Property, Succession & Civil Litigation

Not necessarily. First collect the IOU, contract, transfer records and messages, and check maturity and limitation. A content-certified demand preserves evidence but is not an enforcement title; if relying on it to interrupt limitation, follow within six months with a suit or an equivalent payment-order or mediation application. For a fixed sum supported by prima facie material and capable of domestic service, consider a payment order. The debtor may object within twenty days without reasons; the order then loses effect to that extent and the matter proceeds as mediation or litigation. Without a valid objection, enforcement requires the order plus a certificate of finality. It is an enforcement title, not the equivalent of a final judgment. Court mediation, or local-committee mediation approved by the court, is also enforceable. Monetary claims up to NT$100,000 normally use small claims; property claims up to NT$500,000 use summary procedure; higher claims generally use ordinary procedure, subject to claim type. Provisional attachment requires a showing of the claim and risk that later enforcement will be impossible or seriously difficult, and security may be ordered. Limitation varies: the general period is fifteen years, but some interest or periodic payments use five years and some prices or fees two. A valid original promissory note may support a separate ruling against its maker. Even if no assets exist now, an enforcement title may lead to court asset inquiries and a creditor's certificate for later enforcement.

Each parent's estate is calculated separately at that parent's death; a surviving spouse of the first parent is also an heir. Without a will, the spouse inherits with the first available class: (1) lineal descendants, nearest degree first; (2) parents; (3) siblings; or (4) grandparents. Members of a class generally share equally. With descendants, the spouse takes the same share as each other heir; with parents or siblings, one-half; with grandparents, two-thirds; and if none exists, the whole estate. If a first-class heir died or lost inheritance rights before the decedent, that heir's descendants take by representation. Multiple heirs hold the entire estate in common until partition; a statutory share is a distribution measure, not separate title to every asset. All may agree on another allocation, or seek mediation or an estate-partition judgment. Debts are generally payable only up to the inherited estate, but concealment, a materially false inventory or disposal to prejudice creditors can forfeit that protection. If debts are uncertain, consider filing an inventory within three months after learning of the inheritance. The distributable estate may also depend on debts and a surviving spouse's marital-property claim. Estate tax is generally filed within six months after death; partition or transfer awaits payment or an applicable certificate. Lifetime-gift adjustment and advanced expenses require case-specific legal grounds and evidence.

File a written declaration within three months after learning that you are entitled to inherit, with the court for the deceased's domicile when succession opened. If you become an heir only because all prior-ranking heirs renounced, the period may begin when you learn the succession has passed to you. Common attachments include the declaration, the deceased's deregistered household-registration transcript or death certificate, your transcript, an heirship chart and proof of written notice to anyone who becomes an heir because of the renunciation; notice is excused if impossible. Registered-seal or other requirements vary by court. A minor's parents generally act jointly; a conflict of interest may require a court-appointed special representative. An heir who does not renounce is generally liable for debts only up to the inherited estate. Renunciation operates retroactively from the opening of succession, although anyone already managing estate property must safeguard it until another heir or an estate administrator takes over.

Depending on injury and proof, claims may include necessary medical, rehabilitation, nursing and treatment travel costs; actual lost income, reduced earning capacity, increased living needs and pain and suffering. Property claims include necessary repair or diminished value, with depreciation commonly applied to new parts fitted to an older vehicle. Fatal cases may add medical and funeral expenses, lost support and consolation damages for parents, children and spouse. Every item needs causation and proof, and contributory fault may reduce recovery. A tort claim generally has a two-year period from knowledge of the damage and liable person, with a ten-year outside limit from the tort. An eligible victim may separately claim no-fault compulsory-insurance benefits for personal injury, disability or death, but not vehicle damage; that claim has a two-year knowledge period and ten-year outside limit. Some limitation effects are linked within the insured amount, and benefits received are generally deducted from damages, so filing one claim should not be assumed to preserve all rights. The preliminary police report is available after 30 days; a party-initiated assessment generally must be requested within six months. Neither is a prerequisite, so do not wait past a deadline. A settlement should specify payer, amount, timing, whether insurance is included and what rights are retained or waived. A negligent-injury criminal complaint has a separate six-month period from learning the offender's identity.