Taiwan Scraps Forced Sibling Inheritance — Aligning with Long-Standing Japanese Practice | Erin Wen

Taiwan's Legislative Yuan passed an amendment to Civil Code Article 1223 on July 28, removing the mandatory inheritance share reserved for siblings. At a press conference following the vote, Taiwan Wills Association Chairperson Liu Wei-de (center) described the change as a major step toward greater testamentary freedom.

Taiwan's legislature voted on July 28, 2026, to eliminate a legal provision that had guaranteed siblings a minimum share of a deceased person's estate even when a valid will directed assets elsewhere. The amendment to Article 1223 of the Civil Code abolishes what is known as the 特留分 (reserved portion) for siblings — the floor beneath which testamentary freedom could not previously reach. The change takes effect six months after presidential promulgation.

Sibling Rights Narrowed, Not Eliminated, Ministry Clarifies

The reform is narrower than it may initially appear. Siblings retain their statutory right to inherit under the Civil Code's default distribution rules. What they lose is the ability to claim a legally guaranteed minimum share when a valid will leaves assets to a spouse, domestic partner, friend, or charitable organization.

In practical terms: if a person dies without a will and has no surviving spouse, children, or parents, siblings still inherit. Taiwan's Ministry of Justice has stressed that the 應繼分 (statutory share) that siblings receive in the absence of a will remains unchanged.

Under the old rules, a single, childless person with no surviving parents who left an estate of NT$12 million could not, even through a carefully drafted will, prevent siblings from jointly claiming NT$4 million — one-third of their statutory share — as a reserved portion. Under the new law, a valid will controls the entire estate.

“This is an important step toward testamentary autonomy in Taiwan's inheritance law,” said Liu Wei-de, chairman of the Taiwan Wills Association and a practicing attorney. He called the amendment “a major milestone for property autonomy rights.”

Japan's Approach: Siblings Excluded Since the Post-War Civil Code

Japan's modern inheritance system has long excluded siblings from the reserved portion. Under the post-war Civil Code that took effect in 1948, the reserved portion (遺留分) has been available only to spouses, children (and their descendants by representation), and lineal ascendants. Siblings have never been entitled to it.

The 1980 amendments (effective 1 January 1981) made several related adjustments: they raised the surviving spouse's share when co-inheriting with siblings from one-half to three-quarters, limited the scope of representation for siblings to only the next generation (nieces and nephews), and introduced a formal contribution-share system. These changes reinforced an already established principle that the reserved portion is intended to protect those most closely dependent on the deceased — not adult siblings who typically live independently.

Taiwan's corresponding default split — under which a surviving spouse and siblings each take half when there are no children or parents — was left unchanged in this round of amendments, creating a structural difference with the Japanese rules.

Changing Families Drive Taiwan's Reform — And Unfinished Business Remains

The Ministry of Justice framed the amendment as a response to shifting household structures in Taiwan. Single adults, childless couples, and people in non-traditional living arrangements have long lacked a reliable way to leave their full estate to a long-term partner or caregiver, because even a carefully drafted will could be partially overridden by a sibling's reserved-portion claim.

The ministry argues that mandatory protections for siblings reflected an earlier era of extended-family interdependence that no longer matches how most Taiwanese households function. Adult siblings are generally economically independent and maintain separate residences, unlike a surviving spouse or minor children whose livelihood may depend on the estate.

The amendment is not a complete package. The ministry had also proposed companion measures — expanding discretionary allocation in hardship cases and recognizing a “special contribution by heir” provision for caregivers and others who materially helped build the estate. Those provisions remain under review at the Executive Yuan and were not included in this legislation, which is one reason the new rules carry a six-month delay.

With this vote, Taiwan's inheritance framework now aligns more closely with Japan's long-standing position: siblings remain statutory heirs when no will exists, but a valid will takes full precedence over any sibling claim. Whether further protections for non-traditional caregivers will follow remains an open question.

Original Article in Chinese

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