Insights

Who will inherit the inheritance in Ningbo? No one inherits and no one is bequeathed

Ningbo Author：LuXu WANG

In Ningbo, an old man who lived alone left without a spouse or children. His parents and brothers and sisters were gone, but what he left behind was a house in the old city of Haishu and a deposit of several hundred thousand yuan. Neighbors around him, distant relatives who have taken care of him for many years, and even street workers will ask the same question: who will this inheritance, which no one inherits and no one has bequeathed, belong to the state, the village collective, or can it be distributed to those who have taken care of him? This is not only a legal issue, but also involves the "general ledger" of the future ". This article clarifies this issue by drawing on the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China and local administrative channels in Ningbo.

What needs to be explained first is that "no one inherits and no one bequests" is not simply equal to "no children". Its judgment has strict legal standards, and the results of the treatment are divided into "to the state", "to the collective", "to the discretionary" and other different trends. Ningbo has not only the old city, but also the fishing and rural areas of Xiangshan and Ninghai, as well as the historical legacy of the original township enterprises, village collectives and other collective ownership organizations. These scenes will affect the final ownership of the heritage.

1. what is an estate that is "uninherited and unbequeathed"

The so-called "no one inherits and no one is bequeathed" means that at the beginning of inheritance, there is neither legal heir (including subrogation heir) to inherit, nor will the testamentary heir or legatee be willing to accept the inheritance, nor will anyone bear the inheritance according to law. It is not a colloquial expression meaning “no one is in charge,” but rather a status with a specific legal definition.

1. Three Typical Causes

In practice, there are primarily three pathways through which this state is formed:

  • First, the decedent objectively does not have any legal heirs and legatees. For example, an elderly person living alone with no spouse, children, or parents, whose siblings have also predeceased them, and who has neither made a will nor entered into a legacy support agreement.
  • Second, there are legal heirs, but all of them explicitly give up inheritance. In Ningbo, many families encounter this situation: after the decedent’s death, it is discovered that they had outstanding debts. Upon calculating the estate, the heirs determine that the assets are insufficient to cover the liabilities and therefore formally renounce the inheritance in writing.
  • Third, there are legal inheritors, but they all lose their inheritance rights, and there is no testamentary heir or legatee. According to the provisions of the Civil Code on the loss of inheritance, the intentional killing of the heir, the killing of other heirs in order to compete for the estate, etc., will lose the right of inheritance, and the estate will not be accepted.

2. Order of judgment: First, check if anyone wants it.

To judge whether an estate is "uninherited", we have to look at it in order: first look at whether there is a testamentary heir and the legatee is willing to accept it; then look at whether there is a legal heir willing to inherit it; then look at whether it is completely abandoned or completely lost. Only when these roads are impassable will they enter the process of "no one inherits and no one is bequeathed. On the surface, many cases in Ningbo look like "having no children equals returning to the state". In fact, the niece and nephew of the decedent can inherit in subrogation, or have a will to leave the house to the person who takes care of him. As a result, no one inherits at all.

Whether the 2. belongs to the state or the collective: the identity of the decedent during his lifetime

Once the inheritance is confirmed to belong to no one inherited and no one bequeathed, Article 1160 of the Civil Code stipulates the attribution: "The inheritance that no one inherits and no one bequeathed belongs to the state and is used for public welfare undertakings; If the deceased was a member of the collective ownership organization before his death, it belongs to the collective ownership organization where he belongs. This provision divides the attribution into two distinct lines.

1. owned by the state and used for public welfare

For urban residents, urban employees, and other deceased persons who are not members of collectively owned organizations, any estate that has neither heirs nor legatees shall vest in the State, and the law explicitly stipulates that such estate must be “used for public welfare purposes.” This means that the state receives this part of the property is not simply "returned to the treasury", but with the property of public welfare. In practice, the real estate and savings of elderly individuals living alone in urban Ningbo, in the absence of both heirs and legatees, are typically managed by the civil affairs department as the estate administrator and disposed of in accordance with the law.

