The case, heard by Nankai District People’s Court in northern China’s Tianjin city, involved a sister challenging her brother over their late father’s estate, news site SAYS reported, citing a local broadcaster.
Before his passing in March, their father, Sun, had transferred the property in question to his son.
In a written statement he left behind, Sun explained that the daughter had been adopted, though he and his wife had always treated her as their own.
He also noted that the son had looked after them in their later years and instructed him to provide “reasonable compensation” to his sister.
Their mother had also died, though it was not clear when. The daughter was adopted in 1966 while the son joined the family seven years later, and the two were raised together.
At the hearing, the sister introduced an unexpected detail to the case. Her brother’s household registration records had also listed him as “adopted,” according to the South China Morning Post.
The evidence proved the brother was also not their father’s biological child, causing him to break down in court.
Nonetheless, the court explained that, as per the laws, adoption does not affect a person’s inheritance rights, meaning they have equal status as heirs.
But the property had already been officially transferred and notarized in 2007, placing it outside their father’s estate.
Hence, the court ruled in favor of the brother, letting him keep the property but ordered him to pay his sister 550,000 yuan in compensation.
In China, inheritance disputes like this are not uncommon and have prompted more people to draft wills earlier in life, despite the traditional belief that doing so invites bad luck.
Over the past 12 years, the average age of people making wills in the country has steadily declined, reaching 67.71 in 2024, according to a report by the China Will Registration Center, which offers will registration and consultancy services to the public as part of a charitable initiative.
Yao Junchang, co-founder of W&H Law Firm in Beijing, said preventing family disputes over inheritance is why most people make wills, as quoted by China Daily.
He pointed out that, among the different options available, using a government-run notary office is the safest way to guarantee a will’s legal validity.
