Gangdong-gu, Establishes Property Management System for Unclaimed Deceased 'In the Spotlight'

Active Administration for State Ownership of Inherited Property of Low-Income Unclaimed Deceased
Complex and Challenging Handling of Unclaimed Deceased Inherited Property... Establishing a Processing System for a Virtuous Cycle

What happens to the property of a person who dies alone without any relatives?

In many cases, it is left unattended or difficult to handle, often ending up with a third party.

As single-person households increase every year, the number of unclaimed deceased persons who have no family to claim the body or whose family refuses the body has tripled over the past decade. However, the process of handling the inheritance property of unclaimed deceased persons is long and complicated, involving various procedures such as appointing an inheritance property administrator, public notices of inheritance claims, and searching for heirs, so few are willing to take on the task.

Gangdong-gu, which is implementing a Gangdong-type welfare system including pre-death organizing services that designate a funeral director and prepare for death in advance for low-income single-person households, as well as support for storage fees for unclaimed deceased persons, announced on the 4th that after more than three years of effort, it has processed the inheritance of approximately 46 million won of property belonging to Mr. Lee, a low-income unclaimed deceased person, to the state.

This is the first case since Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Suhee) established a system for handling the inheritance property of unclaimed deceased persons in 2021. Regarding this, Yoo Geunseong, Director of the Life Security Division, said, “This is a virtuous cycle case where the property of residents who received national benefits such as basic livelihood security is not left unattended but recovered into the national treasury.”

The process of handling the inheritance property of unclaimed deceased persons is complex and requires specialized legal knowledge, so most local governments avoid it. However, Gangdong-gu signed a business agreement with the Seoul Social Welfare Public Interest Law Center and has been receiving legal advice, going through the procedures over a long period. Currently, it is processing the inheritance of three cases of property (about 87 million won) belonging to deceased basic livelihood security recipients with no heirs.

In addition, the district continues to request the national government to improve the system, including revising laws, to encourage proactive administration by local governments.

Lee Suhee, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “Issues related to unclaimed deceased persons are urgent social problems that our society must solve. We will continue to handle not only funerals after death but also the remaining property they left behind with social responsibility so that it can be concluded with dignity.”

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