2. Owned by the collective ownership organization

If the deceased was a member of the collective ownership organization before his death, the estate belongs to the collective ownership organization where he belongs. The key here is the identity judgment: whether the heir was a member of a collective ownership organization during his lifetime. In the history of Ningbo, township enterprises and village collective economy are developed. Villagers and employees of former collective enterprises in Xiangshan, Ninghai, Cixi and other places may be involved in this identity. What needs to be emphasized is that "villagers" are not of course equal to "members of collective ownership organizations". It depends on their specific membership relationship with village collectives and collective enterprises.

3. Ownership is not "who gets first"

Whether it belongs to the state or the collective, it is not the one who lives in it first and who holds the passbook first. Unauthorized possession and disposition of uninherited inheritance may constitute infringement and shall be liable for return and compensation. This is why many such estates must be taken over, counted, registered by the estate administrator, and then dealt with in accordance with the law.

3. Who will handle the cleanup and take over: The civil affairs department or the village committee will serve as the estate administrator. “

‘It reverts to the state’ may sound like a simple statement, but when it comes to the specifics—how the assets are received, who is responsible for managing them, and whom creditors should approach—the estate administration system becomes essential.” Article 1145 of the Civil Code stipulates: "after the commencement of inheritance, the executor of the will shall be the administrator of the estate; if there is no executor, the heir shall promptly elect the administrator of the estate; if there is no election, all the heirs shall jointly act; if there is no heir or heir gives up inheritance, the civil affairs department or villagers' committee of the place where the decedent lives shall act as the estate administrator."

1. No heirs or all give up, civil affairs, village committee top

this regulation directly corresponds to the scene of "no one inherits": if there is no heir, or if all the heirs give up the inheritance, the civil affairs department or the village committee of the place where the decedent lived before his death shall act as the estate administrator. Ningbo urban areas generally correspond to streets and civil affairs departments, and rural areas correspond to villagers' committees. The duties of the administrator include cleaning up the estate, making a list of the estate, dealing with the debts of the heirs, dividing the estate, etc. In the material, "After He's death, the heirs all give up inheritance, and the Civil Affairs Bureau is designated as the administrator", which is the embodiment of this system.

2. What can creditors and interested parties claim

If the decedent is in debt during his lifetime, and the heirs give up all the inheritance, and the estate is in a state of no one to manage, the creditor is not helpless. Creditors and interested parties may, in the event of a dispute over the determination, change or performance of duties of the estate administrator, apply to the people's court for the appointment of an estate administrator in accordance with the law. In other words, creditors may apply to have a bankruptcy administrator appointed, thereby enabling the civil affairs department or the village committee to take over the estate and satisfy their claims in accordance with the law, rather than allowing the estate to remain unattended and leaving their debts unrecoverable.

It needs to be noted that the administrator is the "administrator" rather than the "heir", and it does not assume the responsibility of paying off the debts of the estate itself, nor does it acquire the ownership of the estate due to the management. The role of the administrator is to sort out the estate and deal with it in accordance with the law, and the final attribution is still determined in accordance with Article 1160.

4. two types of "outsiders" can still be divided: discretionary inheritance

Even if it is determined that no one inherits and no one is bequeathed, it does not mean that the estate can only be "confiscated". Article 1131 of the Civil Code states: "A person other than the heir who is dependent on the decedent, or a person other than the heir who has more support for the decedent, may be given an appropriate inheritance. "This article is called" discretionary inheritance ", which is the real concern of many Ningbo parties.

1. Two types of subjects that can be divided

  • The person who depends on the decedent: for example, the person who is supported, supported and cared for by the decedent for a long time, even though he is not in the legal succession order, can also get the proper inheritance.
  • For those who support the decedent more: for example, the neighbors who take care of the elderly living alone for a long time, distant relatives, or non-relatives who take care of their daily life all the year round. It is mentioned in the material that persons other than the legal heirs who have more support for the decedent may be given an appropriate share of the estate, and in some cases may be more than the legal heirs.

2. The relationship with the state and the collective

Article 41 of the Interpretation (I) of the Supreme People's Court on the Application of the Inheritance Code of the the People's Republic of China Civil Code makes it clear that when the estate is owned by the state or collective ownership organization because there is no one to inherit and no one to be bequeathed, the people's court shall appropriately divide the estate according to the circumstances. This means that, even if the estate is on the path of attribution to the State or to the collective, the discretionary share may still be claimed by law and the court will, as the case may be, allocate the appropriate estate.

