Court rules widow who left husband can’t inherit

Source:Global Times Published: 2013-3-28 23:03:01

Baoshan District People's Court has ruled that a widow could not inherit a share of her husband's home because she left him before he died, the court said Thursday.

The widow, surnamed Guan, 56, from Jiangsu Province, sued her husband's four brothers when she heard about his death in 2012, demanding a 7/15 stake in his home on Hutai Road in Baoshan district.

Guan married her Shanghainese husband, surnamed Huang, in 2007. However, the couple separated after living together for about three months, but never filed for a divorce.

In April 2010, Guan remarried her ex-husband, the court said. They got divorced two months later. The court did not explain how Guan remarried her ex-husband while still married to Huang.

Under Chinese inheritance law, the spouse of the deceased is usually first in line to inherit property. However, in court, Huang's brothers argued that they deserved to inherit the home because Guan left their sick brother alone and married someone else, leaving them to take care of him.

Guan argued that she was still legally married to Huang when he died, and she only left him to make a living for herself.

The court said a person who abandons a family member loses his or her right to inherit.

Global Times



Posted in: Society, Metro Shanghai

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