The Jog, The Smog, and Jack’s Legacy: A Beijing Tale

Jack, a spry middle-aged chap from Beijing, could show up any young’un at the gym, outpace the early birds with his dawn patrols, and turn weekend splash-a-thons with his missus into Olympic trials. He was a veritable poster boy for health—until one fine smoggy morning.

Amidst his routine jog, as the city yawned awake, Jack’s chest threw a wrench in the works with a sudden pang that felt like a betrayal. It was followed by a coughing fit so fierce, it painted the pavement in a rather alarming shade of ‘concern’. Baffled and a little less sprightly, he trotted off to the local medic.

The doc, after a poke and a listen, shipped Jack off for a CT scan faster than you could say “treadmill trauma”. The results? A plot twist worthy of a daytime drama: Stage 4 lung cancer. Jack, a devout non-puffer, was gobsmacked. “Can’t be!” he gasped, but alas, the grim chorus of second, third, and fourth opinions all sang the same tune—Beijing’s notorious smog had been his unseen nemesis, and his final lap was coming up much sooner than planned.

But Jack, ever the pragmatist, wasn’t about to let his bank account go on a futile chemotherapy vacation. Instead, he hatched a plan to transform into an insurance-collecting wizard, hoping to leave his better half a pot of gold. The insurers, however, weren’t biting; they saw Jack as a walking spoiler alert for their profit margins.

With the inheritance chest looking emptier than a promise of clear skies in Beijing, Jack plotted his final, grand act of love. Borrow, buy, and bequeath was the new game plan, assets over treatment.

The epilogue saw Jack bidding adieu, leaving behind a trove of treasures for his beloved Rose. But, as fate would have it, a character straight out of a pirate’s cove, Sparrow by name, swooped in with claims that Jack had left him a financial treasure map.

Rose, unfazed and as wry as a late-night host, retorted, “My dear, the Black Pearl has sailed into Davy Jones’s Locker. Captain Jack’s settled his debts with the afterlife. You’d best take up a collection with the spirits.”

So, must Rose dig into the coffers to settle Jack’s ghostly debts? Or will Sparrow’s claim find its final resting place in the realm of unpaid posthumous bills?

 

Law In A Minute

Yes, Rose is indeed responsible for repaying the debt.

Under Chinese law, debts are typically settled through the decedent’s estate. This includes all assets such as real estate, stocks, and liquid cash.

Should the estate prove insufficient to cover the loan, it falls to the beneficiary to determine if they wish to draw from their personal finances to clear the outstanding balance. However, the entirety of the inheritance must first be liquidated and applied towards the debt repayment.

 

Legal Basis

Civil Code

Article 1160
An estate which is left with neither a successor nor a legatee shall belong to the state or, where the decedent was a member of an organization under collective ownership before his or her death, to such an organization.

Article 1161

The successor to an estate shall pay all taxes and debts payable by the decedent according to law, up to the actual value of such estate, unless the successor pays voluntarily in excess of the limit.The successor who disclaims inheritance assumes no responsibility for the payment of taxes and debts payable by the decedent according to law.