The justice upheld under the "Inheritance Allowance System" - Thirty Years of deep father-son Affection Finally Recognized by law
In inheritance dispute cases, legal heirs often have a natural advantage, but there are always some "people other than the heirs who have provided more support to the decedent" who long for legal recognition and fair treatment. When Mr. M, the client, received the judgment from his attorney, this ordinary person who had cared for and protected his stepfather, who had no blood relationship with him, for thirty years, finally saw his own recognition in the legal document - the Jing 'an District People's Court of Shanghai ruled that he should obtain one-third of the estate under the name of the decedent, Mr. L. Behind this seemingly simple figure lies the fact that Wang Yan, a partner of Dehehantong Shanghai Office, and Li Lin, a lawyer from the Shanghai office, spent two years overcoming numerous legal obstacles to ultimately secure a far larger share of the estate for their client. This represents a breakthrough practice of China's "appropriate inheritance system" in the context of an aging society.
01 Case Review: Thirty Years of care, the inheritance claims of Non-legal heirs
Although the client and the decedent, Mr. L, have no blood relationship of father and son, they have a deep bond of thirty years.
In 1980, the 11-year-old client was "adopted" by his aunt S Moumou as a foster son (without any adoption procedures) and came to Shanghai from his hometown to live with S Moumou. Several years after the death of S's original husband, S and Mr. L registered their marriage (by which time the client had reached adulthood). The client then lived with S and Mr. L and took on the responsibility of caring for the two elderly people. After S passed away due to illness, Mr. L and Z remarried at an advanced age. The client remained by Mr. L's side without leaving. Not only did they specially purchase a house in the same community to facilitate their care, but they also stayed by Mr. L's side day and night during his liver cancer. In 2015, after Mr. L passed away, the client arranged his funeral and purchased a cemetery plot for him. The client has taken care of Mr. L for thirty years, fulfilling the main and even the sole obligation of support, enabling Mr. L to enjoy his old age in peace.
The main inheritance left by Mr. L is a house (hereinafter referred to as the "disputed house"), which is registered under the names of Mr. L and Z Moumou (initially registered under Mr. L's name, later adding Z Moumou as a co-owner, and the original source of the house was S Moumou's first husband). Mr. L left no will or maintenance agreement during his lifetime. He and his late first wife had an adopted daughter named L (with adoption procedures), and they had little contact after reaching adulthood.
After Mr. L's passing in 2015, Z Moumou continued to live in the disputed house until his death in September 2023. During this period, the client also provided care and companionship to Z Moumou. After Z Moumou's death, the three children of Z Moumou and her original husband (one of whom has already obtained foreign citizenship) and L Mou, the adopted daughter of Mr. L, proposed to inherit all the property rights of the disputed house, arguing that the disputed house has nothing to do with the client at all and completely disregards the client's efforts over the past thirty years.
The client believes that although the four defendants are the legal heirs of Mr. L and Mr. Z respectively, they have never fulfilled their duty of support. Therefore, they have filed this lawsuit in the hope of obtaining a fair court judgment.
02 Two Years of Fierce Battle: Legal Challenges under Procedural Obstacles and Strict Evidence Presentation
The handling process of this case is long and full of challenges. The litigation process was officially initiated in October 2023 and lasted for nearly two years until the judgment took effect in August 2025. During this period, Lawyer Wang Yan and Lawyer Li Lin faced multiple challenges:
• Numerous procedural obstacles:
The relationship between the parties involved in the case is complex, and it is very difficult to obtain proof materials such as household registration, marriage and identity. One of the defendants' household registration records shows "visiting relatives in the United States", but the identity information and whereabouts of this person cannot be found in the public security household registration database. There is a risk of unclear identity of the defendant, and measures need to be taken to find his whereabouts.
All four defendants, who were lawfully summoned, were absent from the trial without a valid reason, attempting to delay the process by resorting to "passive resistance". The agent lawyer needs to communicate repeatedly with the court to ensure that the (foreign-related) public announcement service and absence trial procedures are carried out in accordance with the law.
The potential obstacles such as jurisdictional objections and evidence objections raised by the defendant require the attorney to precisely grasp each procedural node at every step to prevent the case from reaching a deadlock.
• Identity verification dilemma:
The de facto adoption relationship between the client and S Moumou occurred before the implementation of the Adoption Law, lacking registration procedures and dating back a long time, making it difficult to determine the adoptive mother-son relationship between the two parties.
When S and Mr. L remarried, the client was already an adult. There is no clear legal provision on whether they can be recognized as stepfather and son with a maintenance relationship, and there is considerable controversy in practice. There is a great deal of uncertainty as to whether the client can enjoy the legal right of inheritance.
• Strict burden of proof:
Due to the defendant's absence, the plaintiff must bear a strict burden of proof and prove the core fact that "the defendant provided more support to the decedent".
How can the thirty years of daily care, which are mostly oral agreements and trivial matters of life, be transformed into legally recognized evidence of "more support"?
