Maybe it’s because I’ve just started re-clearing customs, or maybe it’s because the law firm I’m working at has changed its policies. Recently, there have been a lot more inquiries about cross-border inheritance. Whether Hong Kong people own property in the Mainland, or Mainland people own property in Hong Kong, the related inheritance is also very complicated. It happens that I have majored in this field in recent years, so I can share an overview.

The baby boom in Hong Kong and the Mainland also started about sixty or seventy years ago. At a glance, we can see that their time has almost come. In addition, they are the post-war reconstruction generation and have accumulated a lot of wealth. If many Hong Kong people have opened bank accounts or even bought properties in the Mainland, when they die, the estate administrator will need to obtain a Chinese notarization to confirm the deceased’s legal status under Hong Kong law. Only through inheritance arrangements can you receive your inheritance. However, China’s notarization formats in this area are frequently updated, and if you don’t keep up with the official announcement, you may go around in circles and still stagnate. Moreover, in many cases, relevant mainland authorities also require all beneficiaries to agree to the distribution of the inheritance, and the difficulty of inheritance increases accordingly➕.

Are there many mainlanders with assets in Hong Kong? Not surprisingly, there are quite a few, mainly because after the return of the motherland, a large number of insurance practitioners began to go north to develop their careers, and Hong Kong's insurance and fund products are also attractive to mainlanders, plus the advantages sold by Hong Kong people who are "skinned in suits" , many mainlanders hold one or even multiple insurance policies. After their death, the redemption/renewal of these fund products requires the Hong Kong court to determine who the estate administrator is, and then the administrator applies to the fund company. This part is more complicated than the former because it first requires (1) a Chinese lawyer to issue a legal opinion recommending who can become the estate administrator; (2) if the estate administrator does not live in Hong Kong permanently, he needs to provide a guarantor in Hong Kong; (3) If a Hong Kong guarantor cannot be provided, a Hong Kong lawyer must be authorized to handle it. Don't quite understand what I'm saying? You can ask me privately for details. In short, it is very troublesome, and after such a large round of operations, 100,000 yuan will be spent.

The above is just a brief description of cross-border inheritance arrangements. In short, it is very troublesome, takes a long time, and burns money. This is true even for inheritances in China, not to mention those in other Western countries, and there are also hidden tax considerations. So don’t think too simplistic about cross-border investment. If an investment project is attractive, the local market will have already digested it. Why spend money to promote it in Hong Kong and then send people by bus to invest? It is difficult to handle the inheritance after death, and it is also uncertain how the funds will leave the country. It is basically all risks. So, in fact, this is an industrial and commercial article that the Hong Kong government asked me to write, to encourage everyone to stay in Hong Kong, invest and consume, and stop wandering around. The outside world is very dangerous.

... It's not business literature. I generate electricity with love, so I won't charge money. I love the country, Hong Kong and the people.

如有法律問題可私訊我們！我們會盡力給你一個方向，希望可以幫你踏出解決問題的第一步。