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Deceased wife's will, causing her husband to encounter a red light when remarrying
Time:2025-08-28 Views:1144
According to the will of a deceased wife, her husband is not allowed to have children until his stepson reaches the age of 16. If there is a violation, he will lose his inheritance rights, resulting in frequent "red lights" for his husband's remarriage.
Huang Jian, who lives in Chengdu, is 34 years old this year. In July 1997, he went to Guangzhou to purchase goods, but the payment was stolen by thieves on the way. At this moment, a colleague named Goryeo learned and asked him to stay and partner with her to do business. At that time, Goryeo had already divorced and had a two-year-old son.
From then on, Huang Jian purchased goods from outside and sold them in Goryeo, and his business became increasingly prosperous. In March 1999, Huang Jian and Goryeo entered the marriage hall. In 2000, they bought a new house in Chengdu, and Goryeo brought their mother to take care of the child. The family respected and loved each other, and enjoyed themselves together.
In March 2001, Goryeo experienced severe stomach pain, and upon examination, it was found to be advanced gastric cancer.
After learning that he had an incurable disease, Goryeo felt extremely uneasy: "After his death, although Huang Jian was good to his son, he was only his stepfather. If Huang Jian remarried, what would his son do? And who would take care of the hard-earned money?" After some consideration, Goryeo wrote the following will on June 3, 2001:
① After Goryeo's death, a house belonging to Goryeo was owned equally by her husband Huang Jian and son; Deposit 160000 yuan, husband Huang Jianxiang has 50000 yuan, and son enjoys 110000 yuan. But husband Huang Jian must fulfill his obligation to take care of and raise his stepson. Meanwhile, Huang Jian can remarry, but he cannot have children until his stepson is under 16 years old. If Huang Jian fulfills the above obligations and complies with the above agreement, he can realize the above inheritance rights. Otherwise, Huang Jian loses his inheritance rights.
② Before the inheritance rights are realized, the property ownership certificate of the house with the name Goryeo is kept by its parents, and the son's upbringing fee of 80000 yuan is kept and paid by the parents; The inheritance deposit of 160000 yuan in Goryeo is preserved by parents.
Although Huang Jian felt that his wife's will was a bit excessive, he understood her intention, which was to take care of the family and let him raise her children. A few days after making the will, Goryeo passed away.
After Goryeo's death, Goryeo's parents returned to their own home due to inconvenient living conditions, and his stepson lived with Goryeo's parents. Huang Jianze continued to operate clothing wholesale. However, Huang Jian faced an indescribable embarrassment regarding his remarriage. Some kind-hearted people introduced him to several girls one after another, and both sides were compatible. However, whenever Huang Jian proposed to wait until his stepson turned 16 to have children, the girls resolutely left.
Last November, Huang Jian fell in love at first sight with a female fellow villager who came to Chengdu to purchase goods, and their relationship quickly heated up. Huang Jian has been in a relationship with his girlfriend for nearly a year, and her girlfriend has repeatedly proposed to marry him, but Huang Jian always evades.
Recently, Huang Jian hired a lawyer to request the revocation of his deceased wife's will. He said, "I love Goryeo very much, and I also love my current girlfriend. I am already in my thirties and I really want to have a child of my own. Hiring a lawyer is a last resort to have the court lift the unequal will of my deceased wife." (Lu Guowei/Collection)
A will can be conditional
Lu Guowei (Judge of Nanyang Intermediate People's Court, Master of Law):
A will is a unilateral civil act in which a natural person disposes of their property and related affairs in accordance with legal provisions before their death, and becomes legally effective after their death.
Article 62 of the General Principles of Civil Law stipulates: "Civil legal acts may be conditional, and conditional civil legal acts shall take effect when they meet the conditions attached." Therefore, natural persons may attach conditions when making a will. The obligations attached to a will mainly include two types. One is the obligation attached to the public interest, such as using the property specified in the will for social welfare or establishing schools, research institutions, etc. The second is to impose additional obligations on individual citizens, that is, the testamentary heir or testator should fulfill certain obligations to a certain citizen. But in a conditional will, the obligations attached shall not violate the law and public interest, and shall not exceed the inheritance benefits that the testamentary heirs should receive from the will.
In testamentary inheritance with obligations attached, the testator cannot simply express acceptance of rights without accepting obligations. He must assume the obligations set for him by the testator in the will while accepting his rights. If the testamentary heir or testator fails to fulfill their obligations without justifiable reasons, the people's court may cancel their right to receive the estate upon request from relevant units or individuals.
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In this case, the will made by Goryeo before his death is considered a conditional will. If its content is not illegal, it is allowed by law and will also be protected by law.
The content cannot be illegal
Lu Guowei: A will can only be valid if it is established in accordance with the form and conditions prescribed by law. A valid will must meet the following substantive requirements: ① The testator must have the ability to make a will. ② The content of the will must be an expression of the true intention of the testator. Article 20 of the Inheritance Law clearly stipulates: "A will must express the true intention of the testator. A will made under coercion or deception is invalid. A forged will is invalid. If a will is tampered with, the tampered content is invalid." ③ The estate disposed of by a will can only be the legally owned property of the individual, and the disposal of other property is invalid. ④ The inheritance rights of heirs who lack labor ability and have no source of livelihood cannot be revoked in the will. ⑤ The inheritance share of the fetus should be retained in the will.
In this case, the property jointly created by Huang Jian and Goryeo after their marriage belongs to the joint property of the couple, and Goryeo can only dispose of her own property when making a will. Therefore, the will made by Goryeo regards all property as "hard-earned" and arbitrarily disposes of it, which violates Huang Jian's property rights. Therefore, the disposal of Huang Jian's share of property is invalid. At the same time, Goryeo imposed a time limit on Huang Jian's ability to have children in his will, which violated Huang Jian's reproductive rights granted by the Population and Family Planning Law. If the conditions attached to a conditional civil act violate legal provisions or are impossible to occur, the civil act shall be deemed invalid. Therefore, this part of the will shall be deemed invalid, and other parts of the will, such as the requirement for Huang Jian to take care of and raise his stepson and the deposit to be managed by Goryeo parents, expenses, etc., shall still be valid.
Illegal content should be invalid
Li Xiaofeng (Judge of Nanyang Intermediate People's Court):
Article 20 of the Inheritance Law stipulates that "a testator may revoke or alter a will they have made." Therefore, only a testator has the right to revoke or cancel the contents of a will, and Huang Jian, as the heir, has no right to revoke a will.
But it doesn't mean Huang Jian has no way. Article 58, Paragraph 2 of the General Principles of Civil Law stipulates that "an invalid civil act has no legal binding force from the beginning of the act." Therefore, the parts of the will that bind Huang Jian to bear children and the property that Goryeo has no right to dispose of are invalid and do not bind Huang Jian. Huang Jian can marry and have children according to his own wishes. If the executor of the will in Goryeo (his parents) deprives Huang Jian of his inheritance rights on the grounds of violating the will, Huang Jian can file a lawsuit for infringement with the court, and the court will confirm that part of the will is invalid. Sichuan Faneng Law Firm is dedicated to serving you.