Inheritance law in Indonesia
There are three source of law that governs how an Indonesian inheritance is regulated: a). Based of the Indonesian Civil code, where this inheritance law is valid for Chinese people and foreign east; b). Based on customary inheritance law, where this inheritance law is valid for indigenous (native) people, which resides on specific area and subject them self to the said customary law; and c). Based on Islamic law, where this inheritance law is valid for indigenous (native) people who have Moslem religion, which subject them self to the said Islamic Inheritance law.
The law states that an Inheritance can only happens due to death and that those who entitled to become an heir are a family member by blood-relation, either legitimately acknowledged by the laws and regulation in effect or those outside of legitimate marriage, and the surviving husband or wife in accordance to this law. That being said, basically encourage that a blood relationship (blood-ties) is mandatory between the heir and the testator. Therefore, those to be become the legitimate heirs are those who posses blood relationship with the testator, which can be categorized as:
- Children’s or descendants born from the marriage is inheriting their parents, grandparents, and blood-related families heritage and legacy, without differentiate their sex or when they were born”
- The parents and the brother and the sister of The Testator, including the descendants of the brother and the sister of the testator, however they could not become the heir of the testator, if the children’s of the testator is still alive, the law states: “When a person is deceased without leaving any surviving descendants or spouses, therefore the surviving parents of the said person is entitled for one third shares of the deceased heritage”
Moreover, based on The Indonesian Supreme Court Circular Letter Number: MA/kumdil/171/V/K/1991, that in order to provide uniformity for all Indonesian citizens, therefore the legitimate heir certification in Indonesia is divided onto the following terms:
- For inheritance of Europe Descendants, the legitimate heir certification is made by The Public Notary;
- For inheritance of The indigenous (native) people (So called “Pribumi”) is made by The Village head of The Village Office where the deceased is residing;
- For inheritance of Chinese Descendants, the legitimate heir certification is made by The Public Notary;
- For inheritance of The Foreign East Descendants, the legitimate heir certification is made by The Legacy Hall Office;
You may use those principles to produce the correct form of the heir certificate, where it’s made and how to produce the certification so that it complies with the laws and regulations in effects in Indonesia for further use in obtaining the legacies.
