Personal property management in trust: Implications for Vietnam

Abstract

With the prosperity of the nation, Vietnamese residents are the beneficiaries of more satisfactory legal frameworks regulating relatively all possible social issues. However, the legal component of personal asset management is considered to be refined. In reality, the existence of disputes and litigations over property management in fields of inheritance has placed pressure on legislators and law practitioners. Citizens who are not able to manage property effectively due to the lack of time, incapacity, knowledge deficiency are requesting an effective legal tool for a secure separation between a beneficial interest and a management right over the same property. At the same time, there exists cases where personal desires in the disposition of property upon death, the management of property, inheritance of family property should be respected accordingly. The demand for an effective personal or family asset management tool in Vietnamese current legal framework has become more urgent than ever, rooting in a fact that existing legislation has not satisfied an emerging need in the daily lives of inhabitants even though global cases have proven trusts as a very efficient method to handle all relevant practical matters. This paper focuses on researching the possibilities of adopting trusts in Vietnam to settle family property management through an analysis of practical demands, major characteristics of trusts, and potential obstacles. Results have shown a high potential of introducing trusts into Vietnam as a result of the fact that the Viet Nam Civil Code 2015 implies an appropriate background for such an introduction. The introduction and adoption of trusts into the Vietnamese legal system will possibly offer enormous benefits to the country's civilians.