상속과의 연계를통한아동에 대한 부양의무의 강화

Abstract

Once an inheritance becomes available following the death of a decedent, the inheritors can get the inheritance according to statutory inheritance system. Although there are various grounds for inheritors to receive the inheritance, a noteworthy one is that it is aimed at securing the livelihoods of remaining family members after the death of a decedent. In other words, the deceased has the responsibility to support the inheritors. According to the theory, even an inheritor who did not fulfill the obligation to support the decedent while he or she was alive is entitled to receiving the inheritance with no sanction. As a result, it would lead to an unfair outcome of being supported by the decedent, even though he or she did not fulfill the obligation to support the decedent. Thus, obligation of support should be strengthened by imposing judicial punishment on those who fail to fulfill the obligation to support by inheritance law. To deal with such individuals, other countries have various legislative measures by depriving inheritance rights according to inheritance disqualification system or inheritance rights loss system. In Korea, however, only contribution system exists as a way to strengthen obligation of support in connection with issue of support and inheritance. Therefore, Korea now needs to explore measures to strengthen obligation of support by imposing judicial punishment on the inheritance rights of those who fail to fulfill the obligation to support the decedent. Thus, this study involves discussion on which system should be adopted to deal with such issue. No matter what system is introduced, discussing the violation of such obligation should take place first, since the applicability of the system is a major issue. In particular, children require much more active support than any other dependents due to their characteristics. Therefore, this study examines the characteristics of children as dependents, along with the content and degree of relevant support. As a way to strengthen obligation of support towards children by inheritance law, this study suggests adopting and implementing inheritance rights loss declaration system.