摘要
赋予对公婆、岳父母无法律上的赡养义务但却在事实上承担了主要赡养责任的丧偶儿媳、女婿一定的遗产权利具有法律和道德上的正当性。继承法理论为此种权利的实现提供了遗产继承制度和遗产取得制度两种不同的权利实现机制,但二者的理论基础和价值取向均不相同。现行法采纳了遗产继承制度作为其权利实现机制,并赋予了丧偶儿媳、女婿第一顺位遗产继承权,《民法典继承编(草案)》(第二次审议稿)第908条延续了这一做法。但此种方案却因为理论基础不足和实践效果欠佳而备受诟病,以至于不少学者建议改采遗产取得制度作为其权利实现机制,赋予丧偶儿媳、女婿酌分遗产请求权。遗产继承制度所包含的身份取向的伦理逻辑比遗产取得制度所秉持的财产取向的市场逻辑更能体现丧偶儿媳、女婿对遗产权利的诉求。事实上,现行法的不足完全可以通过对丧偶儿媳、女婿继承权顺位的调整来予以消除。具体而言,《民法典继承编》可将丧偶儿媳、女婿的继承顺位从第一顺位改为无固定顺位,并在此基础上合理安排其与不同顺位的继承人共同继承时的应继份。此外,立法还应明确尽了主要赡养义务的判断标准,规定丧偶儿媳、女婿继承权规则的准用和排除适用。
It is legally and morally justified to grant certain inheritance rights to widowed daughters/sons-in-law who have done a major part in maintaining their aged parents-in-law though they are not legally bound to do so.The theory of inheritance law provides two different mechanisms for their enjoying such rights,i.e.the acquisition of the properties by inheritance and the acquisition of the properties by claim,each differing from the other in theoretical basis and value orientation.The current law grants the widowed daughters/sons-in-law the first order among the parties who have rights to inheritance as the mechanism of realizing their rights.Article 908 of the Draft Civil Code(for Second Review)continues this practice.Such a rule is prone to the result of the inheritance of all the properties by the widowed daughters/sons-in-law.It not only violates the principle of avoiding the outflow of inheritance and maximizing the inheritance of the heirs,but may also leads to a major imbalance of interests.In view of this,many scholars suggest replacing the provisions of the current law with a legacy discretionary system.In fact,the ethical logic of the identity orientation contained in the inheritance system is more representative of the market-oriented logic of the property orientation targeted by legacy discretionary system,which reflects the desire of the widowed daughters/sons-in-law for the inheritance rights.The improper design of inheritance order is the main cause for the defects of the current law.Therefore,changing the inheritance order of the widowed daughters/sons-in-law cannot only reflect the advantages of the inheritance system in value orientation,but also overcome the shortcomings of the current law.In the future,the Civil Code may change the inheritance order of the widowed daughters/sons-in-law from the current first order to an unfixed order,and on this basis,reasonably arrange the share of the legacy with other parties in the inheritance.In addition,the legislation should also clarify the rules for determining the main maintenance obligations,and stipulate the application and exclusion of the provisions of the widowed daughters/sons-in-law inheritance rights.
出处
《法治现代化研究》
2019年第5期134-148,共15页
Law and Modernization
基金
教育部人文社会科学重点研究基地重大项目“中国家事法改革研究”(16JJD820014)
中国法学会2018年度法学研究重点委托课题“民法典继承编研究”[CLS(2018)ZDWT40]的阶段性成果
关键词
丧偶儿媳、女婿继承权
权利实现机制
利益衡量
继承顺位
无固定顺位
widowed daughters/sons-in-law’s right to inheritance
rights realization mechanisms
balance of interest
inheritance order
unfixed order
作者简介
瞿灵敏,中国海洋大学法学院英才工程副教授,法学博士。
