Ausgewählte Fragen zur aktuellen Erbrechtsreform in Japan

Abstract

A reform of the current Japanese succession law became necessary in recent years. Therefore, in April 2015 the Commission for the Civil Code (Succession Law) took up work on a reform of succession law. In June 2016 the Commission published the Interim Draft for a Reform of the Civil Code (Succession Law) etc. On 13 March 2018 the bill of the Reform was introduced in the Diet, and the bill passed on 6 July 2018. This article deals with four issues in particular. First, an increase of the surviving spouse’s share in the succession had been proposed in the Interim Draft. The increase had been proposed in the context of the division of matrimonial property. But ultimately it was withdrawn from the reform of succession law. Accordingly, the reformed succession law remains unclear in terms of the division of matrimonial property in the event of death. The second topic concerns the right of a surviving spouse to live in the flat or house where he or she had lived with the deceased. The reformed law provides for a long-term right of use for the surviving spouse, which gives the surviving spouse the use of the flat or house basically until that spouse’s death, but it does not grant him or her ownership. As the right of use is generally valued lower than ownership, the surviving spouse can also acquire other assets, like deposited money, in the course of the distribution of the estate. But the usefulness of the long-term right for the surviving spouse is limited because the value of the long-term right is counted as a part of the surviving spouse’s share of the estate. The third topic concerns the rules on compulsory portion. Claims for a compulsory portion lead to rights in property under current Japanese law. But the current system has been criticized because the distribution of joint property can give rise to conflicts. The reformed succession law thus provides for a monetary claim just like that in German law. Lastly the acknowledgement of services performed by non-heirs is dealt with. Non-heirs, e.g. a child-in-law or a stepchild, cannot currently claim compensation for their services, e.g. caring for the deceased in old age, within the framework of succession law. The reformed succession law grants non-heirs who are relatives of the deceased and who have contributed to the increase of his or her assets a monetary claim against the heirs after the deceased’s death. The persons who can raise a claim are limited to relatives of the deceased. That means children-in-law and stepchildren can make a claim but an unmarried cohabitee is excluded from the persons who can raise a claim. In some respect the reform of Japanese succession law is not very comprehensive, but this reform nevertheless includes fundamental changes of the current law. The new law will come into force no later than July 2020.