Till Death Us Do Part!!!!

[Willy The Londoner]

In case of Death read this!!!

Thought this would be of interest to others planning to buy in China.

This reply was in response to a communication to a Lawyer regarding the fact that myself and my wife are in the process of buying an apartment here in Zhongshan.  It appears that a husband does not automatically get the property if his wife dies.


‘If the apartment is purchased under the names of both the Chinese wife and foreign husband in the P.R. China then the laws of China shall apply to the inheritance of the apartment.

According to the laws of P.R. China if one of the couple dies, the other one is NOT the only person to inherit the apartment.  The husband or wife, the children, and the parents of the deceased one shall have the right to inherit, except if the deceased has a will made in advance.

What is inconvenient for the living husband or wife is that he or she need to provide the certificate of marriage to the authority ( if the place of marriage is not in China, the document shall be notarized and verified by the Chinese Embassy.  )

I suggest that following the purchase that you go to the Public Notary to prepare a notarized Will I the area where the apartment is located, stating that if either of you dies in the future the other party is the only one to inherit the apartment.
If you need other assistance please contact us.
Jane Li (Lawyer)
D & S Law Firm
Zhuhai

At the moment my wife does not have a Will but she certainly has a Willy!

Willy

[Okie_Rob]

Thank you! That is good info.. I had always wondered about realestate in China ... ... for I will be buying an apartment/house/flat:  in Yueyang.  But I am sure, she will out live me .. he he!!  I guess one has to be really carefull ... with the contract, and so forth ... for the housing regulations in China, if purchasing, financing  ... and we can't read the purchasing contract/document ... one could just be buying  blue sky... I would suggest contacting a trusting lawyer in China as you have provided that can speak your language... to make sure all is in order ... legal and binding.  One would hate to pay many years for a home, and later on ... realize that you were renting and not buying.

[Chong]

One would hate to pay many years for a home, and later on ... realize that you were renting and not buying.

With the 50/60/70 years 'condition' of the land reverting back to the gov't, we're 'renting' in a sense.

I inherited my father's village house. It's a village/family code of honor that I was given the keys ... given the absence of any legal document. The house was builted in the 1930's. It's unliveable but could be if I clean/renovate/modernize it.

[David5o]

Willy,

We have 4 properties in China right now, and so was aware of such death laws.

As a comment here, at least all these people that ''Can'' inherit part of the property if one of you die can be circumvented from doing so, by means of a will of testament.

Believe it or not, ..... In France if one of you die owning a house etc, the deeds are divided equally between the living partner and any living children. Now think about that one, I'll come back to that in a moment!!!!

In the Philippines the Property deeds are divided,  50% to the living partner, and 50% divided between any children born out of that marriage.  In both of those cases above, .... There is ''NO'' get out clause or documents you can acquire to circumvent, ....that is the statutory Law of the land!!!

OK,  Did you see the minefield waiting for a large number of married couples, if you buy a property in France ,
Then think of the number of divorced singles getting married, see the problem now. Your wife may have no children from the past and let's say you have two.  Now .....you may not have seen these children for ten's of years, because they didn't want anything to do with you after the divorce.  (maybe under the influence of their mother) But they can , now holding two of the three shares your property can throw your wife out, and sell the house from under her.  This has actually happened in the past to at least 3 people that i have known personally. Things may have changed since the last occurance, but i doubt it...  France isn't very quick to change anything along those lines....

Anyway, Think yourself lucky Willy, that you can Stop anyone else from inheriting a share of your new apartment in the future and will remain 100% you or your wives property if the other dies!! ...lol!!


David.....

[David5o]

seagull,

I'm still trying to work out how the hell these poor husbands are going to pay ''Child Support'' from the Grave

I think your talking about Divorce settlements here, not Inheritance at time of death.
 
But your right in one aspect, your children could indeed make an application to the court to to claim some entitlement, of ''Any'' property that you may leave at time of death, including a house/apartment.... just depends on the circumstances if they would succeed or not!!

David....

