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A legal battle over a family inheritance in China took a dramatic turn when feuding siblings discovered that neither of them was biologically related to their parents
The case involved a brother and sister from Tianjin fighting over a property worth three million yuan (RM1.77 million).
According to the Henan Broadcasting System, the dispute began after their father, Sun, died in March 2025, having transferred the property solely to his son.
In a statement he left behind, Sun explained his reasoning: “Our daughter is adopted, but we have always treated her as our own. In our later years, it was our son who took care of us.”
The statement also asked the son to provide “reasonable compensation” to his sister.
The sister contested the inheritance in the Nankai District People’s Court.
Image for illustration purposes only.
Image via New Straits Times/REUTERS/Florence Lo
The proceedings took an unexpected twist when the sister presented new evidence showing that her brother’s household registration documents also listed him as “adopted”.
This revelation reportedly caused the brother to break down in court.
He maintained that he was the sole caregiver for their parents after his sister had severed ties with the family following a dispute in the ’90s.
After three hours of intensive mediation, a settlement was reached.
The court ruled in favour of the brother retaining the property, but ordered him to pay his sister 550,000 yuan (about RM325,000) in compensation
The judge clarified that while adoption does not affect legal inheritance rights, the property was no longer part of the estate as it had been legally transferred and notarised in 2007.
The dramatic case has since gone viral on Chinese social media, with many comparing it to a television drama.