Wills - Which Countries Defer to Japan?

[RetireJapan]

Why would this be? As long as statutory heirs can be identified -- which not only includes parents and children but also, depending on who survives, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and nephews and nieces -- those heirs would receive the assets before the Japanese government would (minus any taxes, of course!).

Don't have any of those! My stepkids don't count as I have not formally adopted them (I believe). Likewise my grandkids.

My parents died a long time ago, my brother more recently, grandparents are all gone. If I die before my wife she'd get everything, but if she died at the same time or before me I think we'd have a problem (I want my grandkids to get the RJ stash, not Mr Kishida).

[ClearAsMud]

Don't have any of those!

Oh my, I can certainly see the ASAP side of the equation, since either official adoption or a will would be necessary for tsureko. The quick-and-dirty approach would be to make a simple holograph will to tide you over until something more lasting can be arranged (this wouldn't really take much time; if in Japanese, the wording for the non-statutory heirs changes from 相続させる to 遺贈する).

And official adoption is certainly worth considering because then the adoptees become statutory heirs, obviating the immediate problem and also increasing the basic inheritance-tax exemption, reducing the taxable value of your estate and even potentially lowering the heirs' tax liability (adopted children avoid the 20% surcharge imposed on those other than spouses or first-degree blood relatives, although the gift-tax lookback also then comes into play).

All due haste, then? Deeply personal decisions, but any blog entries that result would be really interesting and useful to read.

[Edit: more precision about the 20% surcharge.]

[RetireJapan]

And official adoption is certainly worth considering because then the adoptees become statutory heirs, obviating the immediate problem and also increasing the basic inheritance-tax exemption, reducing the taxable value of your estate and even potentially lowering the heirs' tax liability (adopted children avoid the 20% surcharge imposed on those other than spouses or first-degree blood relatives, although the gift-tax lookback also then comes into play).

We are discussing this regarding one grandchild. I was told by the ward office a few years ago that as a non-citizen I could not officially adopt in Japan (養子縁組) but instead would need to do so in my 'home country'. Adult adoption is not possible in the UK, so that kind of fizzled out.

As I am 45 and (as far as I know) in reasonable shape, the plan is just to give money to grandkids every year and spend the rest. Not planning to leave a big estate, although need to be covered for accidents I guess.

Will definitely blog any action

[Nancy]

I saw a newspaper article a few years ago, that there is a new system for designating heirs in Japan at the city office. I can't find the article now, don't remember what the system is called, and don't know if only Japanese citizens can use it or not. But basically the article gave the example of a person who had remarried, and had step children, and wanted to be sure that the step children would have a legal claim to any inheritance. The man owned 4 buildings or something, and he wanted everything divided equally among all of the children. This was practically free. (there was a small fee of 4000 yen or something paid to the city.) The article said that this was a new regulation and that there were lines of people doing it. The city keeps the record for you (as far as I remember...)

I found that the one problem with using a lawyer to make a will in Japan is the expense. The lawyer's fee is based on the value of the estate, which I thought to be quite unreasonable. A scrivener is much cheaper. Just to share. With COVID, and the idea that anyone could die at any minute, I was ready to make a will, and then I found about the expense with a lawyer, so never went any further.

[zeroshiki]

And official adoption is certainly worth considering because then the adoptees become statutory heirs, obviating the immediate problem and also increasing the basic inheritance-tax exemption, reducing the taxable value of your estate and even potentially lowering the heirs' tax liability (adopted children avoid the 20% surcharge imposed on those other than spouses or first-degree blood relatives, although the gift-tax lookback also then comes into play).

We are discussing this regarding one grandchild. I was told by the ward office a few years ago that as a non-citizen I could not officially adopt in Japan (養子縁組) but instead would need to do so in my 'home country'. Adult adoption is not possible in the UK, so that kind of fizzled out.

As I am 45 and (as far as I know) in reasonable shape, the plan is just to give money to grandkids every year and spend the rest. Not planning to leave a big estate, although need to be covered for accidents I guess.

Will definitely blog any action

I know you've spoken about naturalization before but wouldn't this be good motivation for you to finally get it done?

[ClearAsMud]

I saw a newspaper article a few years ago, that there is a new system for designating heirs in Japan at the city office.

I believe you're referring to the holograph will that can be filed with a legal-affairs bureau (it's briefly described in the wiki). Not only is it cheap, but probate isn't necessary, so it's quite a good system, which has been available since 2020. You can pay a scrivener to help with the wording if you need extra assurance regarding validity -- paying a fee, of course -- but the government offers a pretty good guidebook for free.

Non-citizens can also make use of the system, and although the potential for trouble comes up if the will is written in a foreign language, the MOJ itself says that that is possible as long as a Japanese translation is attached ( see "【1】Step 5" on this page). The MOJ won't check the accuracy of the translation, though, so if you understand Japanese well enough, you'd probably want to write the will directly in Japanese. Also, even the heirs of naturalized citizens should be prepared for some extra complications regarding using a will to administer the estate, since koseki verification is part of the process. It may be hard to avoid paying for professional help at some point along the line.

Maybe the only real solution to the problem is never to die and always to have enough assets to live on.

[Silversurfer]

Well I have assets in the UK, I guess it is time to write my Japanese will then.

I hear it is important that both wills match exactly to avoid problems down the line. I don't have anything in the UK other than a couple of hundred quid in NatWest, so I don't have an up to date UK will.

My situation in Japan has changed and is no longer standard, so I need to get on with making a will here. Hopefully should get a couple of blog posts out of the process if nothing else

Another way, and I don’t recommend it, because it may be illegal, is to transfer your assets while you are still alive to whomever you wish to bequeath them to. Cash. Gift coupons. Precious metals. Good luck to each and everyone of you.

[Silversurfer]

I would like to read your blog posts about writing a will in Japan! I have no assets back home in Canada, so I was just going to write a will in Japan. Would like to read any insights about your experience and the process you went thru with a lawyer?

Hoping to get mine done in a next year or so.

Actually, I just realised that should my wife and I die at the same time, all my assets would likely go to the Japanese government, so I need to make a will ASAP

Knowing me, ASAP could take some time though...

Rats! Who else could they go to? Good luck!