Your Parents Left You an Apartment. Your Spouse Says Half of It Is Theirs.
Inherited property during marriage under Chinese Civil Code: the one sentence your parents must write — and why most only children's families never do.
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A friend of mine is a single child from a well-off family in Jiangsu. His parents passed away two years ago and left him an apartment. He'd been married for five years. He and his spouse lived in that apartment. It never occurred to him there was a problem.
Then the marriage hit trouble. When they sat down to discuss separation, his spouse delivered a line that knocked the air out of him:
"This apartment — you inherited it during our marriage. I'm entitled to half."
He was incredulous. It's from my parents. It's mine.
Her response was calm, practiced, and — legally — not wrong: Your parents passed away while we were still married. Under the law, assets inherited during marriage are shared property.
He asked around. To his shock, the answer kept coming back the same.
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The Statutory Default
Under China's Civil Code, the default rule for inherited property during marriage is straightforward:
Article 1062: Property acquired by inheritance during marriage belongs to the marital community — unless the decedent's will (or statutory equivalent) specifies that the property goes exclusively to the inheriting spouse.
Read that carefully. The default is joint property. The exception requires an explicit, written statement from the deceased.
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The Single-Child Trap
Here's what makes this rule particularly cruel for China's single-child families.
In multi-child families, parents naturally consider how to divide their estate. The process leads them to consult professionals and write wills — and in doing so, they're typically advised to include the exclusionary language.
Single-child families think differently: "There's only one child. Everything goes to them anyway. Why write anything?"
This seemingly reasonable assumption creates a massive blind spot. Without a written will containing the critical sentence — "this property goes exclusively to my child and does not constitute marital property" — the inherited home becomes divisible in divorce.
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What the Critical Sentence Looks Like
It doesn't need to be complex. A single clause suffices:
> "The property described herein shall belong exclusively to my child [Name] as their personal property, and shall not form part of any marital community property."
Without those words, the family home your parents spent decades paying for could be split with someone they barely knew.
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Can You Fix It After the Fact?
No.
Once inheritance has occurred — once the property has transferred — its character is fixed. You cannot retroactively add exclusionary language after the decedent has passed. The moment of inheritance determines the property's legal nature.
If parents are still alive: act now. If parents have already passed without the necessary language: the property is presumptively marital, and the spouse has a valid claim.
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Timing Matters More Than Source
A common misconception: "But my parents earned this money. It came from my family, not the marriage."
The law doesn't care about source. It cares about when the inheritance occurred.
| Inherited Before Marriage | Inherited During Marriage |
|---|---|
| Personal property | Presumptively marital (unless will says otherwise) |
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Practical Guidance
- If your parents are alive: Have them execute a proper will with the exclusionary language. This is not about mistrusting your spouse. It's about respecting your parents' intention that their life's savings stay with their bloodline.
- Don't rely on "they only have one child": That's exactly why single-child families get caught.
- Notarization helps: A notarized will is harder to challenge and carries stronger evidentiary weight.
- The language must be precise: "The apartment goes to my son" is not enough. It must say "to my son alone, as his personal property, not as marital property."
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Tags: Law, Family Law, Property, Inheritance, China
The author is a trainee lawyer at Jiangsu Yonglun Law Firm. This article is for legal knowledge sharing and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, nor does it create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and judicial interpretations vary by jurisdiction and are subject to change. For specific legal inquiries, contact: szliyangxi@gmail.com | WeChat: ketomate