Inheritance for Chinese Nationals in Japan When the Heirs Also Live in Japan

A Chinese national who had lived in Japan for a long time dies, and both the spouse and children also live in Japan. There are bank deposits and a home in Japan—this is an inheritance that is actually occurring for families who obtained a status of residence and continued living in Japan.

In this situation, exchanges of documents with overseas locations are almost nonexistent. There is only one difficult point: the decedent has no Japanese family register.

Key Points of This Article

• Chinese law is the starting point for the applicable law, but because China's private international law provides that statutory inheritance is governed by the law of the habitual residence, Japanese law will tend to apply through renvoi when the person's center of life was in Japan.
• If an heir has resident registration in Japan, the heir can obtain both a seal registration certificate and a residence certificate. Matters concerning signatures proceed in exactly the same way as a Japanese person's inheritance.
• Because the decedent has no Japanese family register, documents from China are required to determine the heirs.
• The Certificate of Legal Inheritance Information cannot be used. A complete set of supporting documents must be submitted to each financial institution.
• If some heirs are in China, prepare proof by a different method only for those heirs.

1. Applicable Law

Article 36 of Japan's Act on General Rules for Application of Laws provides that inheritance is governed by the decedent's national law. If the decedent was a Chinese national, Chinese law must be examined.

China's private international law provides that statutory inheritance is governed by the law of the decedent's habitual residence, while real property is governed by the law of its location. If the decedent lived in Japan, the habitual residence was Japan, and the location of real property in Japan is also Japan. Whichever route is followed, it ultimately returns to Japanese law.

The scope of the heirs and their inheritance shares will be determined under Japan's Civil Code.

If the decedent died shortly after coming to Japan, or traveled back and forth between Japan and China, the determination of habitual residence may differ. Make the determination after confirming the type of status of residence, period of residence, and resident-registration status.

2. What It Means for the Heirs to Live in Japan

A person who holds a residence card and has resident registration with a municipality in Japan can register a seal.

Accordingly, on the heirs' side, the matter can proceed in exactly the same form as a Japanese person's inheritance:

• Affix a registered seal to the estate division agreement and attach a seal registration certificate
• Use a residence certificate as proof of address

No signature certification or notarization is necessary.

In cases involving an heir living overseas, the signature and address proofs take the most time. If all heirs are in Japan, that entire stage disappears.

3. The Difficult Point Is Determining the Heirs on the Decedent's Side

In an inheritance involving a Japanese national, the heirs can be determined by collecting the family registers covering the decedent's birth through death. For a decedent who was a Chinese national, there is no Japanese official document equivalent to these records.

Documents Obtainable in Japan

First, confirm the documents available in Japan.

• Certificate of removal from the residence record: Foreign nationals are also recorded in the Basic Resident Register, which lists household composition, status of residence, and nationality
• Alien Registration Record: Records from the alien registration system operated through July 2012, currently held by the Immigration Services Agency
• Certificate of matters stated in the death notification filed in Japan

The longer the person lived in Japan, the more complete the Japanese records tend to be.

Documents Obtainable in China

Fill gaps in the Japanese documents with documents from China.

Attach Japanese translations to documents from China. An apostille is needed only when the submission recipient requests one.

The Certificate of Legal Inheritance Information Cannot Be Used

The Legal Inheritance Information Certification System of the Legal Affairs Bureau is a system for proving inheritance relationships through Japanese family registers. It cannot be used when the decedent was a foreign national and has no Japanese family register.

If there are five financial institutions, submit the complete set of supporting documents to all five. The documents must be circulated in sequence while obtaining the return of the originals.

4. When Some of the Heirs Are in China

There are cases where the spouse and children are in Japan but another child of the decedent is in China.

In this situation, the documents to prepare differ for heirs in Japan and heirs in China.

For an heir in China who inherits Japanese real property and becomes the registered owner, the address-proof requirements are set out in Ministry of Justice Civil Affairs Bureau 2nd Division Circular No. 1596 dated December 15, 2023 (applicable to applications filed on or after April 1, 2024). Attach either a document certifying the address prepared by the government of the person's home country or country of residence, or a notarized affidavit together with a copy of the passport.

The procedure cannot be completed until everyone's documents are ready. Only the Chinese heir's portion adds the time required for the notary-office procedure and international mailing.

5. Japanese Inheritance Tax

Property located in Japan is subject to Japanese inheritance tax regardless of the nationalities of the decedent and heirs. The basic exemption is 30 million yen + 6 million yen × the number of statutory heirs.

If the person owned a home in Japan, the value may exceed this level. Because the heirs reside in Japan, it is also necessary to determine the scope of taxation, including the treatment of foreign assets. A tax accountant's judgment is required when filing.

6. Estimated Time Required

When all heirs are in Japan, the overall estimate is four to six months.

If some heirs are in China, add one to two months.

Our Office's Services

Gyoseishoshi Arch Office has been based in Osaka and involved for more than 15 years in procedures including status-of-residence applications for Chinese nationals living in Japan. We routinely serve clients in Chinese, and our strength is handling both Japanese documents and Chinese notarized documents.

• Identifying documents obtainable in Japan, such as certificates of removal from residence records and Alien Registration Records
• Confirming what the Japanese submission recipient requires and identifying the type and required contents of the notarized document to request from a Chinese notary office
• Organizing residence-status information needed to determine habitual residence
• Preparing the estate division agreement
• Preparing the complete set of supporting documents for each financial institution and assisting with account closure and withdrawal procedures
• Coordinating with judicial scriveners when inheritance registration is required and with tax accountants when an inheritance-tax return is required

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. My entire family lives in Japan. Can we proceed in the same way as Japanese nationals? A. The heirs' documents are the same as for Japanese nationals. The difference is that, because the decedent has no Japanese family register, documents from China are required to determine the heirs.

Q. Can I register a seal if I have a residence card? A. You can register a seal if you have resident registration with a municipality in Japan. If you have already registered one, you can obtain a seal registration certificate and use it for the estate division agreement.

Q. Can I request a notarized kinship certificate from Japan? A. It is a document prepared by a notary office in China. Ask relatives in China to arrange it, or consult us about arranging its acquisition.

Q. What if the decedent had naturalized as a Japanese national? A. If the decedent held Japanese nationality at death, Japanese law is the national law and a Japanese family register also exists. Documents from China may be needed to show the family relationship before naturalization.

Q. Can we register the inheritance of real property in Japan? A. Yes. When the decedent was a foreign national, the Legal Affairs Bureau determines the required documents, so confirm with the competent Legal Affairs Bureau and proceed.

Contact Us

When consulting us, please prepare the decedent's nationality, date of death, time of arrival in Japan and residence status; the number, relationships, and places of residence of the heirs; and the types of property in Japan. We respond in either Japanese or Chinese.

Related Articles

• When a Chinese person's parent in Japan dies and the heir is in China
• Determining heirs when the decedent was a foreign national with no Japanese family register
• Whether the Certificate of Legal Inheritance Information can also be used for residents overseas
• Procedures for inheriting a Japanese bank account