Open Decision Ledger · Customary law & property rights
The Criterion Distinguishing Change of Surname and Clan Origin from Membership in the Clan Association
Translated from the Korean original. Read the Korean
Supreme Court, May 26, 2022, 2017Da260940 (judgment)
Case name: 종원지위확인
Official text on the National Law Information Center
Question
Does an adult child who has changed their surname and clan origin to the mother's automatically become a member of the clan association to which the mother belongs?
Holding
The Supreme Court regards a clan association as a naturally arising kinship group whose purposes are the protection of ancestral graves, the performance of ancestral rites, and fellowship, and adopts a structure under which adult descendants sharing the same surname and clan origin become members as a matter of course, without distinction as to sex. Since, under the en banc judgment in Supreme Court Decision 2002Da1178, the force of the customary law confining membership to men was lost, a custom excluding persons solely on the basis of the maternal line cannot be regarded as law. A change made pursuant to Article 781, paragraph (6) of the Civil Act must also be regarded as identical to a case in which the mother's surname and clan origin have been followed from birth, in view of the constitutional principle of equality and the purpose of abolishing the household head system. In this case, the plaintiff is an adult who changed to the mother's surname and clan origin with the court's permission and is accordingly recognized as a member of the defendant clan association.
Summary of the holding, verbatim
종중이란 공동선조의 분묘수호와 제사 및 종원 상호 간의 친목 등을 목적으로 하여 구성되는 자연발생적인 종족집단이므로, 종중의 이러한 목적과 본질에 비추어 볼 때 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손은 성별의 구별 없이 성년이 되면 당연히 그 구성원이 된다
Unofficial English translation
A clan association is a naturally arising clan group formed for the purpose of protecting the tombs of the common ancestor, holding ancestral rites, and promoting fellowship among its members, and in light of such purpose and nature of a clan association, a descendant who shares the same surname and bon as the common ancestor becomes a member thereof upon reaching majority, regardless of sex
Disposition
Dismissed Stated in the decision
상고를 기각한다
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed
Form of the test
Elements stated Stated in the decision
종중이란 공동선조의 분묘수호와 제사 및 종원 상호 간의 친목 등을 목적으로 하여 구성되는 자연발생적인 종족집단이므로, 종중의 이러한 목적과 본질에 비추어 볼 때 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손은 성별의 구별 없이 성년이 되면 당연히 그 구성원이 된다
Unofficial English translation
A clan association is a naturally arising clan group formed for the purpose of protecting the tombs of the common ancestor, holding ancestral rites, and promoting fellowship among its members, and in light of such purpose and nature of a clan association, a descendant who shares the same surname and bon as the common ancestor becomes a member thereof upon reaching majority, regardless of sex
Factors
- 종중이란 공동선조의 분묘수호와 제사 및 종원 상호 간의 친목 등을 목적으로 하여 구성되는 자연발생적인 종족집단이므로
- 민법 제781조 제6항에 따라 자녀의 성과 본이 모의 성과 본으로 변경되었을 경우
- 성년인 그 자녀는 모가 속한 종중의 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손으로서 당연히 종중의 구성원이 되는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
• A clan association is a naturally arising clan group formed for the purpose of protecting the tombs of the common ancestor, holding ancestral rites, and promoting fellowship among its members, and therefore
• where a child's surname and bon have been changed to the mother's surname and bon pursuant to Article 781(6) of the Civil Act,
• whether such child, upon reaching majority, becomes a member of the clan association to which the mother belongs as a descendant sharing the same surname and bon as the common ancestor of the clan association (affirmative)
Relation to precedent
Follows earlier decisions Stated in the decision
대법원 2005. 7. 21. 선고 2002다1178 전원합의체 판결(공2005하, 1326)
Unofficial English translation
Supreme Court en banc judgment 2002Da1178 decided July 21, 2005 (Gong 2005 Ha, 1326)
Decisions referred to
대법원 2005. 7. 21. 선고 2002다1178 전원합의체 판결(공2005하, 1326)
Burden of proof
Not addressed Not in the decision
Open question and revisit condition
Where is the line drawn on whether a change of surname and clan origin alters eligibility for membership?
It is necessary to examine again whether there is any reason to treat differently the case in which the mother's surname and clan origin have been followed from birth and the case in which the change was made after birth.
