Death compensation is not an inheritance, so it cannot be inherited naturally. The compensation for death can be reasonably distributed according to the principle of inheritance division in inheritance law.
1. Determination of the right subject of the dispute over the division of death compensation
For the division of death compensation, the law does not clearly stipulate that under normal circumstances, the close relatives of the victims should be the subjects of rights. Because the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on Several Issues in the Trial of Personal Injury Compensation Cases adopts the theory of inheritance loss, because death compensation is not a compensation for the life of the deceased itself, and life itself cannot and does not need to be calculated with money, but a compensation for the victim's legal heir to suffer from the decrease of the victim's property income in the future due to the death of the victim. Therefore, it is the indirect victim who has the right to claim damages, that is, the close relatives of the deceased.
note:
1, the Supreme People's Court's "Answers to Several Questions on the Trial of Reputation Rights Cases" clearly stipulates: "Close relatives include spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandchildren and grandchildren."
2. Article 12 of the Supreme People's Court's Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the General Principles of the Civil Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) (for Trial Implementation) clearly stipulates: "Close relatives stipulated in the General Principles of the Civil Law include spouses, parents, children, brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandparents, grandchildren and grandchildren."
2, the distribution principle of death compensation division disputes.
2. 1 If the death compensation is based on the theory of inheritance loss stipulated in judicial interpretation, the spouse, parents and children are the first heirs according to the legal succession order stipulated in Article 10 of the Inheritance Law. If there is no successor in the first order, it is "inherited" by the successor in the second order. If the decedent's children die before the decedent, the decedent's children will "inherit" by subrogation.
2.2 In the same succession order, the amount of death compensation is determined in principle according to the closeness of the life of the heir and the decedent, and the principle that the same order should be generally equal as stipulated in Article 13 of the Inheritance Law is not applicable.
2.3 In principle, compensation for death should be obtained by family members. If the parties concerned have not requested division, the people's court shall not divide it.