Siblings Arguing Over 600 Million Won Legacy, Turns out Both Reversed Adoption
Jul 30, 2025
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According to Chinese media Henan Broadcasting Corporation and Hong Kong media South China Morning Post, Mr. Sun of Tianjin City, who died in March, moved one property in the name of his son during his lifetime, and in the process, he left a will-type document to give his daughter reasonable compensation.
In his will, he `adopted his daughter but always treated her like her own daughter. However, in his later years, he took care of our couple, so he leaves the house to his son. Instead, I hope you will reward your daughter and stay friendly."
However, the adopted daughter raised an objection to the inheritance of the house, saying that there was only the father's signature in the real estate transfer contract and there was no mother's consent.
She began a legal battle worth 3 million yuan (about 580 million won), claiming that "the mother's stake should also be included in the inherited property."
According to local media, she was adopted by Sun and his wife in 1966, and seven years later, her son was born in 1973.
However, there was a shocking twist in the process.
In court, the daughter submitted a document indicating that her younger brother's resident registration document was marked 'adoption'.
The younger brother cried in court because of the unexpected fact, and he claimed to have first learned that he was adopted.
"My sister stopped contacting my family because of family problems in the 1990s, and I have been taking care of my parents alone since then," he said. "The house was left to me by my father, and I have no intention of sharing it."
In response, the court ruled that legally adopted children have equal inheritance rights, regardless of whether they are biological children or not, based on Chinese civil law.
However, the real estate was already legally transferred and notarized in 2007 and cannot be regarded as an inheritance.
After three hours of intensive coordination, the two sides reached an agreement.
The real estate will remain owned by his son, his younger brother, but will pay 550,000 yuan (about 100 million won) to his sister as compensation.
This case drew great attention on Chinese social media.
One netizen said "Both children were adopted, and it's shocking that only the son didn't know the truth. The daughter knew from the beginning, and the discriminatory treatment eventually led to the conflict."
Another user wrote "I can't believe this kind of dramatic story is actually happening"I couldn't hide my surprise.
Meanwhile, male-dominated inheritance practices have existed for a long time in China, and although gender equality is legally emphasized, cultural ideas and customs still often limit women's inheritance rights. The incident is an opportunity to shed new light on the legal rights of adopted children and inheritance of heritage, and on the issue of conflict within the family.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
