Article 1 In order to protect citizens' right to inherit private property, this Law is formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of People's Republic of China (PRC).
Article 2 Inheritance begins when the decedent dies.
Article 3 Legacy is the personal legal property left by a citizen when he dies, including:
Citizen income;
Citizens' houses, savings and daily necessities;
Citizens' trees, livestock and poultry;
Cultural relics, books and materials of citizens;
The law allows citizens to own the means of production;
Copyright and patent rights in citizens' property rights;
Other lawful property of citizens.
Article 4 Income contracted by individuals shall be inherited in accordance with the provisions of this Law. Individual contracting, if the successor is allowed to continue contracting according to law, shall be handled in accordance with the contract.
Article 5 After the beginning of inheritance, it shall be handled in accordance with legal inheritance; If there is a will, it shall be inherited or bequeathed according to the will; If there is a legacy support agreement, it shall be handled in accordance with the agreement.
Article 6 The right of inheritance and bequest of a person without legal capacity shall be exercised by his legal representative.
The right of inheritance and bequest of a person with limited capacity shall be exercised by his legal representative or with the consent of his legal representative.
Article 7 An heir who commits one of the following acts shall lose the right of inheritance:
Intentionally killing the decedent;
Killing other heirs in order to compete for inheritance;
Abandoning the decedent or seriously abusing the decedent;
Forging, tampering with or destroying a will, if the circumstances are serious.
Article 8 The time limit for bringing a lawsuit for disputes over inheritance rights is two years, counting from the day when the successor knows or should know that his rights have been infringed. However, if more than 20 years have passed since the beginning of the succession, no lawsuit may be brought.
Chapter II Legal Succession
Article 9 The right of inheritance is equal between men and women.
Article 10 Heritage shall be inherited in the following order:
First order: spouse, children, parents.
The second order: brothers and sisters, grandparents, grandparents.
After the inheritance begins, the successor in the first order inherits, and the successor in the second order does not inherit. If there is no successor in the first order, it is inherited by the successor in the second order.
Children referred to in this Law include children born in wedlock, children born out of wedlock, adopted children and stepchildren with dependency.
Parents referred to in this Law include biological parents, adoptive parents and step parents who have a dependency relationship.
Brothers and sisters referred to in this Law include brothers and sisters of the same parents, half-brothers, adopted brothers and sisters and stepbrothers and sisters with dependent relationship.
Article 11 If the decedent's children died before the decedent, the descendants of the decedent's children shall be in subrogation inheritance. Generally speaking, subrogation inheritance people can only inherit the share of the inheritance that their father or mother has the right to inherit.
Article 12 A widowed daughter-in-law takes her father-in-law and her mother-in-law as the first heirs, and a widowed son-in-law takes her father-in-law and her mother-in-law as the first heirs.
Article 13 The shares of heirs in the same order shall generally be equal.
When distributing the inheritance, we should take care of the heirs who have special difficulties and lack the ability to work.
Heirs who have made major support obligations to the decedent or lived together with the decedent can get more points in the distribution of the estate.
If an heir who has the ability and conditions to support fails to perform the obligation of support, he shall not divide or divide the estate.
If the heirs agree through consultation, they may also be unequal.
Article 14. For those who depend on the support of the decedent, those who have no ability to work and no source of income, and those who have more supporters than heirs, they can inherit appropriately.
Article 15 Heirs shall handle the issue of inheritance through consultation in the spirit of mutual understanding, mutual accommodation, harmony and unity. The time, method and share of estate division shall be determined by the heirs through consultation. If negotiation fails, the people's mediation committee may mediate or bring a lawsuit to the people's court.
Chapter III Testamentary Succession and Legacy
Article 16 A citizen may make a will to dispose of his personal property in accordance with the provisions of this Law, and may designate an executor.
Citizens can make a will and hand over their personal property to one or several legal heirs for inheritance.
Citizens can make a will to give personal property to people other than the state, the collective or the legal heir.
