Heirs in Taiwan do not lose an inherited house or plot of land just because nobody has registered the inheritance (繼承登記). What follows under the Land Act depends on how long the title stays in the deceased owner's name.
| Time since the death | What can happen | Land Act |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 6 months | Window to apply for inheritance registration | Art. 73 |
| After 6 months | A fine of one registration fee per month of delay, capped at 20 fees | Art. 73 |
| After 1 year | The land office gives public notice and three months to register, then may place the property under listed management (列冊管理) | Art. 73-1 |
| After 15 years of listed management | The National Property Administration sells it by public tender | Art. 73-1 |
Suppose your father died in Tainan six years ago. The family house and a small plot are still registered to him. Your sister lives in the house, you live in California, and nobody has filed anything. On those facts the property may already be at the third row of the table.
The heirs already own it, but cannot sell it
Under Taiwan's Civil Code, succession begins at death (Art. 1147), and from that moment the heirs take over the deceased's property rights and obligations (Art. 1148). The house already belongs to you and your sister, whatever the register says. The catch is Article 759: a person who acquires real property rights by inheritance must register before disposing of them. A sale or a mortgage has to wait for the inheritance registration.
Where there is more than one heir, all of them hold the whole estate in joint ownership (公同共有) until it is partitioned (Art. 1151). Disposing of jointly owned property, or exercising other rights over it, requires the consent of all the joint owners unless a statute provides otherwise (Art. 828, para. 3). Your sister may have looked after the house for years, but she cannot sell it on her own decision.
The fine after six months
Article 73 of the Land Act gives heirs six months from the start of succession to apply. After that, a fine of one registration fee may be imposed for each month of delay, up to a maximum of 20 times the fee. The fee itself is one-thousandth of the declared land value or the value of the right (Art. 76). On the statute's own arithmetic, the fine cannot exceed 2% of that value however late the application is.
Some time does not count. Article 50 of the Land Registration Rules says that periods not attributable to the applicant are deducted when the fine is calculated. Ask the land office (地政事務所) where the property is located which periods it will deduct in your case.
The process that concerns the property itself is separate from the fine and starts after the first year.
One year: notice and listed management. Fifteen more: public tender
Article 73-1 of the Land Act deals with land and buildings left unregistered for more than one year after the death. Once the municipal or county land authority has verified the facts, it must publish a notice calling on the heirs to apply within three months and must also notify them in writing. If they still do not apply, the authority may enter the property on a list and manage it. This is listed management. Periods for which the applicant is not to blame are deducted here too (para. 1).
Listed management lasts 15 years. If no one has applied by then, the land authority notifies the heirs in writing and sends the list to the National Property Administration, an agency of the Ministry of Finance, for sale by public tender (para. 2). The tender covers property still unregistered when that period ends, so heirs who register before then never reach this stage.
A three-month public notice comes before the tender. Heirs, lawful users and other co-owners have a right of first refusal, in that order, over the part they use, but the right is treated as waived if they do not claim it within 30 days after the award (para. 3). After the sale, an heir who occupies the property, or a third party who occupies it without a lawful right of use, loses the right to possession, and a lease running for more than five years is limited to five years after the sale (para. 2). In the example, your sister is the heir who occupies the house.
The proceeds go into a dedicated treasury account, and heirs may collect them according to their statutory shares. If no heir applies within ten years, the money goes to the treasury (para. 4). If nobody bids, or the highest bid is below the minimum price, the Administration lowers the minimum by no more than 20% and tenders again. After five failed tenders the property is registered as state-owned. Even then, for ten years from that registration the former right-holders may apply to the Administration, with supporting documents, for payment by statutory share. After review and a 90-day public notice with no objection, payment is calculated on the minimum price of the fifth tender (para. 5).
Papers for the land office, and estate tax first
Article 119 of the Land Registration Rules lists what heirs file on top of the application form and the existing title certificate (Art. 34): a household registration transcript recording the death, the heirs' current household transcripts, a chart of heirs (繼承系統表), and the estate tax payment or exemption certificate. If an heir renounced and the succession began on or after June 5, 1985, the court's document placing the renunciation on record is also required. The applicant draws up the chart of heirs under the Civil Code, states on it that the applicant accepts legal responsibility if an omission or error harms someone else, and signs it.
