Flaws and Improvement of the Legal System for Forfeiture of Inheritance

Abstract

The legal system of forfeiting the right of inheritance adheres to “the principle that no one shall profit from his illegal behavior”, based on the Civil Law theory. The forfeiture of the right of inheritance consists of absolute forfeiture and relative forfeiture. In China, although the Inheritance Law made the provisions of absolute forfeiture of the right, they are excessively rough and recapitulation. Meanwhile, the provision about relative forfeiture of the right was unduly narrow. Falling into the category of the private law, the legal system of inheritance law should be based on interested parties’ intention as well as the public adjudicators’ general standard. In order to maintain and stabilize the normal inheritance procedure and protect the legitimate rights and interests of those law-abiding parties, the future improvements of some major documents concerning the Inheritance Law is hereby advised to modify as, in terms of the restoration of the right of inheritance after its forfeiture, “confirmation from judicial process is after the application made by the decedents whose forgiveness shall be asked for.”