More than 70 percent of people would still be living with inherited debt even if a proposed amendment to the Civil Code is passed, members of Taiwan Fund for Children and Families (TFCF) said during a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
According to an amendment to the Civil Code that passed its first reading at the legislature last week, people under the age of 20 will be automatically entitled to "limited debt inheritance" -- meaning that they would only have to repay any debts they have inherited by using the assets they have inherited, not from their own pocket.
The proposed amendment to the code also applies for three years retroactively.
The Civil Code allows "limited debt inheritance," but only if the person inheriting the debt makes a request within three months of the benefactor's death.
"However, most people are ignorant of the law and they only find out they are in debt when they are pursued by creditors," TFCF social works division director Chou Hui-hsiang (周慧香) told the news conference.
A survey of more than 1,700 households by the organization showed that 24.6 percent of children under 18 are more than NT$500,000 in debt and almost 80 percent of those indebted children are currently attending junior high school or younger.
Although the proposed amendment may help, Chou said it is not enough.
"The retroactive period of the proposed amendment is only three years -- but our survey found that more than 70 percent of debt inheritance occurred more than three years ago," Chou said.
A Tsinghua University student surnamed Tsai (蔡) is a victim of inherited debt.
He said he only learned four years ago when his sister applied for a mortgage that he, his brother and sister had inherited a NT$2.6 million (US$80,400) debt left by their father who died in 1976.
"My father was a guarantor to a NT$5.6 million loan taken out by an uncle," Tsai said. "Although part of the loan had been repaid, there was still NT$2.6 million left."
Knowing the law, the uncle's family quickly applied for limited debt inheritance after the uncle's death, leaving Tsai's family to shoulder responsibility for the debt, he said.
"NT$2.6 million was the amount 21 years ago, with a 15 percent annual interest rate the total amount is now NT$50 million," Tsai said. "I know I will never be able to pay off the debt that has nothing to do with me -- and I don't know what the point of life is for me now."
Kaohsiung District Court Judge Chen Ye-hsin (陳業鑫) said unlimited debt inheritance was "unconstitutional."
"Banks loaned out the money based on an assessment of the borrower's financial condition, so how can the borrower's children be expected to pay off the debt with their future income just because they don't know how to make a limited inheritance declaration?" Chen said.
Chen said adult family members should also be entitled to automatic limited debt inheritance.
The head of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin's (田秋堇) office, Cheng Chih-chieh (張智傑), who was among the audience, said he would seek to renegotiate the amendment next week.
The manufacture of the remaining 28 M1A2T Abrams tanks Taiwan purchased from the US has recently been completed, and they are expected to be delivered within the next one to two months, a source said yesterday. The Ministry of National Defense is arranging cargo ships to transport the tanks to Taiwan as soon as possible, said the source, who is familiar with the matter. The estimated arrival time ranges from late this month to early next month, the source said. The 28 Abrams tanks make up the third and final batch of a total of 108 tanks, valued at about NT$40.5 billion
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
A group from the Taiwanese Designers in Australia association yesterday represented Taiwan at the Midsumma Pride March in Melbourne. The march, held in the St. Kilda suburb, is the city’s largest LGBTQIA+ parade and the flagship event of the annual Midsumma Festival. It attracted more than 45,000 spectators who supported the 400 groups and 10,000 marchers that participated this year, the association said. Taiwanese Designers said they organized a team to march for Taiwan this year, joining politicians, government agencies, professionals and community organizations in showing support for LGBTQIA+ people and diverse communities. As the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex
MOTIVES QUESTIONED The PLA considers Xi’s policies toward Taiwan to be driven by personal considerations rather than military assessment, the Epoch Times reports Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) latest purge of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) leadership might have been prompted by the military’s opposition to plans of invading Taiwan, the Epoch Times said. The Chinese military opposes waging war against Taiwan by a large consensus, putting it at odds with Xi’s vision, the Falun Gong-affiliated daily said in a report on Thursday, citing anonymous sources with insight into the PLA’s inner workings. The opposition is not the opinion of a few generals, but a widely shared view among the PLA cadre, the Epoch Times cited them as saying. “Chinese forces know full well that
RSS