Legislature axes siblings’ guaranteed inheritance share

The legislature yesterday passed an amendment to the Civil Code removing a provision that mandates a guaranteed minimum inheritance share for siblings, giving people greater freedom to distribute their estates through a will. The amendment to Article 1223, which passed its third reading without objection, is to take effect six months after being promulgated, which is expected to happen within a few weeks. Before being revised, the article stipulated that certain close relatives were entitled to a minimum share of an estate, even if a will left them out. For siblings, that guaranteed share was one-third of the total amount of the inheritance shared among them. Lawmakers vote on an amendment on inheritance legislation yesterday at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei. Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei