The Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Succession Edition of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (1) was adopted at the 1825th meeting of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People’s Court on December 25, 2020, and is hereby promulgated, as of January 2021 Effective on the 1st.

Supreme People's Court

December 29, 2020

Law Interpretation (2020) No. 23

The Supreme People's Court on Application

Interpretation of the Succession Edition of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (1)

(December 25, 2020, the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court

Adopted at the 1825th meeting, effective from January 1, 2021)

　　 In order to correctly hear cases of inheritance disputes, this interpretation is formulated in accordance with the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China" and other relevant laws and regulations, combined with trial practice.

　　 1. General regulations

　　 The first succession begins when the deceased is physically dead or is declared dead.

　　 Where death is declared, the date of death determined in accordance with Article 48 of the Civil Code shall be the time when the inheritance begins.

　　 Article 2 If the contractor has not yet obtained the contracting income at the time of his death, the deceased’s capital invested in the contract and the labor paid and its value-added and yields may be reasonably discounted and compensated by the contract issuing unit or the person who continues the contract. The value is regarded as an inheritance.

Article 3 If the deceased has made a bequest and support agreement with others before his life, and also has a will, after the inheritance begins, if the bequest and support agreement does not conflict with the will, the inheritance shall be handled according to the agreement and the will respectively; if there is a conflict, the agreement shall be handled. Wills that conflict with the agreement are all or partly invalid.

　　 Article 4 After obtaining the estate in accordance with the will, the testamentary successor shall still have the right to obtain the undisposed estate in accordance with the provisions of Article 130 of the Civil Code.

　　Article 5 In the inheritance of inheritance, if there is a dispute between the heirs over whether they have lost the right of inheritance, and the people’s court files a lawsuit, the people’s court shall determine whether they have lost the right of inheritance in accordance with the provisions of Article 115 of the Civil Code.

Article 6 Whether the successor meets the “serious circumstances of abuse of the deceased” as stipulated in Article 1125, Paragraph 1, Item 3 of the Civil Code, can be determined in terms of the time, means, consequences and social impact of the abuse. .

　　 If the circumstances of the abuse of the deceased are serious, the loss of the inheritance right can be confirmed regardless of whether criminal responsibility is pursued.

　　 Article 7 If the successor intentionally kills the decedent, whether it is completed or unsuccessful, it shall be confirmed that he has lost the right of inheritance.

Article 8 If the heir has the behavior listed in the first or second paragraph of Article 1125 of the Civil Code, and the deceased designates the inheritance by the heir in a will, the will may be confirmed invalid. And confirm that the heir has lost the right of inheritance.

Article 9 Where an heir forges, falsifies, conceals or destroys a will, infringing on the interests of the heir who lacks the ability to work and has no source of income, and causes difficulties in his life, he shall be deemed as Article 1125 of the Civil Code. "The circumstances are serious" stipulated in the fourth item of the paragraph.

　　 2. Legal succession

Article 10 If the adoptee has fulfilled the obligation to support the adoptive parents, and at the same time supports more of the biological parents, in addition to inheriting the inheritance of the adoptive parents in accordance with the provisions of Article 127 of the Civil Code, they can also follow The provisions of Article 131 of the Civil Code allocate the proper inheritance to the biological parents.

　　 Article 11 If a stepchild inherits the inheritance of the stepparent, it shall not affect the inheritance of the inheritance of the biological parents.

　　 If a stepparent inherits the inheritance of a stepchild, it does not affect the inheritance of the child.

　　 Article 12 Between adopted children and birth children, between adopted children and adopted children, foster brothers and sisters may be the second-order successors to each other.

　　 The relationship of rights and obligations between the adoptee and his brothers and sisters is eliminated due to the establishment of the adoption relationship, and they cannot be the second-order heirs to each other.

　　 Article 13 The right of inheritance between step brothers and sisters occurs due to the support relationship between step brothers and sisters. If there is no support relationship, they cannot be the second-order successors to each other.

　　 Succession between brothers and sisters will not affect the inheritance of their brothers and sisters.

　　 Article 14 The grandchildren, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of the deceased can all succeed by subrogation, and the subrogation successor is not restricted by the number of generations.

Article 15 The adopted children of the deceased and the stepchildren who have formed a support relationship may inherit by subrogation; the adopted children of the biological children of the deceased may inherit by subrogation; the adopted children of the adopted children of the deceased may inherit by subrogation; The adopted children of stepchildren who form a support relationship can also inherit by subrogation.

　　 Article 16 If the subrogation heir lacks the ability to work and has no source of livelihood, or has performed the main maintenance obligation to the deceased, he may divide the inheritance more.

　　 Article 17 If the successor loses the right of inheritance, his younger generation's direct blood relatives shall not inherit by subrogation. If the subrogation heir lacks the ability to work and has no source of livelihood, or has more maintenance obligations to the deceased, he can be appropriately distributed to the estate.

　　 Article 18 The widowed daughter-in-law to the in-laws and the widowed son-in-law to the parents-in-law, regardless of whether they are remarried or not, when they are the first-order successors in accordance with Article 129 of the Civil Code, they shall not affect their children's subrogation succession.

　　 Article 19 Where the deceased is provided with the main source of income or major assistance in labor services, it shall be deemed that he has fulfilled his main maintenance obligation or main maintenance obligation.

　　 Article 20 According to the provisions of Article 131 of the Civil Code, it may be distributed to persons with appropriate inheritance. When the inheritance is distributed to them, it may be more or less than the heirs according to the specific circumstances.

