CAN WE REQUEST NOTARIZATION OF TESTAMENTS WHERE DO NOT HAVE REAL ESTATE?

Question: Dear Lawyer, my dad currently lives with my brother and sister in Hanoi but he has a piece of land in Hai Phong. Now, he wants to make a will to divide this land among my three brothers after his death. So I have a question: in case my dad wants to request notarization of his testament, he must go to Hai Phong to notarize or he can do it in Hanoi?

Sincerely thanks!

Answer: Hello! With your question, Gattaca Law would like to advise as follows:

According to Article 42 of Law on notarization 2014 stipulating scope of notarization of real estate contracts or transactions:

“Notaries of a notarial practice organization may only notarize contracts and transactions related to real estate within the province or centrally run city where the organization is located, excluding testaments or written disclaimers of real estate and letters of authorization related to the exercise of real estate-related rights.”

Therefore, your father can go to any notary organization to make a notarized testament. When making a notarized testament, the follow documents specified in Article 40 of the Law on Notarization 2014 are required:

- A notarization request;

- The draft testament;

- A copy of the personal identity paper of the notarization requester;

- A copy of the ownership certificate or use right certificate or its substitute paper as permitted by law for assets subject to ownership or use right registration under law, in case the testament is related to those assets;

- Copies of other papers related to the contract or transaction as required by law.