Sun Bo and Luo Yanling, Lawyers of This Joint Firm, Invited to Give a Special Lecture on "Hong Kong Inheritance Law and Foreign-related Notarization" for Guangdong Notary Association
February 26, 2024, 18:35:00
Sun Bo and Luo Yanling, lawyers of Hong An Xin Chen (Guangzhou) Joint Law Firm, were invited to give a special lecture on "Hong Kong Inheritance Law and Foreign-related Notarization" for the Guangdong Notary Association.
To deeply study and implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era and promote the high-quality development of the notary industry, the Guangdong Notary Association recently held a province-wide notary business training course in Jiangmen, Guangdong. On December 20, Tong Jianhua, Chen Peiyu, Sun Bo, and Luo Yanling, lawyers of Hong An Xin Chen (Guangzhou) Joint Law Firm, were honored to be invited to attend the training.
Figure 1: Wang Yingming (first from left), Secretary-General of Guangdong Notary Association, takes a group photo with Tong Jianhua (first from right), Chen Peiyu (second from left), and Sun Bo (second from right), lawyers of this joint firm
As keynote speakers at the training, Lawyers Sun Bo and Luo Yanling delivered a special lecture on "Hong Kong Inheritance Law and Foreign-related Notarization". Lawyer Sun Bo is a Greater Bay Area lawyer and a Hong Kong lawyer, while Lawyer Luo Yanling is a China-Appointed Attestation Officer and a Hong Kong lawyer. Both have rich experience in cross-border civil and commercial affairs. Aiming at the difficulties and problems encountered by mainland notaries in handling foreign-related and Hong Kong-related notarization, they elaborated on the legal provisions and procedures related to Hong Kong inheritance, Hong Kong wills, and enduring powers of attorney, such as the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) and the Enduring Powers of Attorney Ordinance (Cap. 501). They also shared document templates for enduring powers of attorney and various Hong Kong notarial certificates, providing clear working ideas for the attending notaries in foreign-related and Hong Kong-related notarization.
Figure 2: Lawyer Sun Bo gives a lecture on "Hong Kong Inheritance Law and Foreign-related Notarization"
Figure 3: Lawyer Luo Yanling answers questions from attending notaries
At the end of the lecture, Lawyers Sun Bo and Luo Yanling had a lively exchange and discussion with the attending notaries. Notaries from various notary offices in Guangdong Province raised various questions encountered in foreign-related notarization work. For example, Deng Guojun, a notary from Guangzhou Zhongnan Notary Office, asked, "Is the matrimonial property system in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region a general matrimonial property co-ownership system or a special matrimonial property co-ownership system?" A notary from Huizhou Notary Office asked more than ten questions, such as "How to handle the inheritance of movable and immovable properties of Hong Kong residents in the mainland". Combining their own business experience, Lawyers Sun Bo and Luo Yanling carefully responded to the questions raised by the attending notaries, dispelling confusion and causing a warm response.
2023 Annual Province-wide Notary Business Training Course
Questions in the classroom interaction session on the afternoon of December 19:
Zhang Yiyang, a notary from Huizhou Notary Office, asked:
1. In cases involving immovable property trusts in Hong Kong, can they be handled as inheritance?
2. How to handle the inheritance of movable property of Hong Kong people in the mainland?
3. For the immovable property of Hong Kong people in the mainland, should the ownership of the immovable property be handled according to the matrimonial property relationship under Hong Kong law?
4. If a Hong Kong person makes a will in the mainland but his habitual residence is in Hong Kong, are there any defects in the validity of the will made in the mainland?
Figure 4: Lawyers Sun Bo and Luo Yanling interact with attending notaries
With the increasing complexity of international exchanges and cooperation, both enterprises and individuals have growing demands for foreign-related legal services, including foreign-related notarization. Since 2023, more than 2.5 million foreign-related notarization cases have been handled nationwide, and notarization documents have been sent to more than 180 countries and regions. As a basic legal service in foreign-related legal services, foreign-related notarization faces the challenge of connecting the laws of different countries or regions. At present, foreign-related notarization is mostly still in the stage of "crossing the river by feeling the stones".
In order to overcome the difficulties of connecting different legal systems in foreign-related notarization, Hong An Xin Chen (Guangzhou) Joint Law Firm has fully integrated the resources of all parties in the joint venture, actively united mainland notaries, mainland lawyers, China-Appointed Attestation Officers, Hong Kong lawyers, Hong Kong barristers, and lawyers from other countries, and is dedicated to providing clients with "one-stop" high-quality foreign-related notarization services, including notarization of family relations, marital status, power of attorney, non-criminal record, birth certificate, academic certificate, business license, and other foreign-related and Hong Kong-related notarization services, so as to provide more comprehensive legal services for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.