INHERITANCE & WILL
Inheritance and wills
Started in a hurry after a death, an estate leaves you with few choices. A will made while you are well spares your family that. We do more than draw up documents: we start from what needs to be decided. Estates involving international marriages or foreign heirs are within our work.
What we handle
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Notarised wills
A will executed at a notary office. We help draft it, gather the documents, arrange the witnesses and deal with the notary beforehand.
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Holographic wills
A handwritten will that does not meet the formal requirements is void. We also explain the Legal Affairs Bureau’s custody system for holographic wills.
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Tracing the heirs
We collect the deceased’s family registers from birth to death and establish who the statutory heirs are. Unexpected heirs come to light more often than people assume.
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Family relationship charts
A single sheet setting out the relationships. The statutory heir information list can stand in for a bundle of family registers in many procedures.
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Estate division agreements
Putting what all the heirs have agreed into writing, drawn carefully so that nothing is left out and no dispute follows.
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Identifying the estate and listing assets
Deposits, real property, securities, debts — set out as a single schedule of what exists and how much.
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Estates involving foreign nationals
Succession is governed in principle by the law of the deceased’s nationality (Article 36, Act on General Rules for Application of Laws). Obtaining documents from abroad and preparing translations is part of what we do.
HOW IT WORKS
How we work
- 01
Get in touch
Call us or use the form. We will arrange a time to talk.
- 02
First consultation (60 min, free)
We listen to your situation and set out the options and the likely outcome. If a case is difficult, we say so plainly.
- 03
Scope and fee
We set out what we will take on and what it costs, and begin only once you agree.
- 04
Gathering and drafting
We tell you which documents are needed and prepare the application together with the written explanation and supporting materials.
- 05
Filing and result
We file with the authority and respond to any request for further material. When the result arrives we contact you and explain what comes next.
QUESTIONS
Frequently asked questions
- Are there deadlines?
- Renunciation is generally within three months of learning that the succession has opened, and the inheritance tax return within ten months. We deal with the time-limited steps first.
- One of the heirs is a foreign national.
- That is within our work — from establishing which law applies through to obtaining foreign certificates and preparing translations.
- The heirs are in dispute.
- Acting in a contested matter is the work of a lawyer, and we will refer you to one. Where agreement exists, or the matter can still be settled by discussion, we can take it on.
- Can you transfer title to the property?
- Registering inherited real property is the work of a judicial scrivener. We take it as far as the division agreement and hand the registration over.
What we can and cannot do
Drafting wills, tracing heirs and preparing estate division agreements fall within the work of an administrative scrivener. Acting in a contested estate is the work of a lawyer, registering inherited property that of a judicial scrivener, and the inheritance tax return that of a tax accountant. We tell you at the outset what we cannot take on.
A PARTNER FOR LIFE AND BUSINESS
We think through the future that lies beyond the paperwork — with you.
Your first 60-minute consultation is free. By phone or through the form, tell us where you stand.
〒260-0028 4 min walk from JR Chiba Station South Exit
Open 10:00–19:00 (occasional closures)
Weekends, holidays and evenings by advance appointment (please contact us early)