Seventeenth notarized wills shall be handled by the testator through the notary office.
A self-made will is written and signed by the testator, indicating the year, month and day.
A will that entrusts others to write on behalf of others shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses, and one of them shall write on behalf of others, indicating the year, month and day, and shall be signed by the agent, other witnesses and the testator.
If a will is made by recording, there shall be two or more witnesses present.
A testator may make an oral will in an emergency. An oral will shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses. After the emergency is lifted, if the testator can make a will in written or recorded form, the oral will made is invalid.
Article 18 The following persons cannot be witnesses to the will:
Persons without capacity and persons with limited capacity;
Heirs and legatees;
A person who has an interest in an heir or legatee.
Article 19 A will shall reserve a 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 will.
There are several wills. In case of conflict, the last will shall prevail.
A notarized will may not be revoked or changed if it is written by myself, written by others, recorded or dictated.
Article 21 Where there are obligations attached to the inheritance or bequest of a will, the successor or legatee shall perform the obligations. If a person fails to perform his obligations without justifiable reasons, the people's court may, at the request of the relevant unit or individual, revoke his right to accept inheritance.
Article 22 A will made by a person with no capacity or with limited capacity is invalid.
A will must express the true meaning of the testator, and a will made by coercion or deception is invalid. Forged wills are invalid.
If the will is tampered with, the tampered contents are invalid.
Chapter IV Disposal of Legacy
Article 23 After the succession begins, the heir who knows the death of the decedent shall promptly notify other heirs and the executor. If the heir does not know the decedent's death or knows the decedent's death and can't notify him, the residents' committee or villagers' committee of the unit where the decedent worked before his death shall be responsible for notifying him.
Article 24 The inheritor of the estate shall take good care of the estate, and no one may occupy or rob it.
Article 25 If the successor renounces the inheritance after the inheritance begins, he shall make a renunciation before the disposal of the inheritance. If there is no indication, it is regarded as accepting inheritance.
The legatee shall, within two months after knowing the legacy, make an indication of accepting or giving up the legacy. If it is not handled at maturity, it will be regarded as giving up the inheritance.
Article 26. Unless otherwise agreed, when the husband and wife divide the estate, they should first give * * * and half of all the property to the spouse, and the rest to the decedent for inheritance.
If the inheritance is in the family-owned property, when the inheritance is divided, the property of others should be divided first.
Twenty-seventh in any of the following circumstances, the relevant part of the estate shall be handled in accordance with the statutory inheritance:
The testator abandons the legacy or the legatee abandons the legacy;
The testator loses the right of inheritance;
The heir or legatee of the testator dies before the testator;
The inheritance involved in the invalid part of the will;
An estate that has not been dealt with by a will.
Article 28 When the estate is divided, the share of inheritance of the fetus shall be reserved. If the fetus dies at birth, the reserved share shall be handled in accordance with legal inheritance.
Article 29 The division of an estate shall be conducive to the needs of production and life, and shall not damage the utility of the estate.
An estate that is not suitable for division may be disposed of in the form of discount, appropriate compensation or possession.
Article 30 A spouse who remarries after death has the right to dispose of the inherited property, and no one may interfere.
Thirty-first citizens can sign a legacy support agreement with their supporters. According to the agreement, the supporter undertakes the obligations of citizens' birth, support and burial, and enjoys the right of bequest.
Citizens can sign a legacy support agreement with collective ownership organizations. According to the agreement, the collective ownership organization undertakes the obligations of citizens' birth, support and burial, and enjoys the right of bequest.
Article 32 An inheritance without inheritance or bequest belongs to the state. If the deceased was a member of a collective ownership organization before his death, it belongs to the collective ownership organization to which he belongs.
Article 33 When inheriting an estate, the decedent shall pay off the taxes and debts that should be paid according to law, and the payment of taxes and debts shall be limited to the actual value of the estate. The part exceeding the actual value of the estate shall be voluntarily repaid by the heir.
