I want to start by sharing the story of a family I know in Hanoi. When the parents were alive, the eldest son lived separately in a five-story house on a main street, while his younger brother lived with their parents in a rural area.
At that time, land in the rural neighborhood was worth much less than the house. After the parents passed away, the younger brother continued to live in that house to take care of traditional ceremonies.
Between 2007 and 2009, land prices in Hanoi skyrocketed. Because the plot left by their parents was large, its value far surpassed that of the house on the main street. The elder brother began to think that, as the eldest son, he should have the right to the land.
He called his younger brother and demanded the property, promising to give him a 30-square-meter plot to build a house in return. The younger brother disagreed, leading to a fallout and a lawsuit between the two.
The parents of another family I know passed away without leaving a will. Their 40 heirs, including their children and grandchildren, had to sell their old French villa and divide the proceeds. However, selling the house was very difficult because potential buyers found the inheritance situation to be too complicated and only offered low prices. It took many years before the family could sell the house.
In Vietnamese culture, parents often give all their assets to the eldest son, while the younger children and daughters receive almost nothing, so few people are accustomed to writing wills. In fact, when children suggest that their parents make a will, some might think: “Surely they want me to die early to inherit my assets.”
Typically, we think of assets as real estate and land, but it also includes money, valuable assets, trees, stocks and jewelry, making the division quite complicated.
Making a will is not difficult and does not need to be publicly announced. A person can write their will and silently go to the local government office or a notary office to have it validated. If changes are needed, they can rewrite the will and go to the same agencies to replace the old version. Hence, it does not have to affect the relationship between spouses or children.
Therefore, in my opinion, to avoid disputes over inheritance, we should all make wills while we are still young.
Do you think that people should write their wills when they are young?
*This opinion was translated into English with the assistance of AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.
