'I trust my friend': Chinese teenager's decision to leave ₹25 crore fortune to childhood friend goes viral

A 19-year-old student from Shanghai has sparked debate on social media after he allegedly wrote a notarized will leaving his entire estate – worth 20 million yuan (approx. ₹25 crore) – to his childhood friend instead of his family.

The teenager, identified only by his surname Li, said the decision was influenced by his family circumstances and concerns about who would ultimately inherit his property if something happened to him.

According to reports, Li’s assets include an apartment and savings worth millions of yuan, which he has decided to leave to a childhood friend he says he trusts.

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Teen says his parents’ remarriage influenced his decision

Li said his parents divorced and later remarried, so he felt emotionally distant from them despite transferring the property into his name.

He explained that although they gave him the wealth he now owns, they were largely absent during his upbringing.

Li also described himself as an extreme sports enthusiast and said he regularly participates in activities that involve significant risk.

Because of this, he decided to arrange his property in case something happened to him.

According to Li, he did not want his parents’ current spouses — whom he described as strangers — to end up inheriting his property.

Instead, he decided to leave his fortune to a childhood friend he grew up with and whom he says he trusts.

Why did he choose his childhood friend as the sole beneficiary

Under Chinese inheritance law, spouses, children and parents are considered the first in line to inherit their property.

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According to the report, if Li’s parents inherited his property, their spouses could also gain usufruct rights or eventually inherit the property.

However, Chinese law also allows individuals to make a will naming beneficiaries outside the legal line of succession or to donate their property to the state or collective.

Li completed the process by visiting the Shanghai office of the China Will Registration Centre, where he notarized his will.

Huang Haibo, the office manager, said Li’s childhood friend must legally accept the inheritance within 60 days. Otherwise, it would be considered that the friend has lost the right of inheritance.

Officials say more young Chinese are writing wills

The China Will Registration Centre, a non-profit public welfare initiative launched by the China Aging Development Foundation in 2013, said more than 400,000 wills have been registered with the organization.

According to its latest annual report, the average age of people making wills has dropped from 77 to 67, indicating a growing public acceptance of estate planning.

Huang said the organization has also seen a steady increase in young people choosing to prepare wills.

“An increasing number of people born in the 80s, 90s and after 2000 are making wills here. Making a will is no longer a taboo, not just for the elderly.”

Chen, a notary public from Zhejiang province, told Ningbo Evening News that younger people in China often make wills after marriage to protect assets acquired or inherited before marriage.

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Another common situation, Chen said, involves single people without children who decide in advance who will inherit their property.

Li’s decision to leave his entire estate to a childhood friend rather than his family has since sparked a wide-ranging online debate, with many debating inheritance, family relationships and the growing trend of young people preparing wills.