Japan to give greater inheritance rights to spouses

March 13, 2018

Tokyo- The Japanese government on Tuesday adopted legislation to give greater inheritance rights to bereaved spouses, a move aimed at supporting their lives financially and preventing them from being forced out of their homes after the deaths of their partners.

The government will submit the Civil Code amendment to the ongoing regular session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, hoping to have it enacted at an early date.

For couples who are married for 20 years or longer, the legislation excludes houses given to spouses in the form of lifetime gifting or under a will from the estate subject to division among heirs.

A right of long-term residence will be set up as an option when dividing an estate, allowing surviving spouses to continue to live in their homes for the rest of their lives.

Since the sale and purchase of rights of residence are banned, exercising the new right would lead to a decline in the assessed value of the houses, thus increasing the estate other than the houses that bereaved spouses can receive, such as savings.

The legislation also eases the criteria for creating wills.

A system will be established in which holograph wills written by the testators without the presence of notaries are kept in safe custody at local legal affairs bureaus of the Justice Ministry in order to prevent them from being tampered or lost.

The legislation also changes the current rule requiring the entire part of the will to be handwritten, allowing the creation of the list of assets subject to inheritance by personal computers. Attaching copies of bank books will also be accepted. Jiji Press