If the heir renounces inheritance, he may not bear the taxes and debts that the decedent should pay according to law.
Article 34 The execution of bequest shall not hinder the settlement of taxes and debts that should be paid by the bequest according to law.
Chapter V Supplementary Provisions
Article 35 The people's congresses of ethnic autonomous areas may, in accordance with the principles of this Law and in light of the specific circumstances of the inheritance of local ethnic property, formulate flexible or supplementary provisions. The provisions of the autonomous region shall be reported to the NPC Standing Committee for the record. The provisions of an autonomous prefecture or autonomous county shall take effect after being approved by the standing committee of the people's congress of the province or autonomous region, and shall be reported to the NPC Standing Committee for the record.
Thirty-sixth China citizens inherit the heritage outside People's Republic of China (PRC) or the heritage of foreigners in People's Republic of China (PRC). The law of the decedent's domicile applies to movable property and the law of the real estate.
When foreigners inherit the heritage in People's Republic of China (PRC) or the heritage of China citizens outside People's Republic of China (PRC), the law of the decedent's domicile shall apply to movable property, and the law of immovable property shall apply to immovable property.
People's Republic of China (PRC) has treaties or agreements with foreign countries, which shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of the treaties or agreements.
Article 37 This Law shall come into force as of 1985 10/0/day.
judicial explanation/interpretation
People's Republic of China (PRC) Inheritance Law passed at the Third Session of the Sixth National People's Congress is the criterion for China citizens to deal with inheritance issues, and it is also the basis for the people's courts to correctly and timely hear inheritance cases. When implementing the inheritance law, the people's courts should adhere to the principle of socialist legal system, the equality of inheritance rights between men and women, the spirit of mutual assistance and the consistency of rights and obligations, and protect citizens' right to inherit private property according to law.
In order to correctly implement the inheritance law, we put forward the following opinions on some issues concerning the specific application of the inheritance law in the trial of inheritance cases according to the relevant provisions of the inheritance law and the experience of trial practice, for the trial of inheritance cases by people's courts at all levels.
First of all, about the general part.
1. Inheritance begins when the deceased dies physically or is declared dead.
If the missing person is declared dead, the date of death of the missing person determined by the court judgment shall be the beginning time of inheritance.
Several people who inherited from each other died in the same event. If the time of death cannot be determined, the person presumed to have no heir will die first. If each deceased has an heir, if several deceased have different generations, it is presumed that the elders died first; Several deceased people were of the same generation, presumed to have died at the same time, and they did not inherit from each other, but were inherited by their respective heirs.
3. Other lawful properties that citizens can inherit include securities and creditor's rights in the form of property.
4. If the contractor has not obtained the contract income at the time of his death, the capital invested by the deceased in the contract and the labor paid before his death, as well as its value-added and fruits, can be compensated by the employer or the contractor at a reasonable discount. Its value as a legacy.
5. If the decedent entered into a bequest and maintenance agreement with others before his death and made a will at the same time, if the bequest and maintenance agreement does not conflict with the will after the inheritance begins, the inheritance shall be handled according to the agreement and the will respectively; If there is any conflict, it shall be handled according to the agreement, and the will that conflicts with the agreement shall be invalid in whole or in part.
6. After the testator obtains the inheritance according to the will, according to the provisions of Article 13 of the Inheritance Law, he still has the right to obtain the inheritance that has not been disposed of by the will.
7. Children and mental patients under the age of ten are regarded as persons without capacity.
Minors who have reached the age of 10 and are under the age of 18 shall be deemed as persons with limited capacity.
8. The legal representative shall exercise the right of inheritance and bequest on behalf of the principal, and shall not harm the interests of the principal. Generally speaking, the legal representative cannot give up the right of inheritance and bequest on behalf of the principal. If the interests of the principal are obviously damaged, the agency behavior shall be deemed invalid.
9. In the process of inheritance, if there is a dispute between heirs about whether to lose the right of inheritance and a lawsuit is brought to the people's court, the people's court shall make a judgment confirming whether to lose the right of inheritance according to the provisions of Article 7 of the Inheritance Law.
