When a Sibling Cannot Be Reached or an Heir Is a Minor

If the person has a registered address but is simply avoiding contact, you can demand their participation by certified mail with proof of contents (내용증명) or through service of court papers. If no agreement is ever reached, you can request an adjudication on division of the estate (상속재산분할) naming that person as a respondent too, and if their address is unknown, the case may proceed by service by public notice.

If the person left home long ago and it is not even known whether they are alive, ask the family court to appoint an administrator of an absent person's property (부재자재산관리인). The appointed administrator manages property on the absent person's behalf and, with the court's permission, takes part in the division agreement or protects the absent person's share in the adjudication. Note that administrators usually negotiate to secure the absent person's statutory share, so an agreement that reduces that share is hard to get approved.

The appointment is requested from the family court for the absent person's last address or the place where their property is. It helps to prepare the record of cancellation of their resident registration, the receipt for a missing person report, and statements from family members that there has been no contact for a long time.

If it has been unknown for 5 years or more whether the person is alive, you can apply for a declaration of disappearance (실종선고), and once it becomes final, the person is treated as having died at the end of that period. In that case, the missing person's own heirs take their place, which changes the inheritance relationships. Which procedure fits depends on how long the person has been missing and the circumstances.

A declaration of disappearance takes time because it involves a public notice procedure by the court, so if the division needs to happen soon, the administrator procedure is often pursued first.

When a father dies and the mother and minor children become heirs together, the interests conflict if the mother negotiates the division on the children's behalf. In this case, a special representative (특별대리인) must be appointed by the family court for each child, and that person must sign the agreement (Civil Act (민법) Article 921). An agreement in which the parent represented the child without a special representative can be challenged.

Usually a relative with no stake in the inheritance is proposed as special representative, and the court checks that the agreement is not excessively unfavorable to the child. An agreement that gives the child nothing is hard to get approved, so decide from the start how the child's share will be preserved when drafting the proposal.

The same applies to renunciation. If the parent and child renounce together, there is usually no problem, but if the parent inherits and only the child renounces, a special representative may be needed.

If the child will soon become an adult, another option is to have them take part in the agreement themselves after reaching adulthood. However, you also need to consider whether the inheritance tax filing or plans to sell real estate can wait that long.

Even if the agreement is delayed, one heir can register the inheritance in all the heirs' names according to their statutory shares. Inheritance tax must be filed within the deadline, so if the agreement is not finished, discuss with a tax accountant how to file in the current state and adjust after the division.

The longer it takes, the more likely it is that another heir dies and the number of parties grows. Appointing an administrator or special representative can take several months, so it is better to start early.

As a rule, deposits forming the missing heir's share should be left untouched until an administrator is appointed; if another heir withdraws and spends them, there may later be a claim for their return.

An heir living abroad is not missing, but preparing their documents takes time. If they are a Korean national, they can obtain a certificate of seal impression or a signature certificate at the local Korean consulate; if they have become a foreign national, local notarization and translation may be needed. When an heir has an address abroad, the schedule also changes, for example the inheritance tax filing deadline is extended to 9 months, so it is wise to decide from the start how the overseas heir's documents will be obtained.

Jisan Law checks how long the person has been missing, their last address and the family relationships, and chooses the right route among an administrator of an absent person's property, service by public notice and a declaration of disappearance. If an heir is a minor, we prepare the petition to appoint a special representative together with the draft agreement. Because a series of procedures requiring court permission follow, we line up the documents in the right order for you.