After the death of both parents, the 10-year-old boy became an orphan and was later "adopted" by a septuagenarian couple and renamed Guo Jia. The couple also has a daughter, Guo Yi, who is 29 years older than him.
16 years later, the couple passed away one after another, with a one-time pension and funeral expenses totaling more than 540,000 yuan, and left a house and a deposit of 820,000 yuan, but did not leave any will.
Focusing on the "million inheritance" left by the old couple, Guo Jia and Guo B went to court. Guo Jia, 30, said that after the death of Guo and his wife, Guo Yi transferred the property in the old man's name to his own name, and also proposed to let him move out of the house left by the old couple. For this reason, he filed a lawsuit against him, who considered himself the adopted son of the couple, to divide the estate.
Recently, after the Guiyang Nanming District Court rejected his claim in the first instance, in June this year, the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court rejected his appeal and upheld the original ruling. The court held that when Guo and his wife adopted Guo Jia, they did not register with the civil affairs department of the government at or above the county level, the adoption relationship was not established, and Guo Jia did not enjoy the legal inheritance right to the estate of Guo and his wife.
Guo Jia and his lawyer said that Article 1131 of the Civil Code stipulates that "a person other than the heir who depends on the decedent's support, or a person who supports the decedent more than the heir, may be given an appropriate inheritance", and they will sue in a separate case.
Both parents died
10-year-old orphan "adopted" by septuagenarian couple
Guo Jia's original surname was Wang and he was born in an ordinary family in Guiyang. He was orphaned at the age of 10 due to the death of his parents due to illness. In January 2005, he expressed his wish to the Guizhou media, "Help me find a home willing to adopt me, I will be obedient, I can cook, wash clothes, ......"
Application for Adoption
According to Guizhou media reports at the time, after his life story attracted attention, through the efforts of the neighborhood office and community workers and respecting his wishes, he was finally "adopted" by a septuagenarian couple, and the relevant procedures were being handled at that time. According to the couple, after their daughter got married and moved away a few years ago, the old couple felt lonely, and after seeing the report, they felt that the child was pitiful, and considering that they had the ability to raise him, they had the idea of adopting him.
Application for Household Entry
Household registration information
Guo Jia recalled that he chose Guo and his wife Fan among multiple families. After arriving at Guo's house in 2006, due to the large age gap, he called Guo his grandfather and Fan his grandmother. The evidence provided by his lawyer shows that after "adopting" him, Guo and his wife submitted applications to the relevant departments for adoption, transfer, and name change. Among them, it was stated that the old couple was willing to adopt the orphan Wang Moumou as their grandson and changed their name to Guo Jia. According to household registration information, after changing his name, he entered the household with the grandson of the old couple.
The old couple died
He was asked by the old man's daughter to move out of the house
According to Guo Jia, after arriving at Guo's house, he lived with his grandfather and grandmother, like relatives to each other, until the two old people passed away in February and September 2021. The neighborhood committee of his community issued a certificate in December last year stating that Guo Jia, Guo and Fan had lived in the same residence for a long time.
Guo Yi, the daughter of Guo and his wife, is 29 years older than Guo Jia. Guo Jia said that he called Guo Yi his aunt, Guo Yi became a family at that time, and he went home more during the New Year's holidays and weekends, but the relationship between the two was relatively stiff.
"After my grandfather died, my grandmother offered to find an opportunity to ease our relationship a little." Guo Jia told Red Star News, but his grandmother died suddenly and left nothing to explain. After his grandfather and grandmother died, he lived in the house he had previously lived in with two elderly people. But in 2022, Guo Yi suddenly asked him to move out. For this reason, he found it difficult to accept, thinking that he had lived in this family for so long, and he had been like relatives with his grandfather and grandmother.
Mr. and Mrs. Guo Jia
The lawsuit for division of the estate was dismissed
The court found that the adoption relationship was not established
In November 2023, Guo Jia filed a lawsuit, demanding the division of the house, pension, and savings in the names of Guo and his wife. The court found that the one-time pension and funeral expenses of Guo and his wife totaled more than 540,000 yuan, and Fan had a deposit of more than 820,000 yuan when he died. In addition, a house under the names of the two was transferred and registered in May 2022 and was inherited by Guo Yi.
