Jiang Laobo and his wife have two daughters and a son, namely the eldest daughter Jiang Li, the son Jiang Hai and the younger daughter Jiang Qing. In 2005, the old man and the three brothers and sisters reached a family agreement, agreeing that the eldest daughter Jiang Li had a 47% share of the property, and the remaining 53% of the real estate share belonged to the second elder, and the property under the name of the second elder was divided equally by the three sisters and brothers after his death.
In 2007, Jiang Laobo added the names of his wife and eldest daughter Jiang Li to the property deed. In 2017, Jiang Laobo passed away (his wife died before him). When he was dying, the old man handed his grandson Jiang Xiaoqing a photo album and told him to keep it well and not to lose it. A week after the death of the old man, Jiang Xiaoqing accidentally found that when he looked through the photo album, there was a suicide note written by his grandfather in 2013, which said that the second elder was willing to give 53% of the real estate share under his name to his grandson, and the payment had the signature and handprint of the second elder.
Jiang Xiaoqing saw it and told his father Jiang Hai that he was willing to accept this bequest. Jiang Hai considered that if he told Jiang Li and Jiang Qing immediately, it would affect family harmony, so he planned to find a suitable opportunity to make it public again in the future.
At the beginning of 2018, the eldest daughter Jiang Li proposed to sell the house, and the old man's son Jiang Hai did not want to sell it, so he said that his parents still had a suicide note before they died, and gave the share of the real estate under their names to their grandson Jiang Xiaoqing. Jiang Li was very angry after learning about it, believing that the suicide note was invalid, and the share of the property under the name of the second elder should be legally inherited.
The two sides disagreed, and Jiang Xiaoqing, the grandson of the second elder, filed a complaint with the court, asking for confirmation that he inherited the share of the property in the name of his grandparents. The first-instance judgment was valid and supported Jiang Xiaoqing's appeal. The two daughters of the second elder, Jiang Li and Jiang Qing, were not satisfied and appealed to the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court (hereinafter referred to as the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court).
Second instance: The bequest is valid
Jiang Li and Jiang Qing appealed, arguing that Jiang Laobo had written a suicide note by himself and that there was no witness signature, which should be invalid. Moreover, the failure of Jiang Xiaoqing, the grandson of the second elder, to inform them of the suicide note in a timely manner exceeded the time limit for the statutory time limit for making an expression of acceptance within 60 days of knowing the bequest, and should be regarded as Jiang Xiaoqing abandoning the bequest.
Counsel argues that:
In this case, since the suicide note was not only signed and fingerprinted by Jiang Laobo, but also the signature and fingerprint of his wife, the parties to the lawsuit had no objection to the authenticity of the bequest, and both believed that it was written by Jiang Laobo. From this, it can be determined that the suicide note was written by Jiang Laobo and his wife, signed or stamped by himself, and the date was indicated, which met the corresponding formal requirements for the bequest, and was the true intention of Jiang Laobo and his wife, which should be legal.
Secondly, Jiang Xiaoqing, the grandson of the second elder, said that after he learned of the bequest, he immediately expressed his acceptance of the gift to Jiang Hai, the father of one of the legal heirs, and Jiang Hai confirmed this. Jiang Li and Jiang Qing believed that Jiang Xiaoqing's acceptance of the bequest had exceeded the statutory time limit, but they did not give corresponding evidence for the claim, so it was difficult to accept it.
At the same time, the relevant law does not stipulate that the bequeathed person must make an expression of acceptance of the bequest to the specific interested party related to the inheritance to be valid, as long as it is proved that the bequeathed person has made an expression of intent to accept the bequest to the relevant parties within the time limit after learning of the gift. In addition, it is also reasonable that Jiang Hai did not inform Jiang Li and Jiang Qing of the reason for the bequest bequest because of family harmony and other factors.
In summary, Jiang Xiaoqing, the grandson of the second elder, learned of the bequest and promptly expressed his acceptance of the bequest to the relevant legal heir, that is, his father, and the bequest was established. Jiang Li and Jiang Qing claimed that the share of the house belonging to the parents should be divided equally among the three children according to the 2005 agreement, and because the bequest had been changed, it was implemented according to the content of the bequest.
In the end, the Shanghai First Intermediate People's Court rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgment.