When an heir in mainland China joins a Japanese inheritance: the kinship notarial certificate and its authentication

In short: where some heirs or the deceased are in mainland China, there is no family register as in Japan, so who the heirs are is proved with a kinship notarial certificate issued by a Chinese notary office. To use it in Japan, you attach a Japanese translation and add proof that it is a genuine foreign public document. China acceded to the "Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents" (the Hague/Apostille Convention), which took effect between Japan and China on 7 November 2023, so instead of the former consular legalisation you use an apostille. Which country's inheritance law divides the estate (the governing law) must be judged starting from the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, Article 36, looking through to China's Act on the Application of Laws to Foreign-Related Civil Relations and to renvoi (Article 41 of the same Act); the final judgement is made by a qualified professional such as an attorney or judicial scrivener. This article is general information on how to prepare documents and does not judge the individual governing law or the eligibility of a procedure. Taiwanese inheritance follows a different system and is outside the scope of this article.

Where an heir is in mainland China, where does the Japanese inheritance procedure get stuck?

Japan's inheritance procedure is built on confirming the range of heirs with a family register and showing a person's intent with a registered seal and a seal-registration certificate. Because mainland China has no such family-register or seal-registration system, you cannot prepare the same documents as they are. This is the first sticking point.

You end up preparing the following three points, replaced with the Chinese system.

Japanese premise	Substitute in mainland China
Prove heirs with a family register	Kinship notarial certificate issued by a notary office
Confirm identity with a seal-registration certificate	Notarisation of the signature (signature certification)
Prove address with a resident record	Notarial certificate proving the address, etc.

Furthermore, to use these Chinese public documents in Japanese procedures (estate-division agreement, closing bank accounts, inheritance registration, etc.), a Japanese translation and proof as a foreign public document (the apostille below) are needed. Where the deceased was a Chinese national, the question of which country's inheritance law divides the estate (the governing law) is also added. Please also see the existing When an heir lives abroad or is a foreign national.

In China, which has no family register, how do you prove you are an heir (the kinship notarial certificate)?

In mainland China, being an heir is proved with a kinship notarial certificate (in Chinese, "qīnshǔ guānxì gōngzhèngshū"). This is a notarial certificate in which a notary office (notarial institution) certifies that the kinship between the applicant and the related persons is true. What a stack of Japanese family-register copies used to carry—"who is related to whom, and how"—is shown in this one document (sometimes several).

Because there is no family register, in preparing it you submit to the notary office materials that support the kinship, such as the household register (jūmin koguchibo), the resident identity card, and materials from the workplace or place of residence. Who is to be covered, and the range of kinship to be certified, must be designed to match the range of heirs needed on the Japanese side. Because an estate-division agreement cannot be established if even one heir is missing, it is important to identify the kinship to be certified without excess or shortage, working backward from Japanese practice (Preparing an estate-division agreement). Creating the notarial certificate itself is the work of a Chinese notary office, and our office in Japan cannot perform notarisation in China.

Does the certificate need consular legalisation or an apostille?

To use a notarial certificate made in China in Japan, proof that the document is genuine is required. Formerly, consular legalisation by an overseas mission or the like was needed, but China acceded to the "Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents" (the Hague/Apostille Convention), which took effect between Japan and China on 7 November 2023. As a result, a public document brought from China into Japan uses, in principle, an apostille instead of consular legalisation.

Timing / route	Proof required
From 7 November 2023, mainland China → Japan	Apostille (granted by the competent Chinese authority)
Former treatment before the Convention took effect	Consular legalisation
Taiwan → Japan	Outside the Convention (outside the scope of this article; see a separate article)

The apostille is granted, after the notarial certificate is made on the Chinese side, by the competent Chinese authority (the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the local foreign-affairs offices it entrusts). In principle there is no need to obtain fresh authentication on the Japanese side. That said, the translation and form required by the submission destination (a bank, the Legal Affairs Bureau, etc.) differ case by case, so confirm in advance. Note that Taiwan is outside this Convention, and obtaining Taiwanese family and removed registers and Taiwanese seal certificates and estate division follow a different procedure.

How do you arrange signatures and powers of attorney for the estate-division agreement from China?

An estate-division agreement must be made by all heirs. For an heir in mainland China, the following are taken in practice as ways to arrange it without coming to Japan.

• Sign the estate-division agreement, have the signature notarised by a Chinese notary office (signature certification), attach an apostille, and send it to Japan
• Prepare a power of attorney entrusting the Japanese-side procedures to other heirs or a professional, and likewise have the signature notarised and an apostille attached

In either case, where an heir from the Chinese-speaking world signs a Japanese-language document, it is important in practice to attach a parallel translation and explanation so that they can sign after understanding the content. Preparing the estate-division agreement, powers of attorney and translations used on the Japanese side, organising the range of heirs, and preparing the set of documents to be submitted to banks and the Legal Affairs Bureau can be supported by an administrative scrivener. However, agency for the inheritance-registration application and registration consultation are the field of a judicial scrivener or attorney, inheritance tax is the field of a tax accountant, and negotiation or representation where there is a dispute among heirs is the field of an attorney. Our office handles support for document preparation and collection as an independent business, and these are contracted separately.

