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（题注：一九八五年四月十日第六届全国人民代表大会第三次会议通过）
This
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF
which
Council of
In case of discrepancy, theoriginal version in Chinese shall prevail.
LAW OF SUCCESSION OF THEPEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
(Adopted at the Third Session of
Congress, promulgated by OrderNo. 24 of the
Republic of China on April 10,1985, and effective as of October 1, 1985)
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
This Law is enacted pursuant tothe provisions of the Constitution of the
People's Republic of China witha view to protecting the right of citizens
Succession begins at the deathof a citizen.
Estate denotes the lawfulproperty owned by a citizen personally at
time of his death, whichconsists of:
(2) his houses, savings andarticles of everyday use;
(3) his forest trees, livestockand poultry;
(4) his cultural objects, booksand reference materials;
(5) means of production lawfullyowned by him;
(6) his property rightspertaining to copyright and patent rights; and (7)
Personal benefits accruing froma contract entered into by an individual
are heritable in accordance withthe provisions of this
by an individual, if permittedby law to be continued
shall be treated in accordancewith the terms of the contract.
Succession shall, after itsopening, be handled
provisions of statutorysuccession; where
handled in accordance withtestamentary succession or as
there is an agreement for legacyin return for support, the former shall
be handled in accordance withthe terms of the agreement.
The right to
exercised on his behalf by hisstatutory agent.
The right to inheritance orlegacy of a person with limited capacity shall
be exercised on his behalfby his
himself after obtaining theconsent of his statutory agent.
A successor shall bedisinherited upon his commission of any one
(1) intentional killing of thedecedent;
(2) killing any other successorin fighting over the estate;
(3) a serious act of abandoningor maltreating the decedent; or
(4) a serious act of forging,tampering with or destroying the will.
The time limit for institutionof legal proceedings pertaining to disputes
over the right to inheritance istwo years,
successor became or should havebecome aware of the violation of his right
to inheritance. No legalproceedings, however, may be instituted after the
expiration of a period of 20years from the day succession began.
Males and females are equal intheir right to inheritance.
The estate of the decedent shallbe inherited in the following order:
First in order: spouse,children, parents.
Second in order: brothersand sisters,
grandparents.
shall inherit to the exclusionof the successor(s) second in order.
successor(s) second in ordershall inherit in
The "children"referred
illegitimate children andadopted children, as well as step-children
supported or were supported bythe decedent.
The "parents" referred to inthis Law include natural parents and adoptive
parents, as well as step-parentswho supported or were
The "brothers and sisters"referred to in this Law include blood brothers
and sisters, brothers andsisters of
sisters, as well asstep-brothers and step-sisters who supported or
Where a decedent survived hischild, the direct lineal descendants of the
predeceased childinherit
subrogation generally shall takeonly the share of the estate their father
Widowed daughters-in-law orsons-in-law
contributions in maintainingtheir parents-in-law shall, in relationship
to their parents-in-law, beregarded as successors first in order.
Successors same in order shall,in general, inherit in equal shares.
At the time of distributing theestate, due consideration shall be given
to successors
At the time of distributingthe estate,
predominant contributions inmaintaining the decedent or have lived with
the decedent may be given alarger share.
At the time of distributing theestate, successors who had the ability and
were in a position to maintainthe decedent but
duties shall be given no shareor a smaller share of the estate.
Successors may take unequalshares if
An appropriate share of theestate may be given to a person, other than a
successor, who depended on thesupport of the decedent and who neither can
work nor has a source of income,or to a person, other than a successor,
who was largely responsible forsupporting the decedent.
Questions
consultation
understanding and mutualaccommodation, as well as of amity and unity. The
time and mode for partitioningthe estate and the shares shall be decided
by the successors throughconsultation. If no agreement is reached through
consultation, they
mediation or institute legalproceedings in a people's court.
A citizen may, by means of awill made in accordance with the provisions
of this Law,
testamentary executor for thepurpose.
designate one or more of thestatutory successors to inherit his personal
A citizen may, by making a will,donate his personal property to the state
or a collective, orbequeath
A notarial will is one made by atestator through a notary agency.
A testator-written will is onemade in the testator's own handwriting and
signed by him, specifying thedate of its making.
A will written on behalf of thetestator shall be witnessed by two or more
witnesses, of whom one writesthe will, dates it and signs it along with
the other witness or witnessesand with the testator.
