Mother who forged documents to cut younger daughter out of inheritance fined

A woman in her 70s who forged documents to deceive her younger daughter and leave an apartment solely to her eldest has been sentenced to a fine.

The Seoul Eastern District Court's Criminal Division 8 (Judge Jeong Jeong-ho) on Aug. 19 fined Kim, a woman in her 70s, 5 million won ($3,690) on charges including forgery of a private document and use of a forged private document.

Kim was indicted on charges of deceiving her younger daughter into signing a forged inheritance property division agreement so that the apartment could be passed entirely to her eldest daughter.

Kim's husband died in 2021, after which she and her two daughters — identified as A and B — jointly inherited a unit in the Jamsil Jugong 5 Complex in Songpa-gu, Seoul. The complex is a 48-year-old apartment development currently undergoing reconstruction.

Kim decided to transfer the apartment entirely to her eldest daughter, A, without the consent of her younger daughter, B. In the process, she forged an inheritance property division agreement — a document in which heirs formally agree on how to divide a deceased person's estate.

In May 2022, Kim summoned B and said she wanted to inherit the apartment solely in her own name, collect monthly rent and prepare for retirement, adding that her older sister had already agreed. She then told B that if she consented, B would receive a larger share of the financial assets in the estate to compensate for her stake in the apartment.

Deceived, B signed the "joint heir" field at the bottom of what appeared to be a blank inheritance agreement and left. Kim then immediately called A and told her that everything had been settled with B and that she could proceed with inheriting the apartment on her own.

Kim then had A sign the heir field and the "joint heir A" field at the bottom of the document, and in June of that year submitted the forged agreement to the registry office of the Seoul Eastern District Court.

The court found that B appeared to have agreed on the understanding that the real estate stake would go to her mother, Kim, with B herself to be compensated in cash. It added that given the poor relationship between A and B, and A's clear intent to own the property, it was difficult to infer that B had any intention of transferring her share to A.

However, the court noted that Kim had no prior criminal record, that the offense occurred within a family, and that the harm had been remedied through civil litigation. It nonetheless imposed a fine on the grounds that Kim had shown no remorse for her actions.