Goo Hoin (구호인), the elder brother of Goo Hara (구하라), has won some of the inheritance lawsuits filed against their birth mother, after the court issued a partial citation on 18th December (Friday).
Yesterday (Monday, 21st December), the Gwangju Family Court recently made a judgment that Goo Hara’s inheritance will be divided to 6:4, rather than 5:5. The decision came in favour of Hoin’s side.
Back in March, Hoin made a request at the trial after their mother wanted to claim 50% of her wealth as her direct ancestor. As you may know, the mother had abandoned the singer-actress in the past as a child. Apart from that, it has also been reported that their dad has handed his share of the inheritance to Hoin.
For the uninitiated, the current Korean law states that if the person dies with no spouse or children, their parents are able to receive their inheritance, even if they did not personally raise them, except in extremely rare cases such as murder or the forgery of a will. As a result, parents who abandoned their children can return and claim their portion after their death.
According to the recent judgment, the family of the deceased’s contributory portion was determined by the court to be 20%. Therefore, both Hoin and the siblings’ dad will get 60% of Hara’s inheritance. Meanwhile, Hara and Hoin’s mother will receive the remaining 40%, rather than both sides receiving 50%.
In addition, it was also revealed that such decision was made after the court had taken into account that Hara’s father was the one who had raised the deceased K-pop star all by himself for about 12 years. The mother never visited the family during the aforesaid period. There were also no evidence stating that their father had prevented their mom from seeing her.
Hoin’s lawyer, Noh Jongeon, remarked that the court’s judgement is a “step forward” under the current system law, in which the “Goo Hara Act” has yet to be passed. Speaking of the “Goo Hara Act”, the legal rep also stated that it is almost impossible for a court to rule out a parent who abandoned their child to lose their inheritance rights.
He told the press, “We’ll continue to do our best to fight for the “Goo Hara Act” to pass. We ask for your kind interest and support in our legal battle. We’re looking into appealing, but we have to follow the opinion of the family of the deceased. This is a very unusual judgment, so it requires thought.”
Source: Soompi.