Category: Family Law

Dealing with a marriage, divorce, child custody, adoption, etc.

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If you are a foreigner trying to divorce in Korea — or divorce a spouse who lives in Korea — this guide answers the questions the Korea divorce lawyers of our team hear most often.

Written by a Korean-licensed attorney with over 20 years of experience handling international divorce cases, this guide covers everything you need to know: whether Korean courts have jurisdiction over your case, which country’s law applies, how long the process takes, and what happens to your visa after divorce. Whether you are married to a Korean citizen or another foreigner, and whether you live in Korea or abroad, read on to find out how to proceed.

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Cross-border inheritance involving Korean assets—whether the decedent or the heir is a non-resident—often leads to unexpected Korean inheritance tax obligations.  Without proper planning, foreign heirs may face administrative delays, tax audits, and significant penalties.

As Korean attorneys who regularly advise foreign families on cross-border estate matters, we have seen many cases where a lack of understanding of Korea’s inheritance tax rules resulted in avoidable risks and financial losses.

In this article, we explain who is liable to pay Korean inheritance tax, which assets are subject to tax, how the tax is calculated, and how to plan for payment—including options such as in-kind contribution or installment plans.  Whether you are a foreign heir, a family representative, or a professional advisor assisting with Korean estate matters, this guide will help you navigate Korea’s inheritance tax system with confidence and clarity.

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Under Korean inheritance law, inheritance takes effect immediately when a person passes away.  The Korean inheritance law, Part V of the Civil Act, provides who becomes the heir and beneficiary of the deceased person’s property, also known as the estate.

However, heirs and beneficiaries do not always receive the entire estate.  There are specific rules and restrictions on how the estate is distributed under Korean inheritance law, making the process more complex.

In this article, our Korean inheritance lawyer will guide you through the basic rules and practices of inheritance in Korea.  Whether you are navigating Korean inheritance law as a foreigner or need help from a Korean inheritance lawyer, understanding the basics is crucial for securing your rights.

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Korean Inheritance tax can be a complex issue, particularly for those living abroad. An important ruling by the Korean Supreme Court (Supreme Court, 1994. 11. 11. 94nu5359 Decision) sheds light on whether inheritors residing outside South Korea must pay inheritance tax in Korea when they just inherited foreign assets from a non-resident deceased. This post aims to clarify the key points of the ruling and its implications for foreign heirs.

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[Updated on October 29, 2021]

Q) I am a US citizen who married a Korean wife. We moved to California 5 years ago.  This year, she suddenly left and refused to return home with our son.  It has been 3 months but she flat out denies my right to be with him.  I am not abusive nor have I ever been violent towards her or our son.  I have already sent in my Hague Child Abduction Convention application to the U.S. State Department to start the Hague process. I would like to know if your firm has handled Hague cases for International Parental Child Abduction.

South Korea Is a Contracting Nation to Hague Child Abduction Convention

On December 13, 2012, South Korea had become the 89th contracting nation to the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction (“Hague Child Abduction Convention”, please refer to our previous article).

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Child support is a legal obligation of a non-custodial parent. It usually matters when the couple is divorced. But a separated spouse can ask for child support, too.

Read more: Getting Divorced in Korea as Foreigners: The Ultimate Guide

When the parties cannot agree on the amount of child support, the court makes the decision. In this regard, the Korean court has an internal rule to calculate the child support amount in Korea. Although this internal rule is not mandatory, many judges refer to this before making a decision. So it is worth looking into. It can give you a general idea of how the Korean court determines the child support amount.

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Globalization has brought a unique situation to our assets management. Your asset portfolio is diversified. Now you live in New York, but you own a condominium in Seoul at the same time. Having a bank account and stocks in Korea is very common for expats and people who have family in Korea. You should manage them while you live each and every day. And you should also have an estate plan in place regarding how your foreign assets shall be managed and distributed to your loved ones when you pass away.

Every jurisdiction has its own laws and procedures to govern the decedent’s assets located within its territory. Thus, having an estate plan pursuant to the New York Law does not guarantee that your wishes and priorities in the estate plan shall be honored in a foreign country. That’s why you need to set up a foreign estate plan according to the relevant foreign law.

In this article, our Korean estate planning lawyer explains the basics of estate planning in Korea. We will discuss typical instruments under Korean law that you can make use of: a will, a living trust, and a power of attorney.

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This week a story of an overseas adoptee caugth our attention. She had succeeded in finding her birth father in South Korea after getting a DNA test order from the Korean Family Court. The news calls for an attention how hard it is for some undocumented adoptees to find their birth parents in Korea.

It is true that back in old days Korean government was not so strict in regulating the foreign adotion. Some children had been adopted without having the corrent documentations about their origins.

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“I am an adoptee from South Korea to the U.S. Currently I live in the U.S.  Recently I found my biological parents died in South Korea.  He is survived by his wife and 2 sons.  He had businesses in Korea.  Can an adopted child inherit from biological parents in Korea?  I have never met or spoken to his wife and sons and so I don’t know if he had a will written.  What are my inheritance rights under Korean law?”

Everything Boils Down to Whether it is Full Adoption or Simple Adoption

A legal child is entitled to inheritance from his/her deceased parent. When the child is adopted, some jurisdictions treat the adoption as disconnecting the legal relationship with the biological parent, and some jurisdictions don’t. We call the former as a full adoption and the latter as a simple adoption.

As you can understand from the general idea of inheritance, an adopted child can inherit from biological parents in Korea only when the adoption is regarded as (more…)

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Q) I’m an American and my wife is Korean. She is living in Korea and I have returned to the USA. We have agreed to divorce. However, I can’t go back to Korea just to sign the papers. Is it possible to have her do it? Or have her email me the divorce agreement for me to sign and return to her? I just want to know how to divorce when the spouse doesn’t live in Korea.

Spouses Can Live in Different Country to File for Divorce in Korea

In general, the Korean court requires at least one spouse to reside in Korea in order to process the divorce filing. Thus, the fact that one spouse resides in a foreign country doesn’t bar a spouse living in Korea to file for divorce. The issue, however, lies in a procedural matter.

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