When an heir is a foreign national: can you use the legal-heir-information list diagram?

In short: the legal-heir-information list diagram is a system (the legal-heir-information certification system) in which a registrar at the Legal Affairs Bureau (registry office) certifies a list of heirs identified from the family register; the basis is Article 247 of the Regulation for Real Property Registration. But because the system requires that family-register documents (koseki/joseki) can be submitted, the Legal Affairs Bureau states that "where the decedent or an heir is not a Japanese national and family-register documents cannot be submitted, this system cannot be used." Where the decedent is a foreign national with no Japanese family register, the list diagram cannot be made; and where an heir is a foreign national without a family register, it may be unusable because that heir cannot be proved by the register. When it cannot be used, you add foreign public documents (a Taiwanese family register, certification from a notary office in mainland China, signature certification from an overseas diplomatic mission, etc.) to the family-register documents and proceed with each procedure. This article is general information organising whether the system can be used and the alternatives; it does not judge any individual case or the governing law of the inheritance.

What is the legal-heir-information list diagram for?

The legal-heir-information list diagram is a diagram listing "the decedent (the person who has died) and the heirs identified from the entries in the family register." When you apply to the Legal Affairs Bureau (registry office), the registrar checks the content and issues, free of charge, a certified copy bearing a certification note (the legal-heir-information certification system, Article 247 of the Regulation for Real Property Registration). Because this copy can be used in place of the bundle of family-register documents for inheritance registration, bank withdrawals, pension procedures and the like, it saves the effort of gathering the same set of family registers many times over.

The main points are as follows (accessed 2026-11-04).

Item	Content
Basis	Articles 247 and 248 of the Regulation for Real Property Registration (legal-heir-information certification system)
Who may apply	An heir of the decedent (or that heir's heir)
Agent	In addition to relatives, you may ask a lawyer, judicial scrivener, land and house surveyor, tax accountant, labour and social security attorney, patent attorney, maritime procedure agent, or administrative scrivener
Documents always required	The decedent's family/removed-register documents from birth to death, and public documents confirming the applicant's name and address, etc.
Storage and re-issue	The list diagram is stored for five years counting from the year after the application, and the original applicant may obtain a re-issue

Preparing the list diagram and acting as agent for the application can be done by a qualified professional handling the filing (including an administrative scrivener). Unlike an heir-relationship explanatory diagram (which heirs make themselves), its feature is the registrar's certification note. The general way to make a list diagram is organised in What is the legal-heir-information list diagram?.

If the decedent is a foreign national, can the list diagram be made?

As a rule, it cannot. The system requires attaching the decedent's family/removed-register documents from birth to death, and the Legal Affairs Bureau explicitly states that "where the decedent or an heir is not a Japanese national and family/removed-register documents cannot be submitted, this system cannot be used." If the decedent is a foreign national, there is no Japanese family register, so the heirs cannot be fixed by the register and the premise for making and certifying the list diagram is missing.

In that case, you show the scope of heirs with public documents from the decedent's home country (certificates of birth, marriage, death or family relationships) and submit them directly to each procedural institution in place of the family-register documents. Note that who the heirs are and how shares work are decided by the governing law of the inheritance: Article 36 of the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws provides that "inheritance is governed by the national law of the decedent" (Article 41 provides for renvoi where the national law points back to Japanese law). The final judgement on the governing law is the field of lawyers; our office goes only as far as providing materials and procedural information. On the approach to the governing law, see also The governing law where the decedent is a foreign national (Act on General Rules, Article 36).

If an heir is a foreign national, how do you prove who the heirs are?

Even if the decedent is Japanese, where an heir is a foreign national without a family register, that person cannot be proved by the Japanese register in part. Because the Legal Affairs Bureau's guidance says the system cannot be used where, for either the decedent or an heir, family/removed-register documents cannot be submitted, whether the list diagram can be used depends on the case, and confirming in advance with the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction is the reliable course (this is a point that cannot be stated uniformly, and we do not assert it without verification).

