As the saying goes, even upright officials find it hard to settle family disputes. In particular, marriage and family cases involving parental support, property division and inheritance are often tangled with conflicts between family affection and personal interests. A slight misstep may lead to lengthy and protracted litigation.
The following successful case was handled by Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin upon entrustment from the client Li Mou 3. Through well-planned strategies and precise legal measures throughout successive lawsuits, they achieved three consecutive victories, successfully safeguarding the client’s legitimate rights and interests. With professional expertise and wisdom, they embodied the responsibility and mission of family law practitioners.
Case Review: Three Layers of Entanglement Between Kinship and Interests Before and After the Passing of the 90-year-old Mother.
Ms. Chen had lived a hardworking life. Before retirement, she held a deputy department-level administrative rank with generous welfare benefits, and owned substantial bank deposits and one real estate property. She and Mr. Li 4 had three children: eldest daughter Li 1, son Li 2, and youngest daughter Li 3.
Mr. Li 4 passed away in 1987, and his estate had never been inherited or distributed. After his death, Ms. Chen lived alone. The three children each formed their own families: the eldest daughter resided far away in another city on a permanent basis; the son emigrated to Australia; while the youngest daughter Li 3 lived in a nearby community to take care of her mother.
As Ms. Chen advanced in age and suffered from illnesses that impaired her mobility, Li 3 attended to her daily life, medical care and personal affairs conscientiously for more than ten years. During this period, Li 3 kept her mother’s salary passbook on her behalf and assisted in cash withdrawals for her daily use.
The peaceful caregiving life was disrupted upon the return of her son Li 2. After returning to China for medical treatment and long-term residence at the end of 2023 due to illness, Li 2 took over the responsibility of caring for his mother as well as the custody of her passbook. Shortly afterwards, Li 2 filed a lawsuit against his younger sister Li 3, sparking a prolonged dispute over family affection and property inheritance.
Three Consecutive Victories: Wumei Lawyers Make Steady Progress and Resolve Disputes with Precise Strategies.
Faced with the sudden lawsuits, client Li 3 felt aggrieved and helpless. To safeguard her legitimate rights and interests, she immediately entrusted Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin as her legal representatives.
After accepting the entrustment, the lawyers promptly intervened in the cases, sorted out the case context, analyzed core disputes, and formulated targeted litigation strategies. Through progressive arrangement and precise efforts across three connected lawsuits, they achieved three consecutive victories for Li 3 and successfully resolved the crisis for her.
First Victory: Fundamental Countermeasure, Forcing the Opposing Party to Withdraw the Application for Declaration of Incapacity.
On June 28, 2024, Li 2 took the initiative to file an application with the court to declare his mother Chen as a person with no civil capacity, and requested to be appointed as her guardian. If the court had approved his application, Li 2 would have gained full control over Ms. Chen’s personal affairs and property, which would have put Li 3 in an extremely disadvantaged position.
After intervening in the case, Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin promptly guided Li 3 in collecting evidence. They presented arguments to the court that Li 2’s true intention behind the application was not to provide better care for his mother, but to seize control of her property, and that his application lacked factual and legal basis.
With the solid defense presented by the two lawyers, Li 2 realized that his application was unlikely to be upheld by the court and that the evidence was unfavorable to him. Eventually, he withdrew the incapacity declaration application in September 2024.
With this victory, Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin successfully thwarted Li 2’s initial plan, laying a solid foundation for subsequent related lawsuits.
Second Victory: Hitting the Core, Court Dismisses the Unjust Enrichment Lawsuit.
On August 29, 2024, Ms. Chen filed a lawsuit against Li 3, claiming the return of over 1.6 million yuan in bank deposits on the grounds of unjust enrichment.
Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin promptly identified numerous suspicious points in the complaint. Taking into account Ms. Chen’s physical condition, Li 2’s conduct after taking custody of the bank passbook, and clues provided by Li 3, they judged that the lawsuit did not reflect Ms. Chen’s true will, and was most likely filed improperly by Li 2 in his mother’s name.
To verify this opinion, the lawyers focused on Ms. Chen’s civil capacity, as well as the authenticity of the signature and fingerprint on the complaint. They guided Li 3 in collecting relevant materials and submitting evidence to the court to prove that the complaint did not represent Ms. Chen’s genuine intention.
In the end, the court adopted the lawyers’ arguments. It held that the complaint could not be confirmed as an expression of Ms. Chen’s true will, and legally ruled to dismiss the lawsuit filed under Ms. Chen’s name (actually manipulated by Li 2).
With this victory, Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin struck straight at the core of the case, and successfully cleared Li 3 of the suspicion of unjust enrichment.
Third Victory: Precise Strategy Applied, Court Rejects Inheritance Claims and Safeguards Legitimate Rights.
No sooner had one dispute subsided than another arose. On November 19, 2024, Ms. Chen unfortunately passed away. It was expected that the disputes would come to an end, yet Li 2 initiated another lawsuit against Li 3 on inheritance grounds.
