Mingyue Gao’s team recently completed a non-contentious matter involving an Australian migrant family’s inheritance of assets in China. Names and certain details have been anonymised to protect the parties’ privacy.
The deceased, Ms L, was born in China and later migrated to Australia, where she became an Australian citizen. She had married in Australia and had a son. Following her divorce, she returned to Shanghai and lived there for an extended period. At her death, she left bank deposits and real estate in China. Her parents and minor son agreed on the proposed inheritance arrangements. Nevertheless, the matter involved both Chinese and Australian law, property issues left unresolved at the time of the Australian divorce, a minor heir, an overseas will and cross-border document authentication.
After accepting the engagement, we first reviewed Ms L’s birth, naturalisation, marriage, divorce, long-term residence and death, and established her family relationships, including her parents, child and any possible spousal relationship. We then coordinated with the notarial institution to investigate domestic bank accounts, verify deposits, wealth management products and other financial assets, and investigate title to the real estate. To address the absence of a property settlement at the time of the Australian divorce, we worked with Australian lawyers to ascertain the relevant local family law. We distinguished the former spouse’s eligibility to inherit from potential property adjustment claims and existing ownership rights, resolving uncertainty over their implications for the estate in China.
The matter also involved an Australian will. After reviewing its terms, the applicable law and the minor’s interests, and taking account of the family’s agreed wishes, we designed a legally compliant procedure that coordinated with China’s statutory succession framework. We also confirmed document requirements in advance with the Chinese notarial institution, banks and real estate registration authorities, and coordinated lawyer witnessing of declarations in Australia, apostilles and Chinese translations to avoid duplicate authentication and supplementary document submissions.
The heirs ultimately completed inheritance notarisation, collected the bank deposits in China and registered the inherited real estate. The key to the successful handling of this matter was to clarify identity, marital status, property interests and the applicable law before designing the documentation and procedural steps. Collaboration between Chinese and Australian lawyers also enabled Australian legal advice to be accurately integrated with Chinese notarial, banking and registration practice.