Personal Wealth Management

How should you deal with your estate? Will or trust? Preparing an estate plan in advance will help avoid disputes among your heirs after your death.

Mr. Chen Yifei, a famous artist and a successful business man, died in 2005 because of an acute illness in China, leaving an estate comprised of assets located in both the U.S. and China. The assets in the US were all administered by the Yifei family trust, so Mr. Chen's heirs had no objection to the disposition of that part of his estate. Disputes erupted regarding the assets in China, however, because Mr. Chen did not make a will or other estate plan for this part of his estate, which included real estate holdings, paintings, enterprises, and bank deposits. First, Chen's current wife, Song Meiying filed an action in Shanghai, alleging that she deserved 70% of Mr. Chen's Chinese assets. In response, Chen Lin, Mr. Chen's first son, by a former wife, filed an action in the US and obtained a temporary administrative right over the estate. Using the temporary administrative right of the estate granted by the U.S. court, Chen Lin intended to stop Song Meiying from pursuing litigation in China and become the temporary administrator of Mr. Chen's Chinese assets. Thereafter, Chen Tian, the second son of Mr. Chen and his wife reached a compromise agreement with Chen Lin and Song Meiyang, and they all jointly filed an application requesting that the Shanghai Intermediate People's Court withdraw the case filed by Song Meiying.

This is an example of one of the countless inheritance disputes that occur in China every year. It is not surprising that Chen Yifei did not do any estate planning before his death because he was not old when he died and many people are reluctant to think about estate planning when they are young. In order to avoid a similar inheritance dispute in your own family, however, preparing a wealth management or estate plan is recommended.

RayYin & Partners began its wealth management practice when the firm was established in 2005. RayYin provides legal advice concerning wealth management to individuals who want to manage their financial interests more effectively. For more details about RayYin's wealth management practice, or to make an appointment to discuss what to do with your assets, please contact Ms. Hao Wang at wh@rayyinlawyer.com or Mr. Yi Zhou at zy@rayyinlawyer.com.