“Goo Hara Law” is once again being considered to cross the threshold of the National Assembly

“Goo Hara Law”, which has been dormant, is once again being considered to cross the threshold of the National Assembly.

On the 25th, the Constitutional Court pointed out the current “Goo Hara law” that allows heirs who have engaged in abusive or negligent acts to inherit the deceased’s estate and declared it unconstitutional. The Constitutional Court stated that “recognizing the inheritance of heirs who have engaged in negligent acts goes against the legal sentiment and common sense of the general public” and deemed it “unreasonable not to separately stipulate grounds for loss of inheritance.”

According to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the National Assembly must amend certain provisions of the current law related to inheritance by December 31, 2025. If the National Assembly fails to amend the law within the deadline, the effectiveness of those provisions will be lost due to their unconstitutionality.

In legal terms, inheritance share refers to a certain portion of the reserved inheritance property under the law for specific heirs. Under current law, family members are obligated to inherit a certain percentage of the estate. Regardless of the relationship between the deceased and the heir, the estate can be inherited according to this percentage. However, cases of abuse of this provision have been steadily occurring, highlighting the ongoing need for amendment. Notably, the case involving the late Goo Hara of the group KARA and her birth mother sparked national outrage.

After Goo Hara’s death in 2019, her birth mother, who had been out of contact for 20 years, appeared and demanded a portion of the property owned by Goo Hara. In response, Goo Hara’s brother angrily asserted that the birth mother had no right to inherit the property and called for an amendment to the current Civil Law on inheritance. A proposal known as the ‘Goo Hara Law’ containing these provisions was submitted to the National Assembly in 2021 but has been pending for three years. With the recent decision of the Constitutional Court, it is expected that the ‘Goo Hara Law’, which aims to prevent families who have not fulfilled their duties of care from inheriting, will also gain momentum.

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