How to inherit property in China when you live abroad

By June Zhang, PRC lawyer in Xiamen · Licence no. 13502199911278128 (how to check it) · Updated 29 October 2026

June Zhang has practised law since 1998 and has focused on family and inheritance since 2012. She works in English and Chinese.

Which situation are you in?

• There is no will. The Civil Code's order of heirs applies. See who inherits under Chinese law.
• There is a will, made in China or abroad. See which country's law applies and wills for property in China.
• All the heirs agree. The usual route is an inheritance notarisation, then registration. See the steps.
• An heir disagrees, can't be found or won't sign. See what happens if the heirs don't agree and inheritance disputes in China.
• Some heirs live in Hong Kong, Macao or Taiwan. See signing documents abroad.
• One heir wants to give up their share. See giving up an inheritance in China.
• You don't know what the estate holds. See finding the property and bank accounts of someone who died in China.
• The type of property. A flat or house: registration and selling it. Bank deposits: step 6. Company shares: step 7. An ancestral, village or overseas-Chinese home often has old or incomplete records, so it starts with a records check and a written plan (USD 2,500). See also a court case on inheriting a village house.

What are the steps when all the heirs agree?

When all the heirs agree, an estate in China usually goes through five steps. The heirs and the property are identified, each heir abroad signs papers at home, the documents go to a notary office, the notary issues an inheritance certificate, and the property registry puts the home in the heirs' names. Steps 6 to 8 apply only to bank deposits, company shares or a sale.

1. Work out who the heirs are and what the estate holds

• Who: you and June Zhang, before anyone signs anything.
• What is needed: the date of death, the last place the person lived, a family tree that includes earlier marriages, and the property you know about.
• Where it gets stuck: an heir is left out. The notary office needs details of every statutory heir (China Notary Association, Guidance on Inheritance Notarisation, Article 3), including children born outside marriage and stepchildren the person raised (Civil Code, Article 1127). If an heir died after the person, that heir's own heirs take their place (Article 1152).

2. Sign a power of attorney and declarations where you live

You can give someone in China a power of attorney to handle the notarisation for you. Only matters such as wills must be done in person (Notarisation Law, Article 26). The notary office asks for the power of attorney in notarised form (Guidance on Inheritance Notarisation, Article 3(9)). An heir who gives up a share declares it before the notary in China, or has the declaration notarised if they can't attend (Article 17).

How the document becomes usable in China depends on where you sign it:

• Apostille Convention countries, such as the US, the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines and Singapore: a local notary, then an apostille, a one-page certificate confirming the signature and seal. The Convention has applied to mainland China since 7 November 2023 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs). Whether it applies between China and your country is shown in the HCCH status table.
• Other countries, such as Malaysia or the United Arab Emirates: a local notary, that country's certification, then legalisation by the Chinese embassy or consulate.
• Hong Kong: a China-Appointed Attesting Officer, a Hong Kong lawyer appointed by China's Ministry of Justice, attests the document, and China Legal Services (Hong Kong) Ltd checks and stamps it for use on the mainland (Measures on China-Appointed Attesting Officers (Hong Kong), Articles 3 and 5). No apostille is used.
• Taiwan: a Taiwan notary notarises it, and the Straits Exchange Foundation sends a copy to the notaries' association on the mainland for checking (Agreement on the Use and Verification of Notarial Certificates, 1993, items 1 and 2).
• Chinese citizens abroad: Chinese embassies and consulates can notarise documents (Notarisation Law, Article 45) and, since 1 June 2023, offer remote video notarisation with notary offices in China (Ministry of Foreign Affairs notice). Check what your consulate accepts for property.

• Who: June Zhang drafts the documents in Chinese and English with signing instructions for your country. You sign and arrange the notarisation and the apostille or legalisation.
• Where it gets stuck: your name is spelled differently in your passport and in Chinese records, or a power is missing. Either means signing again. See documents heirs abroad need.

