1.Overview of Inheritance Registration Options

• If there are two or more heirs, the inherited property will be held as tenancy-in-common after inheritance registration. This is commonly referred to as holding a specific share.
• Example: After Mr. Chang passed away, he left an apartment. The ownership scope of the building was 1/1, and the ownership scope of the land was 1/4. His heirs were his spouse, eldest son, and eldest daughter. Under Article 1144 of the Civil Code, each heir’s statutory share is 1/3. After standard inheritance registration is completed, each of the three heirs will own 1/3 of the building and 1/12 of the land.
• For property held in tenancy-in-common, each co-owner has the right to freely dispose of their own share. A co-owner may sell their share to another co-owner or to a third party. If the sale is made between co-owners, the other co-owners do not have a right of first refusal. However, if the share is sold to a third party, the other co-owners may exercise the right of first refusal.
• After inheritance registration as joint ownership among heirs is completed, all heirs may jointly apply to change the ownership type into tenancy-in-common according to their statutory shares. The registration reason may be stated as “change of co-ownership type.” The purpose of estate partition is to terminate or abolish the joint ownership relationship over the estate. The joint ownership relationship may be terminated either through partition of the co-owned property or through registration of a change in the co-ownership type.
• A seal registration certificate and registered seal are not required. A regular personal seal is sufficient.
   

3. Estate Partition Registration

• Example: Mrs. Wang passed away and left two apartments, Apartment A and Apartment B. Her heirs were her spouse, Mr. Wang, her eldest son, and her second son. Under Article 1144 of the Civil Code, each heir’s statutory share is 1/3. Because Mr. Wang was elderly and already owned real estate under his own name, he agreed with his two sons that Apartment A would be inherited solely by the eldest son, and Apartment B would be inherited solely by the second son. Mr. Wang waived his right to inherit the real estate. Therefore, estate partition is not restricted by statutory shares. The distribution of estate property, including both real estate and movable property, only needs to be registered according to the terms agreed in the estate partition agreement.
• If an heir does not wish to inherit any estate property, and the decedent’s estate assets exceed the estate debts, while the heir has normal credit and no problematic debts, estate partition is generally recommended instead of filing a waiver of inheritance with the court. This is because waiver of inheritance will cause the estate tax deduction for that heir to be lost. If the heir who waives inheritance is the spouse, the deduction is NT$4.93 million; if the heir is a child, the deduction is NT$500,000 per person; and if the heir is a parent, the deduction is NT$1.23 million per person. In addition, filing a waiver of inheritance with the court requires a court fee of NT$1,000. If a land administration agent or lawyer is retained to handle the waiver, an additional service fee will also be incurred.
• Stamp tax must be paid based on the estate partition agreement at 1/1000 of the total value of all real estate. The value is the assessed value stated in the estate tax exemption certificate or estate tax payment certificate.
• In principle, all heirs must provide seal registration certificates and affix their registered seals to the estate partition agreement before estate partition registration can be completed.
• If estate partition results in an heir receiving less than their statutory share, or receiving no estate property at all, the National Taxation Bureau has clearly stated that this is an agreement among heirs. The result of partition by agreement does not create a gift between the heirs.
• However, if an heir chooses through an estate partition agreement to assume only the decedent’s debts while giving up all estate property, the National Taxation Bureau may view the arrangement as potentially involving a gift. This should be handled with caution.
• If one of the heirs has personal debts, and the heirs use estate partition to allow that heir to give up or reduce the estate property that would otherwise correspond to that heir’s statutory share in order to avoid creditor enforcement after inheritance, there is a significant risk that the creditor may file a lawsuit under Article 244 of the Civil Code to revoke the estate partition as a fraudulent transfer. This risk exists regardless of whether any private compensation is later given.
• By contrast, if the indebted heir chooses to waive inheritance in order to prevent the decedent’s estate property from being attached or enforced by creditors, court practice indicates that this may substantially reduce the risk of creditor revocation.
• If joint ownership inheritance registration has already been completed, the heirs may still complete estate partition registration later through an estate partition agreement once all heirs reach an agreement, thereby achieving the purpose of estate partition.
• The estate partition agreement may specify that the debts left by the decedent shall be borne among the heirs according to the agreed proportions. However, the heirs remain jointly and severally liable to the creditors. At the same time, under universal limited inheritance, each heir’s liability for repayment is still limited to the estate property inherited.
• For example, after a father passes away, he leaves one real estate property with an outstanding mortgage of NT$3 million. His heirs are his three children, A, B, and C. The three heirs agree through an estate partition agreement that A and B will jointly inherit the real estate, while C will receive no ownership interest in the property. The agreement does not specifically state who will bear the NT$3 million mortgage. Later, A, B, and C all fail to pay the mortgage principal and interest. Because the heirs are jointly and severally liable for the inherited debt, the bank may demand repayment from A, B, and C jointly or separately. However, because C did not inherit any estate property, C is protected by universal limited inheritance and may refuse payment to the bank.
• A seal registration certificate and registered seal must be provided.

