Ministry of Justice Announces Legislative Notice for the 'Goo Hara Act'... Establishment of Inheritance Disqualification System

Exclusion of Inheritance 'Disqualification' Reasons in Substitutional Inheritance

On November 25, 2019, the funeral hall for the late Goo Hara was set up at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. This hall was designated for fans, while a separate hall was arranged at another hospital for family and close acquaintances. According to the wishes of the bereaved family, all funeral procedures, including the departure and burial, were conducted privately. Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A new system will be established to revoke inheritance rights if parents seriously violate their child-rearing obligations or abuse their children, or if children seriously violate their support obligations to their parents or abuse them.

This can be seen as the enactment of the so-called "Koo Hara Act," aimed at preventing cases like that of the late Koo Hara, a former member of the group Kara, whose biological mother failed to fulfill her parenting duties for over 20 years but suddenly appeared after Koo’s death to inherit her property.

Additionally, in cases of substitutional inheritance (代襲相續), where direct descendants or siblings who would be heirs die or become disqualified before the commencement of inheritance, the amendment excludes "disqualification" from the reasons for substitutional inheritance, allowing substitutional inheritance only in cases of "death."

On the 7th, the Ministry of Justice announced a legislative notice for a partial amendment to the Civil Act based on these contents.

The amendment first allows the decedent to request the family court to revoke the inheritance rights of a potential heir who seriously violates their support obligations to the decedent, or who commits serious criminal acts, abuse, or other severely unfair treatment against the decedent, their spouse, or direct relatives.

Besides the current inheritance disqualification system that prevents someone from becoming an heir if they commit crimes such as murdering the decedent or co-heirs, or fraud or coercion to make a will, this opens a path to revoke inheritance rights according to the decedent’s wishes.

The decedent can also express their intention to revoke inheritance rights through a will, in which case the executor of the will files a lawsuit for revocation of inheritance rights with the court.

If the revocation of inheritance rights is confirmed after the decedent’s death and the commencement of inheritance, the inheritance rights are lost retroactively to the time of commencement, but the rights of third parties cannot be infringed.

The amendment also stipulates that if the decedent forgives the heir who would otherwise lose inheritance rights, a petition for revocation cannot be filed, and even if revocation has already been declared, it loses effect. However, forgiveness must be made through a notarized written document or a will in the form of a notarial deed to be effective.

Furthermore, the amendment excludes "disqualification" from the reasons for substitutional inheritance, judging that revoking inheritance rights of an heir and recognizing substitutional inheritance by their spouse or children contradicts the purpose of the law. Similarly, "revocation of inheritance rights" is not included as a reason for substitutional inheritance.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "The system to revoke inheritance rights is intended to reflect the decedent’s will as much as possible in inheritance matters," and added, "We will listen to various public opinions during the legislative notice period and submit the partial amendment to the Civil Act to the National Assembly as quickly as possible."

Meanwhile, last month, the court recognized 20% of the contribution share of Koo’s biological father and brother in a lawsuit filed by Koo’s brother against their biological mother for division of inheritance property, granting the biological mother only 40% of the inheritance share instead of the statutory 50%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.