China News Service, November 10. According to the WeChat public account of the Supreme People's Court, in order to correctly implement the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, unify the application of laws, and hear cases of inheritance disputes in accordance with the law, the Supreme People's Court has drafted the "Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Succession Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (II) (Draft for Comments)" based on trial practice. In order to listen extensively to the opinions of all walks of life and better respond to the concerns of the people, we are now openly soliciting opinions from the public. We welcome valuable opinions from all walks of life, and please provide specific reasons when providing opinions and suggestions. Written opinions can be sent to Wang Zhigang, First Civil Trial Division of the Supreme People's Court, No. 27 Dongjiaomin Lane, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100745; please send emails to [email protected]. The deadline for soliciting opinions is November 20, 2026.
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Succession Part of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (2)
(Draft for comments)
In order to correctly hear inheritance dispute cases, this interpretation is formulated in accordance with the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant legal provisions and in combination with trial practice.
Article 1 The agreement on renunciation of inheritance and other inheritance matters in the property division agreement signed between the heir and the decedent before the inheritance begins shall be legally binding on the parties. If the party requests performance in accordance with the agreement after the inheritance begins, the people's court shall support it in accordance with the law.
Article 2 Part of the heirs and the decedent have agreed that they will bear the responsibilities of life, death and burial of the decedent and inherit the corresponding property. Other heirs know or should know it and have no objection. In an inheritance dispute, if some of the heirs who have fully fulfilled their obligations claim to inherit the agreed property, the people's court shall support it, but shall reserve the necessary share of the inheritance for heirs who lack the ability to work and have no source of income.
Under the circumstances stipulated in the preceding paragraph, if the deceased requests the heir who has the obligation to support according to law to perform the obligation of support during his lifetime, and the defendant defends on the ground that he has given up his inheritance rights, the people's court will not support it.
If the heir who signed the agreement fails to fully perform his obligations, and the part of the estate with attached obligations shall be handled as legal inheritance, the people's court shall distribute the estate in accordance with the provisions of Article 1130 of the Civil Code and take into account the support obligations of each heir, unless otherwise arranged in the will.
Article 3 After the stepfather divorces his biological mother or the stepmother and his biological father, the stepchildren raised and educated by the stepfather do not provide long-term stable financial support or life care for the stepfather or stepmother. When the stepfather or stepmother dies, the people's court will not support the stepchild's request to inherit his estate only on the grounds that he has been raised and educated by the stepfather or stepmother. This is except where the stepfather or stepmother has a legally established adoption relationship with the stepchild or the stepchild still lives with the stepfather or stepmother.
When the stepfather marries the biological mother or the stepmother marries the biological father, the stepchildren are already adults. If the stepchildren provide them with long-term and stable financial support or daily care, and when the stepfather or stepmother dies and the stepchildren request to inherit the inheritance as "stepchildren with a dependent relationship" in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 3 of Article 1127 of the Civil Code, the people's court will support it in accordance with the law.
Article 4 If one spouse dies during divorce proceedings, and if there is evidence to prove that the surviving spouse is involved in bigamy, cohabitation with others, domestic violence, etc., and other heirs claim that the surviving spouse violated the provisions of Article 1042 of the Civil Code, and refer to the provisions of Paragraph 4 of Article 1130 of the Civil Code that an heir who has the ability to support and has the conditions to support shall receive no or less share of the estate if he fails to fulfill his support obligations, the people's court shall support the request that the surviving spouse receive no or less share of the estate in accordance with the law.
Article 5 If one spouse uses the deceased spouse’s length of service, rank, etc. to purchase public housing in accordance with the relevant provisions of the national urban housing system reform, and the heir claims that the deceased spouse’s contribution should be converted into a corresponding proportion of property as inheritance, the People’s Court shall support the claim.
Article 6 As for the fact that "a person other than the heir provides more support to the decedent" as stated in Article 1131 of the Civil Code, the people's court shall determine based on the length of the support period and comprehensively consider factors such as whether to bear support fees, whether to actually provide daily care and spiritual comfort, and other factors.
If the first-order heir has not lost or given up the right to inherit, and the second-order heir who has more support from the decedent requests an appropriate share of the inheritance by referring to Article 1131 of the Civil Code, the People's Court shall support it in accordance with the law.
Article 7 If a party disputes whether a self-written will is authentic, the people's court may review the will using logical reasoning and daily life experience rules based on handwriting comparison, the reasons for making the will and the discovery process, the living conditions of the heir designated in the will and the decedent, etc. If it can be convinced that the existence of the will is highly likely, it shall determine that the will exists.
Under the circumstances specified in the preceding paragraph, if the rebuttal evidence provided by other heirs regarding the authenticity of the will makes it unclear whether the will exists or not, the party claiming to use the self-written will to prove the facts of the case shall provide further evidence to prove it. If it fails to meet the corresponding burden of proof, the people's court shall determine that the will does not exist.
