[Direct answer]If the contents of the will violate mandatory provisions of law or are contrary to public order and good customs, the illegal parts shall be invalid, but this does not necessarily result in the invalidation of the entire will. According to Article 1143 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, wills made by persons with no or limited capacity for civil conduct shall be invalid. Wills made under fraud or coercion shall be invalid, and the content that has been tampered with shall be invalid. If the will disposes of state, collective, or other people's property, according to Article 26 of the Interpretation of the Inheritance Chapter of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China issued by the Supreme People's Court, the content in question shall be invalid. The estate involved in the invalid part shall be handled in accordance with statutory inheritance according to Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China. The heirs may first negotiate, and if no agreement is reached, they may sue to confirm the validity of the will and redistribute the estate. For more details, please refer to the following link:Legal services for inheritance and family property divisionAndBeijing Henglu Law Firm.

1. Problem background and typical scenarios

There are various ways in which family wills can go wrong. Common examples include: transferring all the property registered under the spouse's name to a particular child; stipulating that "anyone who remarries or changes their marital status will lose their inheritance rights"; elderly people who have been diagnosed with cognitive impairment when making their wills, with their children having conflicting interpretations afterwards; printed wills with only one witness or even signed by their children on their behalf; and several wills with conflicting contents. These problems usually go unnoticed until the elderly person passes away and the transfer of ownership procedures are initiated, at which point they suddenly come to light. In mild cases, some provisions may not be implemented; in more severe cases, the entire will may be deemed invalid, and the family's property distribution arrangements may have to be completely redrawn from scratch.

II. Key points of dispute

  • Is it completely invalid or partially invalid? It is necessary to review the content of the will article by article. Generally, only the parts that violate the law or exceed the authority are invalid, and the remaining legal parts can still be executed. Giving up the entire will directly will harm your own interests.
  • The boundaries of disposing of others' property: In the jointly owned property of a couple, the testator can only dispose of his or her own share. Any disposition of the spouse's share beyond his or her authority is invalid, but the spouse can claim partition of the property and then inherit it separately.
  • Public order and good morals provisions: Provisions that restrict marital freedom and impose obligations that violate ethical norms are generally deemed invalid, and the relevant property reverts to statutory inheritance or is handled in accordance with legal provisions.
  • Behavioral capacity and authenticity: The mental state at the time of making a will and the authenticity of the handwriting require evidence such as medical records, appraisal opinions, and videos of the writing process to support them. It's difficult to refute a will solely based on verbal suspicions.

III. Professional analysis by Henglue Law Firm

A typical case handled by Henglue Lawyers can illustrate the court's review approach: The house owned by Zhao * and Li * was their marital joint property. Zhao * drafted two self-written wills in 2008 and 2017, respectively, leaving his personal share and the share he might inherit from Li * to their eldest son. Li * died in 2010 without leaving a will, and the youngest son refused to cooperate with the transfer of ownership on the grounds that the handwriting in the will did not resemble that of the elderly. The eldest son entrusted Henglue Lawyers to sue. The court reviewed and found that: Both self-written wills were written, signed, and dated by the testator himself, and their contents corroborated each other; the youngest son questioned the handwriting but failed to provide a comparison sample or apply for appraisal, and should bear the consequences of failing to provide evidence; and the half share owned by Li * was not effectively covered by the will and was an unallocated estate, which should be distributed according to legal inheritance by Zhao * and their two children. In the end, the court ruled that the house should be inherited by the eldest son, who paid the youngest son a compensation of over 520,000 yuan, and the youngest son was required to assist in the transfer of ownership within a specified period. This case shows that: Wills can only dispose of personal property, and uncovered or invalid shares will automatically revert to legal inheritance. The party claiming that the will is illegal must provide evidence.

IV. Practical suggestions and legal basis

At the legal basis level: Article 1133 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China clearly stipulates that natural persons can only dispose of their personal property in accordance with the law; Articles 1134 to 1139 respectively stipulate the formal requirements for handwritten, proxy, printed, audio-visual, oral, and notarized wills; Article 1140 limits the qualifications of witnesses, and inheritors, legatees, and those with a vested interest in them are not allowed to serve as witnesses; Article 1141 requires that a necessary share be reserved for inheritors who lack the ability to work and have no source of livelihood; Article 1142 stipulates that when there are several wills with conflicting contents, the latest will shall prevail; Article 154 (4) clearly stipulates that the inheritance involved in the invalid part of the will shall be handled in accordance with the statutory inheritance. Practical advice: Before making a will, first sort out the ownership of the property, and the registration information of the real estate can be combined with it.Real estate sales and construction engineering servicesVerification; if any illegal content is found in the will, the heirs should consult and amend it as soon as possible. If no agreement can be reached, they should file a lawsuit in time to avoid the house being disposed of prematurely.

