Evergreen founder's foundation sues all seven heirs over a promise he made in print

On 22 October 2026, at a hearing in the Taipei District Court, the Chang Yung-fa Foundation added all seven heirs of Evergreen Group’s founder as primary defendants to its claim for NT$1 billion (about US$31 million) from his estate. The court closed oral argument the same day and set judgment for 11am on 30 November, according to SETN and the World Journal.

Chang Yung-fa built Evergreen Marine and EVA Air and died in January 2016. His sealed will named his youngest son, Chang Kuo-wei, now chairman of Starlux Airlines, as sole heir. Taiwan’s Supreme Court upheld that will in August 2024, VnExpress International reports.

The claim: a gift that takes effect on death

The foundation first sued the four executors of the will in late March 2026, after learning that estate funds had been paid into their joint account. Its case is that Chang made a gift in contemplation of death, a contract under Taiwanese law rather than a disposition by will. It relies on his 2012 oral autobiography, in which he said all his remaining money would go to the foundation when he died, and on statements to staff that the foundation would carry on and need not worry about money. At the latest hearing its lawyers pointed to public statements in 2011 and on 7 February and 27 March 2012.

The foundation now argues that the will is invalid and that the executors therefore lack authority, which is why it joined the heirs directly. Its lawyers told the court that Chang had already given each of his children around NT$70 billion during his lifetime, so the estate was a bonus to them, and that the foundation is trying to honour his wishes rather than take from his children.

The NT$1 billion is a fraction of the estate. The Liberty Times reported in May that the figure was chosen as a test claim to limit court fees. Lawyers quoted by the paper said that a win could treat the estate as having passed to the foundation on Chang’s death, leaving the family’s long-running inheritance cases with little to divide.

The defence

The executors say the will is valid and never mentions such a gift. In their view no gift contract was formed, and if one was, making the will revoked it. Donations, they argue, should come as the will provides, from the profits of Evergreen affiliates. Chang Kuo-wei, who joined the case as an intervening party, says there was never a gift on death and that the will leaves the entire estate to him while providing for the foundation’s annual funding from group companies.

The executors also told the court that real estate has been registered in the joint names of all heirs after estate tax was paid. A separate estate partition case is still awaiting a first-instance ruling, and some cash and interest remain in the executors’ account.

What it means for families with a foundation

A founder’s public statements about giving his fortune away are now the evidence in a claim against his own will, ten years after his death. Families who plan to fund a foundation on death should put the commitment, and any later change of mind, into the estate documents themselves rather than leave it in books, speeches and staff meetings. The case also shows that a foundation with its own board and lawyers can end up on the opposite side from the family that endowed it. The 30 November ruling will show how far a Taiwanese court will go in turning repeated public pledges into an enforceable contract.

Sources: SETN via Mirror Media (22 October 2026); World Journal (23 October 2026); VnExpress International (24 October 2026); Liberty Times (6 May 2026).