Brief facts of the case
The old man was married three times in his life: he gave birth to a daughter named Zhang Nu with his first wife, and the two divorced;He had no children with his second wife, but his second wife had a minor child, Wang Xiao, and lived together for 7 years before divorcing;He had no children with his third wife, and his wife died before the old man.
2016.5.On the 3rd, the old man died, leaving no will, and he left a house in his name.
Now Zhang Nu is suing the court, demanding to inherit the house A.
Wang Xiao believes that when he was 2 years old, he lived with the old man for 7 years, formed a stepfather-son relationship, and enjoyed the legal inheritance right.
The focus of this case: whether Wang Xiao has the right to inherit the old man's estate.
The court of first instance held that:A house is the estate of the old man, and he did not make a will during his lifetime, and should be inherited by his legal heirs. Zhang Nu, as the biological daughter of the old man, and Wang Xiao, as the stepchild who has a dependency relationship with the old man, are the first legal heirs in this case, and both have the right to inherit the property rights of house A.
The court of first instance decided:A The property rights of the house are shared by Zhang Nu and Wang Xiao, and each enjoys one-half of the property rights.
Unconvinced, Zhang Nu appealed on the following grounds:It is unclear whether Wang Xiao and the old man have a dependency relationship. In fact, when Wang Xiao was a minor, when his mother divorced the old man, Wang Xiao was still a minor, and the old man made it clear that he would no longer raise Wang Xiao, and then Wang Xiao also lived with his mother and had no contact with the old man, so it cannot be determined that Wang Xiao is a stepchild who has a relationship with the decedent and the old man, and should no longer enjoy the inheritance rights of the stepchild.
The court of second instance held that:
On the issue of whether Wang Xiao has the right to inherit the old man's estate. To determine whether stepparents and children enjoy inheritance rights, the criterion is whether a custody relationship has been formed, and the node should be when the inheritance actually occurs. In this case, when Wang Xiao was two years old, because his biological mother married the old man of the decedent, he did live with the old man, forming a de facto step-father relationship, and the old man and his mother jointly raised and educated Wang Xiao. Later, Wang's mother and the old man agreed to divorce. Accordingly, Wang Xiao was once raised by the old man, but at the time of the divorce between his biological mother and the old man, Wang Xiao was nine years old and was still a minor, and the old man and his mother clearly agreed in the divorce agreement that Wang Xiao would continue to be raised by his mother, and the old man would no longer bear the cost of child support. Moreover, after that, Wang Xiao settled abroad all the year round, and until the death of the old man for more than 20 years, he did not fulfill his obligation to support the old man, and the two parties had no contact. Therefore,Although there was a fact of support between the old man and Wang Xiao, because the old man and Wang Xiao's biological mother no longer raised Wang Xiao after the divorce, and Wang Xiao did not perform the maintenance obligation after he became an adult, when the inheritance occurred in this case, the step-father and son relationship between Wang Xiao and the old man had been dissolved, the rights and obligations of both parties no longer existed, and Wang Xiao did not meet the requirements of the Inheritance Law as a stepchild with a dependency relationship. To sum up, Wang Xiao does not have the right to inherit the old man's estate. The first-instance judgment found that Wang Xiao was the legal heir and corrected it in accordance with law.
In this case, House A was originally registered in the name of the old man, and the old man did not make a will during his lifetime, and his estate should be treated as legal inheritance. Zhang Nu is the only first legal heir of the old man, and the inheritance is the property right of house A according to law. The first-instance judgment found that Li Xiao was the legal heir and corrected it.
The court of second instance decided:The first-instance judgment was revoked, and the judgment was changed to that the property rights of house A should be inherited by Zhang Nu.