Before his father, Lao Zhou, passed away, he left a will on his property, his wife Xiaolan got three-quarters of the house, and his son Xiao Zhou got a quarter of the house.
Later, the mother and son had a dispute over the understanding of the will.
Wife Xiaolan believes that her husband Lao Zhou only has the right to dispose of his share of the house, and half of the house belongs to him because it belongs to the joint property of the husband and wife. According to the will, his share of the house is one-half of the original plus three-quarters of the inheritance, making a total of seven-eighths.
Son Xiao Zhou believes that the father's testament is three-quarters of the mother and one-quarter of himself, which actually means that the mother and son inherit the house equally, and the share is already the result.
If you were a judge, would you be more supportive of a mother or a son?
Case source: (2021) Hu 02 Min Zhong No. 2942
The Court held that
The focus of the dispute in this case is the understanding of the contents of the will. After investigation, it was found that the house at issue was the joint property of Xiaolan and the decedent Lao Zhou, and Lao Zhou and Xiaolan each enjoyed one-half of the property rights. Lao Zhou's self-written will clearly stated that Xiao Lan obtained three-quarters of the property rights of the house at issue and Xiao Zhou obtained one-quarter of the property rights, and from the literal expression, it is understood that the division ratio is for the property rights of the entire house, not the division of the property rights under his name by the decedent, and the allocation of one-quarter of the property rights of the house to Xiao Zhou by the decedent does not exceed the scope of his estate. Therefore, it was not inappropriate for the court of first instance to rule that Xiao Lan obtained three-quarters of the property rights of the property at issue and Xiao Zhou obtained one-quarter of the property rights of the property at issue in accordance with the will.
Lawyer Yang Qinren's comments,
It is advisable to be thoughtful when making a will, and make it clear whether it is the disposition of one's original share or the result of the disposition of the share. Otherwise, the will was originally made to prevent disputes, but in the end it became a dispute.
