Older Brothers Who Took All Father's Property Ask Younger Sisters to "Share Mother's Property"

"Prefer Gradual Redistribution of Mother and Father’s Assets"
Claims for Statutory Share Possible If Less Than One Year Since Death

A story was introduced in which older brothers, who received all financial support and inherited property from their patriarchal father, are now trying to take even the mother’s inheritance left to their younger sisters.

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On the 26th, YTN Radio's "Attorney Jo Inseop's Counseling Center" shared the story of A, who has this concern. A, the third daughter among five siblings, explained, "Recently, my father passed away, and shortly after, my mother also passed away. During his lifetime, my father was a patriarchal man who financially supported only his sons, my older brothers." She continued, "My father gave each of my older brothers a house when they got married and also provided business funds. About three years before he passed away, he separately transferred property to them. However, my sisters and I, the daughters, received nothing. Knowing this situation, my mother wrote a will before she died, leaving her property to her daughters, and had it notarized. That is how we were able to inherit my mother’s estate."

The problem began after the COVID-19 pandemic when the older brothers’ businesses started to falter. A said that her older brothers began demanding their mother’s property from her and her sisters. They contacted them frequently, to the point that it became difficult to carry on with daily life. To make matters worse, the youngest sister, who should have united with them, has been unreachable. A then asked for advice, saying, "I want to amicably reach an agreement with my siblings to divide our mother’s property, and I also want to assert my rights to the inheritance from my father that I have not received."

Attorney Park Kyungnae commented on the case, saying, "Legal heirs can claim a statutory portion of the inheritance through a claim for the return of the reserved portion, which is half of the statutory inheritance share. Since inheritance begins upon the death of the father, if it has been less than one year since his death, a claim for the return of the reserved portion can be made against the siblings." Regarding the mother’s property, he added, "For the property listed in the will, a request can be made to transfer the title to the rightful heirs, and for other inherited property, a petition for inheritance property division can be filed with the court to seek an appropriate division. The court will listen to each party’s opinions and issue a division judgment in a suitable manner."

Regarding the youngest sister who is unreachable, he explained, "If her whereabouts cannot be determined, other procedures such as public notice service or a missing person judgment petition must be taken. If she emigrated abroad long ago or has already passed away, a procedure to appoint a property manager for the absentee to represent her in the lawsuit or to serve lawsuit documents to her heirs must be followed."