Cross-border service for will registration
The China Will Registration Center has launched a cross-border service to address inheritance issues for people living abroad.
Chinese citizens living overseas can use the new service to entrust others with handling the required procedures via an online platform.
On Wednesday, the center announced numerous new initiatives to make it convenient for the registration of wills.
These include reducing red tape to further streamline procedures and allowing citizens to visit only once and receive notarization on the same day they register.
It has also built a coordination mechanism to resolve family disputes and address citizens' problems.
The aim is to significantly improve the convenience of will registration and to assist citizens in avoiding unnecessary disputes and concerns over property matters.
Going through pamphlets on will registration.
"With the accumulation of wealth of Chinese families, the aggravation of the aging population, and the changing family structure and concept, the distribution of property has become an increasingly complex problem, leading to more disputes resulting from the inheritance," said Chen Kai, a member of the management committee of the center.
Since its creation 10 years ago, the center has registered over 250,000 wills across the country, with the average age of registrants dropping from 77.43 to 68.13 as of March last year.
This year, the center plans to hold community lectures to promote China's Civil Code and assist citizens in protecting their rights and interests through the legal system.
It has recruited over 48,000 volunteers for the plan nationwide.
In 2023, the center will additionally issue 10 typical will registration cases. In one of the examples, following her death, a woman would donate her three apartments to a pet hospital.
She had intended to give the property to her three children, but none of them visited her while she was in the hospital or cared for her afterward, prompting her to modify her will, as the pet she had raised was her only source of solace.
