Child's name as land owner in Red Book when buying land in Vietnam?

RICHIE2013 wrote:

Hi
Does anybody know if it is possible when buying land in Vietnam to put your child's (Vietnamese Nationality) name
as land owner in the red book?
I am a foreigner, my partner (not married yet) is Vietnamese and our son is officially Vietnamese with all the correct paperwork.
I am aware that I cannot put my name but I remember reading something somewhere tha it was possible to put a Vietnamese Child's name as the registered user of the land (or did I  dream it?)
I use the term 'land owner' though I am aware it is really land holder/user etc.

I don't think it's possible, unless the child reaches the age of majority (adulthood).  I believe this concept also applies in the UK?  It is in the USA.  You probably would need to establish a trust or something that requires heavy lawyering.

Were you thinking of the thread where I wrote something like....how will the child sign the legal documents at the police station?  with crayons?

RICHIE2013 wrote:

Hi
Does anybody know if it is possible when buying land in Vietnam to put your child's (Vietnamese Nationality) name
as land owner in the red book?
I am a foreigner, my partner (not married yet) is Vietnamese and our son is officially Vietnamese with all the correct paperwork.
I am aware that I cannot put my name but I remember reading something somewhere tha it was possible to put a Vietnamese Child's name as the registered user of the land (or did I  dream it?)
I use the term 'land owner' though I am aware it is really land holder/user etc.

Before you go down the road with this to far, think about a few thing because I think I know where you want to go with it. If your not married yet then who  has custody/control (legally) with the child? Currently who's name is on the red book, if it's already been purchased? If it hasn't been purchased then I think what you would like do  is up front the money and put the property in the child's name not your partners. See where I'm going with this? Really don't think you can make it happen. If you were both VN and wanted to put him in a will as the beneficiary that would work.

There's a reason the land laws do not permit foreigners to own property in Việt Nam.  If there are loopholes that allow property to be in a child's name, you can bet every Chinese, Malaysian, Korean, Cambodian... (i.e. foreigner)  would "adopt" all these orphans and own property by proxy.

Richie
I remember you. Last time, I think you asked the question about citizenship for your child. I hope that my answers last time helped solve your problem.

Concerning land ownership, there is not a problem for your child to be the owner of land, i.e., your child's name is put in the red book, if she is a Vietnamese citizen as you told us.

In fact, there is not a problem for the child be owner of assets in general. There is a case recently where the owner of the well known Dai nam park transfers the shares to his one year old son and made him to be the chairman of the corporation. The parents made a big case of showing off the transfer to the public.

Link in Vietnamese
http://danviet.vn/thoi-su/cau-be-1-tuoi … 7p1c24.htm

Anyway, the child, being a minor, must have a custodian who will act as his legal representative to sign the ownership paper. I suspect that you want to be that person.
However, per article 141 of Vietnamese Civil Law, the parents are the default representatives of minor so that your wife can also act on his behalf (so she can, in principle, transfer the asset to another later on).

I would advise you to contact a lawyer to make sure the paperwork is robust, if that is a point of concern to you.

I also attach a link in Vietnamese where a Vietnamese parent asked the same question of land transfer to her 15 and 8 year old.

http://www.moj.gov.vn/hoidappl/Lists/Da … emID=16224

Anatta as always your answers are informative and factual. However in this case were talking about a person that's not a VN citizen and that's not married to the Mother wanting to purchase property and put it in a child's name.

Budman
I realize that, but the issue is he wants to put the name of his child, who is a Vietnamese citizen, on the paper. The fact that the child's father is a foreigner does not have any bearing on the legal qualification of the child.

Neither how the child finance such a purchase (by his foreign father paying for it in this) should have any effect, as I understand it.

Do I miss anything?

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Anatta wrote:

Budman
I realize that, but the issue is he wants to put the name of his child, who is a Vietnamese citizen, on the paper. The fact that the child's father is a foreigner does not have any bearing on the legal qualification of the child.

Neither how the child finance such a purchase (by his foreign father paying for it in this) should have any effect, as I understand it.

Do I miss anything?

Anyway, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Anatta your going to make some lawyer really happy. I think there's a little more to the story that the OP hasn't mentioned.

Same to you, and best wishes for the New Year.

I remember reading about the 1 year old baby.  Now I understand why.  The owner of the well known Dai nam park, Huỳnh Uy Dũng, is currently at odds with the Bình Dương  People's Committee over the development of an industrial park.  I think he's transferring assets to his kid so if he ever gets penalized, they can't take his assets. 

Anyhow, I can understand that once a person has property, they can transfer it to a child, through trusts.  But how does that person, being a foreigner, get to "buy" the property in the first place?  Children can't buy property because they're not of age.   

That's why this doesn't make sense.  Otherwise, a rich foreigner (such as Angelina Jolie) could adopt a Vietnamese child and start buying property all over the place.

Budman1 wrote:

Anatta as always your answers are informative and factual. However in this case were talking about a person that's not a VN citizen and that's not married to the Mother wanting to purchase property and put it in a child's name.

And what's to stop the mother from going to the Ministry of Justice to have the child transfer the property to her?

As I mentioned earlier, we are talking about whose name can be put in the red book.
How the transaction comes about (finance, previous ownership) is irrelevant.
Anyway, it can easily be done by the mother buying the land and transfer the deed to the child.

In any case, the custodian is the representative of the child to sign/complete all the paperwork on his behalf. In this case, his parents by law are his custodians.

Therefore, In principle, there is nothing to hinder his mother to go off and transfer it on to herself or another person, as I mentioned earlier.
However, if the donor (of the land) has appointed a name-specific person as the custodian for that asset, then the parents do not have the power to act on the child's behalf on that asset.

Here is another link touching upon this scenario (link in Vietnamese)

http://www.moj.gov.vn/hoidappl/Lists/Da … emID=23642

That is why I asked the OP to contact a lawyer to arrange the specific if this is a concern for him.

PS: the trust concept is a "common law" legal concept. It is not acknowledged even in many European countries which do not follow common law systems. Vietnamese law does not recognize the trust concept, both in private as well as commercial settings, even though it has been talked about implementation of a trust law in Vietnam (e.g., for real estate REIT funds).

Speak of the devil, here an article just fresh off the press
Link in Vietnamese
http://vnexpress.net/tin-tuc/thoi-su/th … 28616.html

The Prime Minister requests property law to be modified to facilitate property buying from foreigners.

Quite typical in such vague, political statements: obtuse, coded language which can be interpreted in many ways: "change to create most favorable conditions for foreigners to buy property" whatever that means. However, given the current real estate doldrum, it is not surprising that the government wants to increase the demand by allowing dollar-rich foreigners to buy.

I know this one very wealthy Vietnamese guy who, as usual, has a very influential Vietnamese contact.  Everything this fellow does, from crossing a certain street to sending ship-loads of merchandise overseas, he would call this contact; and if the guy tells him, "No.", he would never lift a finger, regardless of how easy the task might seem or how big the profits can be. 

As I had mentioned elsewhere, laws are laws.  They are all written by men, none of whom has yet to walk on water.  But, you don't circumvent them without knowing something or someone who knows something, especially in a place that is as dynamic as Vietnam.  Cats have lost their lives, all 9 of them, this way.

Happy New Year to all.  Yes, even you Anatta!   
Howie