3. “Appropriate” does not mean “arbitrary”; it depends on the actual circumstances of providing support.

The key to discretionary sharing lies in the fact of support: long-term, continuous and substantive care is far easier to be recognized than occasional visits. In some cases in Ningbo, neighbors took care of the elderly for more than 10 years, and the court supported their appropriate inheritance. However, there are also cases in which the court will not support too many claims based on the status of relatives or occasional contacts. When claiming, attention should be paid to retaining evidence such as taking care of daily life, paying medical expenses, and handling affairs on behalf of others, such as transfer records, medical escort records, community certificates, and neighbor testimony.

The 5. pays its debts first and then returns to the public: the order of settlement of estate and taxes and debts.

Many people think that "the inheritance belongs to the country" is to give all the property to the country, in fact, we have to calculate the debt first. Article 1161 of the Civil Code stipulates: "The heir shall pay off the taxes and debts due to the heirs in accordance with the law to the extent of the actual value of the acquired estate."

1. The estate shall first be used to pay taxes and debts.

The inheritance that no one inherits and no one bequeathed should also be used to pay off the taxes and debts that the decedent should pay according to law before his death. Only the portion remaining after all debts have been settled shall be owned by the state or collective-owned organizations. In other words, “returning to the state” or “returning to the collective” refers to the net amount, not an unconditional assumption of all debts. For a heir with a debt, the estate is likely to have little left after liquidation.

2. No debt to renounce the successor

According to Article 1161, if an heir renounces the inheritance, they shall not be liable for the taxes and debts that the deceased was legally obligated to pay. Article 1124 of the Civil Code stipulates: "If the heir renounces the inheritance after the beginning of the inheritance, he shall make a written statement of renunciation of the inheritance before the estate is processed; if there is no indication, the inheritance shall be deemed to be accepted. "There are two main points here: one is that the waiver of inheritance must be made before the estate is processed, and it must be in writing; the other is that if it is not clearly stated, it is regarded as acceptance of inheritance, not automatic waiver. Many heirs in Ningbo think that "no matter is equal to give up", in fact, the legal default is to accept, this point should be paid special attention.

3. The order of operations must be calculated correctly.

By connecting the above several items, an inheritance without inheritance should be treated as follows: first, determine who is the administrator of the inheritance, and the administrator should clear the inheritance, deal with creditor's rights and debts, and pay off taxes and debts. If necessary, the person who has the right to share the inheritance should claim to share the appropriate inheritance, and the remaining property should be owned by the state (for public welfare) or collective ownership organizations. No matter which step it is, it must be carried out in accordance with the law and cannot be disposed of privately by individual subjects.

6. Several Common Misconceptions

  • Misunderstanding 1: Without children, the heritage must belong to the state. In practice, siblings, nieces, nephews, and other relatives may be entitled to inherit by law or through substitutional inheritance; they may also have a will or a legacy support agreement. These possibilities must be ruled out one by one before it can be determined that there is “no heir.”
  • Misunderstanding 2: If you take care of the elderly for many years, you will naturally be the heir. The person who supports more is not the legal heir, but the subject of the "discretionary share of the estate", whether the share can be divided and how much depends on the fact of support and the specific circumstances of the case, not the inheritance of course.
  • Misunderstanding 3: The inheritance must be "confiscated" after giving up the inheritance ". The abandonment of inheritance is only that the heirs themselves do not come forward to bear the inheritance, and the inheritance may still be borne by other heirs, or by the discretionary person, or after liquidation to the state, to the collective, not simply "confiscation".
  • Myth 4: Whoever takes the inheritance first gets it. There are statutory management and attribution procedures for uninherited estates, and unauthorized possession and sale may constitute infringement.

class case reference: in the case of Zhao a v. a district civil affairs bureau, the decedent has no heir, and a district civil affairs bureau is its estate administrator according to law. The court held that there was no dispute between the two parties over the identity of the administrator and no special appointment procedure was required, and that Zhao, who had more support for the decedent other than the heir, was ordered to inherit the full share of the house involved on the basis of family support and the wishes of the decedent. Trial court: Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court Case No.:(2021) Beijing 0105 Minchu No. 39323; Source: 2025 Cases of Chinese Courts, Disputes over Marriage, Family and Inheritance.

