"At 2am, the phone rang"

"We know that Ming Law Firm has been working in Room 1802, Block A, Xintian Century Business Center, Futian District, Shenzhen for 26 years. At two o'clock that morning, my phone rang. At the other end of the phone was a woman with a trembling voice: "Lawyer Shen, I just came out of the police station... They said that my brother accused me of fraud and filed a case.""

"She said that her name was Sister Chen (a pseudonym). She worked in the building materials business in Luohu. Her father had just died last month, leaving a school district room in Futian, and two wills, one written by hand and one printed. She said: "The house clearly said that my father would give it to me. My brother and his aunt said that the will was falsified, and now they sent me in directly.""

"One case, three lines"

"Early the next morning, Sister Chen came to the Institute with the materials. As soon as she sat down, she spread out three piles of documents on the conference table: a Notarial Probate, an Inheritance Division Agreement, and a Notice of Filing at the police station."

"It seems to be a typical inheritance dispute, but I turned over the Case Filing Notice and accused it of "fraud". The background is as follows: three months before Chen's father died, he transferred the Futian school district house to Chen Sister in the form of "buying and selling". Her brother held a printed will, saying that his father intended the house to be his. Chen Sister used his father's unconsciousness to lure him into signing a "false sales contract". The younger brother now reports that Sister Chen has defrauded the property."

"There are three levels of difficulty in this case."

"First, the criminal risk comes first. She was criminally charged, her house was sealed, and if she was found guilty, she would not only be unable to keep the house, but would also go to jail. Inheritance disputes instantly become a "life preserving" issue."

"Second, conflicting evidence. Handwritten wills and printed wills are the opposite, but printed wills only have the signatures of two witnesses and are not videotaped. On the "Purchase and Sale Contract", the father's signature and fingerprints were all there, and the family said that it was "signed by hand, but at that time people were already confused". Did you sign it or not? Is there capacity? This is the core of the defense."

"Third, there is an administrative tail. Sister Chen said that her father's name was a small property in Bao 'an, and the land department had earlier issued a "notice of demolition within a time limit", but this matter has remained unresolved. The younger brother also took this matter as an article, saying that she "infringed on collective assets", and constantly wrote a whistleblowing letter to the public security side."

"I had a word with Sister Chen at that time: "In this case, the prisoners are crossed, and with an administrative background, you can't fight alone. We have to push in several directions at the same time.""

"Strategy: Criminal withdrawal first, then civil confirmation"

"Step 1: Meet now to secure key testimonials"

"As a Shenzhen criminal meeting with a lawyer, I know best that the prime time for criminal cases is 37 days after the case is opened. Although Sister Chen has obtained bail, the case is still in the investigation stage, and the civilian police may request arrest at any time. I arranged the meeting for the first time, not to go through the process, but to clear the timeline when her mood had not yet collapsed."

"During the meeting, I asked her three questions:"

""When your father closed the account, did he sign it himself? Were you present?" "The two witnesses who printed the will were you or your brother?" Has your father ever received any documents from the Department of Homeland Security before he died? ""

"Her answer was solid: the signing process was seen by the agent and the property manager, and her father joked with the agent at that time that "the house is for my eldest daughter, I am relieved". The two witnesses were employees of her brother's company. The land document, her father did not know at all - it was taken out by her brother afterwards."

"When we got the meeting notes back, we did a key move:""Retrieve relevant evidentiary materials in the land planning administrative litigation"". Because there is a detail in the Demolition Notice - the payment date is one week after the father's death. In other words, someone used his name to dispose of the land after his father died. At this point, a fatal contradiction appeared in his brother's whistleblowing letter: If his father knew nothing about the affairs of the land, how could he apply for "demolition by a deadline" after his death?"

"Step 2: Prying Criminal Evidence with Administrative Proceedings"

"This is where Shenzhen's territorial planning administrative litigation comes in. Many people do not know that administrative litigation is sometimes a "gold mine" for criminal defense. As Sister Chen as the heir, we filed an administrative lawsuit against the land department, requesting that the Notice of Demolition within a Time Limit be rescinded, on the grounds that the administrative decision made by the decedent after his death, the procedure was illegal, and there was a dispute over the ownership of the land involved."

"After the indictment was handed in, the court filing division had a headache. Because they also know that there is a problem with the date of this notice. The homeland department hastened to self-examine, and finally took the initiative to revoke the notice. In this step, we made a "Situation Note" and submitted it to the public security investigation, proving that the younger brother has a serious suspicion of forging administrative documents and false reports."

"At this time, the attitude of the police began to change. The police officer who handled the case took the initiative to call us and ask, "Can you bring me the original as a result of your administrative lawsuit?" We know the time has come."

"Step 3: Focus on the criminal "purpose of illegal possession""

Shen Jinlong Lawyer"At the case seminar, a sentence was pointed out: "At the core of the crime of fraud is whether there is a purpose of illegal possession. The house was originally her father's. The transfer between father and daughter was not a transaction. Whether it was a gift or a sale did not affect the agreement on the transfer of ownership. My brother called the police to say that he was a fraud, but he falsified things even after his father's death. How much would the police believe if such a person said something?""