3. Gather the documents for the notary office

The notary office works from a fixed list: identity documents, the death certificate, details of all statutory heirs with proof of relationship, the original title documents, the originals of every will, any marital property agreement, declarations from heirs who give up their share, and notarised powers of attorney (Guidance on Inheritance Notarisation, Article 3).

• Who: you collect what you hold abroad; June Zhang tells you which records can be obtained in China.
• Where it gets stuck: proof of relationship for relatives who left China long ago, and documents that need a Chinese translation.

4. The inheritance notarisation, when the heirs agree

Inheritance is one of the matters a Chinese notary office certifies (Notarisation Law, Article 11). For real estate, you apply to the notary office where the property is (Article 25). The notary checks the death, the heirs, the property and any will, then issues a notarised inheritance certificate (繼承公證書).

• Time: after accepting the application, the notary office has 15 working days to issue it. Time for force majeure, for supplying more documents or for checking facts isn't counted (Article 30).
• What it is worth: registries and banks rely on it, and it stands unless strong contrary evidence overturns it (Article 36).
• Where it stops: a notary office won't notarise a matter the parties dispute (Article 31(4)).
• Who: June Zhang prepares the file, deals with the notary office and attends under your power of attorney. Notary fees are paid at cost.

What happens if the heirs don't agree?

If the heirs can't agree how to divide an estate, a people's mediation committee can mediate, or the heirs can go to court (Civil Code, Article 1132).

• Which court: where the person lived at death, or where the main property is (Civil Procedure Law, Article 34(3)).
• Heirs who stay out: an heir who neither joins nor gives up their rights is added as a co-plaintiff; an heir who gave up the inheritance in writing is not a party (Supreme People's Court Interpretation (I) on the Inheritance Book of the Civil Code, Article 44).
• Time: the six-month limit for ordinary first-instance cases (Civil Procedure Law, Article 152) doesn't apply to foreign-related cases (Article 287), so there is no fixed end date.
• Power of attorney: a foreign national's must be notarised and legalised, or go through a treaty procedure (Article 275); a Chinese citizen abroad has it certified by the Chinese embassy or consulate (Article 62).
• After judgment: the judgment or mediation document takes the place of the notarised certificate at the registry (Implementing Rules for the Real Estate Registration Regulations, Article 14).

Court work is priced on its own; see fees for court cases, the court fee calculator and inheritance disputes in China.

5. Register the property in the heirs' names

• Who applies: an heir can apply alone (Real Estate Registration Regulations, Article 14).
• What is needed: proof of death, the will or an agreement of all statutory heirs on who takes the property, and proof of relationship; or notarised documents or a court document (Implementing Rules, Article 14).
• Time: 30 working days from acceptance, unless a law provides otherwise (Regulations, Article 20).
• Tax: a statutory heir pays no deed tax on inherited land or housing (Deed Tax Law, Article 6(5)), and no individual income tax is charged on a home received by inheritance or under a will (Ministry of Finance and State Taxation Administration Announcement No. 74 of 2019, item 2(3)).
• Where it gets stuck: the title also names a living spouse, so the spouse's half comes out first (see the rules below); or the property is in another city, with its own notary office and registry.
• Result: a real estate title certificate (不動產權證書) in the heir's name.

6. Bank deposits

• The general rule: a bank pays out or transfers a deceased person's deposits on a notarised inheritance certificate. If the heirs dispute them, it acts on a court judgment, ruling or mediation document (People's Bank of China, Provisions on Implementing the Regulations on Savings Administration, Article 40(1)).
• Small balances: where the deceased held RMB 50,000 or less at one bank, a spouse, child or parent can take it in one payment with proof of death and relationship, ID and a signed undertaking, and the account is closed (banking regulators' notice of 2021, items 2 and 4; limit raised by the notice of 2024, item 1).
• Account records: a first-order heir with a proper reason can ask for the records from six months before the death onwards (notice of 2024, item 4).
• Where it gets stuck: no one knows which banks the person used. See finding what an estate holds.

7. Shares in a company

When a shareholder of a limited liability company dies, the lawful heirs can inherit the shareholder's status unless the articles of association say otherwise (Company Law, Article 90). So the articles are read before anything else.

