High-Value Will Declared Invalid in Inheritance Dispute

A court has ruled that a deceased physician’s estate worth several billion New Taiwan dollars must be redistributed among all heirs after invalidating a handwritten will that left the assets to his spouse and a grandchild. The decision, handed down by the High Court on April 8, 2026, found procedural defects in the will prepared by a 90-year-old physician surnamed Chen (陳), which had allocated the estate to his wife, surnamed Tseng (曾), and a grandchild.

The court determined that neither witness to the will met the legal standard required to validate the document. One witness had severe hearing impairment and testified that he was unaware of key details, including the identity of the will’s executor. The second witness stated he had been asked by a law firm to act as a witness and was not aware he needed to verify the document’s contents. The judges ruled that witnesses must do more than provide a signature; they must substantively confirm that a will reflects the testator’s true intent. As neither witness met this standard, the will was declared invalid.

Chen married Tseng — his younger son’s mother-in-law — in April 2021 and died in September of the same year. His eldest son challenged the marriage, alleging Tseng sought control of an estate that includes multiple properties in Taipei, Taichung and Taoyuan, and argued that Chen, who has suspected cognitive decline due to age, lacked genuine intent. The elder son said the marriage was not publicly announced or accompanied by a wedding banquet.

The ruling means the estate must now be redistributed among all legal heirs according to intestacy laws, overturning the provisions of the invalidated will.