Guo Jia sued, saying, "After I was adopted, I have been accompanying and living with Guo and his wife, and taking care of the old couple in their old age." He was registered as the grandson of the old couple, and he and Guo Yi were both adopted children of the old couple and should have the same right of succession. ”
In this regard, Guo Yi argued at the trial that his parents and Guo Jia had not formed a legal and effective adoption relationship. For this reason, Guo Jia is not the legal heir of her parents and has no right to divide the estate. As the sole first heir to her parents, she is entitled to inherit the estate legally. She also said that Guo Jia's claim that she was also adopted was a fabrication of facts.
The court held that the parties should provide evidence to prove whether the adoption relationship was established. The adoptive relationship between Guo Jia and Mr. and Mrs. Guo occurred during the implementation of the "Adoption Law", and according to regulations, the adoptive relationship was established from the date of registration with the civil affairs department of the people's government at or above the county level. However, Guo Jia did not submit the relevant registration materials, and the court held that his adoption relationship was not established because it had not been registered with the civil affairs department at or above the county level. For this reason, according to the order of inheritance, Guo Jia does not enjoy the legal inheritance right to the estate of Guo and his wife.
On January 30 this year, the Nanming District Court of Guiyang City made a first-instance ruling, rejecting Guo Jia's lawsuit.
The appeal was dismissed
He is prepared to file a separate case
Dissatisfied with the first-instance ruling, Guo Jia appealed. In his opinion, the determination that the adoption relationship is not established solely on the grounds that it has not been registered with the civil affairs department at or above the county level is that the facts are unclear. The reason is that his adoption was made by his biological mother before her death at the request of the community neighborhood committee, and the community reported it to the neighborhood office, and under the guidance of the civil affairs department, it was finally realized through media reports.
In this regard, Ms. Zhao, the former director of the community neighborhood committee who handled the matter at the time, confirmed that after Guo Jia's parents died, the community found several families under the guidance of the neighborhood office to "choose in both directions", and went through household registration and other procedures at that time. However, she said that it was not clear whether Guo and his wife went to the civil affairs department to go through the adoption procedures.
In his appeal, Guo Jia also claimed that although the establishment of the adoption relationship is a key factor in whether he can enjoy the right of inheritance, it is not the only factor. According to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code, there is also "discretionary distribution", so the distribution of the estate of Guo and his wife is requested.
Guo Yi insisted that the adoptive relationship did not exist, and also argued that his parents did not wish to adopt Guo Jia. If the parents are willing to adopt at that time, they will definitely complete the adoption procedure. She also said that Guo Jia's assertion that she had fulfilled her obligation to support her parents and that her request for a proper share of the inheritance was an independent litigation claim and should be filed separately.
After the trial, the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court held that the adoption relationship between Guo Jia and Guo was not established, and therefore the first-instance judgment did not support their claim that the first-order heirs inherited the estate of Guo and his wife. As for his argument that even if the adoption relationship is not established, he has the right to appropriately distribute the estate in accordance with Article 1131 of the Civil Code, the court stated that he did not raise it in the first instance and that it was not improper to not hear the case in the first instance.
On June 17, the Guiyang Intermediate People's Court made a second-instance ruling, rejecting Guo Jia's appeal and upholding the original ruling.
In this regard, Guo Jia said that he came to the Guo family under the attention of all parties, and originally thought that everything was legal and compliant. "At the moment, the adoption process is legally missing." He said that he would sue again, hoping to "share" a certain percentage of the estate in the form of "discretionary distribution" by non-heirs. He told Red Star News that at present, he still lives in the house left by his grandfather and grandmother, and can support himself, but hopes to "have a place to live".
Guo Jia's lawyer said that according to Article 1131 of the Civil Code, a person other than the heir who relies on the support of the decedent, or a person other than the heir who supports the decedent more, can be given an appropriate inheritance. They will be prosecuted in a separate case accordingly.
Source: Red Star News
Edit: xkw