The court reached the decision, saying the law lacks any measure to disinherit a family member who has betrayed their family duties. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 25 (Korea Bizwire) – The Constitutional Court ruled against the inheritance system Thursday, which indiscriminately mandates predetermined minimum portions of an inheritance be given to the family members of the dead, even those responsible for abusing the dead.
The Civil Act mandates families’ rights to legally reserved minimum portions of an inheritance in the event of a family member’s death.
The law stipulates predetermined inheritance portions for spouses, children, parents and siblings of the dead in case a person dies without a will.
Even if a will is left, spouses and children are entitled to half of the portions legally stipulated for them, while parents and siblings are entitled to one-third of the legally stipulated portions, a legal safety net introduced in 1977 to guarantee the survival rights of the bereaved.
In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Court determined the minimum inheritance portions reserved for spouses, children and parents of the dead to be out of sync with the Constitution.
The court gave the National Assembly until December 31, 2025, to amend the law in question, or the law’s effect will automatically terminate.
The court reached the decision, saying the law lacks any measure to disinherit a family member who has betrayed their family duties.
“Reserving minimum inheritance portions for inheritors who have habitually committed immoral acts, such as neglecting or physically or mentally abusing the dead for a long time, goes against the public sentiment toward the law and common sense,” the court said.
Except that, the court concluded that the law is justifiable in general, given the solidarity families retain through the law.
The court, meanwhile, struck down the minimum inheritance portion reserved to siblings on the grounds that siblings are hardly recognized as having contributed to the asset accumulation of the dead, resulting in the immediate invalidation of the relevant rule.
The ruling came amid recurring criticism against the inheritance law, which opponents say is too invasive of an individual’s property rights.
Since its introduction in 1977, the minimum reserved inheritance system has not once been revised. In two previous rulings in 2010 and 2013, the court had ruled in favor of it.
(Yonhap)
