After Mr Huang divorced, his daughter lived with her mother. On his death he left a flat in Baoshan District worth over RMB 3 million, which his brother occupied. The brother argued that the daughter had abandoned her father and forfeited her inheritance, and that he, having cared for the deceased and arranged the funeral, should inherit.

Issue

Whether a daughter who did not live with her father had “abandoned” him within Article 1125 of the Civil Code, so as to lose her right of inheritance.

Outcome

The firm acted for the daughter and established that she was the sole first-order heir, that non-cohabitation is not abandonment, and that the brother, as a sibling, ranks after first-order heirs. The court upheld her entitlement to the estate.