China court disallows WeChat last will and testament of woman who left assets, debts to daughter

In China, a story has been making waves on social media about a woman who tried to leave her belongings to her daughter through a WeChat message. Unfortunately, when she passed away, her daughter discovered that her grandmother had taken all the possessions. The daughter sued her grandmother, and the court in Shanghai decided that a WeChat will isn't legally valid. They said the belongings should be divided according to the law. After some discussion, the grandmother agreed to give up the inheritance, and the daughter received everything. A Shanghai lawyer mentioned that China's laws require a will to be in one of six specific forms, and a WeChat message doesn't count.

Zhao, a single mother in Shanghai, was very ill and decided to make a will on WeChat, leaving everything to her daughter, Qian. She also mentioned that Qian should start paying off her debts. After Zhao's death, Qian found out that her grandmother, Sun, had kept all of Zhao's assets and refused to cooperate on the inheritance because Sun's son wanted a piece of the estate. This led Qian to take legal action against her grandmother. The court ruled that the WeChat will was not valid and that the assets should be split among the family members. It's unclear if Qian has managed to pay off her mother's debts, but eventually, Qian and Sun reached a settlement where Sun gave up the inheritance.

According to Brown Liu, a lawyer from Shanghai, the Civil Code in China states that a will must be one of six types: notarised, handwritten, recorded, printed with a signature, or spoken with witnesses. The WeChat will did not meet these criteria, so it was not recognized as a legal document. This is why the court could not accept Zhao's WeChat message as an official will.