Inheritance is regulated by the PRC Inheritance Law
which took effect on 1 October 1985, and a judicial interpretation
issued by the Supreme People's Court in November 1985. While
the rules are not complicated by themselves, in practice they give
rise to various questions and issues, especially when it involves a
foreigner with assets in China or married to a Chinese spouse.
General Regulations
Under the PRC Inheritance Law, assets shall be inherited in
priority by the following parties:
- First level of priority: spouse, children, parents
- Second level of priority: brothers and sisters, (paternal &
maternal) grandparents
A principle of Chinese inheritance law is that the successor(s)
of the first level shall inherit to the exclusion of the
successor(s) second in order. Only when there is no successor at
the first level, then the right of inheritance goes to the
successor(s) of the second level.