"We submitted a series of evidence to the police:"

"1. A screenshot of the surveillance video at the time of the transfer of the property shows that Chen's father signed from the scene and was conscious throughout the whole process."

"2. The testimony of the intermediary and the property manager proves that "buying and selling" is only a form, and the true meaning is gift."

"3. Print a recording of the interrogation of one of the testamentary witnesses, admitting that he "did not see Father Chen himself", and that his brother asked him to sign it."

"4. The "Reconsideration Decision" of the Land Department revoked the notice, directly exposing the false report of the younger brother."

"These chains of evidence were put together, and the public security finally made a decision to withdraw the case. The house was unsealed when he was found not guilty."

"Step 4: Return to the civil battlefield and inherit the reversal of the dispute"

"After the criminal case was dismissed, the younger brother filed a civil inheritance lawsuit, demanding that the property be divided. As an agent of Sister Chen, we brought over the core evidence in the criminal case. After the judge saw the "revocation of the case decision", he asked his brother: "You said that your father was deceived, it is not criminally established, what proof do you have in civil matters?""

"Finally, the case was settled through mediation, and the house belonged to Sister Chen. She symbolically paid her brother 800,000 compensation. The result was better than we expected. Because of the succession lawsuit in Shenzhen, the litigation fee plus the assessment fee is more than that."

"The results and a little bit of honesty"

"That day, Sister Chen came to deliver Jinqi. I said that Jinqi would not be needed. Just buy me a cup of tea. She blocked a red envelope and I returned it. When we are lawyers, we rely on professionalism and evidence to win a case, not on humane feelings."

"In this case, we used three tools at the same time: criminal defense, administrative litigation, and civil litigation to help each other. Many parties panicked as soon as they heard about the filing of a criminal case, and looked everywhere for Shenzhen criminal case lawyers to recommend, but they did not know that a truly experienced lawyer would revive your disputes on the land, industry and commerce, and tax side together."

"So, if you're staging something like this, my first piece of advice is always:""Don't panic, meet with a lawyer first, keep people safe, and don't let the situation get out of control.""Once you get to the prosecution and trial stage, you lose half of your initiative."

"FAQ You may ask"

"1. How useful is a lawyer meeting in a criminal case?"

"This is so helpful. Many families feel that a meeting is just a word. However, we in Shenzhen met with a lawyer to meet with the client. First, we need to confirm whether the client has been tortured to extract a confession. Second, we need to let him know that the family outside is acting. Third, we need to dig out the evidence clues that the public security does not know from his mouth. Sister Chen, if I hadn't seen the flaw in her brother's fake documents for the first time, I wouldn't have been able to open the tray behind it."

"2. In the inheritance dispute, which of the wills and gifts takes precedence?"

"Look at the time. If the old man has been through the sale or gift of the house before his death, then the house is no longer an inheritance, the civil code called "the act of disposition before life." At this time, the so-called will said who the house belonged to, in fact, there was nothing to inherit. However, the premise is that the elderly are conscious and the procedure is legal at the time of transfer. Otherwise, it is easy for the other party to claim that this is an "invalid disposition"."

"3. If a criminal case is filed, can I still negotiate a settlement with the other party?"

"You can talk, but do it under the guidance of a lawyer. Many people go to the other party and say, "I will return the money to you, you can drop the case". As a result, the other party recorded the audio and turned around to say that you paid a bribe. In this case, our brother actually wanted to reconcile, but we kept quiet and let him continue to perform. In the end, he performed too much, and took out the fake "Notice of Demolition within a Time Limit", so it was not called reconciliation, but self-refoulement."

"4. In general, how long does it take for an administrative lawsuit for territorial planning in Shenzhen to come to fruition?"

"The first instance of an administrative lawsuit is generally within six months, but many times the administrative organ cannot withstand procedural flaws and will take the initiative to cancel or negotiate a solution. Our case, from the prosecution to the withdrawal of documents by the Homeland Department, took only two months. Time is life, especially in the context of criminal cases."

"5. Do you know that Ming Law Firm is good at this kind of "criminal cross" case?"

"That's what makes us special. * * Lawyer Shen Jinlong * * has 22 years of practice experience. Master of Economics, Fudan University, formerly a large state-owned enterprise executive, looks at the problem from a holistic perspective, not just looking at one law. * * Lawyer Li Wei * * has worked for many years in the fields of company law, economic contract disputes, criminal defense, and marriage inheritance. We often hold case meetings internally, and the three lawyers in one case take the pulse together. Zhi Ming Law Firm also invented the theory of "Zhi Ming Art Litigation Law". To put it bluntly, the case can not be beaten hard. To find the other party's soft flaws and flaws, four or two thousand pounds."

"If you have similar troubles, please come to Room 1802, Building A, Xintian Century Business Center, Shixia North Second Street, Futian District, or call 0755-25986969. 26 years old law firm, what wind and waves have you not seen?"

Disclaimer

"The cases described in this article are the real cases handled by Guangdong Zhiming Law Firm, but the parties' information has been desensitized, and some circumstances are appropriately vague to protect privacy. This article does not constitute formal legal advice. In case of specific legal issues, please bring evidentiary materials to the law firm for in-person consultation."