1. Who Has Inheritance Rights

3. What Are the Inheritance Shares Between a Spouse and Children?

• When the spouse and children inherit together, all heirs inherit in equal shares.
• This does not mean that the spouse’s statutory share is always one-half.
  

4. Do Daughters and Maternal Grandchildren Have Inheritance Rights?

• Daughters and maternal grandchildren of course have inheritance rights.
• If the daughter dies before the deceased person, her children may still inherit her statutory share per stirpes.
• The Civil Code provides that heirs have inheritance rights regardless of gender, and their statutory shares are equal.

5. Does a Divorced Spouse Have Inheritance Rights?

• After divorce, the former spouses no longer have any marital relationship under the law, so neither party has inheritance rights from the other.
• If former spouses wish to leave property to each other, they may make a will during their lifetime and leave property to the other person by way of a “legacy.”

6. Do Daughters-in-Law, Sons-in-Law, Nieces, or Nephews Have Inheritance Rights?

• The heirs by order of inheritance under Article 1138 of the Civil Code do not include daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, nieces, or nephews, so they do not have inheritance rights.
• If you wish for them to receive estate property, you may consider transferring property to them by way of a legacy.
• A person without inheritance rights, such as a daughter-in-law, son-in-law, niece, or nephew, does not need to waive inheritance even if the decedent’s debts exceed the estate.A person without inheritance rights, such as a daughter-in-law, son-in-law, niece, or nephew, does not need to waive inheritance even if the decedent’s debts exceed the estate.

7. Does an Unborn Fetus Have Inheritance Rights?

• Article 7 of the Civil Code provides: “An unborn child is considered as already born with regard to the protection of his or her personal interests, provided that the child is not stillborn.”
• Article 1166 of the Civil Code further provides: “When an unborn child is an heir, the other heirs may not partition the estate unless the unborn child’s statutory share has been reserved.” It also provides that “with respect to estate partition involving an unborn child, the mother shall act as the unborn child’s agent.”
• Therefore, a posthumous child or unborn fetus may be an heir, and the inheritance share is no different.

8. Does a Child Born Out of Wedlock Have Inheritance Rights from the Biological Father?

• Yes.
• However, the child must first be acknowledged or raised by the biological father in order to have inheritance rights.

9. Do Adopted Children Have Inheritance Rights?

• When a person adopts another person’s child as their own child, the adopted child is legally treated the same as a child born in wedlock. The adopted child has the same legal status as a biological child born in wedlock and therefore has inheritance rights.
• However, the adopted child will lose all inheritance rights from the original family.

10. Can an Adopted Child Inherit from Biological Parents Before the Adoption Relationship Is Terminated?

• After an adoption relationship is established, the adoptive parent and adopted child are legally treated as parent and child born in wedlock. This is a legally deemed blood relationship.
• The adopted child has inheritance rights from the adoptive parent. However, during the adoption relationship, the rights and obligations between the adopted child and the biological parents are suspended. In other words, the adopted child cannot inherit from the biological parents.​​​​

11. Do Same-Sex Partners Have Inheritance Rights?

• Under Article 23 of the Act for Implementation of J.Y. Interpretation No. 748, the two parties have the right to inherit from each other and are each other’s legal heirs. The provisions on heirs under the Inheritance Part of the Civil Code apply mutatis mutandis.

12. Does a Cohabiting Partner Have Inheritance Rights?

• Only spouses have the right to inherit from each other. Two people who live together do not have a marital relationship under the law and are not spouses in the legal sense. Therefore, they do not have inheritance rights from each other.

13. Can a Child Bride Inherit from Her Biological Parents?

• A child bride was brought into another family to later marry a male member of that family. Therefore, like a married daughter, a child bride may inherit from her biological parents.

14. What Is the Order of Inheritance for a Single Person’s Estate?

• If there is no spouse or child, the estate will be distributed to the second- to fourth-order heirs according to the order of inheritance.
• for the estate to be inherited by third-order heirs such as siblings, it is strongly recommended to make a will and leave the estate to another person by way of a legacy. Otherwise, if there are no eligible heirs, the estate may ultimately belong to the state.

15. Even a Qualified Heir May Lose Inheritance Rights for the Following Five Acts