Court rules marriage invalid in teenage millionaire inheritance case

Taipei, June 18 (CNA) The Taichung District Court on Wednesday ruled that the union between Lai (賴), a senior high school student who died just hours after getting married, and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was a legally invalid marriage, potentially affecting Hsia's claim to NT$500 million in real estate assets owned by Lai.

The decision was made in response to a civil suit filed by Lai's mother, the court said, adding that the ruling can be appealed.

If the ruling is upheld, Hsia will lose the right to inherit around NT$500 million (US$16.9 million) in real estate assets, the court said.

According to a press release from the Taichung District Court on Wednesday, Lai and Hsia did not show "any mutual admiration for each other before the marriage" and "interactions between the two were distant and unfamiliar."

The court said it was unable to determine Hsia and Lai had the "true intention of establishing a permanent union with intimacy and exclusivity," and ruled that the union "lacked the essential requirements of marriage."

The case follows Lai's death on May 4, 2023, after he fell from Hsia's 10th floor apartment just two hours after the marriage was registered.

The Taichung District Prosecutors Office determined there was insufficient evidence to charge Hsia with murder, given that there were no signs of trauma or traces of poison or alcohol in Lai's body.

Hsia was instead indicted in June 2023 and sentenced to 18 months in prison by the Taichung District Court in June 2024 for forging documents that caused a civil servant to "make a false entry in public records" in connection with the marriage registration.

The court found that Hsia, who was 26 years old at the time, did not marry Lai, 18, for genuine reasons but to obtain access to around NT$500 million in real estate assets Lai received from his father earlier that year.

Lai's mother later filed the civil suit seeking to formally annul the marriage.

Wednesday's ruling could affect the distribution of Lai's estate, pending appeal.