Parents left a house, and three siblings in Shenzhen went to court over a 20 million RMB property. An inheritance dispute lawyer explains everything about wills.

Last week, a lady from Futian came to us, and her first words were: "Lawyer Shen, my dad passed away and left a will saying the house goes entirely to me, but my brother doesn't believe it and insists the will is fake. Now he's threatening to sue me." In her hand, she clutched that handwritten will, its paper edges worn and frayed.
This scenario plays out at Zhiming Law Firm almost every week. Property values in Shenzhen are high—a single apartment can easily be worth millions or even tens of millions of yuan. Once parents pass away, more and more siblings end up turning against each other over the family home. The number of inheritance dispute cases accepted by Shenzhen courts has been growing at around 15% per year in recent years, and cases involving cross-border or cross-generational elements have notably increased. To put it bluntly, wherever the money is, that's where the conflict lies.

No beating around the bush today — let's directly walk through the questions parties most often ask. All substantive, no fluff.
Answer: This is the biggest misconception. According to Article 1127 of the Civil Code, the first order of statutory heirs consists of spouse, children, and parents, and heirs in the same order generally inherit equal shares. In other words, in the absence of a will, regardless of whether the child is a son or daughter, and regardless of who provided more or less care, the estate is in principle divided equally.
But note that there are two variables here. First, if a child truly provided primary support to the parents, or lived with the deceased, the court may award them a larger share during distribution. There is a precedent in Nanshan District, Shenzhen, where the youngest daughter lived with her parents for eight years and ultimately received 60%, while the other two children each received 20%. Second, if a child is capable of supporting the parents but fails to do so, they should receive less or nothing in the distribution. So don't think "I'm the son, I should get the biggest share" — the law does not see it that way.
Answer: This is the most difficult type of inheritance dispute. You say it's genuine, he says it's fake—what does the court look at? It looks at the chain of evidence.
Last year we handled a case involving a woman from Longhua whose father had left a holographic will bequeathing an apartment worth 20 million yuan entirely to her. Her two younger brothers refused to accept it and applied for handwriting authentication, claiming that the will was not written by their father. After taking over the case, we did three things: first, we retrieved the signatures he had left when conducting bank transactions ten years earlier and the signatures on his medical records, and used all of them as comparison samples; second, we found the nanny who had helped the elderly man copy the draft of the will to testify in court; third, we obtained the hospital diagnosis from the month before he made the will, proving that he was mentally clear at the time.
The appraisal institution ultimately determined that the signature on the will was made by the testator himself, and the court accepted the validity of the will, allowing the eldest sister to obtain full inheritance rights to the property. Here is a noteworthy piece of data — Shenzhen courts actually have a fairly high rate of recognizing the validity of holographic wills, but the prerequisite is that the formal requirements must be legally compliant. Many people who write wills at home may have them deemed invalid due to missing dates, incorrect signature placement, or alterations to the content. Therefore, writing characters does not automatically make something a will — format and details can be a lifesaver.
Answer: It's troublesome, but doable. In recent years, cross-border inheritance cases have increased noticeably, involving a whole series of procedures such as identity notarization, embassy certification, and notarization of powers of attorney. If the person is abroad and cannot return, they need to have a notarized power of attorney executed, authorizing a lawyer or relative in China to handle the matter on their behalf. If real estate is involved, they must also go through the transfer procedures at the registration authority where the property is located.
One important thing to note: if the parents are Chinese nationals but the children have acquired foreign nationality, Chinese law still applies when inheriting domestic real estate. Don't assume you can just apply the laws of your country of residence. We have handled several such cases where the parties thought they were all set after having a notarization done abroad, only to find that it wasn't accepted at all when they came back — a wasted trip.
Answer: Litigation is the last step, not the first. In Shenzhen, before an inheritance dispute goes to court, the court will typically organize mediation first. The advantage of mediation is that it is fast and does not cause loss of face. If litigation goes through the first and second instance trials, it takes six months at the fastest, or one to two years at the slowest, and in between you also have to pay appraisal fees and attorney fees. The key thing is that family ties are completely severed.
We generally recommend that if all parties can still sit down and talk, you can sign an "Inheritance Division Agreement" specifying each person's share, the ownership of the property, and the payment schedule for compensation. Then go to a notary office to have the inheritance notarized, and take the notarial certificate directly to the real estate registration center to transfer the title. This approach is low-cost and efficient. If a settlement truly cannot be reached, then consider litigation. But remember, once a lawsuit is filed, essentially all room for mediation is gone.
Returning to the case of Ms. Fukuda mentioned earlier. We helped her organize the complete chain of evidence for the will and also arranged a meeting at the office with her brother. In the end, the brother withdrew the lawsuit and signed an agreement: the sister compensated him with 30% of the property's market value, and the house went to her. A case that could have dragged on for two years in court was resolved in two months.
When it comes to inheritance, the real dispute is never about the house itself, but the grievance in one's heart. However, once the anger subsides, life still goes on. If you are facing similar issues, whether it's a dispute over the validity of a will or uncertainty about statutory inheritance shares, we recommend bringing your documents to Zhi Ming Law Firm for a consultation. The address is Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen. Please call ahead to make an appointment at 0755-25986969. Director Shen Jinlong's team of lawyers has 26 years of case-handling experience and has represented over ten thousand cases. They can help clarify your next steps.