'Son got a W1.5b apartment, daughter who cared for father got nothing' — can she claim her inheritance share?

A woman who discovered only after her father's death that he had gifted a multihundred-million-won apartment exclusively to her brother is asking whether she can still claim her rightful share of the inheritance.

The woman, identified as A, shared her story Friday on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Jo In-seop's Counseling Office." She said she learned of the gift while sorting through her late father's estate with her brother after the funeral. Her father had recently died of a chronic illness.

Finding little remaining property, A grew suspicious and looked into her father's past assets. She discovered that about 12 years ago, her father had transferred a Seoul apartment to her brother. The apartment was worth about 700 million won ($495,000) at the time of the gift and is now valued at close to 1.5 billion won.

A said she had no knowledge of the transfer until after her father died.

"From childhood, my parents treated my brother and me differently," she said. "They paid for his tuition and allowance and even covered the jeonse — a lump-sum rental deposit — when he got married, but they often told me that once I married off, that was that."

As a result, A said she paid her own university tuition, received no financial help from her parents when she married, and had been the one to visit and care for her father during his illness.

Her brother, for his part, said the apartment gift had been their father's wish.

A asked whether there was any way to claim her share of the inheritance even though the transfer took place 12 years ago.

Attorney Bae Su-ji said A could still file a claim for her yuilbun — the legally protected minimum inheritance share — despite the 12-year gap. "For gifts made to third parties, only those made within one year before the start of the inheritance are subject to the yuilbun calculation," Bae said. "But a gift made to a co-heir such as a brother counts as a special benefit, and regardless of whether it was given 10 or 20 years ago, it is fully included in the yuilbun return calculation."

Bae added that the jeonse deposit the father contributed toward the brother's wedding costs — which predated even the apartment gift — could also be included in the yuilbun return claim. "However, there is a statute of limitations on yuilbun return claims, so she needs to act quickly," she advised.

Bae also addressed how the apartment's appreciated value would factor into the calculation, given that it was worth about 700 million won at the time of the gift 12 years ago but is now valued at around 1.5 billion won.

"When calculating the yuilbun, the valuation of a special benefit is based not on the time of the gift but on the market price at the time the inheritance opens — that is, when the father died," Bae said. "Even though the brother received the apartment 12 years ago, the yuilbun shortfall is calculated based on the current market value of 1.5 billion won, not the original 700 million won."

A can therefore factor the full 1.5 billion won the brother received as a special benefit into the yuilbun shortfall calculation when pursuing her claim.

Bae also dismissed the argument that the brother's long-term payment of taxes and maintenance fees on the apartment should justify excluding the price appreciation from the yuilbun calculation. "That would be difficult to accept," she said.

The apartment's increase in value reflected a broad rise in the real estate market, not any effort by the brother.