ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to lay out the main features of China's introduced law of inheritance and to examine some of the important social concomitants of this legislation. The inheritance of a number of important forms of property has been permitted throughout the period of socialist rule and the new inheritance law which came into effect on 1 October 1985 has recently expanded the range of heritable objects. The link between inheritance and welfare programmes is also strengthened by the PRC's more general policies designed to protect the legal rights not only of the elderly and the young, but also of women. The need for an inheritance law is also explained in terms of the fundamental constitutional rights of PRC citizens. One of the most radical developments in the PRC's regulatory framework for inheritance has been the official emphasis given to the social and legal utility of the will.