10. Whether the circumstances of the heir's abuse of the decedent are serious can be determined from the time, means, consequences and social impact of the abuse.
If the circumstances of maltreating the decedent are serious, whether criminal responsibility is investigated or not, it can be confirmed that he has lost his inheritance right.
1 1. If the heir intentionally kills the decedent, whether it is accomplished or attempted, it shall be confirmed that he has lost his inheritance right.
12. If the heir has one of the acts listed in Item (1) and Item (2) of Article 7 of the Inheritance Law, and the decedent designates the inheritance by will, the will may be confirmed to be invalid, and it shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of Article 7 of the Inheritance Law.
13. If the heir maltreats the decedent seriously, or abandons the decedent, and indeed shows repentance in the future, if he forgives before being maltreated or abandoned, he may not be confirmed to have lost his inheritance right.
14. If an heir forges, alters or destroys a will, infringing on the interests of an heir who lacks the ability to work and has no source of income, and causing difficulties in his life, it shall be deemed that his behavior is serious.
15. During the limitation of action, if the heir is unable to claim the right of inheritance due to irresistible reasons, the people's court may consider the limitation of action suspended.
16. If the heir's dispute over his right of inheritance is really mediated by the people's mediation committee within two years from the date when he knows that his rights have been infringed, it can be handled in accordance with the provisions on the suspension of the statute of limitations.
17. If the heir brings a lawsuit to the people's court for inheritance dispute, the limitation of action will be interrupted.
18. If an heir knows that his rights have been violated from the 18th to 20th years since the date of inheritance, he shall exercise his litigation rights within 20 years from the date of inheritance. If it has been more than 20 years, no lawsuit may be filed.
Second, in terms of legal inheritance.
19. If the adoptee has done his duty to support his adoptive parents, but at the same time provided more support to his biological parents, he may inherit the inheritance of his adoptive parents in accordance with Article 10 of the Inheritance Law, or share the proper inheritance of his biological parents in accordance with Article 14 of the Inheritance Law.
20. In a polygamous family formed in the old society, if a child forms a maintenance relationship with a spouse other than his biological mother, he has the right to inherit from each other.
2 1. If a stepchild inherits the inheritance of his stepparents, it does not affect his inheritance of his biological parents.
If the stepparents inherit their stepchildren's inheritance, it will not affect their inheritance to their children.
22. The relationship between adoptive grandparents and adopted grandchildren is regarded as the relationship between adoptive parents and adopted children, and they can be the first heirs to each other.
23. Between adopted children and adopted children, between adopted children and adopted children, brothers and sisters are adopted and can be the second heirs to each other.
The rights and obligations between the adoptee and his brothers and sisters are destroyed by the establishment of the adoption relationship, and they cannot be the second successors to each other.
24. The inheritance right between stepbrothers and sisters occurs because of the maintenance relationship between stepbrothers and sisters. If there is no dependency relationship, they can't be each other's second-order heirs.
If stepbrothers and sisters inherit from each other, it will not affect their inheritance to their own brothers and sisters.
25. Grandchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the decedent can live in subrogation inheritance, and subrogation inheritance people are not limited by the number of generations.
26. The adopted children of the decedent and the stepchildren who have formed a dependency relationship can be born in subrogation inheritance; The adopted children of the decedent's biological children can be in subrogation inheritance; The adopted children of the decedent can inherit from subrogation inheritance; The adopted children of stepchildren who have formed a dependency relationship with the decedent may also be in subrogation inheritance.
27. People who lack the ability to work and have no source of income in subrogation inheritance, or who have done their main duty to support the decedent, can get more points in the distribution of inheritance.
28. If the heir loses the right of inheritance, his lineal blood relatives shall not be subrogation inheritance. Subrogation inheritance people who lack the ability to work and have no source of income, or have more obligations to support the decedent, can be appropriately distributed to the inheritance.