A will made in the form of asound-recording shall be witnessed by two or
A testator may, in an emergencysituation, make a nuncupative will, which
shall be witnessed by two ormore witnesses. When the emergency situation
is over and if the testator isable to make a will in writing or in
form of a sound-recording, thenuncupative
None of the following personsshall act as a witness of a will:
(1) persons with no capacity orwith limited capacity;
(2) successors and legatees;or
(3) persons whose interests arerelated to those
Reservation of a necessaryportion of an estate shall be made in a
for a successor who neither canwork nor has a source of income.
A testator may revoke or alter awill he previously made.
Where several wills that havebeen made
content, the last one shallprevail.
A notarial will may not berevoked or altered by a testator-written will,
a will written on behalf of thetestator, a will in the form of a sound-
recording or a nuncupativewill.
Where there are obligationsattached to testamentary succession or legacy,
the successor or legatee shallperform them. Anyone who fails to perform
the obligations without properreasons may, upon
organization
inheritance by a people'scourt.
Wills made by persons with nocapacity or with limited capacity shall be
void.
made under duress or as a resultof fraud shall be void.
Where a will has been tamperedwith, the affected parts of it
After the opening of succession,a successor
death should promptly notify theother
executor. If one of thesuccessors knows about the death or if there is no
way to make thenotification,
belonged before his
committee at his place ofresidence shall make the notification.
Anyone who has in his possessionthe property of the decedent shall take
good care of such property andno one is allowed to misappropriate it or
A successor who, after theopening of
should make known his decisionbefore the disposition of the estate.
the absence of such anindication, he
A legatee should, within twomonths from the time he learns of the legacy,
make known whether he accepts itor disclaims it. In the absence of such
an indication within thespecified period, he is deemed to have disclaimed
If a decedent's estate ispartitioned, half of the joint property acquired
by the spouses in thecourse
otherwise agreed upon, be firstallotted to the surviving spouse as his or
her own property; the remaindershall constitute the decedent's estate.
If the decedent's estate is acomponent part of the common property of his
family, that portion of theproperty belonging to the other members of the
family shall first be separatedat the time of
Under any of the followingcircumstances, the part of the estate affected
shall be dealt with inaccordance with statutory succession:
(1) where inheritance isdisclaimed by a
legacy is disclaimed by alegatee;
(2) where a testamentarysuccessor is disinherited;
(3) where a testamentarysuccessor or legatee predeceases the testator;
(4) where an invalidated portionof the will involves part of the estate;
(5) where no disposition is madeunder the will for part of the estate.
At the time of the partitioningof the estate, reservation shall be made
for the share of an unbornchild. The share reserved shall, if the baby is
stillborn, be dealt with inaccordance with statutory succession.
The partitioning of adecedent's
beneficial to the requirementsof production and livelihood; it shall not
diminish the usefulness of theestate.
If the estate is unsuitable forpartitioning, it may
such means as price evaluation,appropriate compensation or co-ownership.
A surviving spouse who remarriesis entitled to dispose of the property he
or she has inherited, subject tono interference by any other person.
A citizen may enter into alegacy-support agreement with a person who, in
accordance with the agreement,assumes the duty to support the former in
his or her lifetime and attendsto his or her interment after death,
return for the right tolegacy.
agreement with
accordance with the agreement,assumes the duty to support the former in
his or her lifetime and attendsto his or her interment after death,
return for the right tolegacy.
An estate which is left withneither
belong to the state or, wherethe decedent was a member of an organization
under
The successor to an estate shallpay all taxes and debts payable by
decedent according to law, up tothe actual value of such estate, unless
the successor pays voluntarilyin excess of the limit.
The successor who disclaimsinheritance assumes no responsibility for the
payment of taxes and debtspayable by the decedent according to law.
The carrying out of a legacyshall not affect the
debts payable by the legatoraccording to law.
The people's congress of anational autonomous
with the principles of this Lawand the
nationality or nationalitieswith regard to
adaptive
regions shall bereported
People's
prefectures or autonomouscounties
reported to and
congress of therelevant
reported to the StandingCommittee of the National People's Congress for
For inheritance by a Chinesecitizen of an
Republic of China or of anestate
Republic of China, the law ofthe place of domicile of the decedent shall
apply in the case of movableproperty; in the case of immovable property,
the law of the placewhere
inheritance by a foreigner of anestate within the
China or of an estate of aChinese citizen outside the People's Republic
of China, the law of the placeof domicile of the decedent shall apply in
the case of movable property; inthe case of immovable property, the law
of the place where the propertyis located shall apply. Where treaties or
agreements existbetween
countries, matters ofinheritance shall be handled in accordance with such