A Study On The Legacy Support Agreement In China

In recent years,the population structure of China has become more aging,and the people’s demand for elderly care is getting higher and higher.Since its application in the 1980 s,it has guaranteed the basic living needs of the elderly in rural area.However,in the face of new changes in social and economic development,the property owned by the elderly has increased sharply,and the general and principled legacy and support agreement system can no longer meet the actual needs.The overly broad bequest and support agreement has various hidden dangers from the beginning of the conclusion to the implementation of the agreement,which makes many parties with good trust relationships eventually go to litigation,which violates the original intention of the legislation.Secondly,Through the analysis of national judgment documents from 2010 to 2020,based on the 427 cases involved in the judgment documents,the paper have explained the specific application of the trial procedures,dependents and agreed matters in cases involving bequests and support agreements in China,thus this paper is discussing the main problems in the application of Chinese bequest support agreement.There are:(1)The formal requirements of the bequest and support agreement are too loose,which leads to the difficulty of proof in the litigation process and the difficulty of guaranteeing the rights and obligations of dependents as a vulnerable group.(2)The priority of the bequest and support agreement is unclear.When it conflicts with the debts and "must-remaining shares" of the dependent before their lives,there is a lack of clear rules on the priority.(3)The scope of supporters is too narrow,and the support subject of natural persons excludes legal heirs,which cannot meet the needs of dependents in practice.(4)In the absence of a monitoring mechanism for the implementation of the bequest and support agreement,and the dependents dispose of the property without authorization,it is difficult for the supporters to obtain relief for their rights.(5)The system for the termination of the bequest and maintenance agreement is not perfect.In some cases,the compulsory performance is not suitable for the personal nature of the agreement.At last,The bequest support agreement is not only a system to ensure that the elderly have security,but also a system choice for introducing social forces to guarantee the elderly.To improve the bequest and support agreement system,it is urgent to balance the interests of both parties,resolve problems before disputes,and maintain the trust relationship between the two parties.To this end,based on the useful experience of similar inheritance contract systems in foreign countries,the following measures can be taken to improve the system:(1)Improve the formal requirements of the bequest and support agreement,and promote it in written form in the form of text.Village committees and neighborhood committees dominate the witness method to ensure the authenticity.(2)Clarify the priority level of effectiveness of the bequest and support agreement,divide the "must-retained share" share,estate administrator’s fee,supporter’s monetary consideration,and dependents secured debt into four levels,and pay accordingly.(3)Expand the scope of supporters in the bequest and support agreement,and include the legal heirs into the scope of supporters on the basis of respecting the respecting the autonomy of the elderly.(4)Introduce an advance notice registration and supervision system,aiming at the status quo that most of the agreed properties are real estate,restrict the supporters from disposing of the real estate without authorization during the performance of the agreement,and protect the interests of the supporters.(5)Refine the right to rescind the bequest and support agreement,and give both parties the legal and arbitrary rights of rescission based on the application of the contract,so as to match the personal nature of the bequest and support agreement.