A brother and sister in Shenzhen fought over their parents' inheritance. A handwritten will from 2018 was overturned, and the 20 million yuan property went entirely to her? A lawyer reviews the key to winning the case.

Last autumn, a woman in her fifties walked into Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm. The first thing she said after sitting down was, "Lawyer Shen, my brother is suing me, claiming the will in my possession is a forgery." She was a local of Futian, Shenzhen, and her parents had left a property in Nanshan worth nearly 20 million yuan. Her father passed away in 2018, and her mother in 2021. Before they died, both had written wills leaving the house to her, the eldest daughter. But her brother refused to accept it, on the grounds that the handwriting on the will "didn't look like it was their father's."

This case is by no means an isolated one in Shenzhen. The number of inheritance dispute cases in Shenzhen has been growing at an average annual rate of 15% in recent years, with an increasing number of cross-border and cross-generational inheritance cases. Cross-border refers to children holding Hong Kong or overseas status, while cross-generational means grandparents' estates passing directly to grandchildren. Real estate is the major component, and in over 80% of real estate inheritance disputes, the issue boils down to whether the will is valid.

An invalid will is the biggest landmine in inheritance disputes.

Many people assume that as long as a will is handwritten by the parent themselves, it is definitely valid. This is the biggest misconception. Last year, the Longhua District Court in Shenzhen heard a case where an elderly person printed a will on a computer, signed it, and pressed their fingerprint, yet the court ruled it invalid. Why? Because under the law, a printed will requires two or more disinterested witnesses to be present to attest to it, and both the testator and the witnesses must sign and date each page. Since the elderly person printed and signed it alone, the form did not comply with legal requirements.

Articles 1134 to 1144 of the Civil Code classify testamentary forms into six types: holographic, proxy-written, printed, audio-video recorded, oral, and notarized, each with strict format requirements. A holographic will must be entirely handwritten, signed, and dated with the year, month, and day. A proxy-written will requires two witnesses, one of whom writes it on behalf of the testator, and the testator, the proxy writer, and all other witnesses must sign and date it. If any step is missing, the will may be invalidated.

A 20 million property dispute, won on details.

Let's go back to the case from the beginning. After lead attorney Shen Jinlong took over, he did three things right away. First, he sent the original will for forensic examination to confirm that the handwriting was indeed the father's own. Second, he visited the community and hospital where the father had lived in his later years, gathering evidence that he was mentally clear and able to express himself normally. Third, he located two old neighbors who had been present when the father drafted the will—although the father had used a thumbprint, the two witnesses were there throughout and could confirm that this was the elderly man's genuine expression of intent.

During the trial, the opposing counsel seized on one point and attacked repeatedly: when the father made the will, he was already 82 years old—could he have been "coaxed" into writing it by the eldest daughter? Attorney Shen presented the father's medical examination records from Shenzhen Second People's Hospital in 2018, showing that the elderly man's cognitive function was normal. She then produced a video from one month before the mother's death in 2021, in which the elderly woman said in her own words: "The matter of the house was already entrusted to the eldest daughter long ago." This video was not a will, but it corroborated the parents' true intentions. In the end, the court accepted the authenticity of the will and ruled that the eldest daughter inherit the entire 20-million-yuan property.

Question: If parents did not leave a will, is the house naturally divided equally among siblings?

Answer: Not necessarily. According to Article 1127 of the Civil Code, the first order of statutory inheritance is spouse, children, and parents; siblings are actually in the second order. Only when there are no first-order heirs do siblings become entitled. Additionally, if any child has primarily fulfilled the obligation of supporting their parents, or faces special living difficulties and lacks the ability to work, they may receive a larger share or appropriate consideration when the estate is divided—it is not absolute equal distribution.

Disputes over the validity of a will are not something you should handle alone.

In inheritance dispute cases in Shenzhen, another trend is becoming increasingly evident: the amounts involved in property disputes often reach tens of millions of yuan, and once siblings fall out, it frequently turns into a prolonged tug-of-war. Some parties, in an attempt to save tens of thousands of yuan in legal fees, choose to represent themselves in court with their wills, only to have opposing counsel seize on procedural flaws, resulting in a perfectly valid will being ruled invalid—costing them millions or even tens of millions of yuan in rights and interests.

Zhiming Law Firm has handled quite a few cases of this kind and has summed up one piece of experience: disputes over inheritance by will are not about who was closer to the parents, but about whether the chain of evidence is complete. Handwriting authentication, testimony of witnesses, medical records of the parents during their lifetime, statements from neighbors, and even the parents' bank transaction records before death—the opposing party may claim that "the parents once said they would sell the house to pay for treatment" or "one of the children transferred out a large sum of deposits," and all of these need to be addressed with solid evidence.

In short, it all comes down to one word: the struggle is over "ground."

Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm has been deeply rooted in Shenzhen for 26 years, handling over 10,000 cases of various types in total. The firm's director, Lawyer Shen Jinlong, has been practicing for 26 years and holds a master's degree from Fudan University, as well as the title of Senior Economist. If you are facing disputes over the inheritance of your parents' property, or are uncertain about the validity of a will, it is advisable to bring your materials over for a discussion first. The address is Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, Shenzhen. Telephone: 0755-25986969. The sooner you sort out the evidence, the less passive you will be.