Does a duty to look after the family home remain even after renouncing inheritance? The 2023-amended Civil Code Article 940, explained

In short: renouncing an inheritance does not necessarily free you from looking after the family home. Civil Code Article 940(1), in force from 1 April 2023 (Reiwa 5), provides that "a person who has renounced the inheritance must, when they are in actual possession of property belonging to the inherited estate at the time of the renunciation, preserve the property with the same care as for their own property until they hand it over to the heir or the estate liquidator under Article 952(1)." Before the amendment, all renouncers bore a "management" duty; after it, only a person in actual possession bears a "preservation" duty. To end the duty, you basically hand the property over to the next-priority heir, or to the estate liquidator appointed by the family court (Article 952(1)). This article is general information; individual eligibility, whether "actual possession" applies, and whether a liquidator should be appointed rest with a qualified professional. Preparing family-court documents such as the renunciation statement, and individual legal judgement, are handed to a judicial scrivener or an attorney; registration to a judicial scrivener; and tax to a tax accountant. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (administrative scrivener) handles gathering family registers, investigating heirs and property, and preparing a property inventory, as an independent business under a separate contract, and our office receives no referral fee.

Does renouncing an inheritance free you from looking after the family home?

A person who renounces an inheritance is deemed never to have been an heir with respect to that inheritance (Civil Code Article 939). Looking only at this effect, one tends to think "if I renounce, I have nothing to do with the family home." However, even after ceasing to be an heir by renouncing, if you are in actual possession of the property at the time of renunciation, a certain preservation duty remains (Civil Code Article 940(1)).

In other words, if you lived with the deceased parent and keep living in that house after renouncing—or hold the key and come and go—you cannot flatly say "I renounced, so I need do nothing." If the family home is left as vacant, collapses or crumbles, and causes damage to neighbours, a separate civil liability may become an issue. The effect of renunciation itself (deemed never to have been an heir) and the preservation duty that may remain after renunciation should be understood separately.

For the procedure of renunciation or qualified acceptance and the three-month deliberation period themselves, see Renunciation and Qualified Acceptance, and the Deliberation Period. This article focuses on the preservation duty that remains afterward (the amended Article 940).

What is the "preservation duty" that remains under the 2023-amended Article 940?

The Civil Code Article 940(1), in force from 1 April 2023 (Reiwa 5), provides as follows.

A person who has renounced the inheritance must, when they are in actual possession of property belonging to the inherited estate at the time of the renunciation, preserve the property with the same care as for their own property, until they hand it over to the heir or the estate liquidator under Article 952(1).

The former Article 940 provided that "a person who has renounced the inheritance must continue to manage the property with the same care as for their own property, until the person who became an heir by that renunciation can begin managing the inherited estate." What changed can be organised as follows.

Item	Before (former 940)	After (from 1 April 2023)
Who bears the duty	The person who renounced (scope unclear)	Only a person in actual possession at the time of renunciation
Content of the duty	Continue "management"	"Preservation" (maintaining the current state)
When it ends	Until the next heir can begin management	Until handing over to the heir or the estate liquidator

The amendment was made to clarify points that had confused practice under the old rule: the scope of who bore the management duty, the degree of the duty, and until when it lasted. The substance of the duty is not to actively use or improve the property but only to "preserve" it—maintaining its current state so its value is not greatly impaired.

How far does "in actual possession" reach?

The linchpin of the amended Article 940 is the requirement of being "in actual possession." This part needs an individual judgement based on the facts and cannot be drawn as a uniform line by the text alone. Generally, the typical examples explained are a state of factually controlling the property at the time of renunciation—for instance, living with the parent and staying in that house after renouncing, or managing the key and being able to come and go freely.

Conversely, real estate that you live far from, have never entered, and hold no key to is sometimes treated as not amounting to "actual possession." However, the presence and degree of possession vary by the concrete circumstances, and one cannot flatly say "a co-residing family member always bears the duty" or "someone far away never bears it." Whether possession applies and whether liability arises from it is an individual legal judgement in light of the facts; where there is a dispute or the judgement is difficult, consult an attorney.

Note that in cases where there is no heir at all (e.g. everyone renounced), an inherited-estate juridical person is formed, and until an estate liquidator is appointed, a renouncer in actual possession continues to bear the preservation duty. For the flow of liquidation when no heir remains, see also The Estate Liquidator and Special Contributors When There Is No Heir.

How do you end the preservation duty? (appointing a liquidator is for the family court)

The preservation duty under the amended Article 940 lasts "until handing over" the property. Therefore, the basic way to end the duty is a handover. The recipient is one of the following.

1. Hand over to the next-priority heir: if there is a person who became an heir because you renounced (the next-priority heir), the preservation duty ends once you hand the property to them.
2. Hand over to the estate liquidator: if there is no heir, or everyone renounced, on the petition of an interested party the family court appoints an estate liquidator (Civil Code Article 952(1)). Handing the property to this liquidator ends the preservation duty. Note that the 2023 amendment renamed the former "estate administrator" to "estate liquidator" and reorganised the liquidation procedure.

