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THE children of a local professor who passed away in 1992 have sued their young stepmother, who used to be their father's domestic helper, over a heritage dispute.
The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court has accepted the case in which two sons of Dr Kuang Ankun, one of the founders of China's incretology research into adrenal disorders like diabetes and thyroid problems, have asked to rearrange Kuang's bequest worth nearly 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million).
The case centers on a house Kuang lived in with his young wife.
She claims it is hers, but Kuang's two sons claim it is not and they want it back so they can build a commemorative hall in it for their father.
According to the court, Kuang lived with one of his sons in a garden villa on downtown Anfu Road.
As Kuang's first wife had died several years earlier, his son hired a 23-year-old woman surnamed Zhu to take care of Kuang.
In 1988, despite his children's opposition, Kuang decided to marry Zhu, who came from a village in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province.
In 1991, Kuang sold the villa for US$590,000 and gave his two sons US$100,000 each. He then spent more than US$100,000 on a villa on Huashan Road, the court heard. Kuang died from a fall in 1992, aged 90 years old.
In January this year, Kuang's two sons checked on the Huashan Road house at Xuhui District Real Estate Trade Center, and found Zhu had declared herself owner.
The sons immediately filed a lawsuit, claiming Zhu encroached on their legal inherited rights.
According to the plaintiffs, Zhu transferred the house to herself under the name of heritage conferred on her by Kuang.
But the two sons said they never saw the original written will and they also doubted whether their father's signature on the will was real.
Zhu's lawyer insisted Kuang's will made it clear that all his real estate would be bestowed on Zhu.
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