8. Sell the property and send the money abroad

• The order: in practice the property is registered in the heirs' names first, then sold like any other home.
• Selling from abroad: an heir abroad can have an agent in China handle the sale registration. The power of attorney for the sale must be notarised or legalised, or follow a treaty route such as an apostille (Implementing Rules for the Real Estate Registration Regulations, Article 12).
• Who can send it abroad: foreign citizens and Hong Kong and Macao residents can sell inherited property, buy foreign currency through a designated bank and send it abroad (Interim Measures on the Sale and Payment of Foreign Exchange for Transfers of Personal Property Abroad, Article 2). The foreign exchange authority's 2004 operating guidelines add Taiwan residents.
• Where and what: apply to the State Administration of Foreign Exchange branch where the deceased's household was registered (Article 5), with proof of the inheritance, the deceased's title and a tax certificate, notarised where required (Article 9).
• Where it gets stuck: property in a dispute or court case can't be transferred abroad until the case is over (Article 12). If you still hold Chinese nationality, these measures may not be your route; June Zhang confirms the route with the bank before you agree a sale.

Which country's law applies?

Chinese law decides who inherits a home or land in China when there is no will, even if the person who died lived abroad (Law on the Application of Law to Foreign-Related Civil Relations, Article 31). That law has a separate rule for each question, and some rules point to foreign law:

• No will: the law of the place where the person habitually lived at death; for immovable property such as a flat or land, the law of the place where it is (Article 31).
• Form of a will: valid if it meets the law of the testator's habitual residence or nationality, when the will was made or at death, or the law of the place where it was made (Article 32).
• Effect of a will: the law of the testator's habitual residence or nationality, when the will was made or at death (Article 33).
• Estate administration: the law of the place where the estate is (Article 34).
• An estate with no heirs: the law of the place where the estate was at death (Article 35).

"Habitual residence" is a place where the person had lived for at least a year without a break and that was the centre of their life, leaving aside stays for medical treatment, labour dispatch or official duties (Supreme People's Court Interpretation (I) on that law, Article 13).

Bank deposits are movable property, so foreign law may decide who inherits a Chinese bank account. A will made abroad can be valid in China, and its effect may be judged under foreign law. June Zhang advises on Chinese law only, and works with your lawyer abroad where foreign law decides a point.

Who inherits under Chinese law?

Without a will, the spouse, children and parents of the person who died inherit first, usually in equal shares (Civil Code, Articles 1127 and 1130). Brothers, sisters and grandparents on both sides inherit only if no one in that first group does (Article 1127).

Inheritance starts at the moment of death (Article 1121). A legacy-for-support agreement comes first, then a will; if neither exists, the statutory order applies (Article 1123). A legacy-for-support agreement is a contract in which someone who isn't an heir cares for the person for life and arranges the funeral, and in return receives what the agreement leaves them (Article 1158).

Who else counts as an heir

• "Children" includes children born in or outside marriage, adopted children and stepchildren the person raised. Parents and siblings include adoptive and step relations where there was a caring relationship (Article 1127).
• A widowed daughter-in-law or son-in-law who gave the main support to the parents-in-law is a first-order heir (Article 1129).

When a child died first

If a child died before the person, that child's descendants take the child's share. If a brother or sister died first, their children take that sibling's share. They inherit only the share of the person they replace (Article 1128).

Shares

Heirs in the same order usually take equal shares. An heir who gave the main support may get more; one who could have supported the person and didn't should get less or nothing. Heirs can also agree on unequal shares (Article 1130).

The spouse's half comes out first

Unless the couple agreed otherwise, half of their joint marital property belongs to the surviving spouse, and only the rest is the estate. Where the estate is part of property a family owns together, the other owners' shares come out first too (Article 1153).

Giving up a share

• An heir who gives up the inheritance must say so in writing before the estate is dealt with; an heir who says nothing accepts (Article 1124). The declaration goes to the estate administrator or the other heirs (Interpretation (I) on the Inheritance Book, Articles 33 and 35).
• A change of mind before the estate is dealt with needs the court's acceptance; after that, it isn't recognised (Article 36).
• Someone left a gift in a will who isn't an heir must accept within 60 days of learning of it; silence counts as refusal (Civil Code, Article 1124).