For heirs who cannot be covered by the register, you substitute public documents from the home country. Typical examples are as follows.

What is being substituted	Documents commonly used
Proof of family relationship/status corresponding to the Japanese family register	The home country's family register or civil-status registration, certificates of birth/marriage/death, notarial deeds showing family relationships
Identity confirmation corresponding to the Japanese seal-registration certificate	Signature certification from an overseas diplomatic mission (embassy/consulate), certification from a notarial body in the home country
Proof of address corresponding to the Japanese resident record	A certificate of residence from an overseas diplomatic mission, a home-country address certificate

Because these are foreign-language documents, they are submitted with a Japanese translation. The whole picture of documents for an inheritance involving overseas residence or foreign nationality is organised in What if an heir lives abroad or is a foreign national?.

How do you gather proof for Chinese and Taiwanese heirs (notary office, removed register, signature certification)?

Mainland China and Taiwan have different systems.

• Taiwan: it has a family-register system similar to Japan's, so family-register and removed-register documents can trace family relationships. A Taiwanese seal-registration certificate can sometimes be used for signing and sealing an estate-division agreement. For how to obtain them, see Obtaining Taiwanese family and removed registers, and for the treatment of the seal-registration certificate, see Taiwanese seal-registration certificate and estate division.
• Mainland China: because there is no mechanism like a Japanese family register to trace all heirs at once, it is common to show the heirs with a family-relationship notarial deed or birth notarial deed issued by a notary office, and to use signature certification from an overseas diplomatic mission or a notary office for signing. An apostille or consular authentication may also be needed. This is organised in Family-relationship notarial deed and consular authentication for mainland-China heirs.

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In all cases, how far which document can prove something differs in practice by the recipient (Legal Affairs Bureau, financial institution, tax office), so it is safer to confirm with each institution before submission. Organising the process of collecting, translating and authenticating foreign public documents is handled by an administrative scrivener, but notarisation itself and consular authentication are within the jurisdiction of each notarial body and overseas diplomatic mission.

Who handles the list-diagram application, inheritance registration, tax and the governing-law judgement?

An inheritance involving a foreign national spans several specialist fields. The roles are as follows.

• Acting as agent for the legal-heir-information list-diagram application, and collecting, translating and organising family/removed-register and foreign public documents → Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (administrative scrivener). However, the final confirmation of whether the list diagram can be used rests with the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction
• The application for inheritance registration (changing the name on real property) → a judicial scrivener
• Filing inheritance tax and valuing property → a tax accountant
• Disputes over estate division, and the final judgement on the governing law of the inheritance (Article 36 of the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws) → a lawyer

These are divided up on the premise that you contract separately with each qualified professional, as an independent business from Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office. Registration is for the judicial scrivener, tax for the tax accountant, and disputes or the governing-law judgement for the lawyer, each as an independent business under separate contracts. Our office receives no referral fee. General guidance on inheritance is also offered at the inheritance portal, operated by a separate business. For the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; for fees, see Fee Schedule; and for the whole picture of our inheritance services, see Inheritance and Wills Services.

When the list diagram cannot be used, how do you proceed with inheritance registration?

Even when the list diagram cannot be used, inheritance registration and other procedures can still proceed. The basic way is to add, to the family/removed-register documents (as far as obtainable), public documents from the decedent's and heirs' home countries (a Taiwanese family register, certification from a mainland-China notary office, signature and residence certification from an overseas diplomatic mission, etc.) and a Japanese translation, and to attach an heir-relationship explanatory diagram showing the scope of heirs, submitting them directly to each recipient. A certified copy with a certification note like the list diagram's is not attached, but by layering the family-register set and the foreign documents to show the inheritance relationship, inheritance registration (judicial scrivener) and financial-institution procedures are possible.

