Parents ask eldest son to pay siblings $55K to inherit townhouse

Disputes due to inheritance have often been a controversial topic for many. I myself have witnessed a very distressing case.

My close friend's family lives in a three-story house spanning a 70-square-meter plot of land in the outskirts of Hanoi. This piece of land was passed down from his grandfather. His parents used to work as farmers, so they did not have much savings. It was only when my friend started working that they had enough money to build a house.

My friend is the eldest son and he has two younger sisters. All three of them are married. The other day, his father called him to discuss inheritance. His parents wanted to pass down the house early to my friend.

However, the issue is that they wanted him to give each of his younger sisters about VND700 million in cash as their share of the inheritance. The family house is valued at VND5 billion, meaning each of his siblings gets 14% of the property.

The problem is that my friend and his spouse only make around VND25-30 million per month and have VND400 million in savings. They also have to support two young children who are in middle school. At his age, my friend does not know how to earn enough money to pay his two younger sisters.

So the inheritance that should have been very meaningful to my friend has now become a financial burden. If my friend sells the house, he will be left with around VND3.9 billion, savings included. This amount may be enough for him to buy a mid-priced apartment to live in.

He is now stuck between a rock and a hard place as he does not want to sell his ancestors’ land, but he also does not have the finance to keep it.

What do you think my friend should do in this situation?

Reader Van

*This opinion was translated into English by AI. Readers’ views are personal and do not necessarily match VnExpress’ viewpoints.