Category: Family Law

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

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When a marriage ends in Korea, one of the most important questions is how the couple’s property will be divided. This guide explains who has the right to a property division, what assets are included, how Korean courts decide each spouse’s share, the deadline to file, and the tax consequences — based on Article 839-2 of the Korean Civil Act and Supreme Court precedent. (more…)

When a marriage ends in Korea, one of the most important questions is how the couple’s property will be divided. This guide explains who has the right to a property division, what assets are included, how Korean courts decide each spouse’s share, the deadline to file, and the tax consequences — based on Article 839-2 of the Korean Civil Act and Supreme Court precedent. (more…)

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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 ruling remains the governing precedent on this issue and continues to be applied by Korean courts and tax authorities today. This post aims to clarify the key points of the ruling and its implications for foreign heirs.

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[Updated: 2026]

In a Korean divorce, the spouse who caused the marriage to break down may have to pay consolation money. This is money paid for the emotional pain they caused. It is separate from property division, and many foreigners divorcing in Korea have never heard of it. This guide explains what consolation money is, who can claim it, how much Korean courts usually award, and how fault affects the result.

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Losing a family member is difficult enough. When that family member leaves behind assets in Korea — and you are unfamiliar with Korean law, whether you live abroad or are a foreigner residing in Korea — the situation quickly becomes legally complex.

Korean co-heirs may contact you promptly, urging you to sign documents, making representations about what the estate contains, or proposing how the inheritance should be divided. Without a clear understanding of your rights under Korean law, you are at a serious disadvantage.

Korean inheritance law, Part V of the Civil Act, is detailed and, for foreign heirs, often unfamiliar. Your share of the estate, your right to challenge a will, your ability to protect against an unfair distribution — all of these depend on rules that may be very different from those in your home country. And in many cross-border cases, it is not even obvious from the outset whether Korean law applies at all.

In this article, our Korean inheritance lawyer explains the core principles of Korean inheritance law as they apply to foreign heirs — from who qualifies as an heir and how the estate is divided, to the protections available to you and the steps you can take if your rights are being overlooked.

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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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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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[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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