29. The widowed daughter-in-law belongs to her in-laws, and the widowed son-in-law belongs to her father-in-law and mother-in-law. Whether they remarry or not, they are the first heirs according to the provisions of Article 12 of the Inheritance Law, and their children subrogation inheritance will not be affected.
30. If the decedent provides the main source of livelihood or gives the main help in labor services, it shall be deemed that he has fulfilled the main maintenance obligation or maintenance obligation.
3 1. According to the provisions of Article 14 of the Inheritance Law, a person who enjoys proper inheritance rights may, according to the specific circumstances, give more or less inheritance to the heirs.
32. If the right of a person who enjoys an appropriate inheritance according to Article 14 of the Inheritance Law to obtain the decedent's inheritance according to law is infringed, he has the right to bring a lawsuit to the people's court as an independent litigant. However, in the division of inheritance, those who know that they do not make a request are generally not accepted; If a lawsuit is filed within two years without knowing it, it shall be accepted.
33. Heirs have the ability and conditions to support and are willing to do their duty. However, if the decedent has a fixed income and ability to work, and has made it clear that he does not need support, his share of inheritance should not be affected when distributing the estate.
34. Although the heirs who have the ability and conditions to support live together with the decedent, they do not fulfill their obligations to support the decedent who needs support. When distributing the inheritance, they can divide less or not.
Thirdly, the part about testamentary succession.
35. A will made before the implementation of the Law of Inheritance, which is slightly deficient in form and legal in content, can be regarded as valid if there is sufficient evidence to show the true meaning of the testator.
36. Creditors and debtors of the heirs and legatees, as well as partners in the same business, should also be regarded as having an interest in the heirs and legatees and cannot be witnesses of the will.
37. If the testator fails to retain the share of the inheritance of the heir who lacks the ability to work and has no source of income, he shall leave the necessary inheritance for the heir when handling the inheritance, and the rest can only be handled with reference to the distribution principle determined by the will.
Whether the heir lacks the ability to work and has no source of income should be determined according to the specific circumstances of the decedent when the will comes into effect.
38. If the testator disposes of the property owned by the state, the collective or others by will, this part of the will shall be deemed invalid.
39. If the testator's behavior before his life is contrary to his will, and before the start of inheritance, the property disposed of by the will is lost or partially lost, or the ownership is transferred or partially transferred, the will shall be deemed to be revoked or partially revoked.
40. The content of personal property disposal after death in a citizen's suicide note is really the expression of the true meaning of the deceased. If there is no evidence to the contrary, it can be regarded as a will in the book.
4 1. The testator must have the capacity to act when making a will. A will made by a person without capacity is still invalid, even if he later has capacity. The testator has the capacity to act when he makes a will, but the subsequent loss of capacity does not affect the validity of the will.
42. The testator has made several wills with conflicting contents in different forms. If there is a notarized will, the last notarized will shall prevail; If there is no notarized will, the last will shall prevail.
43. Obligatory testamentary succession or bequest can be performed, but the heir or legatee fails to perform it without justifiable reasons, the people's court may revoke his right to accept the obligatory inheritance at the request of the beneficiary or other heirs, and the requested successor or beneficiary shall be responsible for performing his obligations and accepting the inheritance according to the testator's will.
Fourthly, the part about estate disposal.
44. When trying an inheritance case, the people's court knows that there is an heir but can't notify it. When dividing the inheritance, it shall keep the inheritance it should inherit and determine the guardian or custodian of the inheritance.
45. If the share of inheritance that should be left to the fetus is not retained, it shall be deducted from the inheritance inherited by the heir.
The share of inheritance reserved for the fetus, if the fetus dies after birth, shall be inherited by its heir; If the fetus dies at birth, it shall be inherited by the decedent.
46. If the heir fails to perform his legal obligations because of giving up the right of inheritance, the act of giving up the right of inheritance is invalid.
47. If an heir renounces inheritance, he shall express it to other heirs in writing. If you give up the inheritance orally, and I admit it, or there are other sufficient evidence to prove it, it should also be considered valid.
