Where to start with an inheritance: gathering family registers and identifying heirs in Bunkyo

In short: in the early stages of an inheritance procedure, the important thing is to confirm who the heirs are and what assets exist. Because some procedures have deadlines, you should investigate the heirs and the assets while also confirming the relevant deadlines in parallel. Collecting family registers, preparing a diagram of the inheritance relationship and an asset list, and drafting an estate division agreement or a will can be entrusted to an administrative scrivener. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office is in Kohinata, Bunkyo (about five minutes' walk from Myogadani Station), and can collect family registers when the registered domicile is in Bunkyo, as well as consult in Chinese and English. Inheritance registration is handled by a judicial scrivener, inheritance tax filing by a tax accountant, contentious matters by an attorney, and the sale or management of inherited real estate by a licensed real estate brokerage. We introduce each of them as an independent business under a separate contract.

What should you confirm first when an inheritance begins?

An inheritance procedure moves along three parallel tracks: family register, assets, and deadlines. The first things to confirm are who the heirs are and what the estate is. Until you identify the heirs from the family registers, you cannot decide who needs to be gathered to discuss the division of the estate.

At the same time, identify the deadline-driven procedures first. Representative examples are the statement of renunciation of inheritance (in principle within three months of learning that the inheritance began) and the inheritance tax return (in principle within ten months from the day after learning that the inheritance began). If you fix the order rigidly as "first identify all heirs and assets, then move on", you may miss these deadlines. It is important to investigate the heirs and the assets while confirming the necessary deadlines in parallel.

Which family registers are needed to identify the heirs?

To identify the heirs, you trace the deceased person's family registers from birth to death. Because marriage and moving one's registered domicile cause the family register to change, the current family register alone is not enough; you must obtain removed family register certificates and revised original family register certificates in order. From these records you identify the heirs: the spouse, children, heirs by representation, and, depending on the case, siblings and nieces or nephews.

If anything is missed here, you may later discover that "there was actually another heir", forcing the estate division to be redone. That is why heir identification is carried out carefully as the entry point of an inheritance procedure.

What became more convenient with the 2024 "wide-area delivery" of family register certificates?

Previously, family register certificates and similar documents had to be obtained, in principle, from the municipality of the registered domicile. From 1 March 2024, you can now request a full family register certificate, a full removed family register certificate, and a revised original family register certificate even at a municipal counter other than the municipality of the registered domicile. This is called "wide-area delivery" of family register certificates.

However, wide-area delivery can be used only by the person recorded in the family register, or their spouse, lineal ascendant, or lineal descendant. A request by an agent (a request with a power of attorney or by an adult guardian) is not available, and a third-party request or a professional (occupational) request is also outside the scope. The same applies in Bunkyo.

In Bunkyo, a request for only the current full family register certificate is, in principle, issued the same day, but a request that includes removed or revised original family registers, or a batch request for multiple family registers from birth to death, may take two weeks or more to receive (Bunkyo City official website, as of April 2026). Wide-area delivery is accepted at the Family Register and Resident Section counter on the 2nd floor of Bunkyo Civic Center, weekdays from 8:30 to 16:00. A wide-area delivery request for preparing a family tree is limited to two persons per acceptance.

What is the difference between collecting the registers yourself and asking an administrative scrivener?

Wide-area delivery is a system for the person concerned or certain related persons to request directly at the counter. The person concerned can, in principle, request family registers together at the nearest municipality regardless of where their registered domicile is in Japan.

On the other hand, when an administrative scrivener collects family registers under a commission, this is done by an agent request under a power of attorney or by an occupational request, and is therefore outside the scope of wide-area delivery. The scrivener requests the registers individually from the municipality of the registered domicile. Whether to collect the registers yourself or entrust them to an administrative scrivener should be chosen in light of the scope of the family registers needed, the number of offices to contact, and the time available for the procedure. If the scope is wide — from birth to death — and the registered domicile spans multiple municipalities, entrusting an administrative scrivener allows the scrivener to organise the request points and carry out the collection. In either case, the actual cost of obtaining the documents is charged separately. For the scope and fees of inheritance work handled by an administrative scrivener, see Inheritance, Wills and Trusts and Fee Schedule.

What is the difference between a diagram of the inheritance relationship and a certified list of statutory heirs?

The names are similar, but their roles differ.

• Diagram of the inheritance relationship: a document that shows, in the form of a family tree, the relationship between the deceased and the heirs, based on the family registers collected. It is used to show the range of heirs clearly, for example in an application for inheritance registration.
• Certified list of statutory heirs (hōtei sōzoku jōhō ichiran-zu): a list of the statutory heirs identified from the family register entries, and the document used for the statutory inheritance information certification system (an application to the Legal Affairs Bureau / registry office). A copy of the list can be used in inheritance and pension procedures in place of a bundle of family registers, is kept for five years from the application, and can be re-issued.

An application under the statutory inheritance information certification system can be made through an agent appointed by the applicant (heir), and the Legal Affairs Bureau expressly lists an administrative scrivener as a permissible agent. In other words, an administrative scrivener can collect the family registers and also prepare and apply for the certified list of statutory heirs.

Note that the certified list of statutory heirs clarifies the statutory heirs based on the family register entries. If, as a result of a later renunciation of inheritance or an estate division agreement, someone in fact does not become an heir, that person's name is still recorded on the list.

How far should the asset investigation go?

In parallel with heir identification, you should grasp the overall picture of the estate. List the positive assets — deposits, securities, real estate, vehicles, and so on — together with the negative assets such as borrowings and unpaid amounts. Putting them into an asset list is useful both for considering the division of the estate and for deciding whether to renounce the inheritance.

Have a question about your situation?

Tell us about your residency, permit or administrative procedure enquiry.

