Is there a difference between a full adoptee and an ordinary adoptee in adoptee inheritance?

Hello. I am an attorney specializing in inheritance at Daeryun Law LLC.

With respect to adoptee inheritance, the biggest difference between a full adoptee and an ordinary adoptee lies in the scope of inheritance, and this is based on Articles 882-2 and 908-3 of the Civil Act.

First, an ordinary adoptee maintains a legal relationship with the birth parents even after adoption.

This is because, under Article 882-2 of the Civil Act, even though a parent-child relationship with the adoptive parents arises, the blood-based rights with the birth parents are not extinguished.

Therefore, an ordinary adoptee has a dual status in which they can inherit the property of both the adoptive parents and the birth parents.

As a result, cases arise in which one person becomes an heir in two family lines at the same time, and this sometimes becomes a major cause of adoptee inheritance disputes, such as other heirs raising issues of the legally reserved portion or of fairness.

By contrast, for a full adoptee, under Article 908-3 of the Civil Act, the relationship with the birth parents is completely terminated upon adoption.

Legally regarded as a 'child born in wedlock' of the adoptive parents, the full adoptee inherits the adoptive parents' property on the same terms as a natural child, but the right of inheritance with respect to the birth parents is extinguished, so the inheritance relationship is clearly arranged into one of the two family lines.

In practice, because the legally reserved portion under Article 1112 of the Civil Act or the inheritance tax burden with respect to adoptee inheritance varies depending on the form of adoption, a careful review is needed rather than a judgment based on the fact of adoption alone.

In particular, the more complex the family relationships, the easier it is to misapprehend one's legal status and become entangled in unnecessary disputes, so caution is needed.

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