Husband's 3 children tell his partner of 25 years to leave — can she inherit?

A woman who spent 25 years as a common-law wife has been told to leave her home immediately after her partner's sudden death — by the three children he had with his first wife.

The case was shared Friday on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Jo In-seop's Counseling Office." The woman, identified only as A, said she met her partner 25 years ago when he was running a gomtang restaurant and began living with him as his wife.

At the time, her partner was a widower raising three children from his first marriage on his own.

A said the two never registered their marriage, but over the past 25 years she never missed a single family event on his side. Neighbors all knew her as the restaurant's "mistress of the house," she said, and her homemade baechu kimchi and kkakdugi were particularly popular with customers.

"Word spread that even prominent politicians were regulars, and the gomtang restaurant became well known," A said. But one thing never went smoothly: her relationship with her partner's three children from his first marriage.

"The three of them never accepted me as their mother from the outset," she said. "I felt hurt, but I told myself there was nothing I could do. I thought that if I merely stayed quietly by my husband's side, things would get better someday."

Then, not long ago, her partner died suddenly.

"As soon as the funeral was over, the three of them came to me and said, 'Get out of the house right now,'" A said. "They told me all of my husband's assets would pass to his children and that I had no claim to any of it."

"I looked at what was in his name — the house we shared for 25 years, the restaurant, his savings and his pension," she said. "I worked day and night at that restaurant and built up those assets together with him. I lived as his wife for 25 years. Am I really supposed to end up on the street simply because we never filed a marriage registration?"

Attorney Lee Myung-in of Shinsegae Law said A's situation would likely meet the legal threshold for a common-law marriage. "The wife fulfilled her duties as a spouse for 25 years without a formal registration — attending family events and living together," Lee said. "When a couple has maintained a long-term shared life and is socially recognized as married, there is a very high likelihood that both the subjective intent to marry and the objective reality of a marital partnership would be recognized."

Lee noted a critical limitation, however. "Unfortunately, a common-law spouse is not entitled to inheritance rights," he said.

He added that while a person with no inheritance rights can petition a family court for a share of the estate as a "specially related person" when there are no heirs at all, that option is not available in this case. "There are three children from the first wife who exist as legal heirs, so that avenue is difficult to pursue here," Lee said.

Lee said A could still acquire assets if her partner had made a gift or bequest to her during his lifetime, but only to the extent of what was given.

Even without inheritance rights, Lee said, having her common-law marriage officially recognized would open the door to a range of social security benefits. "If she is officially confirmed as a common-law spouse, she can receive survivors' pension benefits and other social security payments," he said. "The National Pension Act explicitly states that 'spouse, husband or wife includes a person in a de facto marital relationship,' meaning a common-law spouse can qualify as a survivors' pension recipient. The same applies to the military pension, civil servant pension, and survivors' benefits under the Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act — all of which include common-law spouses within the definition of bereaved family."

"Therefore, if the husband was enrolled in the national pension or an occupational pension scheme, the wife can file a claim for survivors' pension as his common-law spouse," Lee said.

Lee explained that proving common-law marriage status typically requires filing a lawsuit known as a "full confirmation of common-law relationship" action. "Even when one party to a common-law marriage has died, this legal action can be used to resolve disputes, and courts recognize a legitimate interest in obtaining such confirmation," he said.

He added that in such cases, the surviving party can file a full confirmation claim against a prosecutor within two years of learning of the spouse's death.