Introduction:In the increasingly complex modern society, inheritance distribution often hits a deadlock due to issues such as unclear kinship relationships and special types of property. In this article, the inheritance distribution agreement notarization case handled by the Dahu Law Firm involves situations under multiple marriages, with missing kinship relationship proof and special properties such as Shenzhen small property rights houses. The Guangdong Dahu legal team innovatively collected evidence, designed compensation plans, completed the inheritance distribution agreement notarization, broke the five-year deadlock, and achieved fair and legal distribution of the inheritance, providing a practical model for similar cases. (All names, locations, and other information in this article have been technically processed.)

Keywords:inheritance distribution agreement notarization; inheritance of small property rights houses; kinship relationship proof; protection of minors' rights and interests

I. Case Summary: The Dilemma of Inheriting Family Heritage Under Multiple Marriages

In 2020, Mr. Wang's father, Mr. Wang, had three different emotional relationships during his lifetime. In these three marriages, Mr. Wang had a son, Wang Jia, and a son, Wang Yi, with Ms. Li, a son, Wang Bing, with Ms. Zhang, and Mr. Wang and his sister Zhou Ding with Ms. Zhou. In 2020, Mr. Wang passed away, leaving behind 1 residential property in Guangzhou and 3 properties in Shenzhen (1 green book property, 2 small property rights properties). Since Zhou Ding, the sister, was not yet of legal age and Zhou, the third wife, was still alive, the Wang family did not handle these properties.

However, since the death of Zhou in 2021, there have been multiple negotiations within the family regarding the distribution of the inheritance, but these negotiations have all ended in failure due to incomplete proof of kinship relations and the ambiguous legal nature of the small property rights properties. For a period of five years, the issue of inheritance distribution remained unresolved until June 2025, when, through a friend's recommendation, the Wang family entrusted the law firm of Dao Hua to intervene, bringing an end to the five-year deadlock in the inheritance dispute.

II. Focus of Dispute: Dual Challenges of Law and Practice

(1) The "Interconnected" Dilemma of Proof of Kinship

In our country, Article 1127 of the Civil Code explicitly stipulates that inheritance of heritage shall be in the following order: the first order includes spouse, children, and parents. Therefore, proving the parent-child relationship is the key prerequisite for initiating the inheritance procedure. Due to the nearly half-century-long marriage of Mr. Wang, and the changes in the household registration system, most of the proof materials of Mr. Wang's kinship with each of his children, such as household registration books and birth certificates, have been lost, leading to the dilemma that Mr. Wang's family is facing, "How can we prove that my dad is my dad?"

(2) The Limitation of Small Property Rights Houses in Inheritance Distribution

According to Article 209 of the Civil Code, the establishment, alteration, transfer, and extinguishment of immovable property rights shall take effect upon registration in accordance with the law; without registration, they shall not take effect, except as otherwise provided by law. This provision clarifies the basic principle of the effectiveness of the registration of immovable property rights and emphasizes the importance of property registration in the change of property rights. In this case, due to the lack of a legal property certificate, Wang Liu's two small property houses in Shenzhen cannot be directly transferred through inheritance in accordance with Article 209 of the Civil Code. Small property houses are usually built on rural collective land and their construction and transactions often do not comply with the relevant national laws, regulations, and policies, thus they cannot obtain a legal property certificate issued by the national housing administration department. This leads to uncertainty in the ownership of the property rights of small property houses during the inheritance process and they cannot be directly divided like ordinary commercial housing through market value assessment. Balancing the interests of minors and other heirs and ensuring the proper distribution of property is one of the challenges in handling the case.

Three, The Process of Handling the Case: The Full Process from Evidence Breakthrough to Notarial Protocol

1. The First Step: Comprehensive Review of the Case Facts

Dao Hua Family Law and Matrimonial Lawyers immediately launched a detailed investigation upon taking over the case, conducting a comprehensive factual verification of the family members' identities and inheritance situation of Mr. Wang's family, and sorting out the ownership documents of the four properties. Regarding the nature of the green-card houses and self-built houses, etc., as small properties in Shenzhen, relying on the rich experience in handling the inheritance of small properties in Shenzhen, it was confirmed that the inheritance in this case could be carried out through the work of the inheritance distribution agreement, and the case plan was quickly formulated.

（二）Second Step: Completing Material Gaps Based on the Inheritance Plan

After confirming the plan for notarized inheritance, under the guidance of the Dao Hua Family Law and Matrimonial Lawyers team, Mr. Wang's family went to the local police station and village committee to obtain proof of kinship, explanations of birth situations, guardianship proof and other relevant documents, and went to the Civil Affairs Bureau to retrieve the marriage records and divorce agreement of Mr. Wang and Ms. Li. Through a series of relationship certificates issued by relevant units, the kinship between Mr. Wang and his children was effectively supported.

（3）The Third Step: Designing Compliance for the Heritage Distribution Agreement

After determining the scope of heirs and the property distribution plan, the Dohua Law Firm begins drafting the heritage distribution agreement. To ensure the compliance and effectiveness of the agreement, the team creatively adds an economic compensation clause for minor heirs in the heritage distribution agreement, and stipulates that Madam Zhou's father, as the guardian, will supervise the use of the compensation for his sister, ensuring that her legitimate rights and interests are adequately protected. The preparation of this legal document fully reflects the lawyer team's attention to and protection of the rights and interests of minors, providing comprehensive legal guarantees for the notarization of the heritage distribution agreement.

(4) The Fourth Step: Accompanying the Notarial Procedure, Breaking Through the Evidence Barrier

After all the notarial materials were prepared, the Daohua Law Firm team accompanied all the heirs to the notary office to handle the notarial procedures. However, shortly after the parties signed and submitted the relevant proof of kinship, Mr. Wang received a call from the notary office. The notary office stated that during the factual verification of the content of the proof of kinship issued by the village committee, the person in charge of the village committee claimed that since the relevant materials were not verified when the proof was issued, the part of the proof of kinship that proves the filial relationship between Zhou Ding, the sister, and Mr. Wang was invalid.

This undoubtedly caused a great hindrance to the notarial work in this case. Since Mr. Wang's sister is the child of Mr. Wang and Ms. Zhou who were not married when she was pregnant, the birth certificate did not register Mr. Wang as the father, and her household registration was under her grandfather's name, making it impossible to directly prove her filial relationship with Mr. Wang through household registration information. If her heirship status cannot be effectively proven, all the previous notarial procedures will be in vain.

Ultimately, considering the consanguineous relationship between Mr. Wang and his sister, the Daohua Family Law Firm, with many years of experience in inheritance cases, after thorough research and investigation, decided to prove this point through a kinship identification. Kinship identification is a scientific and accurate technical method, which, through the detection and comparison of the DNA of the two individuals, determines that Mr. Wang and his sister are siblings of the same parents, i.e., siblings born to the same mother and father, and also effectively proves the parent-child relationship between Mr. Wang and Zhou Ding.

Four, Case Outcome: From Stalemate to a Complete Solution That Sets the Record Straight

After strict review by a notary public, the notary office issued the "Notarial Certificate of Heritage Distribution Agreement" in accordance with the law, specifying that the agreement shall take effect from the date of notarization. The issuance of the notarial certificate signifies that the heritage distribution agreement has been legally recognized and protected, and the legitimate rights and interests of all heirs have been effectively safeguarded. This notarial result not only resolved the five-year-long heritage distribution dispute in Mr. Wang's family but also provided a useful reference and model for the handling of similar cases.