A Study On The Construction Of Forced Heirship System In China

The will discretion is an essential principle of inheritance laws around the world. To dispose one's estate according to a will is an important right that a citizen enjoys however, responsibilities always go tightly with rights so the freedom would never be absolute. Therefore, vertically viewing the inheritance laws worldwide, it is obvious that they all set necessary limits on will discretion. There was a forced heirship system in ancient Rome which was famous for its reflection of balanced approaches so that it became a model of legislative testamentary succession to have been followed by various countries. Due to the relatively lagging-behind succession legislation in China and many defects caused by our national conditions, the limits on will discretion are only confined to the protection for fetuses or the"double-lack"persons (refer to those who are lacking in abilities to work and source of income), namely, it is called the necessary heirship system. Nevertheless, for the sake of the vagueness of regulations and the difficulties in verdict through judicial procedures, legal inheritors are not given sufficient protection for their rights, which has evoked impact upon our good social customs and proper social orders. Through an introduction to will discretion, forced and necessary heirship systems, this thesis goes deeply to analyze the relevant testamentary succession systems in China so as to propose a conceived idea to set up a forced heirship system in our country.The thesis consists of three parts– Introduction, Main Body and Conclusion.The Introduction is a lead-in part for the motive of the thesis.The Main Body is divided into three chapters:Chapter One is on will discretion and limits. It mainly introduces the foundation of legal theories for will discretion, the historic revolution of relevant will discretion and limits home and abroad.Chapter Two is a brief account of the forced heirship system. It primarily introduces its definition, legal characteristics, process of birth and development, and its major contents in details.Chapter Three is on forced heirship system in China. It comparatively analyzes the similarities and differences of our necessary and forced heirship systems, and their respective disadvantages as well. It analyzes the historic and realistic factors leading to the lack of force heirship system in China, elaborates the necessity to establish it and proposes the train of thoughts for its construction.The Conclusion introduces how the ideas of the thesis came into being and its writing process, and also states the inadequateness in writing.