Legal knowledge

In cases of legal inheritance where multiple individuals inherit jointly, the issue arises of determining the respective shares among several legal heirs of the same order. Article 13 of China's Inheritance Law explicitly stipulates the principles for the distribution of inherited property in legal inheritance. According to this article, in legal inheritance, the heir's share is determined based on the following two principles: 1. The share of inheritance for heirs of the same order should generally be equal. The generally equal share of inheritance for heirs of the same order means that, in the absence of special circumstances stipulated by law, legal heirs of the same order should share the inheritance equally based on the number of people. 2. Under special circumstances, the share of inheritance for heirs may be unequal.
In other words, legal inheritance is not necessarily perfectly equal. In some special circumstances, the share of inheritance for heirs may be unequal. So what are these special circumstances?

1. For heirs with special difficulties in life and lacking the ability to work, consideration should be given when distributing the inheritance. That is, for heirs who lack independent economic sources or other economic income and have difficulty maintaining their standard of living, and who lack the ability to work due to youth, old age, illness, or disability, a larger share of the inheritance should be given, exceeding the average share.

2. For heirs who have fulfilled the primary obligation of support for the deceased or who lived with the deceased, they may receive a larger share of the inheritance. Heirs who have the ability and conditions to provide support but fail to fulfill their support obligations should receive no share or a smaller share of the inheritance.

3. If the heirs reach a consensus, an unequal distribution is also permissible. That is, if legal heirs of the same order voluntarily reach an agreement on the distribution of inheritance shares through equal consultation, even if the distribution shares are unequal, it is allowed to be handled according to the agreement.
In addition, Article 12 of the Inheritance Law stipulates: "A widowed daughter-in-law who has fulfilled the primary obligation of support for her parents-in-law, or a widowed son-in-law who has fulfilled the primary obligation of support for his parents-in-law, shall be considered as a *heir of the same order*. Article 14: "Those who are not legal heirs but who depend on the deceased for support, lack the ability to work, and have no source of livelihood, or those who have provided significant support to the deceased, may be given an appropriate share of the inheritance." Non-legal heirs, if they meet certain conditions, may also participate in the distribution of inheritance.