Selling a home in 2026: spouses' signatures and 6 steps to transfer

Legal basis: Law on Marriage and Family 2014 — Articles 31, 33, 35; Land Law 2024 — Articles 45, 133; Law on Housing 2023 — Articles 160, 164; Law on Personal Income Tax No. 109/2025/QH15 · Updated 29/10/2026.

What is a real estate transfer?

A real estate transfer is when the owner of a home or the land user transfers that right to another person in exchange for money. "Selling a home" in everyday speech is a transfer: the seller signs a housing sale and purchase contract / land use right transfer contract, the buyer pays, and then registers the change of owner on the certificate.

There are two common cases for apartments and townhouses:

Status of the unit	Transfer document	Notarisation
Has a pink book (certificate)	Housing sale and purchase contract / land use right transfer contract	Mandatory when the seller is an individual (Article 164 of the Law on Housing 2023)
No pink book yet, still being bought from the developer	Document transferring the sale and purchase agreement, confirmed by the developer	Mandatory when the transferor is an individual — see transferring an apartment sale and purchase agreement

When can a home be sold?

Under Article 45 of the Land Law 2024 and Article 160 of the Law on Housing 2023, a home and land can be transferred when:

1. There is a certificate (pink book, red book).
2. There is no dispute, or the dispute has been settled by a judgment or decision that has taken legal effect.
3. It is not distrained or subject to another measure to secure enforcement of a judgment, and not subject to an interim emergency measure.
4. The land use term has not expired.
5. The home is not subject to a land recovery, clearance or demolition decision.

A unit mortgaged to a bank can still be sold, but the mortgage must be released (the loan settled) or the bank must consent before notarisation — see buying a mortgaged apartment.

Does selling a home require my spouse's signature?

Yes, if the home is joint property. Article 35 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014: disposing of joint property that is real estate requires a written agreement of the spouses. In practice, both spouses sign the contract at the notary office, or the absent spouse signs a notarised power of attorney.

Case	Is the other spouse's signature needed?
Home bought during the marriage, with no agreement that it is separate property	Yes — even if the pink book shows only one name
Home owned before marriage, inherited or gifted separately, not merged into joint property	Not mandatory — the owner signs alone, with documents proving it is separate property
Home that is one spouse's separate property but is the couple's only residence	The owner may sign the sale but must ensure the couple has somewhere to live (Article 31) — a written consent from the other spouse is advisable to avoid disputes
Separate ownership cannot be proved	Treated as joint property (Article 33, clause 3) → both must sign

If one spouse sells joint property without consent, the other has the right to ask the court to declare the contract invalid — a risk that also falls on the buyer. That is why the notary office will ask for the seller's marriage certificate or certificate of marital status.

Taxes and fees when selling a home

The seller pays personal income tax of 2% of the transfer price (the Law on Personal Income Tax 2025 keeps this rate from 01/07/2026); the buyer usually pays the 0.5% registration fee; the notary fee is agreed between the two parties. For the notary fee table, tax exemptions and an example of a 3 billion VND unit, see costs of selling a home in 2026.

How HPR helps when you sell your home

• Document review before accepting the consignment: a specialist calls you back within 2 working days, reviews a copy of the pink book or sale and purchase agreement, and checks the mortgage status and transfer conditions.
• The fee is given in writing before signing the service contract; listings use HPR's contact details and do not publish your phone number.
• HPR does not commit to a fixed selling time or selling price. Consignment steps: HPR's consignment process.

This article is for reference only and does not replace legal advice for your specific case. You should check with the notary office and the land registration office where the home is located before signing.

1. Prepare the documents — the original pink book / red book, the seller's citizen ID card (both spouses if it is joint property), marriage certificate or certificate of marital status; documents proving separate property, if any.
2. Sign the deposit agreement — state the sale price, the notarisation deadline, which party pays the 2% tax and the 0.5% registration fee, and the penalty if either party fails to perform. See reservation, deposit, signing the sale and purchase agreement.
3. Release the mortgage if the unit has a bank loan — ask for a settlement statement with a specific date, settle the loan and get the original pink book back.
4. Notarise the sale and purchase / transfer contract at a notary practice in the province or city where the home is located; co-owners sign in person or through a notarised power of attorney.
5. Declare the 2% personal income tax and the registration fee — filed together with the application to register the change; pay according to the tax authority's notice.
6. Register the transfer of title (registration of change) within 30 days of the contract taking effect (Article 133 of the Land Law 2024), at the one-stop desk or the Land Registration Office. Processing takes no more than 10 days from receipt of a valid application, excluding days off and the time for fulfilling financial obligations (Article 22, clause 2 of Decree 101/2024/NĐ-CP). Missing the 30-day deadline may result in an administrative fine.

Sources in Vietnamese; titles kept in the original, with a short English translation in brackets.

• National Assembly — Law on Marriage and Family No. 52/2014/QH13, Article 31 (transactions involving a home that is the couple's only residence), Article 33 (joint property), Article 35 (disposal of joint real estate requires a written agreement); cited via Luat Duong Gia — Giao dịch liên quan đến nhà ở là nơi ở duy nhất của vợ chồng (Transactions involving a home that is the couple's only residence), read 29 October 2026.
• He thong Phap luat — Sổ đỏ chỉ đứng tên chồng: khi nào bán nhà đất bắt buộc phải có chữ ký của vợ? (Red book in the husband's name only: when does selling require the wife's signature?) (Article 34, clause 1 and Article 44 of the Law on Marriage and Family 2014), 4 June 2021.
• LuatVietnam — Bán đất là tài sản chung, vợ / chồng không ký nhưng vẫn có hiệu lực khi nào? (Selling jointly owned land without a spouse's signature: when is it still valid?), read 29 October 2026.
• LuatVietnam — Nhớ kỹ 3 mốc thời gian sau khi sang tên Sổ đỏ (3 deadlines to remember after transferring a red book) (Article 133, clause 1 point a and clause 3 of the Land Law 2024 — registration of change within 30 days), 5 May 2025.
• LuatVietnam — Thời gian sang tên Sổ đỏ (Time needed to transfer a red book) (Article 22, clause 2 of Decree 101/2024/NĐ-CP — no more than 10 days), 7 October 2024.
• National Assembly — Luật Nhà ở số 27/2023/QH15 (Law on Housing No. 27/2023/QH15), dated 27 November 2023, effective 1 August 2024 (Article 160 — conditions for housing in transactions; Article 164 — notarisation of housing sale and purchase contracts).
• Government Portal — Quy định thuế thu nhập cá nhân đối với thu nhập từ chuyển nhượng bất động sản (Personal income tax rules on income from real estate transfers), 27 March 2026 (Law on Personal Income Tax No. 109/2025/QH15 — 2% rate).