Cross-family AI independent reading & axis check
8 of 8 axes matched Gemini 3.1 Pro · 2026-10-16
As a result of an independent reading by a cross-family AI, all eight axes match the first reading. The disposition, the direct quotation of the text of the Summary of Decision, the form of the decision standard, the decision factors, the relation to precedent, and the classification of the burden of proof accord with the wording of the original text.
Lower-court contrast & scope of application
Lower-court reading vs. Supreme Court holding
Lower-court context: The court below held that, inasmuch as the plaintiff's surname and clan origin had been changed to the mother's, the plaintiff became a member of the defendant, the clan association to which the mother belongs, and thus upheld the plaintiff's claim. According to the reasons for the judgment of the court below and the Records, the plaintiff was registered at birth under the father's surname and clan origin, but in 2014 filed a report of change to the mother's surname and clan origin upon obtaining the court's permission, and the defendant resolved at a meeting of its officers not to recognize the plaintiff's membership. The defendant's articles of association provided that adult men and women who are blood relatives are members, while also providing that if they change to a different surname, they are not recognized as descendants.
Supreme Court standard: The Supreme Court held that where the surname and clan origin of an adult child are changed to the mother's pursuant to Article 781, paragraph (6) of the Civil Act, the child, as a descendant sharing the surname and clan origin of the common ancestor of the clan association to which the mother belongs, becomes a member of that clan association as a matter of course. This is because there is no reasonable ground to treat such a child differently from the case in which the mother's surname and clan origin have been followed from birth, and because a child whose surname and clan origin have been changed to the mother's withdraws from the clan association to which the father belongs, so that excluding the child would offend the principle of equality. The Supreme Court found no error of misunderstanding of the legal principle in the judgment of the court below, which reached the same conclusion, and therefore dismissed the final appeal, and ordered the defendant, the losing party, to bear the costs of the final appeal.
Distinguishing conditions
- A case in which the child has not yet become an adult and thus automatic membership is not at issue
- A case in which the surname and clan origin differ for reasons other than a change made pursuant to Article 781, paragraph (6) of the Civil Act
Record verification notes
When applying the legal principle of Supreme Court Decision 2017Da260940 to other cases, one must first confirm whether the child is an adult and whether the child shares the surname and clan origin of the common ancestor of the clan association to which the mother belongs. Whether the change of surname and clan origin was made pursuant to Article 781, paragraph (6) of the Civil Act, and the circumstances of the clan association's decision, need to be examined through the Records.
From the official text
Points at issue
민법 제781조 제6항에 따라 자녀의 성과 본이 모의 성과 본으로 변경되었을 경우, 성년인 그 자녀는 모가 속한 종중의 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손으로서 당연히 종중의 구성원이 되는지 여부(적극)
Unofficial English translation
Where a child's surname and bon have been changed to the mother's surname and bon pursuant to Article 781(6) of the Civil Act, whether such child, upon reaching majority, becomes a member of the clan association to which the mother belongs as a descendant sharing the same surname and bon as the common ancestor of the clan association (affirmative)
Summary of the holding
종중이란 공동선조의 분묘수호와 제사 및 종원 상호 간의 친목 등을 목적으로 하여 구성되는 자연발생적인 종족집단이므로, 종중의 이러한 목적과 본질에 비추어 볼 때 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손은 성별의 구별 없이 성년이 되면 당연히 그 구성원이 된다. 민법 제781조 제6항에 따라 자녀의 복리를 위하여 자녀의 성과 본을 변경할 필요가 있어 자녀의 성과 본이 모의 성과 본으로 변경되었을 경우 성년인 그 자녀는 모가 속한 종중의 공동선조와 성과 본을 같이 하는 후손으로서 당연히 종중의 구성원이 된다.
Order
상고를 기각한다. 상고비용은 피고가 부담한다.
Unofficial English translation
The appeal is dismissed. The costs of the final appeal shall be borne by the defendant.
Provisions referred to
민법 제1조, 제31조, 제106조, 제781조 제1항, 제6항, 헌법 제11조 제1항, 제36조 제1항
Read 2026-10-15 · Cross-read 2026-10-16. All quotes matched against the official text. The Chinese-character placeholders the court used for anonymised parties are given in their Korean readings, and parenthetical Chinese-character glosses are omitted.
Every entry is published only after all quotes have been matched character by character against the official text, and audited by an independent second reading from a different model family across all eight axes. Both agreed axes and text-grounded interpretive divergences are recorded openly. The ledger is a research record, not an assessment of the court or advice on any matter.
Back to the ledger