• Disputes over the application of law:
In the system of appropriate inheritance, no clear quantitative standard has been set for the "appropriate share". In judicial practice, the proportion of court judgments in support is usually low, and even conservative judgments have a zero share. How can this norm be broken?
03 Professional Breakthrough: Proportionate Innovation under the Appropriate System
The core highlight of this case lies in the precise application of the "appropriate payment system" in the Civil Code (this case applies Article 14 of the Inheritance Law, which was valid at the time of the decedent's death, consistent with the spirit of Article 1131 of the Civil Code). This system stipulates that those who, apart from the heirs, have provided more support to the decedent may receive an appropriate share of the estate, but the proportion of "appropriate" support in judicial practice is often relatively low, or even zero.
The attorney not only visually sorted out the facts of the case (including a character relationship chart, a timeline of the case, and a comparison table of the relationships and support degrees between the plaintiff and the defendant and the decedent), but also delved deeply into the details of the care over the past three decades. He visited the two communities where he had lived for 30 years and found nearly ten witnesses such as neighbors, neighborhood committee officials, and colleagues of the decedent. Dozens of pieces of evidence, including the power of attorney for the plaintiff's medical accompaniment, funeral arrangement vouchers, photos of their shared life, and wedding videos, were collected, forming a complete chain of evidence. This clearly presents the plaintiff's all-round efforts, ranging from daily life photography to serious illness care, from economic support to spiritual comfort. At the same time, based on a profound understanding of the legal provisions, a comprehensive agency opinion was expressed. The excerpt is as follows
I. Determination of the Relationship between the plaintiff and S Moumou and the Decedent L Moumou
China's Adoption Law came into effect on April 1, 1992, and was revised on November 4, 1998. The fact that S Moumou adopted the plaintiff as his adopted son in the form of "adoption" occurred before the implementation of the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China, and at that time, Chinese law did not stipulate the conditions and procedures for establishing a legal adoption relationship.
Article 28 of the "Opinions on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of Civil Policies and Laws" issued by the Supreme People's Court stipulates: "Where it is widely recognized by relatives and friends or the public, or where it is clearly proved by relevant organizations that adoptive parents and adopted children have been living together for a long time, even if no legal procedures have been completed, they should still be treated as adoptive parents."
It can be seen that before the Adoption Law came into effect on April 1, 1992, China recognized de facto adoption relationships. After the implementation of the Adoption Law, in accordance with the principle that laws do not have retroactive effect, factual adoptions that have already been formed will continue to be protected. Therefore, the validity of the adoption in this case should be determined by taking into account the specific historical circumstances at that time, as well as factors such as local customs and the facts of the adoption. S Moumou was originally the plaintiff's aunt. According to custom, S Moumou adopted the plaintiff as her adopted son in the form of "adoption", and this adoption fact was also recognized by family relatives and neighbors. Moreover, in real life, S Moumou has provided support to the plaintiff in many aspects such as economy and life, and the plaintiff has fulfilled the obligation of supporting S Moumou. Therefore, although the adoption relationship between S Moumou and the plaintiff has not gone through adoption registration and other procedures, it conforms to the traditional customs of the Chinese nation and is a de facto adoption relationship. Thus, the adoption relationship between S Moumou and the plaintiff is established, and the plaintiff is S Moumou's adopted son. The plaintiff is the stepson of L Moumou. The plaintiff and L Moumou have lived together for nearly three decades, and their relationship is harmonious and deep. As the main or even the sole caregiver, the plaintiff has properly arranged L Moumou's birth, upbringing, death and burial.
Ii. Determination of the proportion of the disputed property that the plaintiff is entitled to
After the death of the decedent S Moumou, the share of the disputed house that he enjoyed after the division of property can be legally inherited as an estate. The division of the disputed property in this case should be comprehensively considered based on the duration and extent of each party's support and care for the decedent, the source and contribution of the disputed property, as well as the living needs of the parties.
Article 1131 of the "Understanding and Application of the Inheritance Chapter of the Civil Code" stipulates that "the amount of the inheritance to be allocated at the discretion of the court needs to be determined by considering various circumstances." Specifically including:... (2) The situation of the dependents. The main points include the specific circumstances of the support provided by the supporter to the decedent, the duration of the support, the method of support, and the emotional relationship between the supporter and the decedent, etc. The amount of the estate allocated to the supporters should, as a principle, be consistent with the support obligations they have fulfilled to the decedent. If a person other than the heirs has provided support to the decedent for a longer period of time and made greater contributions, they should give more. If the obligation to support the decedent is greater than that of the decedent's children or other legal heirs, a considerable amount of the estate may be obtained, or even the majority of the estate. (3) The status of the estate and the situation of the heirs. Regardless of whether the claimant of the inheritance is a dependent or a supporter, when considering the amount of the inheritance to be allocated at discretion, the condition of the inheritance and the situation of the heirs should be taken into account. This mainly includes the quantity and type of the inheritance, the number of heirs, their economic conditions, whether they have fulfilled their duty of support, the relationship between the heirs and the decedent, and it should also be conducive to meeting the needs of production and life. It does not undermine the utility of the estate."
