A Review of the Disinheritance Bill from the Legislative Perspective

Abstract

Recently, the Korean government has proposed a bill for the disinheritance to the Korean Assembly, which provides that the testator can request the disinheritance of the presumptive heir to the family court in the case of the material breach of his/her duty of support or in the case of serious crime against the testator, his/her spouse or lineal relatives. Although it was inspired by the disqualification of legal reserve of inheritance system in the German Civil law, there are two important differences. First, the testator can claim for the disinheritance of the presumptive heir while he/she is still alive; secondly, his/her heirs can claim it after the testator’s death. It looks similar to the disherison system in the Japanese Civil law, but it is the combination of the German system and the disqualification of inheritance by trial system in Franch Civil law in order to implement the Austrian concept, which allows the heir can carry out the intent of the testator on his behalf if the testator fails to die before he makes a will for the disinheritance of the presumptive heir. This paper is written to explain the structure and the details of the bill and to prompt the discussion for the introduction of a best disinheritance system suitable for the unique situation of Korea.