Supreme Court: "Actual Inherited Amount Must Be Considered When Determining Inheritance Shares"

Supreme Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that when calculating the statutory portion of inheritance among joint heirs, the actual benefits received and other specific amounts must be reflected.

On the 7th, according to the legal community, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jeonghwa) overturned the lower court's partial ruling in favor of the plaintiffs in the appeal case where three sisters filed a claim against their younger brother for the return of the statutory portion and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

Previously, the siblings had a dispute during the division of their inheritance after their father, Mr. A, passed away in 2013. The daughters filed a lawsuit against their brother, claiming he had received a disproportionately large amount of the estate and sought the return of the statutory portion.

Before his death, Mr. A gave his son 1.85 billion won and gifted each of his three daughters between 150 million and 440 million won. According to civil law, children can claim an 'equitable inheritance' for half of the combined amount of the property gifted during the decedent's lifetime and the property left after death.

The first trial court calculated the statutory inheritance share as 3.01 billion won by adding the money Mr. A had previously distributed and the apartment left after his death. It ruled that half of this amount should be equally divided among the four children, setting the statutory portion each could claim at approximately 376 million won. The court ordered the son to pay each of the two daughters approximately 117 million won and 122 million won respectively, based on dividing the apartment valued at about 410 million won as part of the inheritance. The second trial court upheld this judgment.

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and reconsideration of the case. The court pointed out, "When calculating the deficiency in the statutory portion for a statutory portion claimant who received special benefits among joint heirs, it must be based on the specific inheritance share, including the special benefits of the statutory portion claimant." This means that a child who received less property during the decedent's lifetime will receive more of the property left after death, so the actual benefits received through inheritance must be reflected. There had been conflicting views on whether the net inheritance amount should be based on the statutory share or the specific inheritance share, but the court clarified that the net inheritance amount corresponds to the specific inheritance share. The court added, "The lower court erred in its legal reasoning regarding the calculation method, which affected the judgment."

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