Organising how to obtain the documents, the translation and the order of submission is handled by an administrative scrivener; the registration application by a judicial scrivener; the inheritance-tax filing by a tax accountant; and, where estate division is disputed or the governing law must be judged, by a lawyer, each as an independent business under separate contracts. Because what is required differs by recipient in practice, confirming with each institution early and building the whole plan first prevents rework.

FAQ

Q. If the decedent is a Chinese or Taiwanese national, can the legal-heir-information list diagram be made?
A. As a rule, no. The legal-heir-information certification system (Article 247 of the Regulation for Real Property Registration) requires submitting the decedent's family/removed-register documents from birth to death, and the Legal Affairs Bureau says it cannot be used where the decedent or an heir is not a Japanese national and cannot submit those documents. Where the decedent is a foreign national with no Japanese register, you show the heirs with home-country public documents and submit them directly to each procedural institution in place of the register.

Q. The decedent is Japanese, but one heir is a foreign national. Can the list diagram be used?
A. It depends on the case. The Legal Affairs Bureau's guidance says the system cannot be used where, for an heir too, family/removed-register documents cannot be submitted, and how a foreign-national heir not recorded in the Japanese register can be treated may differ by the Legal Affairs Bureau with jurisdiction. Whether it can be used is best confirmed in advance with that bureau. This article does not make a uniform assertion.

Q. Can I ask an administrative scrivener to make the list-diagram application?
A. Yes. Acting as agent for the legal-heir-information list-diagram application may be done, besides by relatives, by a lawyer, judicial scrivener, land and house surveyor, tax accountant, labour and social security attorney, patent attorney, maritime procedure agent or administrative scrivener. Our office handles the application agency and the collection, translation and organising of family/removed-register and foreign public documents; inheritance registration is for a judicial scrivener, inheritance tax for a tax accountant, and the governing-law judgement or disputes for a lawyer, each as an independent business under separate contracts.

Q. Is who becomes an heir decided by Japanese civil law?
A. It is decided by the governing law of the inheritance. Article 36 of the Act on General Rules for Application of Laws provides that "inheritance is governed by the national law of the decedent," and Article 41 provides for renvoi (where the national law applicable points to Japanese law, Japanese law applies). The applicable law can change with the decedent's nationality. The final judgement is the field of lawyers; our office goes only as far as providing materials and procedural information.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Regulation for Real Property Registration" (Ministry of Justice Ordinance No. 18 of 2005), Articles 247 and 248 (legal-heir-information certification system; keeping and issuing the list diagram; re-issue) (accessed 2026-11-04)
• Legal Affairs Bureau, "About the legal-heir-information certification system" (who may apply; qualified professionals who may act as agent; required documents; five-year storage; re-issue; that it cannot be used where the decedent or an heir is not a Japanese national and cannot submit family/removed-register documents) (updated 2024-04-01; accessed 2026-11-04)
• e-Gov Law Search, "Act on General Rules for Application of Laws" (Act No. 78 of 2006), Article 36 (inheritance is governed by the national law of the decedent) and Article 41 (renvoi) (accessed 2026-11-04)
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs, "Certifications issued at overseas diplomatic missions (signature certification, residence certification)," and the notarial systems of each country (accessed 2026-11-04)

This article is general information and does not guarantee, in any individual case, whether the legal-heir-information list diagram can be used, the scope of heirs, the governing law of the inheritance, the required documents, or practice differing by recipient. Where foreign nationality or overseas residence is involved, always confirm in advance with the Legal Affairs Bureau that has jurisdiction whether the list diagram can be used. The list-diagram application agency and document organising are handled by Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (administrative scrivener), inheritance registration by a judicial scrivener, inheritance-tax filing by a tax accountant, and disputes over estate division or the final judgement on the governing law by a lawyer, each as an independent business under separate contracts. General inheritance guidance is operated by a separate business. Our office receives no referral fee. Individual judgements are made by a qualified professional after a meeting. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real estate broker.