When a Vietnamese Parent in Japan Dies and the Heirs Are in Vietnam

A Vietnamese national who lived in Japan has died, leaving deposits and real estate in Japan. The children and spouse who are heirs live in Vietnam—As more people have come to Japan through technical intern training or specified skilled worker programs and continued living here, we are also receiving more inheritance consultations.

The first thing to establish in this combination of circumstances is who the heirs are. Under Vietnamese law, the scope of heirs differs from Japan's Civil Code.

Key points of this article

• When the decedent was a Vietnamese national, Vietnamese law is the applicable law. Article 680(1) of the Vietnamese Civil Code provides that succession is governed by the law of the country whose nationality the decedent held immediately before death.
• Under Vietnamese law, a spouse, biological parents, adoptive parents, biological children, and adopted children are included among first-rank heirs. Unlike Japan's Civil Code, parents rank equally with children.
• Shares of heirs in the same rank are equal.
• If real estate in Japan is included, confirmation with the competent Legal Affairs Bureau is required.
• Because the decedent has no Japanese family register, the statutory inheritance information chart cannot be used.

1. Vietnamese law is the applicable law

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

Article 680(1) of the Vietnamese Civil Code provides that succession is determined in accordance with the law of the country whose nationality the decedent held immediately before death. Because Vietnamese law again points to Vietnamese law, no renvoi to Japanese law arises.

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

Real estate in Japan requires confirmation with the Legal Affairs Bureau

Article 680(2) of the Vietnamese Civil Code provides that the exercise of inheritance rights concerning real estate is determined in accordance with the laws of the country where the real estate is located.

If real estate in Japan is included, we proceed after confirming with the competent Legal Affairs Bureau. Whether submission of the Vietnamese statutory provisions and translations will be requested, and what range of heirs' documents will be required, are determined through that confirmation. Financial institutions may request a legal opinion on the applicable law prepared by a Vietnamese lawyer.

2. The scope of heirs differs from Japan's Civil Code

Article 651 of the Vietnamese Civil Code establishes statutory heirs in the following ranks.

Shares of heirs in the same rank are equal.

The greatest difference from Japan's Civil Code is that parents are in the first rank. In Japan, parents are not heirs if there are children. Under Vietnamese law, the spouse, children, and parents become heirs at the same time.

If the decedent has a spouse and children and the parents are still alive in Vietnam, narrowing the heirs based on the understanding of Japan's Civil Code will omit people who must participate. An agreement made with even one heir missing is invalid.

The fact that adoptive parents and adopted children are in the same rank as biological parents and children also requires confirmation.

Vietnamese law also has a system guaranteeing shares for certain close relatives even when there is a will. Laws may be amended, so the provisions in force at the relevant time must be confirmed for actual application.

3. The Japanese authorities must be shown that Vietnamese law applies

Because Vietnamese law is the applicable law, the Japanese Legal Affairs Bureau and financial institutions must be shown:

• what scope of heirs and inheritance shares Vietnamese law provides; and
• which provisions support that result.

In practice, the provisions and their Japanese translations are submitted.

For a Japanese inheritance, submitting the family register may be sufficient; for a Vietnamese decedent, the additional task is to prove the content of that country's law.

4. Determining the heirs

The decedent has no Japanese family register. The inheritance relationship is proved by combining certificates from Vietnam with materials from Japan.

Materials obtained in Vietnam

• Birth certificate (Giấy khai sinh)
• Marriage certificate (Giấy chứng nhận kết hôn)
• Death certificate (Giấy chứng tử)
• Certificate confirming residence information

The paper household registration book (Sổ hộ khẩu) has been abolished, and residence information is managed in the national population database. Because it is also necessary to confirm whether the parents are alive, the range of documents to collect is broader than for a Japanese inheritance.

Materials obtained in Japan

• Residence certificate deletion record: Foreign nationals are also recorded in the Basic Resident Registration System, which states household composition, status of residence, and nationality.
• Alien Registration Record: A record from the alien registration system operated through July 2012, now kept by the Immigration Services Agency.
• Certificate of matters stated in the death notification submitted in Japan

Many consultations become stuck when people try to build the case solely from Vietnamese documents, but there are not few cases that can be explained by combining them with Japanese materials.

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 is a foreign national without a Japanese family register. If there are five financial institutions, the complete set of supporting documents must be submitted to all five.

5. Signatures by heirs in Vietnam

If an heir lives in Vietnam and is Vietnamese, seal registration is unavailable and signature certification by a diplomatic mission abroad cannot be used. The signature must be notarized at a Vietnamese notary office.

If an heir is a Japanese national living in Vietnam, obtain signature certification at the Embassy or Consulate-General of Japan in Vietnam.

Vietnam is not a party to the Apostille Convention, so if authentication is required, consular legalization procedures are used. Japanese Legal Affairs Bureaus and financial institutions generally accept notarized documents when accompanied by Japanese translations, but handling differs by recipient.

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

6. Japanese inheritance tax

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

How to count the “number of statutory heirs” when Vietnamese law applies may become an issue. The number may change because parents are included as heirs. A tax accountant's judgment is required when filing.

7. Estimated timeframe

The overall guideline is six months to one year.

The deadline for filing inheritance tax is 10 months. There is little margin to fit the processes above within that period.

Our office's services

Gyoseishoshi Arch Office has been based in Osaka for more than 15 years and has handled procedures for foreign residents in Japan, including status-of-residence applications. Through practical work on statuses of residence including technical intern training and specified skilled worker status, we handle materials from arrival in Japan through residence status.

• Confirmation with the competent Legal Affairs Bureau and preparation of materials showing Vietnamese law
• Investigation of Japanese materials such as residence certificate deletion records and Alien Registration Records
• Identification of the certificates to obtain in Vietnam
• Confirmation of the scope of heirs and preparation of an inheritance relationship explanation chart
• Preparation of the estate division agreement
• Preparation of the complete supporting documents for each financial institution and support for cancellation and payment procedures
• Coordination with judicial scriveners when inheritance registration is required and tax accountants when an inheritance tax filing is required

Frequently asked questions

Q. Does Vietnamese law apply even though the person lived in Japan? A. Article 680(1) of the Vietnamese Civil Code provides that succession is governed by the law of the decedent's country of nationality, so no renvoi to Japanese law arises. The length of residence does not change the conclusion.

Q. Are the parents in Vietnam also heirs? A. Vietnamese law includes biological and adoptive parents in the first rank. They become heirs at the same time as the spouse and children.

Q. Which law determines the treatment of real estate in Japan? A. Proceed after confirming with the competent Legal Affairs Bureau.

Q. Can the estate not be divided under Japan's Civil Code? A. The division itself can be decided by agreement of all heirs, but the premise of who the heirs are is governed by Vietnamese law.

Q. What if the decedent had naturalized as Japanese? A. If the person held Japanese nationality at death, Japanese law is the national law and a Japanese family register exists. Vietnamese materials may be needed to show family relationships before naturalization.

Contact

When consulting us, please prepare the decedent's nationality, date of death, time of arrival in Japan and residence status; the number, relationship, nationality, and place of residence of the heirs (including whether the parents are alive); and the types of assets in Japan. We can assist in Japanese or Chinese.

Related articles

• When a parent who lived in Vietnam dies leaving assets in Japan
• When a Japanese parent dies and heirs who are Vietnamese nationals are in Vietnam
• Determining heirs when the decedent is a foreign national without a Japanese family register
• Can the statutory inheritance information chart be used for people living overseas