Article 1120
The State protects the inheritance rights of natural persons.
I. Purpose of this Article
This article deals with the protection of inheritance rights.
II. Evolution of the Provisions
As a separate law, Article 1 of the original Inheritance Law stipulates the legislative basis and purpose, that is, "this Law is enacted in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China to protect citizens' right to inherit private property". Article 76 of the original General Principles of the Civil Law, promulgated on April 12, 1986 and effective as of January 1, 1987, stipulates that "citizens shall enjoy the right to inherit property in accordance with the law. Article 124 of the "Civil Rights" chapter of the General Provisions of the Civil Code stipulates: "Natural persons enjoy the right of inheritance in accordance with the law. The lawful private property of a natural person may be inherited in accordance with law. On this basis, the inheritance section of the Civil Code further affirms that the inheritance rights of natural persons are protected by the state, which is not only the legislative purpose of inheritance arrangement, but also one of the legislative principles of inheritance arrangement.
3. Interpretation of Provisions
This article is a provision on the principle of the State protecting the inheritance rights of natural persons.
The legal basis for the principle of protecting the inheritance rights of natural persons is the provision of Article 13, Paragraph 2 of the Constitution that "the State shall protect the private property rights and inheritance rights of citizens in accordance with the provisions of the law", which is also the legislative purpose and task of Title VI of the Civil Code, "Inheritance".
This basic principle has two implications: (1) the law protects the right of natural persons to inherit the estate in accordance with the law, and no one may interfere with it; (2) when the right of inheritance is illegally infringed by others, natural persons have the right to request relief in accordance with the provisions of the law, and the state protects them with its coercive force.
This principle is embodied in the following aspects: (1) establishing the scope of inheritance and protecting it in accordance with the law; (2) ensuring that the inheritance of the decedent is obtained by the heir or legatee as far as possible; (3) the inheritance right of the heir shall not be illegally deprived; (4) guaranteeing the inheritance right and the exercise of the right of bequest by the heir and legatee; (5) the heir enjoys the right to claim the restoration of the inheritance right.
The right of inheritance refers to the right of a natural person to inherit the estate of the decedent in accordance with the legal and valid will made by the decedent or the direct provisions of the law. Its legal characteristics are: (1) In terms of the subject of inheritance rights, inheritance rights can only be rights enjoyed by natural persons. (2) In terms of the basis for acquisition, the right of inheritance is a right enjoyed by a natural person in accordance with a legal and valid will or a direct provision of the law. (3) The object of inheritance is the property right of the deceased during his lifetime. The essence of inheritance rights is independent civil rights.
4. Cases
Xu Jia v. Xu Yi et al., a legal inheritance dispute
Facts: Xu Jia signed a "resettlement housing purchase agreement" with the construction project management department of the requisition and resettlement housing on behalf of Xu Mousheng, and paid all the expenses on behalf of Xu Mousheng. The agreement stipulates the resettlement of Xu Mousheng. Subsequently, Xu Mousheng died. Xu Mousheng had five children, the eldest son Xu Mougen died before Xu Mousheng, and gave birth to Xu Yi and Xu Bing before his death, the eldest daughter Xu Ding, the second daughter Xu Mouzhi died later than Xu Mousheng, and gave birth to a son Zhang Mou, a second son Xu Jia, and a third son Xu Wu. Xu B, Xu Bing, Xu Ding and others sued Xu Jia for inheriting the resettlement house, and the resettlement house was owned by Xu Jia through mediation, but the storage room of this house was omitted from the mediation agreement. During the trial of the case, Xu Ding and Xu Bing renounced their inheritance rights. Now Xu Jia is petitioning the court to make a judgment to award the storage room of the resettlement house that was omitted in the mediation to Xu Jia for inheritance. The court held that the resettlement house was the lawful property of the decedent Xu Mousheng, and the heirs had the right to inherit it in accordance with the law. Defendants Xu Ding and Xu Bing have given up their inheritance rights, and the other defendants have not responded to the summons of the court, which is deemed to have waived their relevant rights. Therefore, Xu Jia is entitled to inherit the entire share of the storeroom.
5. Analysis
Xu Jia signed a "resettlement housing purchase agreement" with the construction project management department of the resettlement housing on behalf of Xu Mousheng, and paid part of the housing payment on his behalf. Later, Xu died in his life. According to the provisions of the Inheritance Law in force at the time of the case, each heir enjoys the right of inheritance in accordance with the law and has the right to share their share of the inheritance according to the inheritance rules, and each heir also has the right to renounce his inheritance right. In the case, Xu Ding and Xu Bing gave up their inheritance rights after the inheritance began, and the other defendants did not reply after being summoned by the court, which was also deemed to have waived the relevant rights, and only Xu Jia did not give up the inheritance right, so Xu Jia was entitled to inherit all of Xu's estate.