Shanghai court rules son can engrave name on father’s gravestone

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Shanghai court rules son can engrave name on father’s gravestone

(Global Times) 08:34, October 31, 2013

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Huangpu District People's Court has ruled that a local man has the right to have his name engraved on his father's gravestone, despite objections from the relative who paid for the stone, the court said Wednesday.

The plaintiff, surnamed Hu, sued his adopted sister after she refused to allow him to carve his name into the gravestone that she bought for their father's burial, according to a court press release. In China, a deceased person's spouse and children customarily have their names engraved on his or her gravestone.

The defendant, whom the court called Ali, argued that Hu shouldn't be allowed to put his name on the gravestone because he did not support his father, the court said. Ali pointed out that she was the one who paid for their father's gravestone and funeral.

Hu's father divorced his mother 40 years ago and later remarried another woman. Ali is their adopted daughter.

Hu argued that he had a good relationship with his father. He produced letters that his father had written him and the receipt for a wheelchair he bought for the older man.

Although there aren't any laws on the books that pertain to this kind of dispute, the court made its ruling based on tradition, which requires children to engrave their names on their parents' gravestones.

The court allowed Hu to add his name to the stone on the condition that he repay Ali for half of the burial expenses.

（Editor：GaoYinan、Chen Lidan）