4. . Joint Ownership Inheritance Registration Among Heirs

• The main feature of joint ownership inheritance registration among heirs is that it does not require the consent of all heirs. By contrast, standard inheritance registration and estate partition registration both require the consent of all heirs. Joint ownership inheritance registration may be handled by any one heir alone or by some of the heirs jointly.
• This method is often used when all heirs are unable to reach an agreement. The heirs may first complete joint ownership inheritance registration to avoid penalties imposed by the National Taxation Bureau for failing to file estate tax within the statutory deadline, as well as registration fee penalties imposed by the land office for late inheritance registration.
• The applicant for joint ownership inheritance registration may pay estate tax, registration fees, and penalties according to the applicant’s statutory share. The applicant does not need to pay the taxes and fees for the entire estate.
• After an heir has paid the estate tax corresponding to their statutory share, the heir may apply to the National Taxation Bureau for issuance of an estate tax certificate approving transfer under joint ownership among heirs. This certificate may then be used to apply for joint ownership inheritance registration with the land office.
• Although an heir may pay estate tax according to their statutory share for the purpose of completing joint ownership inheritance registration, all heirs are taxpayers for estate tax purposes and are jointly and severally liable for the estate tax. If other heirs fail to pay the estate tax, even if you have already paid the estate tax corresponding to your own statutory share through a separate payment notice, the Administrative Enforcement Agency may still enforce against your property.
• For property held in joint ownership in common, disposition and other exercises of rights generally require the consent of all joint owners.
• In other words, when the ownership type is joint ownership in common, an heir cannot independently sell or create a mortgage over a potential share. However, the jointly owned property may still be disposed of through the majority-decision mechanism under Article 34-1 of the Land Act.
• After joint ownership inheritance registration is completed, the heirs may continue negotiating with one another. Once an agreement is reached, they may apply to change the ownership type according to the statutory shares, using “change of co-ownership type” as the registration reason, so that the property is changed into tenancy-in-common.
• If no agreement can be reached, the heirs may file a lawsuit for court-ordered estate partition to terminate the legal relationship of joint ownership in common. Special attention should be paid to the fact that when filing for court-ordered estate partition, the claim must cover all estate property left by the decedent, including land, buildings, cars and motorcycles, deposits, securities, and other assets. It cannot be limited to only one specific jointly owned item.
• For houses and land held in joint ownership in common, the house tax and land value tax payment notices are usually sent to one of the joint owners. If no manager is specifically designated, all joint owners are taxpayers. The payment notice will be served on one joint owner, who is responsible for payment, while the other joint owners will receive house tax and land value tax assessment notices.
• If a joint owner wishes to first pay the portion of tax corresponding to their inheritance share, they may apply for separate payment. However, all joint owners remain jointly and severally liable for the tax payable.
• A seal registration certificate and registered seal are not required. A regular personal seal is sufficient.
• [Statutory Shares Among Heirs]

• Parents: 1/2，If both parents are alive, the father’s statutory share is 1/4 and the mother’s statutory share is 1/4. If the father has passed away, the mother’s statutory share is 1/2.
• Siblings: 1/2，If there are three siblings, such as the eldest son, eldest daughter, and second daughter, each sibling’s statutory share is 1/6.
• Grandparents, including both paternal and maternal grandparents: 1/3，If all paternal and maternal grandparents are alive, each grandparent’s statutory share is 1/12. If only the paternal grandfather and paternal grandmother are alive, each of their statutory shares is 1/6.

5. Inheritance Registration Based on a Will

• The decedent, as the testator, may make a will during their lifetime to achieve estate planning purposes.
• However, this may result in infringement of an heir’s compulsory portion.
• What is a “compulsory portion”? It refers to the minimum proportion of the estate that the law guarantees to each lawful heir.
• Example: After Mr. Chen passed away, he left only one parcel of building land. His heirs were his spouse, Mrs. Chen, his eldest son A, second son B, eldest daughter C, and second son D. Because second son D married someone whom his father had repeatedly opposed, Mr. Chen excluded D from the will before his death. The will stated only that the building land would be inherited equally by the spouse and the other three children.

• Land value increment tax is exempt. If the inherited land is later transferred, the publicly announced current land value of the land on the date of the decedent’s death will be used as the previous transfer value for calculating land value increment tax.
• A house acquired through inheritance is not subject to deed tax, and no deed tax filing or payment is required.
• There may be an opportunity to apply the old income from property transactions system instead of the new house and land transactions income tax system.
• The estate tax exemption is NT$13.33 million, while the gift tax exemption is only NT$2.44 million. In 2021, the estate tax exemption was increased from NT$12 million to NT$13.33 million, and the gift tax exemption was increased from NT$2.2 million to NT$2.44 million.