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.
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
Fast food chain McDonald's is to raise prices by up to NT$5 on some products at its restaurants across Taiwan, starting on Wednesday next week, the company announced today. The prices of all extra value meals and sharing boxes are to increase by NT$5, while breakfast combos and creamy corn soup would go up by NT$3, the company said in a statement. The price of the main items of those meals, if ordered individually, would remain the same. Meanwhile, the price of a medium-sized lemon iced tea and hot cappuccino would rise by NT$3, extra dipping sauces for chicken nuggets would go up
Yangmingshan National Park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) nature area has gone viral after a park livestream camera observed a couple in the throes of intimate congress, which was broadcast live on YouTube, drawing large late-night crowds and sparking a backlash over noise, bright lights and disruption to wildlife habitat. The area’s livestream footage appeared to show a couple engaging in sexual activity on a picnic table in the park on Friday last week, with the uncensored footage streamed publicly online. The footage quickly spread across social media, prompting a tide of visitors to travel to the site to “check in” and recreate the
Minister of Digital Affairs Lin Yi-ching (林宜敬) yesterday cited regulatory issues and national security concerns as an expert said that Taiwan is among the few Asian regions without Starlink. Lin made the remarks on Facebook after funP Innovation Group chief executive officer Nathan Chiu (邱繼弘) on Friday said Taiwan and four other countries in Asia — China, North Korea, Afghanistan and Syria — have no access to Starlink. Starlink has become available in 166 countries worldwide, including Ukraine, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam, in the six years since it became commercial, he said. While China and North Korea block Starlink, Syria is not
RSS