Article 1127
The estate is inherited in the following order:
(1) First order: spouse, children, parents;
(2) Second order: siblings, grandparents, maternal grandparents.
After the commencement of succession, the heirs in the first order shall inherit the succession, and the heirs in the second order shall not inherit, and if there is no heir in the first order, the heirs in the second order shall inherit.
For the purposes of this Part, the term "children" includes legitimate children, children born out of wedlock, adopted children and dependent stepchildren.
For the purposes of this Part, the term "parents" includes biological parents, adoptive parents and step-parents in a dependent relationship.
The term "siblings" as used in this Part includes siblings of the same parents, half-siblings or half-siblings, adoptive siblings, and step-siblings who have a dependent relationship.
1. The main purpose of this article
This article is about the scope of legal heirs and the order of succession.
II. Evolution of the Provisions
This article basically retains the provisions of Article 10 of the original Inheritance Law, and stipulates the scope and order of legal heirs.
3. Interpretation of Provisions
This article is about the legal order of succession.
The legal order of succession, also known as the order of legal heirs, refers to the order in which legal heirs participate in the inheritance as directly stipulated by law. The order of inheritance of the legal heirs is related to the status of each heir to participate in the inheritance, who has the right to inherit and who does not have the right to inherit, who is the legal heir and who is the improper heir, and can avoid many disputes and disputes that should not occur in the inheritance, and the role is very important.
The characteristics of the legal succession order are: (1) Legality. This order is directly determined by the law on the basis of the degree of intimacy and closeness of the relationship between the heir and the decedent, rather than by the parties themselves. (2) Force. No one or entity can change it for any reason, not even the deceased himself. (3) Exclusivity. In statutory succession, heirs can only participate in the succession in the order prescribed by law, and the heirs of the previous order always exclude the heirs of the later order. (4) Restrictiveness. The legal order of succession is only applicable to statutory succession, and each legal heir must obtain the decedent's estate in turn in accordance with the order of succession prescribed by law.
This article provides for two orders of succession:
(1) Spouse, children, and parents are the legal heirs in the first order. Among them, children include legitimate children, illegitimate children, adopted children and dependent stepchildren, and parents include biological parents, adoptive parents and dependent stepparents.
(2) Siblings, grandparents, and maternal grandparents are the legal heirs in the second order. Among them, siblings include siblings of the same parents, half-siblings or half-siblings, adoptive siblings, and step-siblings who have a dependent relationship.
The functions of the legal order of succession are: (1) After the commencement of inheritance, the inheritance is inherited by the first-order heirs, excluding the inheritance of the second-order heirs, and the second-order heirs do not inherit. (2) If there is no first-order heir, it can be inherited by the second-order heir.
4. Cases
Miao A and Miao B v. Wu Yi Legal Inheritance Dispute
Facts: Wu Jia's parents were dead before his death, and he had no spouse or children, and he lived alone. His brother Wu Yi is his sole legal heir. Wu Yi lives in Hong Kong, China and has a bad relationship with his brother Wu Jia, and has not had daily life care or financial support for Wu Jia. Before Wu Jia's death, due to Wu Jia's old age and broken feet, the Miao brothers and sisters (Wu Jia was his uncle) themselves or hired workers and nannies to take care of Wu Jia's daily life, and also cared for Wu Jia during his illness and hospitalization. After Wu Jia's death, the funeral was handled by the Miao siblings, Wu Bing (Wu Yi's son), and Wu Jia's other relatives and clansmen, and Wu Yi did not participate. The Miao siblings requested the court to rule that Wu Yi lost the right to inherit on the grounds that Wu Jia had done more to support and take care of Wu Jia, and Wu Yi had not fulfilled his obligation to support Wu Jia, and Wu Jia's estate was inherited by the Miao brothers and sisters. The court of first instance held that Wu Yi, as the heir of Wu Jia, had not fulfilled his obligation to support Wu Jia, and that the Miao brothers and sisters, as persons other than the heirs, had fulfilled more obligations to support Wu Jia, so the Miao brothers and sisters should receive part of Wu Jia's inheritance in accordance with the law. The Miao siblings appealed on the grounds that the facts were unclear and the law was wrongly applied. The court of second instance held that since the decedent Wu Jia did not make a will, Wu Yi was the only legal heir of Wu Jia, and there was no circumstance of loss of inheritance rights stipulated by law, he should legally enjoy the right of inheritance. The Miao brothers and sisters were not the legal heirs, but considering that the deceased had been supported, the first-instance judgment that their share of the inheritance was correct and upheld.
5. Analysis
The decedent Wu Jia did not make a will before his death, and Wu Yi is the only legal heir of Wu Jia, although he has not fulfilled his obligation to take care of Wu Jia's daily life and provide financial support, but there is no circumstance of loss of inheritance rights as prescribed by law, so he legally enjoys the right of inheritance. As relatives of Wu Jia, Miao Jia and Miao Yi did not fall within the scope of legal heirs according to the provisions of the Inheritance Law in effect at the time of the case, but they personally or hired workers to support and take care of Wu Jia when he was old and sick and had inconveniences in life. Therefore, the inheritance of the decedent Wu Jia is inherited by the second-order heir Wu Yi according to the law, and the Miao brothers and sisters should also receive part of the estate of Wu Jia according to the law.