Adult stepchildren want to share the inheritance, to do this...

Recently, a young customer asked, "Can an adult stepchild share the inheritance"?

Yes, this is indeed a problem!!!

How is your relationship with your stepfather and how often do you communicate?

I didn't talk much to him, and my mother talked to me about everything in the family.

When was the last time you came home?

I used to go to school and only went home once in the New Year. Now working in the field, coupled with the epidemic, has not been home for several years.

Dare I ask, is your stepfather in good health?

The body is very good, after all, the age is not very old.

Hmmm, then you still have a chance.

So what should I do?

Article 1127 of the Civil Code stipulates that stepchildren with a dependency relationship shall enjoy the legal right of inheritance as the first in line of succession. The so-called dependency relationship, according to judicial practice, is as follows:

1. Stepchildren are minors. In real life, step-parents bear all or part of the cost of raising their stepchildren, and raise and take care of their stepchildren in their daily lives, and live for a long time, forming a legally beneficial relationship.

2. Stepchildren are adults. In real life, adult stepchildren support and take care of their biological parents in their daily lives, bear all or part of the maintenance costs of their step-parents, and live for a long time, forming a legally beneficial relationship.

Part

Related cases

In legal practice, in view of the above issues, let's first look at the following classic cases.

(2021) Hu 0110 Min Chu No. 9107

Wei Moumou and Xu 1, Xu 2 and other statutory inheritance disputes

Brief facts of the case

The heirs Lin Jin'er and Xu Shaogen remarried before liberation, the plaintiff Wei was the daughter of Lin Jin'er and her ex-husband, and the father of the three defendants, Wang Runrui, was the son of Xu Shaogen and his ex-wife. When Lin Jin'er and Xu Shaogen were married, Wang Runrui had been living in his uncle's house, when the plaintiff was about 13 years old, the plaintiff lived with his mother Lin Jin'er and stepfather Xu Shaogen for several years, and Lin Jin'er and Xu Shaogen did not have children after remarrying.

In 1952, Xu Shaogen and Lin Jin'er built a brick and wood structure building (44 square meters) at No. XXX Lane, Longjiang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, and in 1952, the father of the three defendants, Wang Runrui, was 18 years old and moved in with Xu Shaogen, Lin Jin'er and the plaintiff, during which Wang Runrui also returned to his uncle's house to live, living at both ends, and wang Runrui lived outside after getting married in 1958. On December 22, 1984, Xu Shaogen died of illness. In 1986, the house xxx xxx of longjiang road in Yangpu District, Shanghai was passively relocated, and on April 13, 1987, the inheritance part of the house belonging to the heir Xu Shaogen in the xxx house of XXX lane XXX of Longjiang Road, Longjiang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai was jointly inherited by the Shanghai Yangpu District People's Court and disposed of, and the processing was completed, and the judgment was clearly written that the house was jointly lived by Xu Shaogen, Lin Jin'er, Wang Runrui and Wei xx, without identifying common living.

In November 1986, Lin Jin'er used the relocation funds to purchase a house aided by the joint construction of the city, namely the XXX room house, XXX, XXX Lane, Longjiang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai (hereinafter referred to as the disputed house), and the property rights were registered in Lin Jin'er's name. On August 22, 1996, Lin Jin'er died of illness. Lin Jin'er's parents both died before him, and the heir Lin Jin'er had no will before his death. Wang Runrui's wife, Zhang Guiying, died on December 11, 2002, and Wang Runrui died on April 7, 2014.

The plaintiff argued that the father of the three defendants, Wang Runrui, was 18 years old in 1952, and although he moved to the house at XXX Lane, Longjiang Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai, to live with Xu Shaogen, Lin Jin'er, and the plaintiff, they only lived together, not together, the stepson Wang Runrui and his stepmother Lin Jin'er did not form a de facto relationship of support and support, Wang Runrui had no right to inherit the disputed house left by Lin Jin'er according to law, and the three defendants, as Wang Runrui's heirs, did not inherit the inheritance share of the disputed house under Lin Jin'er's name. The disputed house in the name of the heir, Lin Jin'er, shall be inherited by the plaintiff.

Focus analysis

The court held that the focus of the dispute in this case was whether the three defendants enjoyed the right to inherit, and whether the three defendants enjoyed the right to inherit depended on whether the father of the three defendants, Wang Runrui, and the heires, Lin Jin'er, formed a maintenance relationship. "There is a relationship of support" is a prerequisite for step-parents and children to enjoy the right of inheritance between each other, and its legal significance should include three aspects: maintenance, maintenance and maintenance. In the present case, only two aspects of the maintenance and maintenance relationship are involved, namely the support of minor children by step-parents and the support of step-parents by adult step-children. The inheritance rights between step-parents and children include both the right of the step-child to the step-parents and the right of the step-parents to inherit the step-children. Considering the principle of consistency of rights and obligations, the support of step-parents to minor stepchildren gives rise to the inheritance rights of stepchildren, while the support of stepchildren to step-parents produces the inheritance rights of stepchildren to step-parents.

Generally speaking, the right of the stepfather or stepmother to inherit the stepchild to the stepchild is only created if the stepfather or stepmother fulfills the duty of support to the stepdaughter and forms a maintenance relationship. Only when the stepchild fulfills the duty of support to the stepfather or stepmother and forms a relationship of support, the right to inherit from the stepfather or stepmother arises. In addition to the fact that the stepchildren are minors, the formation of a maintenance relationship requires the fact that they live together and that the fact of parenting lasts long enough.

Lawyer suggests

Because stepchildren and step-parents are not related by blood, the relationship is maintained more from the constraints of secular values and the provisions of relevant laws. Promoting the core values of socialism is one of the legislative purposes of the Civil Code. Family harmony is what the Civil Code actively advocates. Marriage is the foundation of the family, and the family is the cell of society. Family harmony is social harmony, family happiness is social happiness, home and everything is happy.

As a stepchild, if you want to enjoy the rights granted by the Civil Code - the legal right of inheritance, "having a maintenance relationship" is an essential prerequisite, and judicial practice often regards whether it is daily care, frequent visits, living expenses, and common living as an important factor in determining the maintenance relationship. Filial piety comes first, adhere to the values of goodness, believe in the law, accept the guidance of the inner spirit of the law, and the law will never owe you!