The method and legal basis of inheritance in mainland China

1. Several methods of inheritance in mainland China

(1) Testamentary inheritance, that is, the deceased makes a will during his lifetime and appoints the heir to inherit his estate.

(2) Legacy is to make a will before the life of the deceased, and donate the inheritance to the country, the collective, or someone other than the legal heir.

(3) A bequest and support agreement is an agreement between the deceased and the supporter, and the supporter shall bear the obligation to support the death of the heir. All or part of the property of the deceased shall be transferred to the supporter after his death. This method mainly appears when the elderly are unsupported.

(4) Statutory inheritance, that is, when the above three conditions do not exist, the order of inheritance is determined according to the "Inheritance Law."

Statutory inheritance refers to an inheritance system for property inheritance in accordance with the scope of heirs, inheritance order, and inheritance distribution principles directly stipulated by the law. Statutory inheritance is a compulsory norm, and no one can change it except for changes in a will before the life of the deceased.

2. Legal basis for statutory inheritance

According to Article 27 of the "Inheritance Law" and the relevant provisions of the "Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Implementation of the "Inheritance Law", statutory inheritance shall apply in any of the following circumstances: the deceased did not establish a testamentary inheritance or bequest before his life, There is also no legacy support agreement; the whole or part of the invalidity of the estate involved in the will; the part of the estate that is not dissected by the will; the testamentary heir or the beatee waives the inheritance or the bequeath; the testamentary heir loses the right of inheritance; the testamentary heir or the beatee precedes The testator died.

The scope of legal heirs, in accordance with the provisions of Articles 10 and 12 of the Inheritance Law, includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, maternal grandparents, and widowed daughter-in-law and widowed son-in-law who have done the main duty to support the in-laws or parents-in-law. . And inherit in the following order: First order: spouse, children, parents. Widowed daughter-in-law and widowed son-in-law who have done the main maintenance obligation to in-laws or parents-in-law shall be the first successors. Second order: siblings, grandparents, grandparents. After the succession begins, the successor in the first order will inherit, and the successor in the second order will not inherit. If there is no heir in the first order, heirs in the second order shall inherit.