Everbright has extensive experience advising individuals, families, entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses on matrimonial and family matters, inheritance, estate administration and wealth succession. The team handles complex family disputes, estate matters and the succession of diverse asset classes. Beyond legal outcomes, we are attentive to client confidentiality, family relationships, asset protection and the long-term workability of each arrangement, approaching highly personal matters with discretion and pragmatism.

In 2022, Everbright was among the first law firms admitted to the recommended panel of estate administrators maintained by the Shanghai Zhangjiang Notary Public Office. The firm was subsequently included in the estate administrator panels of the Shanghai New Hongqiao Notary Public Office and the Shanghai Hongkou Notary Public Office, with several of our lawyers also appointed to their specialist panels. The team provides comprehensive legal support in connection with the appointment, court designation and performance of estate administrators, including the identification, inventory, preservation, administration, disposal and distribution of estate assets, the settlement of claims and liabilities, and related inheritance disputes.

Matrimonial and succession matters often involve real estate, corporate interests, financial assets, claims and liabilities, and cross-border arrangements. Drawing on Everbright’s capabilities in real estate, corporate and commercial law, dispute resolution, finance, tax and cross-border matters, the team is able to coordinate matrimonial property arrangements, succession to family business ownership and control, inheritance planning and cross-border asset arrangements. In family trust matters, we advise on transaction structures and compliance risks, draft and review trust documentation, support the establishment and ongoing administration of trusts, and handle related litigation and arbitration, helping clients develop workable solutions that balance continuity of control, beneficiary arrangements and risk protection.

Main service contents：

● Matrimonial Arrangements and Family Disputes
Prenuptial, postnuptial and divorce settlement agreements; advice, negotiation and mediation concerning significant matrimonial and family matters;
divorce, validity of marriage, matrimonial property, joint marital liabilities, post-divorce property and jointly owned family property disputes, together with related asset preservation and enforcement proceedings;
child custody, maintenance and access, parentage, guardianship, adoption, family support obligations, domestic violence and personal safety protection orders.

● Succession Planning and Wills
Wills, legacies, legacy-support agreements, lifetime gifts and advance guardianship arrangements;
succession planning for complex assets, including real estate, corporate interests, financial assets and digital assets, as well as will witnessing, inheritance notarisation and related procedural assistance.

● Estate Administration and Inheritance Disputes
Appointment of estate administrators, applications for court designation and estate administration plans; identification of heirs, estate assets, claims and liabilities; preparation of estate inventories; preservation, administration, disposal, distribution and transfer of estate assets; disputes concerning the validity of wills, heirship, ownership of estate assets, settlement of liabilities and the responsibilities of estate administrators.

● Family Businesses and Wealth Succession
Succession to the ownership and control of family businesses, family governance, and arrangements to delineate and protect family wealth and business assets; structuring and compliance advice for family trusts, drafting and review of trust documentation, legal support throughout establishment and ongoing administration, and related litigation, arbitration and risk management.

● Cross-Border Matrimonial and Succession Matters
Foreign-related and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan-related matrimonial, family and inheritance matters, including jurisdictional and choice-of-law analysis; use of overseas wills and other legal documents in mainland China, and coordination of procedures involving cross-border real estate, corporate interests, financial assets and estates.