Inheritance dispute

[Patp02]

I hope Lee won't mind if I post this link here. I feel very sorry for him. He lost his wife and had to deal with all this as well:

https://www.tokyotimes.org/a-torii-time ... -troubles/

(Wm. Penn's book "Growing Old in Japan" was very helpful when I wrote my will).

[RetireJapan]

Yeah, I saw that the other day. It's in next week's Monday Read. Horrible situation (straight out of Wm. Penn's Who Gets What).

[Cracaphat]

My brother in law died in Feb and his father's attitude to the daughter in law was like,ok,you can go back to your parents side and change your surname.But when the house loan got paid off(because of his passing), because they'd all been living together at one time,he asked her to sign over the house to him and she and her two grown up kids willingly did so.He changed tact.Got me thinking how he'd be, if his daughter that I'm married to, died suddenly.Money and death bring out the worst in people.I saw it in my fam ten years ago.Ain't shit changed.

[captainspoke]

This is an old link, but this kind of thing likely doesn't change/evolve much, or too quickly. Scroll down a little and there's an initial list of 55 'scenarios', and that's followed by family tree-like illustrations of each. This is just informational, I'm not condoning or approving anything.

https://souzoku-pro.info/columns/isanbunkatsu/10/

[CarlB]

I am sorry for his loss. Anyway, as Chapman has made this situation public, I think it is fair to hear the other side of the story. The reason that all the couple's assets were in the wife's name was that she earned virtually all the couple's income. Chapman's photography has been more of a passion than an income-generating business.

As Chapman pursued his dream, his wife worked 60 hour weeks to support his passions of photography and travelling. The family accepted this whilst biting their tongues.

Is the family 'bad' for feeling aggrieved that Chapman stands to get a financial windfall on their daughter's passing after being bankrolled by her for 20 years? Everyone can make their own minds up.

[Bubblegun]

Posted in error. Can't find the delete button.

[Bubblegun]

This “sending of documents to the Japanese person” and not the “foreigner” in my opinion may come from not just bias but also from that persons experience. Probably
A) assuming the foreigner can’t understand any Japanese.
B) can’t access help without a wife/ husband
C) The person who dealt with issues previously dealt with the Japanese person previously.
It really can be way to jump to calling everything racism but in truth, how many are that fluent in dealing with the paperwork here. ( of course there are) but the vast majority can’t. So basically if you can’t read, write, or speak Japanese, your pretty much disabled. I’ve met people who’ve live in the UK for years who couldn’t even read the alphabet and everything had to be done by a British person. So it’s certainly not imho racist.

However there is only one persons side of the story here.
Sadly I’ve met a few men who have freeloaded on their Japanese partners.
And maybe the family do have a point.
As mentioned up the thread, cost of nursing homes, death and money can bring the worst in people.

[northSaver]

Yes, there are always two sides to a story, and inheritance brings out the worst in people. That's why intestacy laws exist. It's clear that in this case - without a formal will in place - the in-laws should get one third of all assets and the husband should get two thirds. I don't know how much the apartment was worth but presumably that's what happened in the end, and that's why they got more cash than him. If the in-laws had liked the guy enough to respect her dying wishes as written in the memo, then he would have gotten some of their cash too (presumably subject to gift tax?). But obviously that wasn't the case.

I know a few foreigners here who have a bad relationship with their in-laws, and it does make me wonder how mine would treat me if my wife died. Are there nasty feelings lurking under the surface? Fortunately we have children and I think that would help a lot in this situation, both in terms of the money and ongoing family relations.

[RetireJapan]

This “sending of documents to the Japanese person” and not the “foreigner” in my opinion may come from not just bias but also from that persons experience. Probably
A) assuming the foreigner can’t understand any Japanese.
B) can’t access help without a wife/ husband
C) The person who dealt with issues previously dealt with the Japanese person previously.
It really can be way to jump to calling everything racism but in truth, how many are that fluent in dealing with the paperwork here. ( of course there are) but the vast majority can’t. So basically if you can’t read, write, or speak Japanese, your pretty much disabled. I’ve met people who’ve live in the UK for years who couldn’t even read the alphabet and everything had to be done by a British person. So it’s certainly not imho racist.

Personally I expect banks and other institutions to follow their standard rules and procedures without individual employees using their 'experience' to change the rules

I'm not saying it doesn't happen from time to time, but when it does it means I have to go and have a pointed chat with the manager, and that is just tedious for everyone concerned...

[Beaglehound]

Whatever the whole truth of the situation, it is a salutary reminder that we can’t take it for granted that all will go smoothly should the worst happen. I actually trust my in laws, I can’t see them trying to screw me over, particularly as we have helped them financially at times, but you never know. And if my wife died and they wanted to claim a sixth of the house and a third of her assets, as far as I know there would appear to be no legal way to prevent that.