Kim Rahn is the managing editor of The Korea Times. Since joining the company in 2003, she has covered various beats including the presidential office, Seoul city government, the Bank of Korea and the tourism industry. In 2014, she won the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for her coverage of the ordeals of migrant women in Korea.
Son ordered to return assets to parents
By Kim Rahn
If a son inherits real estate from his parents on condition of supporting them but fails to fulfill his duties, he must return the assets to them, the top court has ruled.
The Supreme Court said Sunday that it recently upheld a lower court ruling that had ordered a man to return a house to his parents.
The man’s father, surnamed Yu, gave the two-story house in Seoul to his son in December 2003. The junior Yu signed a contract that he would live with his parents and support them faithfully, and would not raise objections if the contract is cancelled due to his failure to keep up his end of the deal.
The father also sold other properties to help the son pay off debts.
But the son did not stay faithful to the agreement: he did not have meals with his parents and had his sister, who lived separately from them, take care of his sick mother. He even asked his parents to move out and live in a senior care center.
The elder Yu then asked the son to return the house, saying he would sell it and buy an apartment for the couple. But the son refused, and Yu and his wife moved to their daughter’s house.
The court ordered the son to return the house because he had not kept his written promise.
“Yu’s giving the house was not just a gift but a ‘conditional donation’ in which the son should fulfill his duty,” the court said. “If the child fails to fulfill the duty of support, the contract of donation can be cancelled.”