Taiwan Inheritance Law for Foreigners: Forced Heirship, Wills, and Intestate Succession

Taiwan's inheritance system operates under civil law — not the common law approach familiar to Americans, Brits, or Australians. There is no centralized probate court that supervises distribution. Instead, heirs must coordinate across multiple government agencies, and the Civil Code dictates who inherits, how much, and what minimum shares cannot be overridden — even by a valid will.

For foreign heirs, two features of Taiwan's system consistently cause problems: the rigid statutory succession order and the forced heirship rules.

The Statutory Succession Order

Under Article 1138 of the Taiwan Civil Code, if someone dies without a valid will, inheritance follows a strict hierarchy:

The surviving spouse always inherits and has a unique status — they share the estate jointly with whichever order of heirs exists.

1. First order — Lineal descendants (children, grandchildren): The spouse and each child receive equal shares. Adopted children are treated identically to biological children. If a child predeceased the parent, that child's own children inherit by representation. The deceased child's spouse (son-in-law or daughter-in-law) inherits nothing.
2. Second order — Parents: If there are no descendants, the spouse takes one-half and the parents split the remaining half equally.
3. Third order — Siblings: The spouse takes one-half, siblings split the rest equally.
4. Fourth order — Grandparents: The spouse takes two-thirds, grandparents split the remaining third.

Step-children and unmarried partners have no automatic inheritance rights under Taiwan's Civil Code.

Why Forced Heirship Blindsides Foreign Families

Unlike common law systems where a testator can leave everything to anyone, Taiwan's Civil Code enforces compulsory portions (reserved portions). Every statutory heir is guaranteed a minimum share of the estate that a will cannot override.

The compulsory portion is calculated as a fraction of the intestate entitled portion:

• Spouse, children, parents: one-half of their intestate share
• Siblings, grandparents: one-third of their intestate share

The practical impact: even if the deceased left a valid written will directing 100% of their Taiwanese assets to a foreign partner, estranged children or other statutory heirs can petition to claim their compulsory portion. This regularly creates legal deadlocks when executing the mandatory Estate Partition Agreement, which requires unanimous signatures from all legal heirs.

The Five Valid Will Formats

For a will to be enforceable in Taiwan, it must conform to one of five statutory formats:

• Holographic will: Entirely handwritten, dated, and signed by the testator. No witnesses required but most vulnerable to forgery disputes.
• Notarized will: Orally declared before a notary, recorded, read aloud, and signed by the notary, testator, and two witnesses.
• Sealed will: Written, signed, sealed in an envelope, and presented to a notary with two witnesses.
• Dictated will: Orally dictated; one witness writes it down and reads it back. Three witnesses required.
• Oral will: Only permitted when death is imminent. Two witnesses required; must be validated by a court.

Foreign wills executed abroad are generally recognized in Taiwan if they comply with one of these formats, but enforcement in practice requires document authentication through TECO and translation into Traditional Chinese.

What Foreign Heirs Can and Cannot Inherit

Foreign nationals face restrictions on real estate inheritance under the Land Act. Article 18 requires reciprocity — the foreign heir's home country must grant equivalent property rights to Taiwanese citizens.

Citizens of fully reciprocal nations (US, UK, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, Germany, and others) can inherit residential property without restriction. But Article 17 land — agricultural, forestry, fishery, and military land — must be sold to a Taiwanese citizen within three years, or the government auctions it.

Citizens of non-reciprocal countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, Myanmar) cannot inherit real estate in Taiwan at all. Their inheritance is limited to movable property: bank deposits, securities, and personal items.

For the full inheritance decision framework — including templates for partition agreements and step-by-step filing procedures for foreign children — the Someone Died in Taiwan guide walks through every scenario with bilingual document templates.

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