How to Access a Frozen Bank Account in Vietnam After a Death

The moment a Vietnamese bank receives formal notification that an account holder has died, every sole-name account is immediately frozen under Decree 52/2024/ND-CP. No withdrawals, no transfers, no balance inquiries — not even if you hold the original savings passbook and the local death certificate.

For families of foreign nationals who died in Vietnam, this freeze can lock up significant funds for months while the inheritance process grinds through its required steps. Here's exactly what you need to do to recover those funds.

Step 1: Trace the Accounts

If you don't know where the deceased held bank accounts in Vietnam, an authorized representative can submit a formal tracing request to suspected commercial banks. The bank queries its central system using the deceased's passport number or national citizen identity card to retrieve account information and balances.

You'll need a legalized Power of Attorney (see Step 2) before banks will cooperate with tracing requests. Without it, they won't confirm or deny whether an account exists — Vietnamese banking privacy laws are strict.

Start with the major commercial banks: Vietcombank, Techcombank, BIDV, VietinBank, Agribank, and any banks near the deceased's last known address.

Step 2: Establish Power of Attorney from Overseas

Overseas heirs do not need to travel to Vietnam to recover bank funds. You can authorize a local representative through a Power of Attorney (Giấy ủy quyền) using a two-step notarization process under Article 55 of the Law on Notarization:

1. In your home country: Notarize the POA at a local notary public, then have it consularly legalized at the Vietnamese embassy or consulate
2. In Vietnam: The physical document is sent to Vietnam, where the designated representative takes it to a local Vietnamese notary to finalize and accept the authorization

This two-step process typically takes 2-4 weeks including international mail transit. The POA must specifically authorize the representative to act on inheritance matters, access banking information, and sign documents on your behalf.

Step 3: File the Inheritance Dossier

The representative and all co-heirs must submit an inheritance dossier to a Vietnamese notary. This dossier includes:

• The Vietnamese death certificate
• Consularly legalized proof of relationship (birth certificates, marriage certificates)
• The executed Power of Attorney
• A complete list of known assets

The notary is legally required to post a 15-day public notice at the People's Committee of the deceased's last registered residence. The notice names all heirs, describes the estate assets, and invites any undisclosed heirs to come forward.

If the deceased had no registered address, the notice is published on the provincial Department of Justice website instead.

Step 4: Obtain the Estate-Division Document

If no disputes are filed during the 15-day posting period, the notary issues either an "Agreement on Division of Estate" (if multiple heirs divide the assets) or a "Document Declaring the Inheritance" (if a sole heir claims the funds).

This notarial deed is the only document Vietnamese banks will accept to unfreeze and disburse funds. There are no shortcuts — a death certificate alone is insufficient, a will alone is insufficient, and a foreign court order is insufficient.

Step 5: Bank Disbursement and Currency Transfer

With the executed notarial deed, the bank closes the account and releases the funds to the designated heirs or their authorized representative.

For overseas heirs, getting the money out of Vietnam is a separate challenge. Vietnamese foreign exchange controls impose strict limits:

• Up to $10,000 USD per year for standard transfers
• Up to 20% of total estate value per year for larger inheritances (above $50,000 USD)
• For transfers exceeding $50,000, the representative must present physical bank records proving they hold the cash

This means a substantial Vietnamese bank account can take multiple years to fully repatriate through legal channels.

The Dormant Account Risk

Under proposed banking amendments, banks can close payment accounts with no transactions for three consecutive years. Any remaining balances are held by the bank for eventual return to verified beneficiaries — but tracking down dormant accounts years later adds significant complexity.

If you suspect the deceased held accounts that have been inactive, act sooner rather than later.

The Vietnam Expat Death Guide provides the complete bank recovery workflow — from tracing unknown accounts through final disbursement — including POA templates, the full 15-day notice timeline, and a step-by-step guide to navigating Vietnam's foreign exchange restrictions for inherited funds.

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