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The petition to appoint an estate liquidator is a family-court procedure; preparing family-court documents such as the petition, and the individual legal judgement of whether to appoint one, are the domain of a judicial scrivener or an attorney. As an administrative scrivener, our office does not prepare these family-court documents or make individual legal judgements. For the entry point of how to dispose of a family home that has become vacant (sale, contribution, demolition, etc.), the System for the Escheat of Inherited Land to the National Treasury may also be a reference as an option for relinquishing inherited land.

What should you confirm before renouncing, and what are the deadlines?

Once accepted, a renunciation cannot in principle be withdrawn. Including the preservation duty after renunciation, it is important to confirm the following in advance.

• Deadline: the statement of renunciation or qualified acceptance must in principle be made within three months of the time you learned that the inheritance had commenced for you (the deliberation period; Civil Code Article 915(1)). Putting it off out of worry about the preservation duty after renunciation risks letting the deliberation period pass. Manage the deadline early.
• State of possession: grasp whether, at the time of renunciation, you are likely to be "in actual possession"—for instance whether you live in the family home or manage the key. If you may fall under it, have a prospect of the recipient of the handover (the next-priority heir or the liquidator) in view.
• Deadlines of other inheritance procedures: inheritance has several other deadlines, such as the inheritance-tax filing (10 months) and the duty to apply for inheritance registration (within 3 years). For the whole picture, see Summary of Inheritance Procedure Deadlines.

Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (administrative scrivener) handles, as an independent business, the gathering of family registers, investigation of heirs and property, and preparation of a property inventory that serve as material for deciding on renunciation. On the other hand, preparing and advising on family-court documents such as the renunciation statement, individual legal judgement and dispute handling are by a judicial scrivener or an attorney; inheritance registration by a judicial scrivener; and inheritance tax, capital-gains tax and the like by a tax accountant. Each field is on the premise that you contract separately with each qualified professional as an independent business, and our office receives no referral fee. For the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; for fees, Fee Schedule; and for the whole picture of inheritance work, Inheritance, Wills and Trust Services. For the sale and management of inherited real estate, see Complete Guide to Inherited Real Estate (Yotsuba Real Estate). Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. is a separate business from Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office and is engaged under a separate contract.

FAQ

Q. Does renouncing an inheritance completely free me from looking after the family home?
A. Not necessarily. If you are in actual possession of the property at the time of renunciation, a preservation duty—maintaining the current state—remains until you hand it over to the heir or the estate liquidator (Civil Code Article 940(1)). If you are not in possession, you are sometimes treated as not bearing this duty, but whether possession applies is an individual judgement based on the facts.

Q. What did the 2023 amendment change about Article 940?
A. Before the amendment, a renouncer bore a duty to continue "management," and the scope was unclear. After the amendment in force on 1 April 2023, the duty is limited to a person "in actual possession," its content is "preservation" (maintaining the current state), and its end is "until handing over to the heir or the estate liquidator."

Q. How does the preservation duty end?
A. It ends by handing over the property. If there is a next-priority heir, hand it to them; if there is no heir at all, hand it to the estate liquidator appointed by the family court (Civil Code Article 952(1)). The petition to appoint a liquidator is a family-court procedure, and preparing the petition or judging whether it is needed is the domain of a judicial scrivener or an attorney.

Q. Can I no longer renounce once three months have passed?
A. The statement of renunciation or qualified acceptance must in principle be made within three months of the time you learned that the inheritance had commenced for you (Civil Code Article 915(1)). How the starting point is counted and any exceptional treatment are individual legal judgements, so if the deadline is near, consult an attorney or a judicial scrivener early.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Civil Code," Article 940(1) (management by a person who has renounced the inheritance; amended by the "Act Partially Amending the Civil Code and Others" (Act No. 24 of 2021) and in force on 1 April 2023) (accessed 2026-09-27)
• e-Gov Law Search, "Civil Code," Article 939 (effect of renunciation of inheritance), Article 915(1) (period for accepting or renouncing an inheritance), Article 952(1) (appointment of an estate liquidator) (accessed 2026-09-27)
• Ministry of Justice, "Act Partially Amending the Civil Code and Others (Act No. 24 of 2021)" (review of the management duty of a person who has renounced the inheritance; review of the estate administration system; moj.go.jp) (accessed 2026-09-27)

This article is general information and does not guarantee the eligibility of an individual renunciation, whether "actual possession" applies, the scope of the preservation duty, or whether or the outcome of appointing an estate liquidator. Preparing and advising on family-court documents such as the renunciation statement, individual legal judgement and dispute handling regarding whether to appoint a liquidator and the presence of possession or liability are by a judicial scrivener or an attorney; inheritance registration by a judicial scrivener; and inheritance tax, capital-gains tax and the like by a tax accountant, each as an independent business under a separate contract. Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. is a separate business from Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office. 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.