- A 19-year-old from Shanghai left his 20 million yuan fortune to a childhood friend
- His estate includes an apartment and savings given by his parents after their divorce
- He cited practical and personal reasons, including his extreme sports lifestyle
A 19-year-old student from Shanghai has sparked widespread discussion on Chinese social media after drawing up a will that leaves his entire fortune, worth about 20 million yuan (around Rs 28 crore), to his childhood friend instead of his family. The teenager, identified only by his surname Li, recently had his will officially notarised. His estate includes an apartment and savings that he said were given to him by his parents following their divorce and subsequent remarriages, South China Morning Post reported.
Li said he decided to do it for practical reasons, as well as personal ones. He is an extreme sports enthusiast and does them regularly and wants to make sure his assets are distributed as per his wishes if something happens to him.
He also said he did not want his parents' current spouses, whom he considers strangers, to eventually benefit from his estate. Instead, he chose to leave everything to a childhood friend whom he has known and trusted for years.
Under China's inheritance laws, Li's parents would normally be his legal heirs because he is unmarried and has no children. However, Chinese law also allows individuals to leave their assets to someone outside their immediate family through a legally valid will.
Li registered the document with the China Will Registration Centre in Shanghai. According to the centre, the designated beneficiary must formally accept the inheritance within 60 days of the testator's death or risk forfeiting the claim.
The case has also highlighted a broader trend. The China Will Registration Centre says younger people are increasingly making wills, with the average age of people registering them falling from 77 to 67 over the years. Officials say more people born in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s are now planning their estates, reflecting changing attitudes toward inheritance and financial planning.
Li's decision has divided opinion online, with some praising him for planning ahead and exercising his legal rights, while others questioned why he chose a friend over his family.
