Banking, Wills, Access to husband's accounts

[wsanton]

I’m a longtime resident of Japan but was recently astonished when my bank told me it would take at least a year and cost about ¥1,200,000 for my wife to access my bank accounts after I die. I had had a will leaving my assets to my wife drawn up and had it notarized by the Japanese Notary Office, but my bank said it made no difference. This seems extreme even for a regional Japanese Bank. Does anyone out there know how I can assure that my wife will be able to access, without too much paperwork or hassle, any funds left in my accounts after I’m gone?

[zeroshiki]

I have no experience with this but this lawyer site is saying it should cost 0 to gain access to the deceased accounts.

[RetireJapan]

Yeah, that makes no sense to me. Legally the bank is required to release the funds to the heirs. It may take some time, but it shouldn't cost anything and a year seems excessive.

[Tsumitate Wrestler]

I’m a longtime resident of Japan but was recently astonished when my bank told me it would take at least a year and cost about ¥1,200,000 for my wife to access my bank accounts after I die. I had had a will leaving my assets to my wife drawn up and had it notarized by the Japanese Notary Office, but my bank said it made no difference. This seems extreme even for a regional Japanese Bank. Does anyone out there know how I can assure that my wife will be able to access, without too much paperwork or hassle, any funds left in my accounts after I’m gone?

The person telling you this...what were they trying to sell you at the time?

[RetireJapan]

The person telling you this...what were they trying to sell you at the time?

There should be financial and legal penalties for bank staff lying to customers. I have seen it personally several times now. Absolutely outrageous.

[wsanton]

Many thanks. I'll check out that Lawyer's site. The bank person who told me this said it's because my wife and I have American citizenship which requires the bank to obtain an additional U.S. death certificate and to confirm whether or not I have a different U.S. will at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo. The people I consulted with were in fact trying to sell me an insurance product which would guarantee my wife whatever money I put up in advance. Still looking into it and will post what I find out. Thanks again.

[captainspoke]

I don't know how a bank could get a death certificate on their own--I'd expect that instead it's the people concerned who would be providing the bank with one. (A common suggestion is to get extra copies of the certificate, for just this kind of thing.) Also, at least in my case, I'm pretty sure my death will happen here in japan, and the death certificate will then be whatever my wife gets in the normal course of things. Certainly no US death certificate will be involved (tho the local/original one here may be translated for use there at some point).

The US embassy does not hold or maintain US citizen wills in any way shape or form. They do provide notary services for papers/documents (such as wills), but they do not keep any copy of what they have notarized. (actually, they don't even read the paper they are notarizing, they (as a notary) are only witnessing the signatures, as having been signed by real live people)

This bank, and the employee you talked to, was simply blowing smoke. Find the local head office of the bank and talk to them (and maybe suggest that you'd like to record it all so that what they say is on record and you can review it).

Personally, if I had significant funds at this bank (probably a regional?), I'd be looking to move at least half of that to a national bank. The lesson here is to diversify.

[zeroshiki]

One of the issues with not living in the big cities is your access to the mega banks becomes quite limited. This is somehow mitigated by using one of the net banks (SBI Neobank is still technically part of the Sumitomo group) or using JP Post. If there is no pressing need for you to conduct business in the branches, I'd look into them.

[wsanton]

Yeah, seems totally weird to require so much time and money for minor paperwork. I went to a different, bigger bank and was told that if I already have a will they could take care of everything easily, but they require my U.S. Social Security number to open a new account. I file my FATCA information on my own every year and am reluctant to share my private information with a new bank. It seems like it's getting increasingly difficult for Americans to open bank accounts in Japan no matter how long one has lived here. Again, many thanks for the ideas and information.

[ClearAsMud]

While the U.S. Embassy can't help find out about a US will, it's true enough that they will supply a Consular Report of Death of a U.S. Citizen Abroad and that US state law may apply to the inheritance of a noncitizen and may need to be checked out further (I'm out of my depth on that topic).

Generally, the death of a noncitizen is reported to the local municipal office in the same way a Japanese citizen's death is reported. The municipality issues a death certificate (Shibo Todoke Kisai Jiko Shomeisho), which is then used to report the death to decedent's embassy/consulate. In the case of the U.S., the embassy will issue a Consular Report of Death of an U.S. Citizen Abroad that can be used to settle legal matters in the U.S. And although I can't be sure (a first-hand report would be welcome), this may also be the document, with a translation, a bank would want in place of a Japanese family register to release a bank account to a beneficiary (for Japanese citizens, it's not a copy of the actual death certificate that banks want but a copy of the family register in which the death has been officially recorded).

See the US Embassy in Japan page for more details ("any death of a U.S. citizen should be reported immediately to the police and to the Embassy"). Other countries will have similar procedures in place.

But as long as a notarized will and an acceptable official certificate can be presented, it shouldn't usually be necessary to provide the equivalent of a decedent's lifelong family history, which is what must be done when a decedent dies intestate. THAT is a daunting task even for Japanese citizens, which can take a month or two to accomplish (if you're inheriting a lone sibling's estate, you may well need to prove the deaths of both sets of grandparents, which can end up requiring more than 10 copies of family registers of various sorts, at 750 yen a pop plus transportation, postage, and any scrivener's fees). This is done because all possible statutory heirs must be identified. And if you're a noncitizen, that means acquiring original copies of birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates and more, which does take a substantial period of time. (TL;DR: make a will.) But even if a will exists, banks can set their own requirements for releasing accounts, and some apparently do want the entire set of documents from all applicants). Be sure to check your bank's policy -- particularly regarding noncitizens -- and either be prepared to accommodate yourself it or try to find a bank whose policy is more reasonable.

The thing is, certifying family relationships is necessary anyway to identify all statutory heirs for Japanese inheritance-tax purposes (a separate matter from inheritance per se). So the possibility remains that a surviving Japanese spouse (or other statutory heir) of a foreign national will face a bureaucratic slog regardless of whether or not a will exists. While the bank in the OP is surely blowing smoke regarding the account in question, there is an ember under there that deserves attention.