Some elderly people ask people to print a will, sign it themselves or press their handprint to arrange the inheritance of individuals after a hundred years, how does the law determine the legal effect of the will formed in this way? Recently, the Fifth Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing Municipality made a second-instance judgment on such a dispute, finding that the printed will of another person who only had the testator's signature or handprint did not have the effect of a self-written will and should be handled in accordance with statutory inheritance.
The testamentary property belongs to the remarried wife
Li Fu and his ex-wife had children Li Cheng and Li Ping. On March 30, 1991, Li Fu and Wu Fang remarried, and during the existence of the marriage relationship between the two parties, they purchased a house in the original Wansheng District (property owner: Li Fu, construction area of 67.4 square meters) to live together.
On March 24, 2005, Li Cheng unilaterally stated that since March 24, 2005, Li Cheng and Li Fu had severed all ties and issued a "dissolution letter."
On February 15, 2011, Li Fu issued a "Gift" printed by others, stating that Li Fu and Wu Fang's joint property after marriage, a two-bedroom and one-room house in Chongqing Wansheng Economic Development Zone, was given to his wife Wu Fang for inheritance according to the law; the expenses settled by the social insurance department also belonged to his wife Wu Fang. The signature in the piece is printed "Li Fu", but there is a handprint on the press.
On October 18 of the same year, Li Fu issued a "Suicide Note" printed by others, stating: Li Fu and Wu Fang's joint property after marriage in a two-bedroom and one-hall house in Wansheng District shall be inherited by his wife Wu Fang according to the law; the expenses settled by the social insurance department shall also belong to his wife Wu Fang. The signature "Li Fu" in the piece was written by Li Fu himself and his handprint was pressed.
On October 25, 2011, Li Fu died of illness.
The first instance judgment of the will is legal and valid
Wu Fang sued on June 11, 2014, demanding that she inherit all of Li Fu's share of a house in Wansheng District in accordance with the law in accordance with the will.
Defendants Li Cheng and Li Ping argued that they did not agree with the plaintiff's litigation claim, that the house in dispute was purchased by the defendant's father alone, and that as an inheritance should be divided according to the provisions of the Inheritance Law, the "Suicide Note" was untrue, was written under duress from Wu Fang, and had no witnesses and no notarization, and had no legal effect.
The court of first instance held that the house purchased by Li Fu and Wu Fang during the existence of the husband and wife relationship was the joint property of the husband and wife, so Wu Fang and Li Fu each enjoyed 50% ownership of the disputed house. The law stipulates that the personal legal property left behind by the citizen at the time of death is the inheritance of the heir, so 50% of the disputed house belongs to the inheritance of the heir Li Fu.
Although the legal heirs of the heirs Li Fu's estate are Wu Fang, Li Cheng and Li Ping, according to Article 16 of the Inheritance Law of the People's Republic of China, the heirs may make a will to designate their personal property to be inherited by one or more of the legal heirs. Li Fu's "Suicide Note" printed on October 18, 2011 is a self-written will formed by the heir with the help of equipment, with his own signature and stamp, which conforms to the law and should be found to be legal and valid.
Wu Fang inherited 50% of Li Fu's share of a house in Wansheng District owned by Li Fu in accordance with the will. Li Cheng and Li Ping argued that the "Gifts" and "Testaments" presented by Wu Fang were written under duress from Wu Fang and were forged, but neither submitted an application for the relevant judicial appraisal nor produced evidence to prove it within the time limit specified by the court, so the defense was not established.
Accordingly, the court of first instance ruled that Wu Fang should inherit all of Li Fu's share of a house in Wansheng District.
Li Ping and Li Cheng appealed to the Fifth Intermediate People's Court of Chongqing Municipality against the first-instance judgment.
The court changed the judgment of the second instance to invalidate the printing of the suicide note
The Chongqing Fifth Intermediate People's Court held that Wu Fang and Li Fu were married on March 30, 1991, and the two parties purchased the disputed house in this case during the marriage, and Li Cheng and Li Ping believed that the house was purchased by Li Fu after selling his personal property, but did not show relevant evidence to prove it.
In this case, although Li Fu signed and stamped the Suicide Note, it did not meet the requirements of the Inheritance Law for "self-written", "self-signature" and "self-indication of the year, month and day" of the self-written will, so it did not have the effect of a self-written will.
Combined with the "Gift" in this case, from its content and text, it is stated that "1/2 of the man's income was given to his wife Wu Fang to inherit", "after an accident in my life", "specially made a promise in front of the body", and "the person who made the speech in front of him: Li Fu" at the last place, etc., the nature of the "Gift" can be regarded as Li Fu's will. The validity of the "Gift" is the same as that of the "Testament" in this case, and neither of them does comply with the provisions of the Inheritance Law for self-written wills.
In the absence of testamentary succession, the case should deal with the heir's estate in accordance with the legal succession. According to the law, the heirs of Li Fu in the first order are Wu Fang, Li Cheng, and Li Ping, and the heirs who have fulfilled the main maintenance obligations of the heirs or lived with the heirs may distribute more shares when distributing the inheritance.
Taking into account the situation that Wu Fang had lived with Li Fu for a long time, the Chongqing Fifth Intermediate People's Court then made a second-instance judgment, revoking the original judgment according to law and changing the judgment to Wu Fang inheriting 20% of Li Fu's 50% share of the house, and Li Cheng and Li Ping inheriting 15% of Li Fu's 50% share of the house respectively. (The characters in the text are pseudonyms)
【Judge's Statement】
A self-written will cannot lack legal elements
In recent years, testamentary inheritance disputes have shown a rising trend year by year, and have emerged in the form of pattern renovation, such as computer printing to form a will, common to have the heirs personally use computer printing to form a will, or with the help of others to print their own signatures or press the handprint to form a will. In particular, when the elderly lack writing ability, they often seek others to use computer equipment to print wills, sign their own signatures or press their handprints to make wills, ignoring the form and substance requirements stipulated by laws such as inheritance law on wills. This case is one of them.
Article 16 of China's Inheritance Law stipulates: "The heir may make a will to designate personal property to be inherited by one or more of the legal heirs." "The law respects citizens to dispose of their posthumous property in a lawful and just manner by making a will.
A will is a unilateral legal act, and the court must strictly follow the provisions of the law to determine the validity of the will. Article 17 of China's Inheritance Law clearly stipulates: "The self-written will shall be written by the testator himself, signed, and indicating the year, month and day." The will shall be witnessed by two or more witnesses, and one of them shall write the will on behalf of the person, indicating the year, month and day. And signed by the agent, other witnesses and testators. According to this provision, the self-written will must be written by the testator himself and signed, indicating the year, month and day.
In this case, the contents of the Suicide Note were printed out using a computer, rather than written with a pen; the party, Wu Fang, also stated that Li Fu himself would not use a computer, and that the person who printed the Suicide Note was not Li Fu himself. Therefore, the computer printed will formed by Li Fu's signature and fingerprint in this case was invalid because it lacked the legal requirements for self-written wills.
Source: Legal Cases
![The will obtained has no legal effect, and it is because of these 4 points[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)