The new "Civil Code" will take effect on January 1, 2021, and the "Succession Law" and its related interpretations will be valid until December 31, 2020. If it conflicts with the "Civil Code" If the provision becomes invalid, it will be replaced by a new judicial interpretation.
Article 1. In accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, this law is enacted to protect the inheritance rights of citizens' private property.
The second inheritance begins at the death of the deceased.
Article 3 inheritance is the legal personal property left behind when a citizen dies, including:
(1) Citizen’s income;
(2) Citizen’s house , savings and daily necessities;
(3) Citizens’ trees, livestock and poultry;
(4) Citizens’ cultural relics, books and materials;
(5) ) The means of production permitted by law to be owned by citizens;
(6) Citizens’ property rights in copyrights and patents;
(7) Other legal properties of citizens.
Article 4 The personal income due to individual contracting shall be inherited in accordance with the provisions of this law. If an individual contract is continued by an heir as permitted by law, the contract shall be handled in accordance with the contract.
Article 5: After the inheritance begins, it shall be handled in accordance with legal inheritance; if there is a will, it shall be handled in accordance with testamentary inheritance or legacy; if there is a legacy and support agreement, it shall be handled in accordance with the agreement.
Article 6 The inheritance rights and inheritance rights of an incapacitated person shall be exercised by his legal representative.
The right of inheritance and inheritance of a person with limited capacity shall be exercised by his legal representative or with the consent of his legal representative.
Article 7 If an heir commits any of the following acts, he will lose the right to inherit:
(1) Intentionally killing the deceased;
(2) Fighting for the inheritance And killing other heirs;
(3) Abandoning the decedent, or mistreating the decedent in serious circumstances;
(4) Forging, tampering with or destroying wills, and the circumstances being serious.
Article 8 The time limit for filing lawsuits over inheritance rights disputes is two years, starting from the date when the heir knows or should know that his or her rights have been infringed. However, no further action may be brought if more than twenty years have elapsed since the date of the inheritance.
Chapter 2 Legal Inheritance
Article 9: The right to inheritance is equal between men and women.
Article 10: Inheritance shall be inherited in the following order:
First order: spouse, children, parents.
Second order: brothers and sisters, grandparents, maternal grandparents.
After the inheritance begins, the first-order heir will inherit, and the second-order heir will not inherit. If there is no first-order heir, the second-order heir shall inherit.
The children mentioned in this law include legitimate children, illegitimate children, adopted children and dependent stepchildren.
The parents mentioned in this law include biological parents, adoptive parents and step-parents who have a supportive relationship.
Brothers and sisters mentioned in this law include brothers and sisters of the same parents, half-brothers or half-fathers, adoptive brothers and sisters, and step-brothers and sisters with dependent relationships.
Article 11 If the decedent’s children die before the decedent, the descendants of the decedent’s children shall inherit by direct blood. Subrogation heirs generally can only inherit the share of the estate that their father or mother is entitled to inherit.
Article 12 A widowed daughter-in-law who has fulfilled her main support obligations to her father-in-law and mother-in-law, and a widowed son-in-law to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, shall be the first-order heirs.
Article 13 The shares of inheritance inherited by heirs in the same order shall generally be equal.
When distributing inheritance, heirs who have special difficulties in life and lack the ability to work should be taken into consideration.
Heirs who have performed the main support obligations for the decedent or who live with the decedent may receive more shares when distributing the inheritance.
If an heir who has the ability and conditions to support fails to fulfill his obligation to support, heirs who have the ability to support and have the conditions to support him shall receive no or less share when distributing the inheritance. If the heirs agree through consultation, they may be unequal.
Article 14: Appropriate inheritance may be distributed to people other than heirs who rely on the decedent for support and who lack the ability to work and have no source of living, or to people other than heirs who support the decedent more. .
Article 15 Heirs shall negotiate and resolve inheritance issues in the spirit of mutual understanding, mutual accommodation, harmony and unity. The time, method and shares of inheritance division shall be determined by the heirs through negotiation. If negotiation fails, the matter may be mediated by the People's Mediation Committee or a lawsuit may be filed in the People's Court.
Chapter 3 Testamentary Inheritance and Bequest
Article 16 Citizens may make a will to dispose of personal property in accordance with the provisions of this law, and may designate an executor.
Citizens can make a will to designate one or more legal heirs to inherit personal property.
Citizens can make a will to donate personal property to the state, collectives or persons other than legal heirs.
Article 17 The notarization of a will shall be handled by the testator through the notary office. A self-written will is written and signed by the testator, and the year, month and day are indicated. A written will must be witnessed by two or more witnesses, and one of them should write it on behalf of the person, indicating the year, month, and day, and should be signed by the attorney, other witnesses, and the testator.
A will made in the form of a recording must be witnessed by two or more witnesses.
In critical circumstances, the testator may make an oral will. An oral will must be witnessed by at least two witnesses. After the critical situation is resolved, if the testator is able to make a will in written or recorded form, the oral will will be invalid.
Article 18 The following persons cannot serve as witnesses of a will:
(1) Persons without capacity or persons with limited capacity;
(2) Heirs , legatee;
(3) Persons who have an interest in the heir or legatee.
Article 19 The will shall reserve the necessary share of the inheritance for heirs who lack the ability to work and have no source of income.
Article 20: A testator may revoke or change his or her will. If there are several wills and their contents are conflicting, the last will shall prevail. A notarized will cannot be revoked or changed if it is self-written, written on behalf of someone, recorded, or oral.
Article 21 If there are obligations attached to testamentary inheritance or legacy, the heir or legatee shall perform the obligations. If a person fails to perform his obligations without justifiable reasons, upon the request of the relevant unit or individual, the people's court may cancel his right to receive inheritance.
Article 22 A will made by a person without capacity or with limited capacity is invalid.
The will must express the true intention of the testator. A will made under duress or deception is invalid.
A forged will is invalid.
If the will is tampered with, the tampered content will be invalid.
Chapter 4 Disposal of Estate
Article 23 After the inheritance begins, the heir who knows of the death of the deceased shall promptly notify other heirs and the executor. If no one of the heirs is aware of the decedent's death or is aware of the decedent's death and is unable to notify the deceased, the residents' committee or village committee of the deceased's unit or residence shall be responsible for the notification.
Article 24: Those who have inheritance should properly keep the inheritance and no one may embezzle or fight for it.
Article 25 After the inheritance begins, if the heir gives up the inheritance, he should make a statement of giving up the inheritance before the inheritance is disposed of. If there is no indication, it is deemed to be inheritance.
The legatee shall, within two months after becoming aware of the bequest, make an expression of acceptance or renunciation of the bequest. If there is no expression upon expiration, it shall be deemed as giving up the inheritance.
Article 26: Unless otherwise agreed, if the inheritance is divided, half of the property acquired by the husband and wife during the marriage shall be divided into half of the property. The remaining amount belongs to the spouse, and the remainder belongs to the decedent’s estate.
If the inheritance is among the family's private property, when the inheritance is divided, the property of others should be divided first.