What does an administrative scrivener do in a family trust? The division of roles with the notary and the trust registration

In short: a family trust (civil trust) is a mechanism in which a person who owns assets (the settlor) entrusts the management and disposition of the assets to a trusted family member (the trustee), to be operated for a designated person (the beneficiary). The basis is the Trust Act (Act No. 108 of 2006, effective 30 September 2007). Because the trustee can manage the assets in accordance with the contract even if judgement capacity declines due to dementia and the like, it is used to design lifetime asset management and succession. An administrative scrivener can support the preparation of the trust deed, a document concerning rights and obligations, but the preparation of the notarial deed is by the notary, the trust registration by the judicial scrivener, tax by the tax accountant, and disputes among relatives by the attorney; the roles are divided. This article organises the mechanism, the division of roles, and how it differs from a will and a voluntary guardianship. The final judgement on whether a trust can be structured and on taxation is made by a qualified professional.

What is a family trust, and how does it differ from a will and a guardianship?

A family trust consists of three parties: the settlor, the trustee and the beneficiary. Many are structured as a "self-benefit trust" in which a parent (the settlor) designates themselves as the beneficiary, so the substantive benefit remains with the parent and only the management is entrusted to a child (the trustee). The methods of creating a trust are set out in Article 3 of the Trust Act: by contract (item 1), by will (item 2) and by self-declaration of trust (item 3).

The differences from a will and a voluntary guardianship are as follows.

System	When it takes effect	Mainly what it can do
Family trust (Trust Act)	From the time of the contract (during life)	Flexible lifetime asset management and disposition, continued management after dementia, designation of successors
Will	After the person's death	Designation of the successors of assets after death (no lifetime management)
Voluntary guardianship	After a decline in judgement capacity (the family court appoints a supervisor)	Asset management and personal guardianship to protect the person

A will is a one-off succession after death, but a family trust takes effect during life and the trustee can continue management even after the onset of dementia. Moreover, a "successive-beneficiary trust of the successor-bequest type", in which the next beneficiary succeeds on the death of a beneficiary, can also be designed, but under Article 91 of the Trust Act there is a term limit whereby the trust ends when a beneficiary who acquired the beneficial interest more than thirty years after the trust was created dies. Voluntary guardianship aims to protect the person and makes active restructuring of assets difficult, whereas a family trust allows flexible management and disposition to be designed but excludes personal guardianship (such as consent to nursing care and medical treatment). Use them according to the purpose, and combine them.

How far can an administrative scrivener be involved in drafting the trust deed?

An administrative scrivener has as their work the preparation of documents concerning rights and obligations, or documents proving facts. Since the "trust deed" of a contractual trust is a document concerning rights and obligations, an administrative scrivener can hear the client's intentions and support the drafting of the deed.

On the other hand, the following areas are not the work of an administrative scrivener.

• Legal judgement, in an individual case, of whether the trust is validly established and how it should be designed, and cases in which there is a dispute among relatives → an attorney
• Agency for a registration based on the trust → a judicial scrivener
• Calculation and filing of tax, such as beneficiary taxation → a tax accountant
• The act of making the trust deed into a notarial deed → the notary

Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office supports the preparation of the trust deed within the scope of administrative-scrivener work and organises the point of contact with the notary's office, the judicial scrivener and the tax accountant. Each procedure is contracted separately with the respective qualified professional. The judgement on whether a trust can be structured and on taxation is made by a qualified professional.

Why make a notarial deed, and who does the trust registration?

The deed of a family trust is generally made into a notarial deed prepared by a notary. The reasons are that its evidential force as to the existence and content of the contract is high and it more readily prevents later disputes, and that a notarial deed is often required when opening a dedicated trust account (a trust account) at a financial institution. A self-declaration of trust must be made by a document such as a notarial deed as a requirement for taking effect (Article 4, paragraph 3 of the Trust Act). It is the notary who prepares the notarial deed, not the administrative scrivener or the judicial scrivener.

When the trust property includes real estate, registration is required. The registration of transfer of ownership from the settlor to the trustee on the ground of "trust" and the trust registration are done together in the same application (Article 98 of the Real Property Registration Act; the registered matters of the trust registration are in Article 97). Agency for this registration application is the work of a judicial scrivener.

Item	Treatment
Registration of transfer of ownership (settlor → trustee)	The registration and licence tax is exempt because it is a formal transfer
Trust registration	0.4% of the fixed-asset valuation (confirm the tax rate and whether any reduction applies against the latest rules)
Agency for the application	Judicial scrivener

Even if the title is transferred to the trustee, the substantive benefit lies with the beneficiary. In a self-benefit trust (settlor = beneficiary), the substantive attribution of the assets does not change, so no gift tax or real property acquisition tax arises at the time of creation. Please confirm the treatment of tax amounts with a tax accountant.

