In China, land is considered “state-owned,” and properties purchased by individuals only come with a 70-year property right, which has long been criticized. Recently, the case of a single woman in Beijing who passed away due to illness and had her property confiscated (reclaimed by the state) has sparked controversy.
On February 25th, the topic “Beijing unmarried woman’s property confiscated by the state after her death” surged to the top of Baidu’s hot search list, leading many mainland netizens to question, “On what grounds was it confiscated?” This topic has continued to generate heated discussions over the past two days.
According to a report by CCTV News, in a recent court ruling in Changping District, Beijing, in June 2022, a 41-year-old single woman, Ms. Zhao, passed away due to illness, leaving behind a substantial inheritance, including a 101-square-meter house valued at over four million yuan in Changping District, Beijing, as well as bank deposits, life insurance money, funeral expenses, compassionate payments, totaling over 1.1 million yuan.
Both of Ms. Zhao’s parents had passed away before her, and she had no spouse, children, or siblings at the time of her passing.
With no will established by Ms. Zhao during her lifetime and no legal heir, nine siblings from both sides of Ms. Zhao’s parents went to court to divide her entire estate. These nine siblings included five uncles and aunts on her father’s side and four uncles and aunts on her mother’s side. They claimed to have fulfilled their duty of care towards Ms. Zhao and demanded inheritance.
In the final court ruling, the nine defendants collectively inherited Ms. Zhao’s bank deposits, life insurance money, funeral expenses, and compassionate payments, amounting to over 1.1 million yuan, based on their respective level of support provided to Ms. Zhao during her lifetime. One of the uncles inherited a 20% share, while the remaining relatives inherited 10% each. The property was reclaimed by the state and placed under the management of the Changping District Civil Affairs Bureau in Beijing.
The news of “Beijing unmarried woman’s property being reclaimed by the state after her death” has drawn criticism from netizens:
“It should have been mostly given to the cousin, who took care of her, but ‘state-owned’ didn’t care.”
“Regardless of whether her cousin is qualified to inherit her property, one thing is clear, the Civil Code only stipulates the rights enjoyed by the civil affairs department and deliberately avoids the obligations that the civil affairs department should undertake.”
“The key question is who took care of her in her old age. What did the state do for her?”
“Following this logic, should the debts of single, childless elderly people also be reclaimed by the state??? Then we’d all remain unmarried, try to borrow money, spend as much as we can, and when we pass away, just hand it over to the state?”
“Mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.”
“There will be many cases like this in the future.”
“This could be my fate.”
This incident has also sparked discussions on overseas platforms:
“If Ms. Zhao had debts with a bank before her death, the outcome would have been completely different; the Chinese court would have stated that Ms. Zhao’s relatives must bear her pre-existing debts.”
“Communist Party: Are Chinese people still brave enough to have children?”
“Wow, who would still buy a house in this situation?”
“Wanna compete with bandits for inheritance? They have over 70 years of experience in home robbery and an expert team with armed guards. Can you win against them?”
“The housing authority has many properties in prime locations, with numerous courtyard houses and small Western-style houses, these people know that.”
Cases where the properties of deceased residents with no legal heirs in mainland China are “reclaimed by the state” have previously occurred.
According to Jímù News, three years ago, an elderly man living alone, Mr. Ge, suddenly passed away at his home in Xuhui District, Shanghai. Mr. Ge’s wife, daughter, and other relatives had all passed away before him, leaving Mr. Ge without any legal heirs, wills, bequeathal agreements, etc. The Xuhui District Civil Affairs Bureau of Shanghai was designated by the court as the administrator of his estate.
Soon after Mr. Ge’s death, the son of his cousin took the Xuhui District Civil Affairs Bureau to court, demanding a division of Mr. Ge’s entire estate. The neighborhood committee provided evidence confirming that the cousin and his wife had taken care of Mr. Ge before his death. Eventually, the cousin and his wife received 1.3 million yuan, while other assets and property were reclaimed by the state. Later, another 3 million yuan deposit was found under Mr. Ge’s name. The cousin and his wife sued again to claim this portion of the inheritance, but the court did not support their claim.