Hello. This is the Inheritance Law Team at Law Firm Jeonjae.

On TBS Livelihood Research Institute, while addressing the remaining tasks of the public-interest bills that did not pass the 20th National Assembly, we interviewed Attorney No Jong-eon, CEO of Law Firm Jeonjae. The key topic was the so-called 'Goo Hara Act' — a revision to the Civil Act that adds grounds for disqualification of heirs and relaxes the requirements for recognizing a contributor's share.

Is it just to grant rights to someone who has not fulfilled their duties?

In March 2020, Attorney No Jong-eon submitted a National Assembly public petition requesting amendments to the Civil Act on behalf of Koo Ho-in, the older brother of the late Goo Hara. The petition gained the support of 100,000 citizens and was referred to the National Assembly, but it was automatically discarded when the 20th National Assembly's term expired.

For more than 20 years, the late Goo Hara and her older brother Koo Ho-in relied only on each other to live. Their biological mother, who ran away when Hara was 9, lost contact for about 20 years and suddenly appeared right after Hara passed away in 2019, demanding half of the inheritance. A mother who did not support her children and even gave up parental rights, yet still took her child's death compensation and inheritance as if it were only natural. Attorney No Jong-eon took up a legislative petition to change this structural absurdity.

"A final gift to my younger sister"

Even if the Goo Hara Act were enacted, due to the principle prohibiting retroactive legislation, it would not apply to Goo Hara's inheritance division case. Koo Ho-in knew this as well. Nevertheless, the reason he did not give up on the legislative petition was to prevent a tragedy like Hara's and his own family's from happening again.

At a press conference, Koo Ho-in said this: "I filed the legislative petition with the hope of helping many people who have lived sad lives like our family, just as the name Goo Hara means. I think the passage of this law is the last gift I can give to my beloved younger sister."

A 6-year journey, finally becoming law

After this interview aired, the Goo Hara Act went through a long journey. Even after being discarded by the 20th National Assembly and reintroduced and discarded again in the 21st, Attorney No Jong-eon and Koo Ho-in never gave up.

Finally, in the 22nd National Assembly, it passed the plenary session on August 28, 2024. 284 in favor, 0 against, 2 abstentions. Revised Civil Act Article 1004-2 stipulates that a court may strip inheritance rights from lineal ascendants who have seriously violated their duty of support, and it has been in effect since January 1, 2026.

Furthermore, on February 12, 2026, the National Assembly plenary session additionally passed the 'Revised Goo Hara Act,' which can also deprive children who abandoned their duty to support their parents and committed unfilial acts of inheritance rights. The purpose of the Goo Hara Act has thus been expanded beyond lineal ascendants to lineal descendants as well.

From legislative petition to the law's enforcement in 6 years, the name 'Goo Hara' became a name that changed our society's inheritance system. Law Firm Jeonjae makes it its way of being not to limit cases to conflicts between individuals, but to address the structural problems of law and institutions as well.