed in kind, the heirs may agree that the property shall be valued and may agree on which heirs shall be entitled to receive which particular items of property. Failing such agreement, the assets in kind shall be sold for distribution.

Article 661. Limited distribution of estates

Where it was the wish of a testator, or where the heirs agree, that an estate is to be distributed only after a certain period of time, it shall be distributed only after such period of time has expired.

If there is a request to distribute an estate but such distribution will seriously and adversely affect the life of the remaining wife or husband and family, such spouse has the right to request a court to fix the share of the estate to which other heirs are entitled but not to allow distribution of the estate during a certain period of time. Such period shall not exceed three years from the date of commencement of inheritance. When such period fixed by the court has expired or such remaining spouse has remarried, the other heirs have the right to request the court to permit distribution of the estate.

Article 662. Distribution of estates where new heir or where right of heir to inherit has been disallowed

1. Where a new heir appears after an estate has been distributed, the estate shall not be re-distributed in kind but the heirs which have received [a share of] the estate must pay the new heir a sum equivalent to the share of the estate of such [new heir] at the time of distribution of the estate in proportion to the [respective] share of the estate already received [by each heir], unless otherwise agreed.

2. Where the right of an heir to inherit is disallowed after an estate has been distributed, such heir must return the inheritance or pay to the other heirs a sum equivalent to the value of the inheritance received at the time of distribution of the estate, unless otherwise agreed.