What are common failures in a family trust, and who to consult about taxation?

There are points that tend to trip people up in the design and operation.

• The supervision of the trustee is ineffective: because of the concern that the trustee may use the assets privately, it is necessary to design a beneficiary's agent or a trust supervisor and to state the duty to keep books and report in the contract.
• Trying to cover personal guardianship with a family trust: consent to nursing care and medical treatment is outside the scope of the trust. Combine it with a voluntary guardianship. For a decline in judgement capacity and watching over, please also consider When there is an heir with dementia or who is missing, and for after-death affairs A mandate contract for after-death affairs.
• Relation to the legally reserved portion: the design of the trust may affect the legally reserved portion of other heirs, and if a dispute seems likely, it is the field of an attorney.
• Taxation: where the settlor and the beneficiary differ (a trust for another's benefit) or the beneficiary is changed, gift tax or inheritance tax may arise on the person who becomes the beneficiary (Article 9-2 of the Inheritance Tax Act, "beneficiary-taxed trust"). There are also restrictions such as that a loss arising from trust real estate cannot be aggregated with other income, and tax should be confirmed with a tax accountant.

For the distinction from a will, please also refer to Holographic and notarial wills. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office and Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. and each affiliated qualified professional are respectively separate businesses. Our office handles only support for preparing the trust deed as an independent business, and the notarisation is by the notary, the registration by the judicial scrivener, the tax by the tax accountant and the disputes by the attorney, each contracted separately. Our office receives no referral fee. For the whole picture of inheritance, wills and trusts, see Inheritance, Wills and Trusts; for the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; for fees, see Fee Schedule; and for the whole picture of inherited real estate, see Complete Guide to Inherited Real Estate.

FAQ

Q. Can anyone create a family trust?
A. The basis is to decide on a trusted trustee and conclude the contract while the settlor still has judgement capacity. After judgement capacity is lost due to dementia and the like, it is difficult to newly create a contractual trust, and in that case another system such as statutory guardianship is considered. Whether a trust can be structured in an individual case is judged by a qualified professional after a meeting.

Q. Which should I choose among a family trust, a will and a voluntary guardianship?
A. Their purposes differ. Flexible lifetime asset management is handled by a family trust, designation of successors after death by a will, and personal guardianship after a decline in judgement capacity by a voluntary guardianship. Since a family trust alone excludes consent to nursing care and medical treatment (personal guardianship), it may be combined with a voluntary guardianship. The combination is designed case by case.

Q. Can I ask an administrative scrivener to draft the trust deed?
A. Because the trust deed is a document concerning rights and obligations, an administrative scrivener can support its preparation. However, making it into a notarial deed is by the notary, registration on the ground of trust by the judicial scrivener, tax by the tax accountant, and cases with a dispute by the attorney. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office provides support for preparing the document as an independent business, and the rest are contracted separately with the respective qualified professionals.

Q. Is there tax on a family trust?
A. In a self-benefit trust where the settlor makes themselves the beneficiary, no gift tax or real property acquisition tax arises at the time of creation. Where the settlor and the beneficiary differ (a trust for another's benefit) or the beneficiary is changed, gift tax or inheritance tax may arise on the person who becomes the beneficiary (Article 9-2 of the Inheritance Tax Act). The calculation and filing of tax amounts should be confirmed with a tax accountant.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Trust Act" (Act No. 108 of 2006, effective 30 September 2007), Articles 2, 3, 4 and 91 (accessed 2026-08-28)
• e-Gov Law Search, "Real Property Registration Act" (Act No. 123 of 2004), Articles 97 and 98 (trust registration) (accessed 2026-08-28)
• e-Gov Law Search, "Inheritance Tax Act" (Act No. 73 of 1950), Article 9-2 (beneficiary-taxed trust) (accessed 2026-08-28)
• Ministry of Justice, "Outline of the Trust Act", and National Tax Agency Tax Answer (taxation relating to trusts) (accessed 2026-08-28)

This article is general information and does not guarantee the individual possibility of structuring a trust, its validity or the tax relationship. The act of making the trust deed into a notarial deed is handled by the notary, the agency for registration on the ground of trust by a judicial scrivener, tax such as beneficiary taxation by a tax accountant, and negotiation, mediation and litigation where there is a dispute among relatives by an attorney, each as an independent business under a separate contract. 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.