Estate tax comes before title. Article 8 of the Estate and Gift Tax Act bars partition of the estate, delivery of bequests and transfer registration until estate tax is paid, unless the tax office has issued a certificate such as a tax-exemption or transfer-consent certificate. Article 42 forbids the land office to register the transfer without a copy of such a certificate. Where no tax is assessed, the tax office issues an exemption certificate (Art. 41), and the heirs still need it for the land office. The estate tax return is due within six months from the day after the death (Art. 23), and Article 44 sets a penalty of up to twice the assessed tax for failing to file on time.
When one heir will not cooperate or lives abroad
Not every heir has to sign. Article 73 of the Land Act lets any heir apply for inheritance registration on behalf of all the heirs, and adds that the application does not affect the other heirs' right to renounce the inheritance or to limit their liability (限定繼承). Article 120 of the Land Registration Rules covers the same situation: when some heirs cannot join for some reason, one or more of them may apply, for the benefit of all, to register the deceased's land in joint ownership, and the registry then notifies the others of the result. For an heir who cannot join, Article 119 accepts a transcript of that heir's former household registration in Taiwan, with a written explanation of why a current one cannot be attached.
In the example, your sister could file alone and put the house in joint ownership for both of you, and so could you. What one heir cannot do alone is register separate shares: co-ownership by shares (分別共有) needs every heir's consent (Art. 120). Registration also does not settle who ends up with what. An heir may in principle demand partition of the estate at any time (Civil Code Art. 1164), and partition disputes go to court as family matters (Family Act Art. 3). That dispute is separate from the registration deadline.
If you would rather appoint someone in Taiwan than fly over, Article 41 of the Land Registration Rules waives personal appearance where a foreigner or an overseas national authorizes a third party and a Taiwan overseas mission has authenticated the power of attorney (item 7). Heirs who hold only a foreign nationality face extra rules on foreign ownership of land, covered in Inheriting Taiwan Property as a Foreigner. For renunciation, wills and the wider process, see Taiwan Inheritance and Parental Rights. Whether a Taiwan inheritance must be reported or taxed in the United States is a question for a US adviser, and state rules vary.
If a parent's Taiwan property is still in the parent's name and you want to talk through the order of steps, you can email Hovering International Law Firm at wei@hoveringlaw.com.tw with the date of death, the location of the property and who the heirs are. This column is general information; the answer in a particular estate depends on the documents.
Official sources
- Civil Code, Art. 759, Art. 828, Art. 1147, Art. 1148, Art. 1151, Art. 1164
- Land Act, Art. 73, Art. 73-1, Art. 76
- Land Registration Rules, Art. 34, Art. 41, Art. 50, Art. 119, Art. 120
- Estate and Gift Tax Act, Art. 8, Art. 23, Art. 41, Art. 42, Art. 44 (text in force after the amendment promulgated on September 11, 2026)
- Family Act, Art. 3
Checked: October 5, 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
- If we never register the inheritance, does the Taiwan government take the land?
- Not right away. Under Article 73-1 of the Land Act, once property has gone unregistered for more than a year after the death, the land office publishes a notice giving the heirs three months to apply and may then keep it under listed management for 15 years. If no one has applied by the end of that period, the National Property Administration sells it by public tender. Heirs may claim the proceeds by statutory share, but money unclaimed for ten years goes to the treasury.
- How much is the fine for registering an inheritance late in Taiwan?
- Article 73 of the Land Act allows a fine of one registration fee for each month past the six-month window, capped at 20 times the fee. Under Article 76 the fee is one-thousandth of the declared land value or the value of the right. Article 50 of the Land Registration Rules deducts periods that are not attributable to the applicant.
- Can we register if one heir will not cooperate or lives overseas?
- Yes. Article 120 of the Land Registration Rules lets one or more heirs apply, for the benefit of all, to register the property in joint ownership when the others cannot join. Registering separate shares for each heir requires the consent of every heir.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice on any individual matter.
