China

Abstract

This chapter argues that the Chinese legal system is much closer to a civil law system than to a common law system. It notes that its succession issues are principally governed by the Succession Part of the new Civil Code. Many of the more subtle legal issues arising in international succession litigation are not yet definitively resolved in China, though academic literature addressing such matters exists. The chapter emphasizes that judicial decisions are not binding precedents in China: their persuasive value on later courts can be unpredictable. This chapter then shifts to discuss the six types of will recognized under the Civil Code: notarial will, holographic will, witnessed will, audio or video recording will, oral will, and printed will. It also explicates the intestate succession which is governed by the Civil Code and the The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) Interpretation. Under the Civil Code, there are two tiers of statutory successors: (1) spouse, children, parents are at the first tier, and (2) brothers, sisters, and grandparents are in the second tier. The chapter concludes by examining the compulsory shares, community property, and the issue of the partitioning mechanism for jointly owned property.