On The Perfection Of The Legacy Support Agreement System

A legacy-support agreement is an agreement entered into by and between alegato and a legatee defining their bequest-support relationship, according to whichthe legatee undertakes the obligations of supporting the legato in the legato’s lifetimeand burying the legato upon the legato’s death and enjoys the right of obtaining theproperty bequeathed by the legato and the legato enjoys the support of the legatee andbequeaths the legacy to the legatee after the legato’s death. The legacy-supportagreement system is an important civil law system as provided for in China’sInheritance Law, which, by means of contracts, provides legal protection forvulnerable groups in need of others’ support, thereby representing an effective way toresolve the problem of supporting the elderly.The legacy-support agreement system is a social security system with Chinesecharacteristics, which has played a huge role in supporting the elderly, protectingminors, and caring for the disabled. Nevertheless, there still exist some problems insome issues related with this system, especially in such aspects as the protection ofthe legitimate rights and interests of the parties to such an agreement. This articleattempts to offer the author’s views on such issues. Specifically, this article looks atthe basic principles for the design of the system, the formal requirements for theparties, rights and obligations, applicable legal validity, rescission and revocation ofagreement,, the relief system, the five guarantee-support system, and supplementarystipulations. It is believed that this study will contribute to the perfection of China’slegacy-support agreement system and to the protection of the rights and interests ofthe parties to such an agreement.