1. Article 1001 of the Civil Act provides that where a lineal descendant or sibling who is to become an inheritor in respect of inheritance by representation has died or becomes disqualified before the commencement of the inheritance, if there is a lineal descendant, his/her lineal descendant (hereinafter referred to as “relative by representation”) shall be the heir in the order of the person who died or becomes disqualified (hereinafter referred to as “qualified person”).

In this case, the spouse of a person who died before the commencement of inheritance or becomes disqualified shall be the co-inheritors in the order of the heir and the co-inheritors under Article 1001 (2) (Article 1003(2) of the Civil Act). All property rights and duties of the inheritee, which are legally comprehensively succeeded to by law, upon the death of the inheritee (Article 1005(1) of the Civil Act).

The renunciation of inheritance is an act that loses the legal status of inheritance, and it has a significant impact on the creditors, etc. of other co-inheritors, predecessors, or inheritors.

The Civil Act limits the period of renunciation of inheritance to three months from the date on which the heir becomes aware of the commencement of inheritance in order to clarify the existence of such declaration of intent and to uniformly handle legal relations (Article 1019(1) of the Civil Act). If an heir fails to grant qualified acceptance or waive within this period, it shall be deemed that a simple approval has been granted (Article 1026 Subparag. 2 of the Civil Act). In addition, the revocation of the renunciation of inheritance is not allowed (Article 1024(1) of the Civil Act). Furthermore, the Family Litigation Act and its rules stipulate the procedures and methods for the renunciation of inheritance to make a report to the Family Court within the said period (Article 1041 of the Civil Act). The heir, etc. shall report to the Family Court in writing stating the name and last address of the decedent, the relationship with the decedent, etc., and