What legal knowledge do I need to know if a close family member of mine has died?
Checklist for inheritance- If a close family member of yours has died, you need to find out whether you fall into the category of inheritors of the deceased.The further details are as follows:
1. Find out whether you fall in the category of inheritors.
· If you become an inheritor, you will succeed the property rights as well as the duties of the inheritee (the deceased). Therefore, you need to be quick to find out whether you are an inheritor to avoid inheriting any unwanted liabilities.
2. You need to find out if there is a will written by the inheritee.
· If a legally valid will has been created, the content of the will must be observed in the case of a statutory will. In particular, if there is any testamentary gift, the testamentary gift is provided to the beneficiary first and then the remaining estate is inherited, and therefore, the will must be found to verify its content.
3. If you are an inheritor, you must inquire about the property status of the inheritee.
· You can find out whether there are any deposits, loans, guarantees, security accounts, insurance contracts, and credit card-related debts under the name of the inheritee through the Financial Complaints Center on the 1st floor of the Financial Supervisory Service headquarters, or each financial association.
· In addition, inheritors can file an application with the City/Gu Office or Eup/Myeon/Dong Community Center to inquire into the deceased estate by probing his/her financial transactions, national tax and local tax arrears, unpaid taxes, and refunded taxes, national pension, public official pension, private school teachers’ pension, car ownership, detailed land ownership, and more all at once.
√ Application is available by visiting the City/Gu Office or the Eup/Myeon/Dong Community Center or by accessing Government 24.
4. You need to carefully figure out your share of inheritance and what portion of the property you will be entitled to inherit.
· If there exist two or more inheritors, they become jointly entitled to receive the inheritance, and if there is no testamentary gift, the share of inheritance of each individual will be subject to the statutory share of inheritance (Article 1009 of the “Civil Act”).
5. If you have more debts than the property you receive through inheritance, or if you are unsure about the exact amount of the debt, you should consider whether to renunciate inheritance or to effect qualified acceptance.
· Since the inheritance renunciation (Article 1019 of the “Civil Act”) or the qualified acceptance of inheritance (Article 1028 of the “Civil Act”) require reports to the family court within three months from the date on which the inheritor becomes aware of the commencement of inheritance, you must decide whether to waive the inheritance or effect the qualified acceptance.