Daughters in some rural villages may be excluded from inheritance due to outdated traditions. Illustration photo by Pexels
My village has a tradition of excluding daughters from inheritance or giving them smaller shares as they are expected to receive more wealth from their husbands’ families.
I was born and raised in a village on the outskirts of Hanoi. I cannot speak for other places, but in my village, it is rare for families to give land or property to daughters. Such instances usually occur when the daughter’s in-laws are particularly poor, prompting her parents to provide her with a small plot to build a house.
Traditionally, daughters receive their share through their husbands after marriage. This practice is common in every household, leading families with many sons to worry about providing them with land in the future. Perhaps due to this deep-rooted tradition, disputes over land between siblings are uncommon because daughters have been conditioned to not feel entitled to inheritance.
Some families have begun to change their views in recent years and started sharing inheritances with daughters as well. This shift is partly because families are having fewer children now, making it easier to divide assets between them. Nonetheless, daughters often receive significantly less than their brothers, typically getting money rather than land or property.
The sons are primarily responsible for taking care of their parents. If parents live with their daughters, it is usually to help take care of grandchildren. Ultimately, they tend to return to live with their sons in their old age.
Daughters typically visit their parents, bringing gifts or, if financially comfortable, providing monetary support for their care. In general, the relationship is reciprocal: your daughters-in-law take care of you while your daughters care for their husbands’ parents. This mindset likely contributes to the minimal inheritance that daughters receive.
Do you think this is fair to the daughters?
*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.
