1. Can Parents and Children Legally Sever Their Relationship If They Do Not Get Along?

• As a general rule: no.
• Exception: the only legal way is through the adoption procedure.
• The parent-child relationship recognized by law, meaning a blood-based family relationship, cannot be severed by personal agreement.
• If the parent-child legal relationship is to be legally terminated, the only way is through the adoption procedure.
• The parents must first find a person who is willing to adopt the child. The parent and child must then jointly petition the court by agreement. Only after the court grants approval and the adoption relationship is legally established can the family relationship with the biological parents be terminated.
• It should be noted that if a child is adopted by another person, the rights and obligations between the child and the biological parents are only suspended. Once the adoption relationship is terminated, the family relationship with the biological parents is restored.
• Another less common situation is where the father or mother registered on the national ID card is not actually the person’s biological parent. This may result from an incorrect registration in the past, or from acknowledgment after a child was born out of wedlock.
• In this situation, a lawsuit to confirm the non-existence of a parent-child relationship may be filed with the court to terminate the legal parent-child relationship. In this type of case, DNA parentage test results may be used to prove that there is no biological relationship between the parties.
• If parents and children do not get along and one party, or both parties by agreement, publish a newspaper notice claiming to sever the parent-child relationship, such notice has no legal effect.

2. What If You Do Not Want to Bear Support Obligations but Cannot Sever the Parent-Child Relationship?

• If the purpose of severing the parent-child relationship is to avoid support obligations, it is necessary to carefully evaluate the obligations between parents and children, the obligations among siblings, and how support expenses should be allocated when there are multiple persons legally obligated to provide support.
• However, if the person obligated to provide support, their spouse, or their lineal relative by blood has been intentionally subjected to abuse, serious insult, or other physical or mental harm, or if fulfilling the support obligation would make it impossible for the obligated person to maintain their own livelihood, or if the person entitled to receive support previously failed, without justifiable reason, to fulfill a support obligation toward the person now obligated to provide support, the support obligation may be reduced or exempted in accordance with the law.
• If a child has committed serious abuse or insult against a parent, another option is for the parent to make a will in advance and state that the specific child is excluded from inheritance.
• When the parent-child relationship cannot be completely severed, this may still provide a certain level of protection for the rights and interests of the parent and other family members.
   

3. What Circumstances May Cause an Heir to Lose Inheritance Rights?

• Article 1145 of the Civil Code expressly provides several circumstances under which an heir who originally had inheritance rights may lose those rights and become unable to inherit.
  • Where the heir intentionally causes the death of the decedent or another heir, or although death does not result, the heir is sentenced for such conduct.
    • The conduct must be directed against an heir or the decedent. For reference. please see:Who Needs to File a Waiver of Inheritance in Taiwan? Order of Heirs, Required Documents, Filing Deadline, Process, and Application Form
    • There must be intent to cause death.
    • The person must have been sentenced as a result.
  • Where the heir uses fraud or duress to cause the decedent to make a will concerning inheritance, or to revoke or amend such a will.
    • The will must be a legally valid will.
    • There must be fraud or duress.
  • Where the heir uses fraud or duress to prevent the decedent from making a will concerning inheritance, or to prevent the decedent from revoking or amending such a will.
    • The requirements are almost the same as the previous item, except that the conduct here is an act of obstruction.
  • Where the heir forges, alters, conceals, or destroys the decedent’s will concerning inheritance.
    • This causes the content of the will to lose its authenticity and violates the true intention of the testator.
  • Where the heir has committed serious abuse or insult against the decedent, and the decedent has expressed that the heir shall not inherit.
    • This is commonly referred to as the “unfilial heir clause.”
    • There must be serious abuse or insult.
    • The deceased person must have clearly expressed that the heir is not allowed to inherit.