My japanese wife from divorced japanese parents (divorce must have happened 35 years ago) found out through her uncle today (fathers side) that her father (81 years old) passed away last month. After the divorce, she lost contact with her father.
Her father remarried and had 2 daughters.
Can my Japanese wife claim some inheritance as a child of a first marriage?
Inheritance!
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ClearAsMud
- Veteran
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Re: Inheritance!
A general explanation follows, but it should only be taken as a rough guide -- you will likely want professional advice from a scrivener or lawyer, especially if you come to any bumps in the road.
In the absence of a will, your wife is entitled to a statutory portion of her parent's estate (divorce has no effect on the parent-child relationship). According to the civil code, the father's current spouse is entitled to half the estate, and the father's children collectively are entitled to the other half. Thus, given that there are three children, your wife as a statutory heir would be entitled to one-sixth of the estate (assuming that no other complications exist). As a statutory heir, your wife should be contacted in timely fashion by the executor of her father's estate, whoever that may be. You might want to be prepared for some inter-family conflict if the second spouse and her children ask your wife to relinquish her statutory claim or otherwise try to contest it.
If a will exists that leaves little or nothing to your wife, she can still claim an iryūbun (遺留分) portion, which in this case would amount to her share of one-fourth of the estate. One-third of one-fourth is one-twelfth, so one-twelfth of the estate is the portion for which she could submit a claim (iryūbun is not automatic -- the heir must proactively submit a claim). You would then have to decide whether the time, cost, and potential for family conflict would warrant submitting such a claim. Professional help would almost certainly be necessary.
Good luck with this -- forum users would probably welcome a later update on the situation when it becomes available. I wonder, by the way, what the best forum category is for discussions of inheritance.
In the absence of a will, your wife is entitled to a statutory portion of her parent's estate (divorce has no effect on the parent-child relationship). According to the civil code, the father's current spouse is entitled to half the estate, and the father's children collectively are entitled to the other half. Thus, given that there are three children, your wife as a statutory heir would be entitled to one-sixth of the estate (assuming that no other complications exist). As a statutory heir, your wife should be contacted in timely fashion by the executor of her father's estate, whoever that may be. You might want to be prepared for some inter-family conflict if the second spouse and her children ask your wife to relinquish her statutory claim or otherwise try to contest it.
If a will exists that leaves little or nothing to your wife, she can still claim an iryūbun (遺留分) portion, which in this case would amount to her share of one-fourth of the estate. One-third of one-fourth is one-twelfth, so one-twelfth of the estate is the portion for which she could submit a claim (iryūbun is not automatic -- the heir must proactively submit a claim). You would then have to decide whether the time, cost, and potential for family conflict would warrant submitting such a claim. Professional help would almost certainly be necessary.
Good luck with this -- forum users would probably welcome a later update on the situation when it becomes available. I wonder, by the way, what the best forum category is for discussions of inheritance.
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berkaz6370
- Regular
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Thu Apr 01, 2021 2:59 pm
Re: Inheritance!
I really appreciate your prompt response on this matter.
Re: Inheritance!
Ultimately it is a Tax issue, so generally speaking it might be best in the Tax category, but it is completely different from Income Taxes, so might warrant a dedicated category 'Gifts and Inheritances'ClearAsMud wrote: ↑Tue Oct 25, 2022 12:33 am I wonder, by the way, what the best forum category is for discussions of inheritance.
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:
This Guide to Japanese Taxes, English and Japanese Tai-Yaku 対訳, is now a little dated:
https://zaik.jp/books/472-4
The Publisher is not planning to publish an update for '23 Tax Season.
:
This Guide to Japanese Taxes, English and Japanese Tai-Yaku 対訳, is now a little dated:
https://zaik.jp/books/472-4
The Publisher is not planning to publish an update for '23 Tax Season.