Article 8 If a testator has made several wills with conflicting contents, and the last will is found to be invalid simply because it does not meet the statutory formal requirements, but there is sufficient evidence to prove that the last will is the testator’s true expression of intention before the will was withdrawn or changed, and if the party concerned requests that the conflicting contents be inherited in accordance with the previous will, the people’s court will not support it, and the will will be handled in accordance with the statutory inheritance in accordance with the law.
Article 9 If the testator fails to reserve the necessary share of the inheritance for the fetus in the will, and in an inheritance dispute, the mother, as the legal representative before the birth of the fetus, claims that the will violates the provisions of Article 1141 of the Civil Code and requests that the necessary inheritance be reserved for the fetus when the inheritance is divided, the people's court shall support it, except where there is evidence to prove that the fetus has a sustainable and stable source of income in addition to the mother or other guardianship obligations.
Article 10 In order to meet the living and residential needs of others, the testator establishes the right of residence for others in his or her residence in the will. If the person with the right of residence specified in the will requests the heir or the estate administrator to assist in registering the right of residence after the inheritance begins, the people's court shall support it in accordance with the law.
Article 11 Before the death of the testator, the property disposed of in the will was damaged, lost or expropriated, and the testator did not make another will in respect of the insurance money, compensation money or corresponding compensation obtained. In an inheritance dispute, if a party requests to inherit the insurance money, compensation money or corresponding compensation in accordance with the will, the people's court shall support it, unless there is evidence to prove that the testator has expressed contrary intentions through behavior.
Article 12 Before the inheritance begins, if the legatee knows that he is receiving a legacy, and he makes an indication of acceptance or renunciation of the legacy within sixty days from the date he learns of the death of the deceased, the people's court shall determine it in accordance with the law.
If the legatee did not know about the inheritance before the inheritance began, and after the death of the deceased, the legatee makes an indication of acceptance or renunciation of the inheritance within sixty days from the date when he became aware of the inheritance, the people's court shall determine it in accordance with the law.
Article 13 If the legatee expresses his acceptance of the legacy in writing or orally to the heir, estate administrator, notary institution or people's court, or has actually taken possession of and used the legatee and can prove his acceptance of the legacy in conjunction with other evidence, the people's court shall determine it in accordance with the law.
Article 14 After the inheritance begins, if the heir dies before the inheritance is divided and does not give up the inheritance, and the heir’s spouse claims that the inheritance that the heir should inherit is the joint property of the husband and wife, the People’s Court shall support it in accordance with the law, unless otherwise arranged in the will.
Article 15 In a dispute over the debt settlement of a deceased person, the people's court may, based on the property preservation application submitted by the party concerned, take corresponding measures to seal up, detain, or freeze the property in the name of the deceased person.
Article 16 In a dispute over the debt settlement of a decedent, the claim cannot be dismissed simply because the creditor failed to provide clues about the decedent's property. If the heir has not given up the inheritance, the relevant judgment can be stated that the heir shall bear the liability for debt repayment within the scope of the inheritance.
Article 17 In a dispute over the debt settlement of the decedent, the heirs have given up the inheritance, and the parties have no dispute that the civil affairs department or village committee of the decedent's place of residence serves as the administrator of the estate. If the creditor applies to change the civil affairs department or village committee as the defendant, the people's court shall grant the permission. If there is a dispute over the determination of the estate administrator, the people's court shall explain to the decedent's creditors or heirs the application for the appointment of an estate administrator through special procedures and rule to suspend the proceedings. After appointing the estate administrator, the people's court shall change the estate administrator to be the defendant and notify the parties to continue the litigation.
In disputes over the debt settlement of the deceased, if the heir actually renounces inheritance in writing but still actually possesses, uses or disposes of the estate, the people's court may continue to list him as a party and at the same time make it clear in the judgment that the relevant heir shall perform assistance obligations such as proper safekeeping, delivery, transfer registration, etc. or bear debt settlement liability to the extent of the actual value of the disposed estate.
Article 18 If there is no heir or the heirs have given up the inheritance, and the parties have no dispute that the civil affairs department or the village committee of the deceased's place of residence serves as the administrator of the estate, and the creditors of the deceased or the persons who can distribute the appropriate inheritance in accordance with Article 1131 of the Civil Code directly file a civil lawsuit against the civil affairs department or village committee as the defendant, the people's court shall accept the case and designate the estate administrator in the judgment.
If there is a dispute over the determination of the estate administrator, and the decedent's creditors or persons who can distribute the appropriate inheritance in accordance with Article 1131 of the Civil Code directly file a civil lawsuit as the defendant with the civil affairs department or village committee of the decedent's former residence, the People's Court will not accept the case; if it has accepted the case, it will rule to dismiss the lawsuit and notify the parties to apply for the appointment of an estate administrator in advance according to special procedures.
Article 19 In inheritance disputes or debt settlement disputes by the deceased, if the estate administrator claims that the remuneration received or the necessary expenses incurred for performing estate management duties should be paid in advance from the estate, the people's court shall support it in accordance with the law.
Article 20 This interpretation shall come into effect on day, month, year.
