Hello, I’m Dong Ho Song from Song & Associates. In our last column, we discussed Korean inheritance laws that U.S. citizens and permanent residents should be aware of, and we learned that in Korea, the decedent’s will is heavily weighted. If the decedent had children who supported him or her during his or her lifetime, it is the decedent’s freedom to bequeath more property to those children, and that is certainly valid. However, if the decedent’s intention is to leave property to only certain heirs, it may not result in an equitable inheritance among family members, and may even compromise the livelihood of other heirs. In order to prevent this situation, the inheritance system is a system that minimally protects the inheritance of heirs by limiting the freedom of property disposal of heirs.
The calculation method of the inheritance is determined by the relationship between the inheritor and the decedent. The spouse (husband or wife) and immediate descendants (son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, etc.) of the decedent receive one-half of the statutory inheritance, while the decedent’s immediate relatives (parents, grandparents, etc.) and siblings receive one-third of the statutory inheritance. Here’s an example to help you understand: A decedent dies leaving 600 million won to his eldest son alone. However, the decedent had three children (eldest son, second son, and youngest daughter). If the decedent had not left KRW 600 million to the eldest son, each of the three children would have received a statutory inheritance of KRW 200 million. However, due to the decedent’s excessive behavior, the second son and youngest daughter were not protected by the statutory inheritance, so they can receive KRW 100 million, which is two-thirds of the statutory inheritance of KRW 200 million.
Oil spill lawsuits have been on the rise in recent years. According to the Supreme Court of Korea, the number of breastfeeding lawsuits increased from only 158 in 2005 to 911 in 2015, a six-fold increase. There are many reasons for this phenomenon. First of all, the awareness of daughters is a big part of it. Unlike in the past, when daughters were often left significantly less than sons because they were born out of wedlock, today’s daughters have been raised to believe that men and women are equal and are asserting their rights. In fact, more than 50% of the plaintiffs in spousal support cases are daughters. The fact that society no longer prioritizes the eldest son has also contributed to the rise in the number of spousal support cases. The fact that the defendant in three out of five spousal support cases is the eldest son supports this claim.
The most common question we receive regarding disinheritance is about the statute of limitations for claiming disinheritance. The Korean Civil Code states that the period for claiming disinheritance is “one year from the commencement of the inheritance and the disinheritor’s knowledge of having made a gift or bequest that should be returned, and ten years from the commencement of the inheritance. This can be confusing, but there are two things to keep in mind. First, you must file a descent action within one year of the date you know your descent has been violated. This is not the date of the gift or the date of the decedent’s death, but the date you learn of the breach. For example, if a decedent who had a son and a daughter died two years ago with a gift of property to only the son, if the daughter learned of the gift five years ago today, she would have one year from today to file a descent action. The second thing to keep in mind is that an intestacy action must be commenced within 10 years of the date of the decedent’s death. Using the previous example slightly differently, if the decedent died 12 years ago with a gift of property to his son only 15 years ago, even if the daughter found out about the gift today, she would not be able to bring an intestacy action because 10 years have passed since the decedent’s death. As you can see, intestacy actions require specialized experience and skill. If you have any further questions regarding this column, please contact mail@songlawfirm.com으로.
** At the headquarters of Song Dong Ho Law Firm, we will be hosting a seminar on Korean inheritance law on January 4, the first Thursday of the new year, at 3:00 p.m. Interested parties are encouraged to call 201-461-0031 to reserve a seat, as seating is limited.