Relevant Legal Provisions

Civil Code Article 1145: The following circumstances lead to the loss of inheritance rights:
1. A sentence of punishment against the heir or potential heir for intentionally causing the death or severe injury, even if not resulting in death.
2. Using fraud or coercion to induce the heir to make, withdraw, or a testament regarding inheritance.
3. Using fraud or coercion to obstruct the heir in making, withdrawing, or modifying a testament regarding inheritance.
4. Forging, altering, concealing, or destroying the testament of the heir regarding inheritance.
5. Significant abuse or insult towards the heir expressed by the heir, resulting in the loss of inheritance rights.

Civil Code Article 1164: Heirs may request the division of the estate at any time, unless otherwise stipulated by law or contract.

Facts and Reasons

During the lifetime of our client's husband, he showed great care towards his son, even helping to repay debts owed by the son. However, in his later years, he fell seriously ill, underwent surgery, and was hospitalized, during which his son did not visit or accompany him, showing no concern for his father's health or well-being over a period of 6 years. Later, the husband attempted to visit his son's residence, but was denied entry. Distressed by these events, the husband and wife sought legal assistance with the intention to sever the father-son relationship. After the husband's passing, disputes arose between the son and his mother regarding the inheritance, leading to multiple lawsuits. The Taipei District Court ruled in the first instance that the son had forfeited his inheritance rights, which was subsequently appealed by the son.

Judgment

Regarding whether the son forfeited his inheritance rights, according to Civil Code Article 1145, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 5, significant abuse or insult towards the heir expressed by the heir results in the loss of inheritance rights. Significant abuse refers to inflicting physical or mental pain on the heir, such as physical assault or failing to provide necessary support despite having a legal obligation to do so, leading to significant mental anguish for the heir. In this case, the son consistently failed to visit or contact the heir, despite the father's prolonged illness until his passing, which strongly violates traditional filial piety values in our country and thus constitutes significant abuse towards the heir. Additionally, legal correspondence from our client, seeking to notify the son of his disinheritance, and testimonies from building management and executives where the son resides, confirm repeated attempts by the father to visit, all of which were ignored by the son, further supporting the claim of significant abuse towards the heir. Therefore, the original court's decision to dismiss the son's appeal on this matter was justified and should be upheld.


(Note: To protect the client's interests, certain case details and judgment images have been redacted and modified. For a full review of the case, please refer to  Judicial Yuan's judgment database)

Attorneys：Vincent Huang、Kevin Yu、Ian Yan