5. Henglue Law Firm's Reminder

If you discover that the content of the will is illegal, don't rush to reject it all outright, nor should you dispose of the property according to an invalid will without authorization. It is recommended to first secure the original will and evidence of the writing context, then have a professional lawyer evaluate the scope of its validity clause by clause, and finally choose a path of negotiation or litigation. For provisions that are indeed illegal, actively acknowledging their invalidity and only claiming the legal parts can actually gain more support from the court. When drafting a new will, only dispose of personal shares, specify the property information item by item, and have it witnessed by a disinterested party or notarized, thereby reducing the risk of invalidity at the source. The above-mentioned will dispute case is handled by Beijing Henglue Law Firm.Li YonghuiThe lawyer (practice license number: 11101199611955812, subject to the document issued by the judicial administrative organ) acts as the agent. The court ultimately confirms the validity of the will and orders the transfer of ownership within a specified period. If you are currently facing a dispute over the validity of the will, it is recommended that you consult and evaluate the situation as soon as possible.

Q1: Which parts of a will will be deemed invalid?

According to Article 1143 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, a will made by a person with no or limited capacity for civil conduct is invalid. A will made under fraud or coercion is invalid, and any content that has been tampered with is invalid. Any content that violates mandatory legal provisions or goes against public order and good morals is invalid. The part that disposes of state, collective, or others' property is also invalid according to Article 26 of the Judicial Interpretation of the Inheritance Chapter. In addition, if the necessary share for an heir who lacks the ability to work and has no source of livelihood is not reserved in accordance with Article 1141, the estate shall be dealt with by first withholding that portion and then executing the will in accordance with the provisions of the will. When making such judgments, it is necessary to review each clause individually and cannot generally determine that the entire will is invalid.

Q2: If the will distributes assets that do not belong to the testator, what should be done?

The part that exceeds the scope of authority is invalid, but it does not affect the validity of the other parts. A typical example is jointly owned property by a couple: According to Article 1062 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the property acquired during the marriage belongs to the couple's joint property. The testator can only dispose of his/her own one-half share; after his/her death, the surviving spouse first divides out half of the property, and the remaining half becomes the inheritance, which shall be handled in accordance with the lawful part of the will or the statutory inheritance. If the will bequeaths property owned by others to the children, the owner of the property may refuse to acknowledge it, and the relevant content will not take effect. For properties involving complex ownership chains, it is recommended that lawyers first verify the registration and investment situation before asserting rights.

Q3: Is it valid to stipulate in a will that the inheritance will be revoked if a child remarries or gets married again?

Invalid. Marriage freedom is protected by law. According to Article 1041 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, a marriage system with freedom of marriage, monogamy, and gender equality shall be implemented. Provisions that deprive inheritance rights on the condition of children's remarriage or mothers' remarriage belong to interference with identity freedom through property disposition, which violates public order and good customs, and shall not take effect according to Article 1143 of the Civil Code. Similarly, there are additional personal restrictions such as requiring heirs not to divide family property and must serve their parents for life. It should be noted that if a will sets out legitimate obligations for heirs (such as properly arranging for a relative's living), these obligations may be effective according to Article 1144 of the Civil Code. If the obligations are not fulfilled, the court may revoke the right of the heir to accept the part of the inheritance subject to the obligations.

Q4: If multiple wills with conflicting contents have been made successively, which one should prevail?

The last legally valid will shall prevail. According to Article 1142 of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, a testator may revoke or amend a will he/she has made; if there are several wills with conflicting contents, the last will shall prevail. After the implementation of the Civil Code, notarized wills no longer have priority effect. If they conflict with other forms of wills made later, the latter wills shall also prevail. In practice, it is necessary to review the formal requirements of each will to ensure they are complete: if a will is invalid due to formal defects, the previously valid will may regain its effect. It is not appropriate to assume that "the most recent one shall prevail". It is recommended that lawyers review each will individually before determining the distribution plan.

Q5: If part of the will is invalid, does the rest of it still stand?

Arithmetic. If part of the will is invalid, it does not affect the validity of the other legal parts, which is the essence of the partial invalidation system. The processing path is: the legal parts shall be executed according to the will, and the estate involved in the invalid parts shall be handled in accordance with Article 1154 (4) of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China by statutory inheritance, and the first-order heirs, namely the spouse, children, and parents, shall inherit it. The shares shall be determined in accordance with Article 1130 in combination with the situation of supporting the elderly. For example, if the will leaves the entire set of marital jointly owned property to a child, the part allocating the spouse's share is invalid, but the testator's own share can still be inherited according to the will. If there are disputes among the parties about the scope of invalidation, they may jointly request the court to make a determination in the litigation.

If you are facing similar problems, it is recommended that you consult a professional lawyer as soon as possible with the evidence materials, so as to avoid missing the statutory time limit. →Legal services for inheritance·Attorney Li Yonghui·Beijing Henglue Law Firm