More in giving up an inheritance in China.

An heir who dies before the estate is divided

That heir's share passes to their own heirs, unless a will says otherwise (Article 1152).

The estate administrator

The executor named in a will is the estate administrator. Without one, the heirs choose one, or act together (Article 1145). If people disagree about who it should be, an interested person can ask a court to appoint one (Article 1146).

Debts

Taxes and debts are paid before the estate is divided, keeping back what an heir who can't work and has no income needs (Article 1159). Heirs pay only up to the real value of what they inherit, and an heir who gives up the inheritance doesn't have to pay (Article 1161).

Wills

A person can leave property by will to one or more statutory heirs or to someone else (Article 1133). A will must keep back a necessary share for an heir who can't work and has no income (Article 1141). If several wills conflict, the last one prevails (Article 1142). See wills for property in China.

What does it cost?

A written assessment of the estate is USD 1,950. The full route for one property and up to three heirs is from USD 6,650. Each step can also be handled on its own.

• The written assessment covers the family, the known property in China, which law applies, a document checklist for each heir and the next steps, with the costs to expect.
• The full route covers the power of attorney and declarations, the inheritance notarisation and registration, for one property and up to three heirs: the fees for those three steps added together.
• Single steps. The power of attorney and declarations (USD 650 for the first heir, USD 250 for each further heir); the notarisation (from USD 3,500, plus USD 500 for each further heir); registration (from USD 2,500 per property); sale and remittance (from USD 3,500 per property); bank deposits (from USD 2,500 per bank); shares (from USD 3,500 per company).

To talk it through first, a 60-minute consultation is USD 500.

Fees are in US dollars and are fixed or staged. Notary fees, registration fees, translations, legalisation and travel outside Xiamen are paid at cost. In China, inheritance cases can't be taken on a contingency basis (Opinions on Further Regulating Lawyers' Fees, 2021, item 3(4)). See how we work.

What makes the fee higher?

The fee rises with each extra heir, country, property or city, and when records are missing or an heir won't cooperate.

If any of these apply to your family, mention them when you send a few lines about the estate and the names of the other heirs. A conflict check comes first.

What you receive at each stage

• Assessment: a written assessment in English or Chinese.
• Power of attorney: the power of attorney and declarations in Chinese and English, ready to sign, with signing and legalisation instructions for your country.
• Documents: a checklist for each heir, and a check of each document before it is sent to China.
• Notarisation: the notarised inheritance certificate.
• Registration: the real estate title certificate in the heir's name.
• Deposits: the bank's payment to the account you name.
• Sale and remittance: the sale contract, tax receipts, the foreign exchange approval and the bank's remittance record.
• Throughout: a written update at each step.

What this service can't do

• It can't make an heir sign. If one refuses, the matter moves to mediation or court.
• It doesn't cover foreign law or foreign tax. If your country taxes the inheritance or needs its own estate process, June Zhang works with your lawyer there and hands over the documents they need.
• It doesn't value property. Where a value is needed, a valuer does it, paid at cost.

Selected matters

Names, places, dates and amounts have been removed. These show the type of work involved and do not promise any outcome.

An earlier marriage adds heirs, because children of every marriage are first-order heirs (Civil Code, Article 1127). The first matter had children from two marriages living in different countries and ended in mediation (see what happens if the heirs don't agree). The second was completed by notarisation, the route in steps 2 to 4.

What to send first

• A short summary: who died and when, which city the property is in, who the heirs are and which country each lives in, and whether there is a will.
• The names of the other people involved, such as the other heirs, so that a conflict check can be done first.
• Please don't send passport scans, certificates or bank details yet. After the conflict check you are told which documents are needed and how to send them safely.

Say if you want the written assessment or a consultation. You get a reply within one working day (Beijing time; weekends and Chinese public holidays not counted).

Send a short summary