He claimed that the bank withdrawals made by Li 3 during her nearly ten years of care for Ms. Chen should be included in the estate. In essence, he sought to indirectly recover the previously disputed funds alleged as unjust enrichment. He further demanded a 75% share of the property under Ms. Chen’s name, with Li 1 and Li 3 entitled to 12.50% each.
Crucially, Ms. Chen had executed a notarial will during her lifetime, stipulating that all her entitled and inherited shares of the involved property would pass solely to Li 2. With this so-called “advantageous notarial will”, Li 2 appeared to hold a decisive upper hand. Nevertheless, Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin did not back down. They accurately identified the breakthrough point of the case:
In inheritance disputes, the scope of heirs and the scope of estate must be clearly ascertained. Where the decedent’s property is co-owned with others, the decedent’s share shall first be separated from the joint property before being deemed part of the estate.
In this specific case, Li 2 failed to provide evidence regarding the survival status of Ms. Chen’s parents at the time of her death, making it impossible to confirm the full scope of legal heirs. Meanwhile, Li 4 passed away in 1987 at the age of over 60, and his parents may still have been alive then. Li 4 had multiple siblings. As nearly 40 years had elapsed since Li 4’s death, possibilities of subsequent inheritance and representation inheritance could not be excluded. Accordingly, Ms. Chen’s entitled share in the property could not be confirmed or separated for inheritance distribution.
In the end, the court adopted the lawyers’ arguments and legally dismissed Li 2’s claims.
Up to this point, relying on sophisticated litigation strategies, Lawyers Lu Junfeng and Guan Hongmin achieved
three consecutive victories. They fully resolved three connected disputes for Li 3 and firmly protected her legitimate rights and interests.
Interpretation by Wumei Lawyers
This case is a typical connected dispute in marriage and family law, covering three major categories: declaration of incapacity, unjust enrichment, and inheritance disputes. It involves intertwined issues including family affection, property control, lifetime disposition of property, and post-mortem inheritance.
Based on the case details, Wumei’s marriage and family lawyers summarize three practical enlightenments. These reminders are particularly relevant to elderly property management and inheritance issues, helping people avoid similar disputes in the future.
Takeaway 1: A Notarial Will Is Not Fully Infallible; Inheritance Procedures Shall Be Completed in a Timely Manner.
Many people believe that once a notarial will is made, they can rest assured and inherit the estate smoothly in the future. Nevertheless, in this case, Li 2 possessed Ms. Chen’s notarial will yet still lost the lawsuit.
The core reason is that he failed to complete inheritance procedures promptly after the succession opened. This led to uncertainty over the scope of heirs and the scope of estate, ultimately resulting in the loss of his litigation rights.
Reminder from Wumei Lawyers:
A notarial will is only one important basis for inheritance, and by no means an absolute guarantee of victory in lawsuits. After the decedent passes away, heirs shall promptly collect relevant materials, including wills, kinship certificates, and estate certificates, and proactively complete inheritance procedures such as estate notarization and property transfer.
In cases involving complex legal scenarios including subsequent inheritance and representation inheritance, heirs are advised to consult professional lawyers in a timely manner. This prevents situations where the scope of heirs and estate cannot be identified, which would hinder the realization of legitimate inheritance rights.
Takeaway 2: Families with Multiple Children Shall Sign Family Agreements in Advance to Clarify Rights and Obligations and Prevent Disputes.
The root cause of the successive conflicts in this case lies in the absence of written agreements among family members regarding parental support obligations, property usage, and estate distribution while the parents were alive. Disparities in contribution and interests among the siblings created estrangement, ultimately leading to litigation. This is also the most commonly overlooked issue for modern families with multiple children.
Advice from Wumei Lawyers:
For families with multiple children in particular, all family members should conduct joint consultations and sign written family agreements while the parents are still healthy. The agreement shall specify detailed arrangements, including the primary caregiver for the parents in old age, allocation of support duties, custodian of the parents’ daily property, rules for fund utilization, distribution of estates such as real estate and deposits under the parents’ name, and contingency measures. All family members shall sign and confirm the agreement, which may be notarized when necessary.
A clear family agreement defines the rights and obligations of each child and provides a legitimate basis for elderly support. It resolves potential disputes in advance, prevents siblings from falling out over property and inheritance after their parents’ passing, and fundamentally eliminates conflicts between family affection and property interests at the source.
Takeaway 3: Evidence Shall Be Preserved for Efforts in Caring for the Elderly to Safeguard One’s Own Rights and Interests.
In reality, many children take meticulous care of their elderly parents and assist them in withdrawing bank deposits. However, due to the failure to preserve relevant evidence, their efforts are not recognized in subsequent property division or inheritance disputes, and they may even be questioned by other heirs.
Reminder from Wumei Lawyers:
When a child takes care of elderly parents, especially when assisting them in withdrawing or disposing of bank deposits and other property, first of all, the parents shall act as the actors — that is, the relevant disposal procedures shall be completed by the parents themselves to reflect that the disposal of the relevant property is the true will of the parents. Secondly, if the parents are unable to complete the above procedures, the child who assists them must retain written evidence of obtaining the parents’ prior consent or subsequent ratification. Finally, the parents and all children should be kept informed as much as possible to avoid potential economic disputes in the future.
Conclusion
