Vietnamese Death - British Citizen

Hi all.
I have been contacted by someone whose brother has died in Vietnam. He was living there and married there. The only connection to here was that he was a British Citizen.

The Vietnamese authorities are insisting that his next of kin (who they are recognising as her mother, here in the UK) to make contact by going over there in person! For some reason, they don’t seem to recognise the wife as next of kin.

Can you recommend anyone that can provide assistance?

Thanks

I would start with the British consul, who must have seen this before. I was once a U.S. consular officer: if I didn’t have the answer to such a question my staff would have, or get it. Short essay on Vietnamese succession law is here: https://www.globalpropertyguide.com/Asia/Vietnam/Inheritance It’s a community property jurisdiction and presumably the spouse and other relatives (the mother) specified in the forced heirship law will inherit according to law. That may be the basis for the convocation. I served in Asia but never Vietnam so I’ll stop here.

Thank you very much.

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