Article 1131
Appropriate inheritances may be distributed to persons other than the heirs who are dependent on the deceased, or to persons other than the heirs who are more dependent on the deceased.
1. The main purpose of this article
This article is about the appropriate distribution of the inheritance to persons other than the heirs who have a dependency relationship with the deceased.
II. Evolution of the Provisions
Since legal inheritance is generally to distribute the inheritance of the decedent to those who are related by blood or marriage to the decedent, for persons other than the heirs, if they belong to the people who rely on the deceased or have more support for the decedent, a certain amount of inheritance can be distributed to them after the inheritance begins. Article 14 of the original Inheritance Law stipulates that: "An appropriate estate may be distributed to persons other than the heirs who lack the ability to work and have no source of livelihood who are dependent on the deceased, or who are not the heirs who support the deceased more." "In the course of the compilation of the Civil Code, the majority of opinions agreed to retain the provision that a person other than the heir who had a dependency relationship with the decedent may receive an appropriate share of the estate. For this reason, the Civil Code follows this provision, but deletes the restriction of "lack of labor ability and no source of livelihood", because most people believe that the restriction conditions are more stringent, requiring both lack of labor ability and no source of livelihood, which is not in line with the basic national conditions of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way in the mainland, and in essence excludes the opportunity for most of the people supported by the heirs to receive an appropriate share of the inheritance. The deletion of "lack of ability to work and no source of livelihood" essentially expands the scope of application of the subject of discretionary distribution of inheritance, which is conducive to giving full play to the support function of the inheritance.
3. Interpretation of Provisions
This article deals with discretionary inheritance provisions.
Discretionary inheritance refers to an inheritance system in which a person other than the heir who is dependent on the deceased to support the deceased, or a person other than the heir who supports the deceased a lot, although he does not have the right to inherit, can be distributed to the appropriate inheritance according to the actual situation.
There are two types of people who can divide the inheritance at their discretion: (1) those who are dependent on the deceased other than the heirs, and who lack the ability to work and have no source of livelihood. (2) A person who supports the deceased a lot other than the heir.
In these two types, the former needs to give him a certain inheritance to make his living stable, and the latter is encouraged by the principle of consistency of rights and obligations because he has more support for the deceased. The specific amount of the division shall be determined on the basis of the actual situation.
4. Cases
Wang v. Luo, an inheritance dispute case
Facts: Wang and Luo were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Chen and her husband Wang Mouqing had a daughter, namely Wang. Chen and her husband expelled Wang from the house in the early years because of their bad relationship with Wang. After Wang Mouqing's death, Chen lived with his granddaughter-in-law Luo for many years and was supported by him. In order to improve the relationship with his mother, Wang went to Luo's house and instructed his son Yu to carry Chen to his home to live with him. In the same year, Chen set up a notarized will and left all his estate to his granddaughter-in-law Luo to inherit. In the same year, Chen died, and Luo did not make a clear expression of intent to accept the bequest within two months after receiving the notarial deed of will. Wang filed a lawsuit with the court, requesting the court to order the will made by Chen to be invalid, and the estate in Chen's name was inherited by himself. The court held that if Luo did not make a clear expression of intent to accept or give up the bequest within two months after knowing that he had been bequeathed, it should be deemed that he had given up accepting the bequest, so Chen's estate should be handled as a statutory inheritance. As the first-order heir who has not lost the right of inheritance, Wang certainly enjoys the right of inheritance, but because he objectively did not fulfill the main obligation of support to Chen, he should receive a small share of Chen's estate. And Luo has taken care of Chen's life for many years and has fulfilled his main obligation to support Chen, so he should appropriately share the inheritance left by Chen.
5. Analysis
In this case, Wang is the legal first-order heir of Chen, and there is no statutory circumstance of losing the right of inheritance, so Wang has the right to inherit the estate left by Chen in accordance with the law. However, due to the failure to improve the relationship between Wang, who is the legal first-order heir, and his mother Chen, Wang objectively did not fulfill the main maintenance obligation to Chen. Combined with the provisions of the "Inheritance Law" in effect at the time of the case that if an heir who has the ability and conditions to support does not fulfill his obligation to support, there shall be no or less share of the estate when distributing the estate, and Wang should receive a small share of Chen's estate. Although Luo is only Chen's granddaughter-in-law, she has been taking care of Chen's life for many years, and has fulfilled her main obligation to support Chen, and should appropriately share Chen's estate in accordance with the law.