Constitutional court justices are seated during a session on April 25. Yonhap

The Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down an inheritance rule that mandates certain portions of an inheritance be given to siblings of the dead.

The Civil Act mandates families' rights to legally reserved minimum portions of an inheritance in the event of a family member's death.

The law stipulates predetermined inheritance portions for spouses, children, parents and siblings of the dead in case a person dies without a will.

Even if a will is left, spouses and children are entitled to half of the portions legally stipulated for them, while parents and siblings are entitled to one-third of the legally stipulated portions, a legal safety net introduced in 1977 to guarantee the survival rights of the bereaved.

The Constitutional Court ruled against the minimum inheritance portions reserved for siblings in its unanimous decision Thursday, saying siblings are hardly recognized as having contributed to the asset accumulation of the dead.

The ruling came amid recurring claims against the inheritance system, which opponents criticize as too invasive of an individual's property rights. (Yonhap)