A recent ruling by the Hsinchu District Court enabled a family to regain possession of a property from their son, who had evicted his parents from the place.
The man, surnamed Yeh (葉), was sued by his father, 98, who told the court he passed on the family house to his three adult sons by signing an agreement in 1997 witnessed by his wife and other family members.
The three sons were co-owners of the house in Hsinchu County, but the youngest son applied to a local government office to become the sole owner in August 2011 without knowledge of other two brothers by stating that his brothers had “agreed to gift” the house to him, the ruling said.
Photo: Tsai Chang-sheng, Taipei Times
The father was quoted by the court as saying that he and his wife were hospitalized in 2018, but Yeh made no contact with them, adding that his wife went home after her treatment in July 2021, but found the lock had been replaced, and Yeh did not let her in.
His wife had to live in a hut, which the family used as a temporary shelter while doing farm work, the father was quoted as saying.
When she tried to get back into the house a month later, his wife sustained a hand injury, the father was quoted as saying, adding that in November 2021, Yeh sent his parents to his elder brother’s home by taxi.
The father and his wife were in sorrow over their youngest son’s ungratefulness, and last year filed a case to revoke the house inheritance agreement due to “not fulfilling filial piety duties” to have ownership transfered to other family members, the father was quoted as saying.
The father passed away in January, while the litigation was still ongoing, and Yeh and his family did not attend his funeral, one of the brothers was quoted as saying.
In the ruling, the judge cited the Civil Code’s Article 416, which states that the donor of a property may revoke the gift if the recipient had acted toward them in ways failing to perform their duty, and Article 419, which says the donor may demand the return of the gift due to “unjust enrichment” by the recipient.
The court cited evidence provided by police officers regarding the incident in which the wife injured her hand.
Photographs showing the parents sitting in the hut and Yeh renting out the house’s second floor to be used as a warehouse were presented.
The court ruled there was sufficient evidence of Yeh refusing his obligations to care for his parents, and of “not fulfilling filial piety duties,” and cited the Civil Code to rule in favor of the father’s request to revoke the gifting of the house, imposing a mandate for Yeh to return the property to his father as the sole owner.
As the father had died before the ruling, the court granted the house’s ownership to all inheritors of the father, the ruling said.
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