What is the difference in adoption inheritance between full adoption and general adoption?

Hello. This is the inheritance specialist attorney at Daeryun Law Firm.

Regarding adoption inheritance, the biggest difference between full adoption and general adoption lies in the scope of inheritance, which is based on Articles 882-2 and 908-3 of the Civil Act.

First, in general adoption, the legal relationship with the biological parents is maintained even after adoption.

This is because under Article 882-2 of the Civil Act, even when a parent-child relationship with the adoptive parents arises, the blood-related rights with the biological parents do not extinguish.

Therefore, generally adopted children have a dual status of being able to inherit property from both adoptive parents and biological parents.

This sometimes results in cases where one person becomes an heir of two family lines simultaneously, which becomes a major cause of adoption inheritance disputes such as other heirs raising issues of legal reserve or fairness.

On the other hand, full adoption ends the relationship with the biological parents completely upon adoption under Article 908-3 of the Civil Act.

Legally, they are considered 'children born in marriage' of the adoptive parents and inherit the adoptive parents' property the same as biological children, but inheritance rights to biological parents extinguish, clearly organizing the inheritance relationship to one of the family lines.

Practically, since legal reserve under Article 1112 of the Civil Act or inheritance tax burden varies depending on the form of adoption regarding adoption inheritance, careful review is needed rather than judging by the fact of adoption alone.

In particular, the more complex the family relationship, the easier it is to be drawn into unnecessary disputes by mistaking the legal status, so caution is needed.

Therefore, if you consult with an inheritance specialist attorney about adoption inheritance based on your specific situation such as your family tree or adoption time, you can be clearly informed of the legal countermeasures and accurate inheritance design needed for the current matter.