Policy IntroductionWith the rapid development of the economy and the increasing legal awareness of the public, more and more people choose to plan their estate after death by making a will. Since most families in China still adopt the system of joint property between husband and wife, the practice of husband and wife making a will jointly is more common in the people.
News content
Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng are husband and wife, and have two sons, namely the eldest son Li Fei and the second son Li Ming, Li Ming suffers from mental illness and needs to be hospitalized for a long time**, he has no spouse, and only has a daughter Li Zhen (all of the above are pseudonyms). Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng have lived with Li Ming's father and daughter for a long time, and they are often worried about Li Ming and Li Zhen's future life security, so they discuss making a will together.
In October 2009, Uncle Li wrote a "Will", stating that the real estate jointly owned by Li Ming and Mrs. Zheng would be jointly inherited by Li Ming's father and daughter, and Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng jointly signed the "Will", and Mrs. Zheng passed away in August 2010. On February 25, 2012, Uncle Li wrote a "will" again, stating that the property involved in the case was jointly inherited by Li Ming's father and daughter. Uncle Li passed away in May 2022. Subsequently, Li Zhen filed a lawsuit in the court in July 2022 and mailed the "Statement" to Uncle Li Fei. Now Li Zhen, Li Ming and Li Fei have a dispute over the above-mentioned testamentary succession, so they filed a lawsuit with the court.
During the trial, the parties had a great dispute over the validity of the will and whether Li Zhen's expression of accepting the bequest was valid. The Will was made during the existence of the husband and wife relationship between Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng. The words "purchased by us" and "agreed upon by us" in the Will, as well as the signatures of both husband and wife, can be seen as a joint disposition of the joint property of the husband and wife. Therefore, the will is a joint testamentary act made in the name of both husband and wife, written by one of the husband and wife, but signed and dated by both husband and wife. Due to their common attributes, the formal requirements of a will cannot be applied to judge the validity, and the content of the Will does not violate the mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations, nor does it violate public order and good customs, so it can be determined that the Will is legal and valid.
Court rulings
The court held that the "Will" jointly entered into by Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng in October 2009 and the "Will" made by Uncle Li in February 2012 were both legal and valid, and Li Zhen also clearly expressed her intention to accept the bequest within the statutory time limit.
Optimal viewpoint
In the above case, the decedent Uncle Li made two wills before and after, which caused a dispute over the validity of the will, and Uncle Li and Mrs. Zheng did not clearly indicate how to execute the will in the will, which caused differences between the heirs.
Therefore, the establishment and optimization of wills are very important. When making a will, the decedent should clarify the content of the will, and it must be clear to avoid vague descriptions.
Editor|Lu Beibei.
Design|Jiang Jitao.
Audit|Tang Haifeng.
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