Transferred the house to their son after the crash? Civil Code 244 can revoke it

While checking assets you find it: a house in their name, transferred to their son a week after the accident, registered as a gift. That is asset stripping. The law saw this coming: Article 244 of the Civil Code lets a creditor ask the court to revoke the transfer, the house returns to the debtor's name, and then you enforce. This is the last part of the no-money series, Part 5, and it also covers the money you never need to wait for: compulsory motor insurance.

01Civil Code Article 244: revoking acts that defraud creditors

Gratuitous acts (paragraph 1): gifts, transfers with no consideration, waiving a debt. If the act leaves them unable to pay you, you can ask the court to revoke it, without proving that they or the son knew anything.
Paid acts (paragraph 2): selling to relatives or friends, or at a very low price. You must show they knew it would harm your claim and the buyer knew it too. For a cheap sale between relatives, courts usually infer this from the price and the relationship.
After revocation (paragraph 4): you can also demand that the transferee (the son) return the property to the debtor; the house goes back into their name and you apply for enforcement.
Exceptions: gratuitous acts that merely fulfil a moral duty (such as supporting a dependant) cannot be revoked, and revocation is limited to the amount of your claim.

02Deadlines: 1 year from knowing, 10 years from the act

Under Article 245 the right to revoke lapses 1 year after the creditor learns of the ground for revocation, and in any case 10 years after the act. "Learning" is usually the day you see the land register and spot the transfer. So act as soon as you find it; do not wait for the enforcement process to run its course.

03Evidence: pull the change index at the land office

At any land registration office, or through the Ministry of the Interior's online service, apply for the property's registration transcript and change index (異動索引).
The transcript shows the current owner; the change index lists every transfer with its date and registered cause (gift, sale, inheritance).
Compare the accident date with the transfer date and keep screenshots. For a sale, check the actual-price registry to see whether the price was clearly below market.
Vehicles: apply to the motor vehicles office for the registration history; shares: the court can query the central depository.

Ministry of the Interior real-estate information platform (actual-price registry, land data) — To check whether a sale price was below market

04How to sue: the action to revoke a fraudulent act

File at the district court where the property is or where a defendant lives, naming both the debtor and the transferee as defendants.
Relief sought: revoke the gift (or sale) of the property between the defendants on the given date and the resulting transfer registration; order the transferee to cancel the registration and restore ownership to the debtor.
Attachments: proof of your claim (the enforcement title or accident documents), the registration transcript, the change index, and the tax office property list showing they have no other assets.
The court fee depends on the value in dispute; you can apply to the Legal Aid Foundation for assistance.

05No enforcement title yet? Apply for provisional attachment first

Both the revocation suit and the damages suit take time, during which they may keep moving things. Provisional attachment under Article 522 and following of the Code of Civil Procedure lets you ask the court to freeze their assets before you hold an enforcement title. You must make a prima facie showing that enforcement later would be impossible or very difficult (ongoing asset stripping is the best possible showing) and post security as the court orders, usually about one third of the claim.

06Never wait for them: compulsory insurance pays first

Article 7 of the Compulsory Automobile Liability Insurance Act: regardless of the other driver's fault or means, the victim can claim benefits directly from their insurer.
Benefit levels (from 1 July 2026): injury medical expenses up to NT$200,000 per person; death or first-grade disability NT$3,000,000 per person, with disability scaled by grade.
Prepare: the police accident certificate, medical certificate and receipts, your ID and a bank account, and apply to the other driver's compulsory insurer.
No compulsory insurance or a hit-and-run: apply to the Motor Vehicle Accident Special Compensation Fund for the same amounts.
Compulsory benefits are on top of everything else; the driver still owes whatever exceeds them, and that excess is what the previous four parts chase.

07The rest of the no-money series

This guide is one of five in the no-money series. Every part has a reel on Instagram @lawbao.tw; comment the keyword under a reel and the full guide for that part lands in your DMs.

Part 1 | Crashed into and they "have no money"? How to check — Instagram reel
Part 2 | Step one is not suing: get an enforcement title first — Comment "名義" on the reel to get this link
Part 3 | Check their assets at the tax office — Comment "查產" on the reel to get this link
Part 4 | Insurance surrender value can be seized too — Comment "保單" on the reel to get this link
Part 5 | They moved the assets away? There is a fix (this one) — Comment "脫產" on the reel to get this link

08Things to watch

The right to revoke is exercised only by filing a lawsuit; a demand letter alone does nothing.
If the transfer to the son was a genuine sale at a fair price with the money actually paid, revocation is hard; focus on the price and the payment records.
Compulsory insurance benefit levels were adjusted from 1 July 2026; apply under the current standard published by the Financial Supervisory Commission.
The civil tort claim expires 2 years from learning of the damage (Civil Code Article 197); the revocation suit and the damages suit can run in parallel.