Who decides the governing law (which country's inheritance law divides the estate)?

Which country's inheritance law divides the estate starts from the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, Article 36, that "inheritance is governed by the national law of the decedent." If the deceased was a Chinese national, you look first at Chinese law. However, China's Act on the Application of Laws to Foreign-Related Civil Relations (Shèwài mínshì guānxì fǎlǜ shìyòngfǎ), Article 31, provides that statutory inheritance is governed by the law of the decedent's habitual residence at death, except that statutory inheritance of immovable property is governed by the law of the place where the property is located.

As a result, where, for example, a Chinese-national decedent left immovable property in Japan, Chinese law (Article 31) points to the law of Japan as the place where the property is located, so by renvoi under Article 41 of the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws, the estate may come to be divided under the Japanese Civil Code. For movables, and depending on where the habitual residence was, the conclusion changes, and where there is a will, further examination is needed.

This final judgement of the governing law is legal judgement itself and is made by a qualified professional such as an attorney or judicial scrivener. Our office (administrative scrivener) supports the stage of preparing the materials and documents needed for that judgement (the kinship notarial certificate, translations, materials on the property, etc.). For the entrance and whole picture of inheritance, see Inheritance procedures, Engagement Flow and Fee Schedule; for sale and use of real estate, see the counter of Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business (Inheritance and Real Estate).

FAQ

Q. Can someone in Japan obtain the kinship notarial certificate on my behalf?
A. Creating a kinship notarial certificate is the work of a Chinese notary office (notarial institution). A Japanese administrative scrivener cannot perform notarisation in China. What our office can support is organising the range of kinship that needs to be certified for the Japanese side, and, after it is obtained, preparing the Japanese translation and the documents to be submitted. The Chinese-side application is made through a local notary office or a local professional.

Q. Do I need both an apostille and consular legalisation?
A. From 7 November 2023, for a public document brought from mainland China into Japan, an apostille alone is in principle sufficient and consular legalisation is not needed. It is not usually required to have both. However, treatment may differ by submission destination, so confirm in advance with the destination, such as a bank or the Legal Affairs Bureau.

Q. Must all heirs come to Japan to divide the estate?
A. Coming to Japan is not necessarily required. There is a method of signing the estate-division agreement or the power of attorney, having the signature notarised by a Chinese notary office, attaching an apostille and sending it to Japan. Where signing a Japanese-language document, it is practice to attach a parallel translation so the content can be understood. The requirement is that all heirs take part; if even one is missing, the agreement is not established.

Q. If the deceased was a Chinese national, is the estate always divided under Chinese law?
A. It cannot be said in general. Article 36 of the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws starts from the decedent's national law (Chinese law), but China's Act on the Application of Laws to Foreign-Related Civil Relations, Article 31, may point to the law of the place of the property or the habitual residence, and by renvoi (Article 41) the estate may be divided under Japanese law. Because the conclusion changes with the kind of property and the habitual residence, the final judgement of the governing law is made by a qualified professional such as an attorney or judicial scrivener.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Act on General Rules for Application of Laws" (Act No. 78 of 2006), Article 36 (inheritance) and Article 41 (renvoi) (accessed 2026-09-04)
• People's Republic of China, "Act on the Application of Laws to Foreign-Related Civil Relations" (Shèwài mínshì guānxì fǎlǜ shìyòngfǎ), Article 31 (governing law of statutory inheritance) (accessed 2026-09-04)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, explanation of "Apostille" and "certification of official seal" (accessed 2026-09-04)
• Hague Conference on Private International Law, entry into force for China of the "Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalisation for Foreign Public Documents" (7 November 2023; between Japan and China, an apostille is applied instead of consular legalisation; accessed 2026-09-04)

This article is general information and does not guarantee the individual governing-law judgement, the need for or form of a kinship notarial certificate or apostille, or the treatment by each submission destination. Which country's inheritance law divides the estate (the governing law) and confirming the range of heirs are legal judgement, and that final judgement is made by a qualified professional such as an attorney or judicial scrivener. The kinship notarial certificate and its authentication (apostille) are handled by the Chinese notary office and competent authority; agency for the inheritance-registration application and registration consultation by a judicial scrivener or attorney; inheritance tax by a tax accountant; and negotiation or representation where there is a dispute among heirs by an attorney, each as an independent business under a separate contract or consultation. Sale and use of real estate are handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. as a separate business, and no referral fee is exchanged with our office. Inheritance relating to Taiwan is outside this Convention and follows a different procedure. Our office (administrative scrivener) prepares the estate-division agreement, powers of attorney and translations used on the Japanese side and supports document collection. Individual judgements are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real estate broker.