In this case,
The plaintiff and the decedent have lived together for as long as thirty years, far exceeding the general maintenance relationship.
2. During the period when the decedent was seriously ill, the plaintiff took on all the responsibility of accompanying him and even signed medical documents in the name of "father and son", demonstrating the decedent's high level of trust.
3.L Moumou's adopted daughter, as a legal heir, has completely failed to fulfill her duty of support, which contrasts sharply with the plaintiff's efforts.
Whether it is from the perspective of a 30-year time span or the degree of care for the decedent: (1) Economic contribution; (2) Living assistance: daily life, medical treatment; (3) Spiritual support: Spiritual assistance and companionship; (4) Funeral affairs, annual tomb-sweeping and memorial services, etc. From every detail arrangement to the actual operation, it all reflects the plaintiff's respect and dedication to the decedent.
Thirdly, the support for the plaintiff in this case is conducive to promoting the core socialist values and realizing the principle of consistency between rights and obligations. The story of the stepfather and son being as close as their own father and son for 30 years also warms and moves people's hearts
"Among all virtues, filial piety comes first; it is the foundation of virtue." Inheritance of estates not only deals with the property relations between the parties involved, but also concerns family ethics and social moral trends. The system of appropriate inheritance, based on factual support, grants those who have provided more support to the decedent the right to receive a share of the inheritance at their discretion. This reflects the principle of consistency between rights and obligations and also rewards or compensates for the caring behavior of non-legal heirs due to their close relationship. It has an important function of balancing individual cases. The plaintiff has been taking care of and supporting L Moumou for three decades, properly arranging his funeral affairs, ensuring that this elderly person has a place to live and a place to rest after death. This kind of support reflects the beauty of sincere feelings between people without blood ties in the world and should be highly affirmed by law. Only in this way can the relevant provisions of the Civil Code be effectively implemented and a good trend of elderly care be advocated. Realize the organic integration of emotion, reason and law.
Ultimately, the court adopted the representation opinions of lawyers Wang Yan and Li Lin. Considering factors such as the plaintiff's support for L Moumou, L Moumou's living conditions, and the relationship between the plaintiff and L Moumou, the court ruled at its discretion that the plaintiff should be awarded one-third of the inheritance share.
This proportion far exceeds the usual share of the discretionary payment system in similar cases and also breaks the public's fixed perception that "non-heirs can only receive a small portion of the inheritance", becoming a breakthrough case in the judicial application of the discretionary payment system.
Experience of Handling cases as an agent lawyer
The changes in contemporary family structure and the transformation of common lifestyles have driven the emergence of a support model where non-legal support obligors or acquaintances assist each other in support. This is an effective supplement to the traditional internal support methods within families. In the future, there will be more and more complex remarried and reconstituted family combinations like this case. According to relevant statistics, by the end of 2024, the number of people aged 60 and above among the registered population in Shanghai had reached 5.7762 million, accounting for 37.6% of the total registered population. In this increasingly aging social environment, it is more advocated to offer support and assistance to stepchildren without blood ties to their stepparents, and at the same time provide them with legal protection that is consistent with their rights and obligations. This will be more conducive to our deeply aging society moving towards the goal of "having someone to rely on in old age, being well cared for in old age, and having someone to rely on in old age". The wisdom and sense of responsibility demonstrated by the presiding judge in this case are truly admirable and gratifying.
In practice, providing material support and spiritual comfort to the decedent is one of the core criteria influencing the determination of the proportion of compensation. This case lasted for as long as thirty years, and many defendants were absent from the trial without justifiable reasons. This has put forward strict requirements for the judge to ascertain the facts and for the plaintiff to present evidence. Among the large amount of evidence submitted by our firm's lawyers to the court, many pieces of evidence are actually hidden in the details of life and are easily overlooked by the clients, such as: A letter proving the actual living address, the identity statements of both parties in the signature section of the hospitalization document, the home address on the student ID or work ID, a family photo, a payment receipt, and proof of the daily address to the decedent, etc., all these require the agent lawyer to use their professional expertise to communicate with the client over and over again and verify bit by bit. Never let go of any seemingly irrelevant evidence easily.
In inheritance disputes, statutory inheritance is not the only criterion; "equality of rights and obligations" is the inherent meaning of the law. As long as the efforts are genuine, professional legal power can ensure that every act of kindness is respected and every commitment is rewarded with justice. Inheritance of an estate is not merely the division of property; it is also the confirmation of good customs. What the client acquires is not merely a share of the property, but also a legal endorsement of the true feelings between people over the past three decades. In this era of accelerating aging, this judgment is like a guiding light, illuminating the legal path of "ensuring the elderly are well cared for", and at the same time, it brings new inspiration and reference for lawyers in their subsequent case handling.
