When a Taiwanese Parent Living in Japan Dies and the Heirs Are in Taiwan

A Taiwanese national who had lived in Japan for a long time dies, leaving deposits and real estate in Japan. The children or spouse who are heirs live in Taiwan—in this combination, the first thing to establish is not the documents. It is which country’s law governs the inheritance.

If the decedent was a Taiwanese national, Taiwanese law applies even if they lived in Japan for decades. If you prepare an agreement intending to divide the estate under the Japanese Civil Code, the underlying inheritance shares will be different in the first place.

Key Points of This Article

• If the decedent was a Taiwanese national, the governing law is Taiwanese law. Article 58 of Taiwan’s Act Governing the Application of Laws to Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements provides that inheritance is governed by the decedent’s national law, so renvoi to Japanese law does not arise.
• Under the Taiwanese Civil Code, when a spouse inherits together with children, the inheritance shares are equal. Unlike under the Japanese Civil Code, the spouse does not acquire one-half.
• To establish the heirs, use family register transcripts issued by a Taiwanese household registration office. On the Japanese side, the deleted resident record and the alien registration card record are materials.
• Because the decedent has no Japanese family register, the statutory inheritance information chart cannot be used.

1. The Governing Law Is Taiwanese 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 Taiwanese national, Taiwanese law must be examined.

Article 58 of Taiwan’s Act Governing the Application of Laws to Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements provides that inheritance is governed by the national law at the time of the decedent’s death. Because Taiwanese law points back to Taiwanese law, renvoi returning to Japanese law does not arise.

The length of time the decedent lived in Japan does not change this conclusion.

2. Inheritance Shares Change Under Taiwanese Law

Article 1138 of the Taiwanese Civil Code establishes the heirs of an estate, in addition to the spouse, in the following order.

1. Lineal descendants 2. Parents 3. Brothers and sisters 4. Grandparents

The order is similar to that under the Japanese Civil Code. The major difference is the inheritance shares.

Article 1144 of the Taiwanese Civil Code provides that when a spouse inherits together with a first-order heir (a lineal descendant), the inheritance share is equal to that of the other heirs.

As the number of children increases, the spouse’s share becomes smaller than it would be under Japanese law. If discussions have been conducted on the assumption of the Japanese Civil Code, this difference directly affects the terms of the division.

Taiwanese law also has a reserved portion (a system corresponding to Japan’s reserved portion), and its percentage also differs from Japan’s. In Taiwan, renunciation of inheritance is also handled by making a declaration to the court.

Taiwanese law may be amended. When applying it in practice, the provisions in force at that time must be confirmed.

3. The Japanese Authorities Must Be Shown That Taiwanese Law Applies

Since the governing law is Taiwanese law, the Japanese Legal Affairs Bureau and financial institutions must be shown:

• What the scope of heirs and inheritance shares are under Taiwanese law
• Which provisions provide the basis for them

In practice, the provisions and their Japanese translations are submitted. Our office arranges the materials in the form required by the recipient.

For an inheritance involving Japanese nationals, submitting family registers may be sufficient. For a decedent who was a Taiwanese national, the additional task of “proving the content of the law of that jurisdiction” is required.

4. Establishing the Heirs

The decedent has no Japanese family register, but Taiwan has a family registration system. Obtain the decedent’s family register and removed family register transcripts from a Taiwanese household registration office and establish the heirs.

There are also materials on the Japanese side.

• Deleted resident record: Foreign nationals are also recorded in the Basic Resident Register, which includes household composition, status of residence, and nationality
• Alien registration card record: A record from the alien registration system operated through July 2012, currently kept by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan
• Certificate of matters stated in the death notification filed in Japan

The Statutory Inheritance Information Chart Cannot Be Used

The Legal Affairs Bureau’s statutory inheritance information certification system proves inheritance relationships through Japanese family registers. It cannot be used when the decedent was a foreign national and had no Japanese family register. If there are five financial institutions, a complete set of supporting documents must be submitted to all five.

5. Signatures of Heirs in Taiwan

If an heir is a Taiwanese national residing in Taiwan, a seal certificate can be obtained from a Taiwanese household registration office. The process can proceed by affixing the seal to the estate division agreement and attaching the seal certificate.

If an heir is a Japanese national residing in Taiwan, obtain a signature certificate from the Taipei or Kaohsiung Office of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association.

Because the required documents differ for each heir, the procedure cannot be completed until everyone’s documents are ready.

6. Japanese Inheritance Tax

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

How to count the “number of statutory heirs” when Taiwanese law applies may be an issue. A tax accountant’s judgment is needed for the filing.

7. Estimated Time

The overall estimate is six months to one year.

The inheritance tax filing deadline is ten months. There is little margin to complete the above processes within that period.

Services of Our Office

Gyoseishoshi Arch Office has been based in Osaka and involved for more than 15 years in procedures including status-of-residence applications for foreign nationals living in Japan. We support both Traditional and Simplified Chinese.

• Confirming the governing law and preparing materials showing the content of Taiwanese law
• Investigating Japanese materials such as deleted resident records and alien registration card records
• Arranging the acquisition of Taiwanese family register transcripts and preparing Japanese translations
• Preparing the estate division agreement
• Preparing a complete set of supporting documents for each financial institution and assisting with cancellation and payment procedures
• Coordinating with a judicial scrivener when inheritance registration is required and with a tax accountant when an inheritance tax filing is required

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Does Taiwanese law apply even though the decedent lived in Japan? A. Because Taiwan’s Act Governing the Application of Laws to Civil Matters Involving Foreign Elements provides that inheritance is governed by the decedent’s national law, renvoi returning to Japanese law does not arise. The length of residence does not change the conclusion.

Q. Can’t the estate be divided under the Japanese Civil Code? A. The heirs may agree on the terms of the division, but the premise that the statutory inheritance shares are governed by Taiwanese law does not change. Explanations to financial institutions and the Legal Affairs Bureau will also be made on the premise of Taiwanese law.

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. Materials from Taiwan may be needed to show family relationships before naturalization.

Q. Where can Taiwanese family register transcripts be obtained? A. They are obtained from a Taiwanese household registration office. If the heir in Taiwan cannot obtain them, our office can arrange their acquisition.

Q. One of the heirs is in neither Taiwan nor Japan. A. The method of proof differs by country of residence. First confirm the heir’s country of residence and nationality.

Contact Us

For a consultation, prepare the decedent’s nationality, date of death, time of arrival in Japan and status of residence; the number, relationship, nationality, and place of residence of the heirs; and the types of property in Japan. We can assist in either Japanese or Chinese.

Related Articles

• When a parent who lived in Taiwan dies leaving property in Japan
• When a Chinese parent living in Japan dies and the heirs are in China
• When a Japanese parent dies and a Taiwanese heir is in Taiwan
• Establishing heirs when the decedent was a foreign national without a Japanese family register