How Chinese Americans inherit the legacy of their ancestral country

Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition

Mr. Yin:

I am a Chinese-American who became a naturalized citizen in the United States after studying abroad and has lived in Texas for many years. My father died many years ago, and my mother was the only one in his ancestral home, which coincided with the epidemic and the inability to return to China. My mother died of illness two months ago, leaving behind a number of properties and other properties that I need to go back to go through the inheritance procedures. Now that I am living in the United States, how can I go back to inherit the inheritance of my ancestral home country?

American reader Mr. Ouyang

Mr. Ouyang:

Hello! Deeply sorry for the death of your mother, please mourn. According to the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and other relevant regulations, you have the right to inherit your parents' inheritance in China. Here's how:

■ How do I return to my home country?

You can apply for a humanitarian visa to return to China.

At present, the epidemic situation in China is further stable and improving, but in order to strictly prevent the increase in imported cases from abroad, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Immigration Administration have jointly issued an announcement to impose certain restrictions on the entry of foreigners coming to China, but for other foreigners who come to China to engage in necessary activities such as economy and trade, science and technology, epidemic prevention and anti-epidemic cooperation and exchanges, as well as foreigners who really need to come to China for urgent humanitarian reasons, they can re-apply for visas to Chinese embassies and consulates abroad. With regard to "urgent humanitarian reasons", the current official standard is for extreme cases such as the critical illness or death of a relative in the country. Your situation is in line.

However, it is understood that the Chinese embassy and consulate in the United States cannot be opened normally due to the epidemic situation, and it is necessary to make an appointment or mail documents after making an appointment for approval, and your Consulate in Houston has been closed and transferred to the Consulate in Washington. So it's important to have a clear understanding of the local situation so that you can get approval smoothly and efficiently.

■ How to prove the identity of the subject

According to the Inheritance Part of the Civil Code, the first heir is the spouse, parent and child of the heir.

In many cases where foreign Chinese return to China to inherit the inheritance, how to prove the identity of the heirs and the kinship relationship with the heirs is often the first hurdle.

China does not recognize dual citizenship, that is, you lose your Chinese nationality at the same time as you acquire foreign nationality. According to Chinese law, a person who acquires foreign nationality shall promptly cancel his Chinese identity.

How do you prove that your Chinese identity is the same as your foreign identity? You can go through the notarization and authentication procedures for the same person with Chinese identity and U.S. identity in the United States, or you can prove it by providing many documents in the process of evolving your Chinese identity into a U.S. identity. However, according to practical experience, this seemingly simple problem often encounters many unexpected problems in practice, and I hope that you will pay full attention to it and complete the relevant materials and complete the relevant procedures in the United States before returning to your home country.

■ What are the processes required to inherit inheritance in China?

In China, the two main ways of inheriting inheritance are notarization of inheritance rights and litigation.

If there is sufficient evidence to prove that no legal heirs have been omitted, and the legal heirs have reached an agreement on the division of the estate, they can choose to go to the notary office to handle the notarization of the inheritance right, and go to the real estate registration center or financial institution with the inheritance notarization document to go through the procedures for changing the property ownership.

If it is not possible to provide the relevant information required for the notarization of the inheritance right or if the heirs cannot reach an agreement on the division of the estate, it is necessary to confirm the legitimate heirs and the specific circumstances of their respective inheritances through litigation procedures.

Article 263 of the Civil Procedure Law stipulates: Where foreigners, stateless persons, foreign enterprises and organizations file lawsuits or respond to lawsuits in the people's courts, and need to retain lawyers to represent them in litigation, they must retain lawyers from the People's Republic of China. Article 264 stipulates that a power of attorney sent or entrusted from outside the territory of the People's Republic of China by a foreigner, stateless person, foreign enterprise or organization without a domicile within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall be certified by the notary public of the country where the people's republic of china is located, certified by the embassy or consulate of the People's Republic of China in that country, or after performing the certification formalities stipulated in the relevant treaties concluded between the People's Republic of China and the country where the people are located, shall become effective.

Article 525 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Civil Procedure Law stipulates that where a representative of a foreigner, foreign enterprise or organization signs a power of attorney in the presence of a judge of the people's court and entrusts an agent to conduct a civil lawsuit, the people's court shall recognize it. Article 526 provides: Where a foreigner, representative of a foreign enterprise or organization signs a power of attorney within the territory of the People's Republic of China and entrusts an agent to conduct a civil lawsuit, and is notarized by a notary public of the People's Republic of China, the people's court shall approve it.

In short, based on your Chinese-American status, if you file an inheritance dispute lawsuit in China, you must retain a Chinese lawyer to represent the case. There are two situations and three ways to sign a power of attorney that you sign with the retained lawyer: if you sign the power of attorney in the country of residence, you need to go through the corresponding notarization or certification procedures in accordance with the law; if you sign the power of attorney in China, you can choose to sign it in the presence of a judge or you can choose to sign it in the presence of a notary public.

The above three parts are only the basic steps for foreign Chinese living abroad to return to their home countries to inherit the inheritance. The specific results of inheritance will also be determined by comprehensive review according to the opinions of the heirs, the type of inheritance, the legal inheritance or testamentary succession, and whether there is a bequest maintenance agreement.

(Yin Hongzhi, senior partner and lawyer of Beijing Lei Jie Zhan Da Law Firm)