[shaun]

I had a very interesting conversation with Peggy this morning.   I will leave for China on the 9th.  About a week later I will help her move to Shaoguan.  She has been trying to get a home there.  She apologized that she didn't have a home already.  I was kind of shocked.  I've known this from the beginning.

I didn't ask her a lot of questions but am I reading things here correctly?
In the event of a divorce is the wife is suppose to end up with the home and not the ex-husband?
If the wife is suppose to end up with a home, if she didn't, does she have recourse?

I know the beginning of May that Peggy went to Shaoguan to apply for a free home because the government has a program for older women who are divorced and do not have a home.  It may take up to 2 years to get her answer.  She does not anticipate getting it because of corruption and the things passed under the table.  If that be the case maybe I should bring a case of Beef Jerkey since I am told the Chinese variety.

[David5o]

Shaun,

If the house is owned by the husband and wife, then the property is normally sold and the proceeds divided equally.... That's the short answer...haha!!!  As always if there are children and are going to be living with the wife things start changing. 

Where foreigners are part of the equation, ... then your opening up a whole new can of worms.... Ask Chong for the latest information on that Scenario!! ..haha!!!

David.....

[Bee964]

David5o,

I am supposed to pay my ex out of my pension even after I die! It is called survivor spouce. So yes in a round about way I have to pay support from the grave. I was told by my lawyer that she has 2 options, keep collecting until she goes or a lump sum payment. The lump sum could be quite large too depending on when I die. And get this, if she goes before me do I get to stop paying her? No, it continues to go into her estate until I die. The only way out of this is buying her out of my pension. I would have to pay a rather large sum of money.

Shaun,

Are you going to wait 2 years to get married to Peggy or is it going to be given to her anyways because she applied while she was divorced and then got married?

Dave C

[David5o]

Dave C,


Yes .... sorry, your right, about the ''survivor spouce''  thing on company pensions,  i was thinking of our State pension, .. that stops from the day of your Death.... 

David....

[Vince G]

Bee, The pension plan your writing about doesn't make sense? Yes there are stipulations for the pension continuing after your death to a spouse, but... (if she goes first it goes into her estate?) An estate doesn't sit forever and I doubt the pension would be sent to her estate "forever".

It may be different there but here in the US, first (I think all states?) you have to be married more then ten years to receive any monies from any source (SS, pension) after the death of the other. An estate is frozen after a certain time and given to, according to a will or other legal ways. 

[shaun]

Dave C,

I am not sure.  I am applying for a k-1 Fiance Visa and we will marry in the US.  I don't know how the house thing will turn out there.  I am not sure she knows.  She tells me that she does not have a good chance of getting one because she doesn't have enough money so grease squeaky wheels.

[Bee964]

Vince,

Yes. It goes into her estate and then goes to whom ever she designates it to. (most likely our kids) This is how it was explained to me by our lawyers. It didn't make any sence to me either but the lawyers told me this is how it works. Here it is after 15 years marriage they are entitled to it. We were married 27 years.

There is something else that my lawyer told me too. She cannot collect both part of my pension and support. (it is called equalization payments here)

I am going to stop right now. We are getting a rather violent thunderstorm here. I have heard the sizzle of a couple lightning strikes just now.

Dave C

[Willy The Londoner]

One would hate to pay many years for a home, and later on ... realize that you were renting and not buying.

With the 50/60/70 years 'condition' of the land reverting back to the gov't, we're 'renting' in a sense.

I inherited my father's village house. It's a village/family code of honor that I was given the keys ... given the absence of any legal document. The house was builted in the 1930's. It's unliveable but could be if I clean/renovate/modernize it.

So if I buy an appartment in a complex that has never had a previous owner and the complex is 10 years old, when does my period start.  When the first apartment was opened or when mine was completed? 

Would that mean I can only live there for 60 years and not 70.  Suits me if they have to move me out when I am 120!

Willy

[Chong]

Starts when the building complex received the registration papers ... usually one year after construction.

[Josh Markley]

That whole situation is kinda scary imo.  But I guess its just as scary here when you buy a house and the bank takes it away after onwning it for a year.