Discussed on YTN Radio's 'Attorney Jo In-seop's Consultation'

Contract must be registered before marriage registration to be legally binding

Not directly related to this article. [Image generated by AI]
Not directly related to this article. [Image generated by AI]

A woman is locked in a dispute with her mother-in-law over a document her late husband drew up stating that half the couple's assets belonged to his wife — and she is seeking legal advice on whether the document holds up in court.

Thursday's episode of YTN Radio's "Attorney Jo In-seop's Consultation" featured a conflict between a daughter-in-law and her mother-in-law over a 3 billion won ($2.17 million) estate left behind after the sudden death of a businessman.

According to the program, the woman — identified only as A — married a man seven years her senior right after graduating from university. Her husband was an entrepreneur who often told her: "Business can bring great success, but it can also mean losing everything. Either way, we're in this together until the end — so let's share the good times and weather the hard times as one."

"We made a promise before we filed our marriage registration," A said. "We drew up a contract stating that regardless of whose name any assets were held under, everything we accumulated together after marriage would be split equally — and we both signed it."

The husband's business thrived after the wedding, and over eight years the couple accumulated 3 billion won in assets, all held in his name.

The couple had no children during their eight years of marriage.

Then the husband died suddenly in a traffic accident, and the question of inheritance came to a head.

When A told her mother-in-law that half the estate had been promised to her from the start — and therefore only the remaining half should be treated as inheritable assets — and showed her the equal-share contract, the mother-in-law shrugged it off. "That's just a piece of paper the two of you wrote between yourselves. It has nothing to do with me," she said.

The mother-in-law held firm. "The assets are in my son's name, so let's divide them according to the law," she said.

A sought legal advice on whether the prenuptial property-sharing contract she and her husband had signed carried any legal weight, and how the estate would be divided.

Attorney Park Su-min of Shinsegae Law Firm said the difference in what A stands to receive hinges entirely on one question: whether the contract was registered. "Depending on whether it was registered or not, the amount she receives differs by more than 600 million won," Park said.

Park explained that the contract falls under what Korean law calls a "marital property agreement" — an arrangement couples may freely enter into regarding their assets before filing their marriage registration. "Unless a marital property agreement is registered before the marriage registration is filed, its terms cannot be asserted against the couple's successors or third parties," Park said.

In other words, if the contract was not registered, A cannot claim to her mother-in-law that half the estate was originally hers.

Park added that such agreements are filed at the registry office with jurisdiction over the husband's or the couple's shared address, and that most couples miss this step because few people are aware of the procedure when preparing for marriage.

Park said that in A's case, she and her mother-in-law — as the spouse and a lineal ascendant, respectively — are joint heirs. Under Korean inheritance law, the spouse receives a 50 percent premium, giving A a three-fifths share and the mother-in-law two-fifths. That means A would receive 60 percent of the 3 billion won estate, or 1.8 billion won.

If the marital property agreement had been registered before the marriage registration was filed, however, half of the 3 billion won — 1.5 billion won — would be treated as A's own separate property from the outset. The remaining 1.5 billion won would then be divided between A and the mother-in-law in a 3-to-2 ratio, giving A an additional 900 million won in inheritance. Combined with her original 1.5 billion won share, A would receive a total of 2.4 billion won.

Park also advised A to first determine the full scope of the estate — checking whether the husband held other assets in his name and whether any debts existed. "The law sets out each party's share, but hurt feelings can easily lead to litigation," Park said. "Where possible, it is best to draw up a written agreement on how to divide the estate."


jshan@heraldcorp.com