Determination of governing law
Determination of governing law
- Inheritance matters shall be handled under the predecessor’s (the person handing over inheritance) national law (Article 49, Paragraph 1 of the “Private International Act”).
- However, where the deceased clearly designates, by the methods applicable to a will, one of the following laws as the applicable law, the inheritance will be governed by that law (Article 49, paragraph 2 of the “Act on Private International Law”).
· The law of the country where the habitual residence of the deceased is located at the time of designation. However, the designation will remain effective only if the deceased maintained his/her habitual residence in said country until the time of his/her death.
· Concerning the inheritance of real estate, the laws on the location of the real estate
Property inheritance of the deceased where the governing law is the “Civil Act” of the Republic of Korea
Order of priority in inheritance
- For inheritance, persons become inheritors in the following order, and the spouse of the deceased will always be entitled to the inheritance (Article 1000, paragraph 1 of the “Civil Act”):
1. Lineal descendants of the deceased (A line of blood relatives directly from the deceased, such as a son, daughter, grandson, great-grandchild, etc.)
2. Lineal ascendants of the deceased (A line of blood relatives directly from the deceased's ancestors, such as parents, grandparents, etc.)
3. Brothers and sisters of the deceased
4. Collateral blood relatives within the fourth degree of relation with the deceased
※ If a lineal descendant or a brother or sister who would become an inheritor pursuant to Article 1 or 3 has died or has become disqualified before the commencement of succession, any of his or her lineal descendants will become an inheritor in the order in which the deceased or disqualified person would have become the inheritor (Article 1001 of the “Civil Act”).
- The surviving spouse always becomes entitled to inheritance, and if the deceased has lineal descendants and lineal ascendants, the spouse becomes a co-inheritor, in the same order as the said inheritor, whereas if there exists no inheritor, the spouse becomes the sole inheritor (Article 1003, paragraph 1 of the “Civil Act”).
- No person who falls under any one of the following subparagraphs may become the inheritor (Article 1004 of the “Civil Act”):
· A person who has intentionally caused the death of or attempted to cause the death of a lineal ascendant, the heir, his or her spouse, or any person who has priority or is in the same order of inheritance
· A person who has intentionally assaulted a lineal ascendant, the heir or his or her spouse, and thus caused their death
· A person who interferes using a will or withdrawal of a will regarding the inheritance of the heir by fraud or duress
· A person who has the heir make a will regarding his or her inheritance by fraud or duress
· A person who forges, alters, destroys, or conceals a will regarding the inheritance of the heir
Statutory share in inheritance
- If there exist two or more inheritors in the same rank, their shares of the inheritance will be equally divided (Article 1009, paragraph 1 of the “Civil Act”).
- The share inherited by an heir's surviving spouse will be increased by 50 percent over the inherited share of the heir’s lineal descendant where the spouse inherits jointly with such descendants, or 50 percent over the inherited share of the heir’s lineal ascendant where the spouse inherits jointly with such ascendants (Article 1009, paragraph 2 of the “Civil Act”).