Chat on LINEContact us

The decision to "sell, rent, or keep" inherited real estate is the domain of a licensed real estate brokerage. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office prepares the asset list, and Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. (a separate business) handles the utilisation and sale of the real estate.

What should be confirmed before preparing an estate division agreement?

An estate division agreement accurately documents the content agreed by all the heirs. Before preparing it, the following two things must be confirmed:

• that all of the heirs have been identified;
• that the scope of the estate and a rough valuation are listed.

If the agreement is started before these two are settled, an heir or an asset may be added later and the agreement will have to be redone. Because an estate division agreement presupposes the agreement of all heirs, contentious matters — such as when opinions conflict or a claim for the legally reserved portion is involved — are the domain of an attorney. In such cases we refer you to an attorney.

Who does what: administrative scrivener, judicial scrivener, tax accountant, attorney, real estate company

Several professionals are involved in an inheritance. The rough division of work is as follows.

Who	Main work
Administrative scrivener	Collecting family registers; diagram of the inheritance relationship; preparing and applying for the certified list of statutory heirs; asset list; estate division agreement; drafting a will
Judicial scrivener	Inheritance registration (change of title to real estate), etc.
Tax accountant	Inheritance tax return and tax judgement
Attorney	Contentious matters, the legally reserved portion, etc.
Real estate company (licensed real estate brokerage)	Sale, management and leasing of inherited real estate

Renunciation of inheritance is a procedure before the Family Court, and a judicial scrivener may in some cases prepare the documents. This article does not go into the detailed allocation among the professionals; we refer you to the appropriate professional according to the case. Inheritance registration has been mandatory since 1 April 2024, and inheritance that began before that date is also covered (within three years of learning that ownership was acquired; or within three years of the date the estate division was established; a fine of not more than 100,000 yen for failure without justifiable grounds). Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office does not carry out inheritance registration itself, but by first preparing the family registers and the diagram of the inheritance relationship, which are the prerequisites for registration, it can make the subsequent registration easier to proceed with.

For how to proceed with the sale, management and leasing of inherited real estate, see Complete Guide to Inherited Real Estate (Yotsuba Real Estate). Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. handles this as a separate business under a separate contract from Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office. Any referral to a professional is an independent contract, and our office receives no referral fee.

How inheritance procedures proceed in Bunkyo

If you consult Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office in Kohinata, Bunkyo, first bring the deceased person's family registers and whatever information on the assets you can, and we will confirm the range of heirs and the overall picture of the assets together. When the registered domicile is in Bunkyo, family registers are collected at the Family Register and Resident Section on the 2nd floor of Bunkyo Civic Center. When multiple family registers, such as from birth to death, are requested for an inheritance procedure, receipt may take two weeks or more (Bunkyo City guidance as of April 2026).

After that, we guide you in stages: preparing the diagram of the inheritance relationship and the asset list, and drafting an estate division agreement or a will. For the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow. We also consult in Chinese and English, and we organise the exchange of documents when an heir lives overseas. For an inheritance that involves foreign law, confirmation by an international specialist may be necessary depending on the case.

FAQ

Q. Can I collect the family registers myself? Can I use wide-area delivery?
A. If you are the person concerned (or their spouse, lineal ascendant, or lineal descendant), you can use the wide-area delivery that began in March 2024 to request family registers, removed family registers and revised original family registers together at a municipal counter other than the municipality of the registered domicile. However, requests by an agent, third-party requests and occupational requests are outside the scope of wide-area delivery. When an administrative scrivener collects the registers by an agent or occupational request, the scrivener requests them individually from the municipality of the registered domicile.

Q. Do I need both a diagram of the inheritance relationship and a certified list of statutory heirs?
A. Their purposes differ. A diagram of the inheritance relationship illustrates the relationship among the heirs, while a certified list of statutory heirs is the list used for an application under the statutory inheritance information certification system. Use them according to the procedure required. Both presuppose the collection of family registers, so collecting the registers correctly comes first.

Q. Can I ask an administrative scrivener to do the inheritance registration?
A. Inheritance registration is the work of a judicial scrivener, so Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office does not do it. Inheritance registration has been mandatory since 1 April 2024, and earlier inheritance is also covered. We prepare the family registers and the diagram of the inheritance relationship, which are the prerequisites for registration, and then refer the registration itself to a judicial scrivener.

Q. Can I consult if there is an heir who lives overseas or is a foreign national?
A. Yes. Even when an heir is a foreign national or lives overseas, we confirm the scope of the family registers and documents and organise the necessary papers. We also consult in Chinese and English. For an inheritance involving foreign law, confirmation by an international specialist may be necessary depending on the case.

Sources (Primary Information)

• Bunkyo City, "Wide-area delivery of family register certificates (accepted until 16:00)" (updated 9 April 2026)
• Legal Affairs Bureau, "Specific procedure of the statutory inheritance information certification system" (updated 1 April 2024)
• Tokyo Legal Affairs Bureau, "Inheritance registration is now mandatory (in force 1 April 2024)" (updated 7 August 2024)
• Courts, "Statement of renunciation of inheritance"
• National Tax Agency, "No.4205 Inheritance tax return and payment" (as of 1 April 2025)
• Civil Code (Act No. 89 of 1896)
• Real Property Registration Act, Article 76-2 (obligation to apply for inheritance registration)

This article provides general information and does not guarantee the permissibility, procedure or effect of any individual inheritance. Individual judgements are made by a qualified professional after an interview. Inheritance registration is handled by a judicial scrivener, inheritance tax by a tax accountant, contentious matters by an attorney, and real estate by a licensed real estate brokerage, each as an independent business under a separate contract. Our office receives no referral fee. Written by Joji Uramatsu (Administrative Scrivener and Real Estate Transaction Specialist).