Article 21. In accordance with the provisions of Article 131 of the Civil Code, a person who can distribute an appropriate inheritance has the right to claim to the people as an independent litigation subject if his right to obtain the inheritance of the heir is violated. The court filed a lawsuit.

Article 22: If the heir has the ability to support and support conditions, and is willing to fulfill the obligation of support, but the deceased has a fixed income and working ability, and clearly expresses that he does not require support, the distribution of the inheritance should generally not affect his inheritance share. .

　　 Article 23 Although heirs who have the ability to support and support conditions live with the deceased, they do not fulfill the obligation to support the deceased who need to be supported, and the inheritance may be distributed with less or no division.

　　 3. Testamentary inheritance and bequest

　　Article 24 The creditors and debtors of the heirs, legatees, and co-operating partners shall also be regarded as having an interest in the heirs and legates, and shall not be the witnesses of the will.

Article 25 The testator does not retain the share of the inheritance of the heir who lacks the ability to work and has no source of livelihood. When the estate is processed, he should leave the necessary inheritance for the heir. The remaining part can be dealt with according to the distribution principle determined by the will .

　　 Whether the heir lacks the ability to work and has no source of income shall be determined according to the specific circumstances of the heir when the will takes effect.

　　 Article 26 Where a testator disposes of state, collective or other people’s property by means of a will, the testament shall be deemed invalid.

Article 27 The content of the personal property disposal after death of a natural person in the suicide note is indeed the true expression of the deceased’s true intentions. If he has his signature and indicated the year, month, and day, and there is no evidence to the contrary, he may write his will treat.

　　 Article 28 The testator must have full capacity for civil conduct when making a will. A will made by a person with no capacity for civil conduct or a person with limited capacity for civil conduct is invalid even if the person has full capacity for civil conduct. The testator has full capacity for civil conduct when he makes the will, and later becomes a person without or with limited capacity for civil conduct, it does not affect the validity of the will.

Article 29 Testamentary inheritance or bequest with obligations, if the obligations can be performed but the heir or legatee fails to perform without justified reasons, the people’s court may cancel its right to accept part of the inheritance with obligations at the request of the beneficiary or other heirs. The heir or beneficiary who made the request is responsible for fulfilling the obligations and accepting the estate according to the wishes of the testator.

　　4. Handling of inheritance

　　 Article 30 When hearing an inheritance case, if the people's court knows that there is an heir and is unable to notify it, when dividing the estate, it shall retain the inherited estate and determine the custodian or custodian of the estate.

　　 Article 31 If the share of the inheritance that should be reserved for the fetus is not reserved, it shall be withdrawn from the inheritance inherited by the heir.

　　 The share of the inheritance reserved for the fetus, if the fetus dies after birth, shall be inherited by its heir; if the fetus is dead at the time of delivery, it shall be inherited by the heir of the deceased.

　　 Article 32 If the successor is unable to perform his statutory obligations due to abandonment of the right of inheritance, the act of waiving the right of inheritance shall be invalid.

　　 Article 33 The heir’s waiver of inheritance shall be expressed in writing to the estate administrator or other heirs.

　　 Article 34 In litigation, if the heir verbally expresses his renunciation of the inheritance to the people's court, a transcript shall be made and signed by the person who renounced the inheritance.

　　 Article 35 The expression of the heir’s intention to abandon the inheritance shall be made after the start of the inheritance and before the division of the estate. After the inheritance is divided, it is no longer the right of inheritance but the ownership to give up.

　　Article 36 Before the estate is disposed of or during the proceedings, if the heir repents on waiving the inheritance, the people's court shall decide whether to recognize it or not according to the specific reasons put forward by him. After the inheritance is processed, the heir shall not recognize the renunciation of the inheritance.

　　 Article 37 The waiver of the validity of inheritance shall be traced back to the time when the inheritance began.

　　 Article 38 After the inheritance begins, if the bequestee expresses to accept the bequest and dies before the division of the estate, his right to accept the bequest is transferred to his heirs.

　　 Article 39 Martyrs whose living expenses are provided by the state or collective organizations and natural persons enjoying social relief shall still allow their legal heirs to inherit their inheritance.

Article 40: After an organization or individual other than the heir signs a bequest support agreement with a natural person, and fails to perform it without justified reasons, resulting in the termination of the agreement, they cannot enjoy the right to bequeathed, and the support expenses paid by them are generally not compensated; the bequestor has no justified reason. If the non-performance results in the termination of the agreement, the support expenses paid by organizations or individuals other than the heir shall be repaid.

Article 41 When the inheritance is owned by the state or collective ownership organization due to no one inherited or bequeathed, according to Article 131 of the Civil Code, it may be distributed to the appropriate inheritor and file a litigation request for obtaining the inheritance. , The people’s court shall allocate the inheritance appropriately according to the circumstances.

　　 Article 42 When the people’s court divides the estate in the estate, the means of production and the property needed for a specific occupation, it shall deal with it in accordance with the benefits of its use and the actual needs of the heirs, taking into account the interests of the heirs.

　　Article 43 The people's court may reduce the inheritance of the inheritance as appropriate to the heirs who deliberately conceal, embezzle, or scramble for the inheritance.

Article 44 After the commencement of the inheritance litigation, if one of the heirs or legacies is unwilling to participate in the litigation and does not express their substantive rights, they shall be added as joint plaintiffs; the heirs have expressed in writing that they have waived the inheritance, and the legatee is aware of Those who express to renounce the bequest within 60 days after receiving the bequest or fail to express it at the expiration date are no longer listed as parties.

　　 Five, supplementary provisions

　　 Article 45 This interpretation shall take effect on January 1, 2021.