7. Frequently Asked Questions

Question: The decedent has no children, and his parents, brothers and sisters are all gone. Does the inheritance definitely belong to the state?

Not necessarily; we need to rule out other possibilities first. The first step is to see if there are any heirs or legatees; the second step is to see if there are nephews and nephews who can be inherited by subrogation, etc., the situation in the material is that there are no children but nieces can be inherited by subrogation, and ultimately not returned to the state; the third step is to see if there is no inheritance and no bequest. Only if the first two steps fail will they be dealt with in accordance with article 1160 of the Civil Code and will be attributed to the State (for public welfare) or to collective ownership organizations.

Question: I have taken care of the old man living alone for more than ten years. Can I share his inheritance?

You may assert your rights in accordance with the law, but it depends on whether a support relationship actually exists. According to Article 1131 of the Civil Code, persons other than the heirs who have more support for the decedent may be distributed to the appropriate estate; if the estate has been vested in the state or collective, in accordance with Article 41 of the (I) of the Interpretation of Inheritance, you file a claim for the acquisition of the estate, and the court shall allocate it appropriately as appropriate. Long-term, practical care is more likely to be supported, and it is recommended to preserve evidence such as transfers, escorts, and community certificates.

question: if the heirs have given up the inheritance, will we pay back the old man's debt? who will take care of the inheritance?

If the inheritance is abandoned (it must be made in writing before the treatment of the estate, and if it is not expressed, it shall be regarded as acceptance), according to Article 1161 of the Civil Code, the decedent shall not be liable for the payment of taxes and debts legally payable by the decedent. At this time, in accordance with Article 1145, the civil affairs department or the villagers' committee of the place where the decedent lived shall act as the administrator of the estate; the creditor may, in accordance with the law, apply to the court to appoint an administrator and receive compensation from the estate.

question: after the heritage belongs to the state, is it put into the national treasury or has another purpose?

Article 1160 of the Civil Code explicitly requires that assets be used for public welfare purposes. The State's acceptance of an inheritance that has no one to inherit and no one to bequeath is of public interest, not simply an increase in revenue. As for "belonging to the collective", it belongs to the collective ownership organization in which the decedent was born.

8. Practical Insights from a Lawyer

"What to do about the inheritance when people are gone and there are no relatives" -- the property will not disappear out of thin air, nor will it be owned by the caregiver automatically, for this kind of lonely old, dink or family whose relatives are cut off. A common misconception is that "whoever takes care of the most" or "if the neighborhood committee takes care of it, it belongs to the neighborhood committee". The legal direction is very clear: the inheritance, which is neither inherited nor bequeathed, is used by the state for public welfare undertakings; if the deceased was a member of a collective ownership organization before his death, it is owned by the collective. Caregivers and dependents do not automatically acquire any rights; they may only, in accordance with the law, claim a reasonable share.

In terms of operation, it should be identified in two steps. The first step is to exhaustively check whether there are heirs: spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, and nephews and nephews in the case of subrogation, one by one to check and retain household registration, file evidence. In the second step, if it is true that there are "two noes", the estate manager, I .e. the civil affairs department and the village committee, will clear the assets and capital and notify the possible creditors and legatees. If caregivers want to get compensation, they should prove that they have done more support obligations and collect evidence such as expenditure vouchers, neighborhood testimony, medical escort records, etc.

Avoidance of pits: First, don't wait for "no one to argue" to think that you can directly occupy the heritage, which may constitute embezzlement; Second, you need to take the initiative to claim and provide evidence to give the share, and the law will not automatically award it to you. In terms of timing, if you take care of an elderly person who has no close relatives for a long time, you should consider the legacy support agreement or will before his death, and fix the "care for acquisition" in advance, which is much safer than fighting for discretion behind him. If it is found that the elderly do not have heirs, they can urge or apply for the appointment of an estate manager to ensure that the estate is not lost and the claims can be paid off, which also protects the potential compensation claims of the actual dependents, so as not to let the good things fall short.