Disqualification from Inheritance and Representation

Abstract

In June 2021, the Korean government submitted a draft bill to revise the Korean Civil Code, the gist of which is to introduce a new institution of judicial deprivation of heirship on the account of his or her neglect of duty to support the deceased and to repeal disqualification as a cause of representation in heirship. The latter revision appears to aim at securing effectiveness of disqualification (as well as judicial deprivation of heirship) by preventing indirect benefit through the representing heir to the represented disqualified. The indirect benefit issue has been occasionally addressed in Korean literature as well as in other jurisdictions, while disqualification as well as judicial deprivation of heirship remains to be an established cause of representation in almost every jurisdiction. Though there were a few jurisdictions that denied representation in case of disqualification, most of them revised their codes so that now they also acknowledge disqualification (as well as judicial deprivation of heirship) as a cause of representation. It is not because they did not know the indirect benefit problem but because that possibility alone cannot justify the restriction of the right of the representing heir and it would amount to punishing sons for their farther’s fault. The same holds true to Korea and this draft bill. Repealing disqualification as a cause of representation is believed to be unconstitutional. It is expected that this flaw in the draft bill shall be fixed during the deliberation in the National Assembly.