48. In a lawsuit, if the heir renounces his inheritance orally to the people's court, a written record shall be made and signed by the renounced heir.
49. The intention of the heir to give up inheritance shall be made after the beginning of inheritance and before the division of the estate. After the division of the estate, it is no longer the right of inheritance, but the ownership.
50. Before the disposal of the estate or during the litigation, if the heir repents and abandons the inheritance, the people's court shall decide whether to recognize it according to the specific reasons put forward. After the disposal of the estate, if the heir abandons the inheritance and goes back on his word, it will not be recognized.
5 1. The effect of abandoning inheritance can be traced back to the beginning of inheritance.
52. After the beginning of inheritance, if the heir does not give up inheritance and dies before the division of the estate, his inheritance right shall be transferred to his legal successor.
53. After the beginning of inheritance, the legatee expresses his acceptance of the inheritance, and if he dies before the division of the inheritance, his right to accept the inheritance is transferred to the heir.
54. The legacies of martyrs whose living expenses are provided by the state or collective organizations and urban residents who enjoy social relief should still be allowed to be inherited by their lawful heirs.
55 collective organizations to implement the "five guarantees", the two sides have a support agreement, according to the agreement; If there is no support agreement and the deceased has a testamentary successor or legal heir to request inheritance, it shall be treated as testamentary inheritance or legal inheritance, but the collective organization has the right to request the deduction of the "five guarantees".
56. If a supporter or collective organization concludes a legacy maintenance agreement with a citizen, and the supporter or collective organization fails to perform it without justifiable reasons, resulting in the termination of the agreement, it cannot enjoy the right to be bequeathed, and the maintenance fees paid by it are generally not compensated; If the legacy fails to perform without justifiable reasons, resulting in the termination of the agreement, it shall repay the maintenance fees paid by the dependents or collective organizations.
57. If the inheritance is owned by the state or a collective organization, and there is no successor, and the person who can distribute it according to Article 14 of the Inheritance Law requests to obtain the inheritance, the people's court shall distribute it appropriately according to the circumstances.
58. When the people's court divides the houses, means of production and property needed for a specific occupation in the estate, it shall handle it according to the actual needs of the heirs and the interests of all the heirs.
59. If the heirs deliberately conceal, embezzle or compete for the inheritance, the people's court may reduce the inheritance as appropriate.
60. After the commencement of the succession proceedings, if either the heir or legatee is unwilling to participate in the proceedings and does not give up the substantive rights, it shall be added as * * * with the plaintiff; Those who have explicitly given up inheritance are no longer listed as parties.
6 1. Among the heirs, there are people who lack the ability to work and have no financial resources. Even if the inheritance is not enough to pay off the debt, an appropriate inheritance should be reserved for it, and then the debt should be paid off in accordance with Article 33 of the Inheritance Law and Article 180 of the Civil Procedure Law.
62. When the estate has been divided and the debts are not paid off, if there are legal inheritance and testamentary inheritance and bequest, the legal heir will pay off the debts with his income first; If it is insufficient to pay off, the remaining debts shall be paid off by the testator and legatee in proportion to the income; If there are only testamentary inheritances and bequests, the testamentary heirs and legatees shall repay them in proportion to the income.
Verb (abbreviation of verb) about supplementary provisions
63. In foreign-related inheritance, if the inheritance is chattel, the law of the decedent's domicile shall apply, that is, the law of the country where the decedent had his last domicile before his death.
64. If a people's court has concluded an inheritance case before the implementation of the Law of Inheritance, and a retrial is initiated in accordance with the procedure of trial supervision after the implementation of the Law of Inheritance, the relevant policies and laws at the time of conclusion shall apply.
The people's court shall apply the inheritance law to inheritance cases that have been accepted before the implementation of the inheritance law and have not been concluded at the time of implementation. However, the prosecution shall not be dismissed on the grounds that the statute of limitations has expired.