‘Contribution’ refers to a system where, among co-heirs, there is a person who has made a special contribution to the maintenance or increase of the property of the deceased or who has supported the deceased, and the inheritance is recognized by adding property equal to the contribution to that person.

In order for contributions to be recognized, simple help or support among family members is not enough, and a ‘special contribution’ must be recognized under the law. Additionally, the contribution must result in the maintenance or increase of the decedent's property.

Therefore, a spouse's family law or nursing, etc. are activities within the scope of the couple's obligation to cohabit, support, and cooperate (Article 826, Paragraph 1 of the Civil Act), so it is difficult to recognize them as special contributions. However, if it is recognized that there is a need to adjust the spouse's share of inheritance in order to promote substantive fairness among co-heirs by comprehensively considering all circumstances, such as whether the degree exceeds the normal level and amounts to special support, as well as the timing, method, and degree of cohabitation and nursing care, the spouse's intangible contribution due to long-term cohabitation and nursing care may be actively considered as one of the factors in recognizing the contribution (Supreme Court dated November 21, 2019) 2014S44, 45 en banc decision).

Examples of special contributions include:

• ① When contributing to the maintenance and formation of inherited property by providing free labor or providing one's own property to a business run by the deceased.
• ② In cases where the inherited property is maintained through such care or nursing beyond the normal level of support or nursing (for example, when the cost of nursing or nursing was borne by the contributor and there was no loss of inherited property)

In principle, the contribution is determined through consultation between co-heirs (Civil Act Article 1008-2, Paragraph 1).

However, if there is no agreement or cannot be reached between co-heirs, a request can be made to the Family Court to determine the amount of contribution (Civil Act Article 1008-2, Paragraph 2). The family court determines the contribution amount by considering the time, method, and extent of contribution, the amount of inherited property, and other circumstances.

Both contributions and special profits affect the inheritance of joint heirs, but the purposes of the systems are different.

Contribution is a system in which if a co-heir makes a special contribution to maintaining or increasing the property of the deceased, this is reflected in the inheritance.

On the other hand, special profit is a system that promotes equity among co-heirs by reflecting it in the calculation of inheritance when a co-heir receives a gift or bequest during his or her lifetime and receives more economic benefits than other co-heirs.

In actual inheritance disputes, contributions and special profits are often issues at the same time, so there are many cases where the two systems must be reviewed together.