In Shenzhen, a brother and sister have been fighting for more than two years over a 20-million-yuan old family home—how exactly should the property left by their parents be divided?

Shortly after Qingming last year, Mr. Li from Futian came to me, clutching a yellowed photocopy of a will, its edges frayed. His parents had left behind an old house in Xiangmihu, worth just over 20 million yuan, and the three siblings had been arguing over it for more than two years. The eldest brother said the line on the will was written in their father’s own hand; the youngest sister said that when he signed it, their father was already hospitalized and no longer lucid. The family quarreled from Spring Festival to Mid-Autumn Festival, and in the end even the placement of their mother’s ashes was put on hold. In my 26 years at Zhiming Law Firm, I have seen far too many cases like this. Inheritance disputes in Shenzhen have grown rapidly over the past two years, with an average annual increase of around 15 percent; cross-border and cross-generational situations are becoming more and more common. Many families are not unwilling to divide the estate—they simply do not know how to divide it in a way that counts.

Does a will automatically count just because it is written? First look at these three points.

Many people think that as long as they can produce a piece of paper with an elderly person’s signature on it, the house belongs to them. When it actually gets to court, it is not that simple.

First, examine the form. Articles 1134 to 1139 of the Civil Code divide wills into detailed categories—holographic, written on behalf of the testator, printed, audio/video recorded, oral, and notarized—and each has mandatory requirements. For example, a holographic will must be written entirely in the testator’s own hand, signed, and dated with the year, month, and day; missing any one of these may cause it to be overturned. A will written on behalf of the testator must have two or more disinterested witnesses present, and the witnesses cannot be the heirs themselves or legatees. I handled a case in Nanshan District in which an elderly person asked his grandson to help print the will, and the grandson signed beside it as a witness; in the end, the will was held invalid precisely because the witness was ineligible.

Second, capacity. Whether the elderly person had full civil capacity when making the will is the most contested issue. Hospital diagnoses, medical records, video footage from the time, and witness testimony from others can all serve as bases for the determination. The younger sister says the father was not of clear mind; if she can produce relevant records from during his hospitalization, the validity of the eldest brother’s will would be called into question.

Third, look at the content. A will can only dispose of a person’s lawful property. With a house jointly owned by an elderly couple, the father can only dispose of his own half; he cannot write the entire house over to someone else. Many elderly people do not understand this and write that the house goes to the eldest son, only for the spouse’s half to still be subject to statutory inheritance.

Without a will, how do siblings divide the estate?

If a will is held invalid, or no will was made at all, statutory succession applies. The first order of heirs consists of the spouse, children, and parents. In general, the estate is divided equally, but an heir who has fulfilled the primary support obligation to the decedent may receive a larger share; an heir who has the ability and means to provide support but fails to perform that obligation shall receive a smaller share or no share.

Last year, we represented a case in which our client was the second child in the family. In their later years, his parents lived with him in Longhua, and he was basically the one managing their medical visits, hiring caregivers, and daily expenses. Of his two older sisters, one was in Australia and the other in Hong Kong, and they only came back during holidays. After the parents passed away, they left a property with a market value of RMB 20 million, and the sisters demanded an equal division. We reviewed the elderly couple’s medical records from the past five years, caregiver payment receipts, neighbor testimony, and a statement issued by the community workstation. Ultimately, the court found that the second child had fulfilled the primary support obligation and ruled that he inherit all shares of the property, with each of the two sisters receiving a portion of cash compensation. From filing to obtaining the judgment, the case took 11 months in total.

To put it bluntly, inheritance disputes are won on evidence. Who took care of the elderly person, who contributed money and effort, and what the elderly person truly wanted cannot be established by words alone; evidence must be produced.

Question: What should I do if someone secretly transferred the ownership of the house my parents left behind?

Answer:This is a question that comes up very frequently in consultations. If a property has already been transferred by one heir to their own name without authorization, the other heirs may file a lawsuit within three years from the date they knew or should have known that their rights were infringed, requesting confirmation that the transfer is invalid or seeking partition of the estate. The key is to act quickly: first go to the real estate registration center to obtain the transfer file and see what materials were submitted at the time, whether any signatures were forged, and whether other heirs were concealed. The real estate registration departments in Futian and Nanshan, Shenzhen can generally retrieve historical records. If forged documents are involved, you can also report the matter to the public security authorities. Last year we handled a similar case in Futian. After the client discovered that their elder brother had transferred the property under their father's name, they retrieved the file and found that the signature had been signed by another person without a power of attorney. Ultimately, the court ruled that the transfer was invalid, and the property was returned to the estate for re-partition.

Cross-Border and Cross-Generational Inheritance: A New Challenge for Shenzhen Families

Shenzhen’s special geographical location means inheritance cases often involve Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas. If an elderly person makes a will in Hong Kong, can it be used directly for real estate in the mainland? How do children of foreign nationality renounce inheritance? Many families in Qianhai and Hetao have such concerns. There are also cross-generational cases in which grandparents leave their house directly to a grandson. This is called a testamentary gift, and the donee must express acceptance within 60 days after learning of the testamentary gift; if no expression is made by the deadline, it is deemed a waiver. Many people do not know about this 60-day period, and once they delay, it lapses.

Also, a reminder: small-property-rights housing and illegal buildings left over from history in Shenzhen are also very tricky in inheritance cases. Such properties do not have red certificates, and courts generally only handle the attribution of use rights, not directly rule on ownership. Many families in Longhua and Bao'an have been stuck over this for years.

A few practical suggestions

First, while the elderly person is still alive, notarize as much as possible. Although a notarized will no longer has absolute priority, it has strong probative value and leaves less room for later disputes. Second, keep evidence of support provided to the elderly. Keep transfer records, payment receipts, chat records, photos, and videos. Third, when signs of a dispute emerge, do not rush to turn hostile; first sort out the basic materials, such as property records, proof of kinship, and the elderly person’s medical records, and then decide whether to negotiate or litigate. Fourth, consider cross-border factors in advance; choice-of-law rules differ greatly between jurisdictions, so do not wait until litigation starts to look for a legal basis.

Inheritance, after all, is not just about dividing a house; it also involves a family’s emotional ledger built over decades. What we lawyers can help with is sorting out the legal accounts clearly, so that those who are entitled get what they should, and those who want to fight know where the boundaries are. If you are facing a similar situation, you can come to Room 1802, Tower A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North 2nd Street, Futian District, to talk in person, or first call 0755-25986969 to tell us about your situation. Many matters, if clarified one step earlier, will save you a lot of trouble later.