When there are no heirs: appointing an estate liquidator and distribution to a person with a special connection

In short: where there are no statutory heirs (it is not clear that heirs exist), the estate becomes a juridical person (Civil Code Article 951), and the family court appoints an estate liquidator on the request of an interested party or a public prosecutor (Civil Code Article 952, paragraph 1). The liquidator pays the creditors and beneficiaries, and any property left over can be distributed to a person with a special connection — someone who shared a livelihood with the decedent or who devoted themselves to nursing care (Civil Code Article 958-2) — with anything finally remaining escheating to the national treasury (Civil Code Article 959). The reform effective 1 April 2023 renamed the "estate administrator" the "estate liquidator" and made the public notices run in parallel. This article organises the whole picture from an administrative scrivener's view as general information. The petition and adjudication for appointment are family-court procedures in a lawyer's or judicial scrivener's field, real-estate registration is for a judicial scrivener, and inheritance tax is for a tax accountant — each handed off separately, on the premise that you contract as an independent business.

When there are no statutory heirs, what happens to the estate?

No spouse, no children, no lineal ascendants and no siblings — or all of them have renounced the inheritance: in such a case, where "it is not clear that heirs exist," the estate is otherwise left in the air. The Civil Code treats this property as a single juridical person (an estate as a juridical person, Civil Code Article 951), and provides a mechanism whereby an estate liquidator chosen by the family court manages and liquidates it. The liquidator pays the decedent's creditors and beneficiaries; if property remains, it goes through distribution to a person with a special connection, and anything finally remaining escheats to the national treasury.

Stage	Content	Basis
Formation of the estate juridical person	Where it is not clear that heirs exist, the estate becomes a juridical person	Civil Code Article 951
Appointment of the liquidator and the search notice for heirs	The family court appoints a liquidator and gives a notice searching for heirs, setting a period of at least six months	Civil Code Article 952
Notice to creditors and beneficiaries	The liquidator gives a notice setting a period of at least two months for claims to be filed (expiring within the six-month period above)	Civil Code Article 957, paragraph 1
Where no one asserts a right	If no heir asserts a right within the period, unknown creditors and beneficiaries cannot exercise their rights	Civil Code Article 958
Distribution to a person with a special connection	The family court, on request, gives all or part of the property remaining after liquidation	Civil Code Article 958-2
Escheat to the treasury	Property not disposed of escheats to the national treasury	Civil Code Article 959

A case with "no heirs" includes not only where there are no relatives at all from the start, but also where all heirs renounced and there is no one to succeed as a result. The basics of renouncing an inheritance are organised in Renunciation and qualified acceptance of inheritance.

Who appoints the estate liquidator, and how?

The estate liquidator is appointed by the family court on the request of an interested party or a public prosecutor (Civil Code Article 952, paragraph 1). Interested parties include a creditor who lent money to the decedent, a beneficiary receiving a bequest, a person in a position to become a person with a special connection, and anyone with a claim against or debt to the decedent. The petition is filed with the family court that has jurisdiction over the decedent's last domicile. The procedure runs as an adjudication case listed in Appended Table 1 of the Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act.

Item	Content
Who can petition	An interested party (a creditor, a beneficiary, a potential person with a special connection, etc.) or a public prosecutor
Where to file	The family court with jurisdiction over the decedent's last domicile
Nature of the procedure	Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act (an adjudication case in Appended Table 1)
Advance deposit	An advance deposit may be required to cover official-gazette notice costs and the liquidator's remuneration

The liquidator is, in many cases, a lawyer or a judicial scrivener. After appointment, the liquidator gives the notice searching for heirs and the notice for creditors and beneficiaries to file claims, converts the property to cash and applies it to payment. The petition and adjudication for appointment are procedures before the family court; representation and contentious handling are for a lawyer, and preparing the adjudication documents and doing the registration are for a judicial scrivener. The administrative scrivener supports, within the scope of administrative-scrivener work, the groundwork of organising the property and the parties as information.

Who can receive a distribution as a person with a special connection?

Where property remains after liquidation and no one asserts a right as an heir, the family court, if it finds it appropriate, may give a person with a special connection all or part of the property remaining after liquidation (Civil Code Article 958-2, paragraph 1). The three types the article lists are as follows.

Type	Example
A person who shared a livelihood with the decedent	A common-law or de facto spouse, a de facto adopted child, etc.
A person who devoted themselves to the decedent's nursing care	Someone who long continued personal care or nursing
Any other person with a special connection to the decedent	A person recognised as having a close relationship comparable to the above

A request for distribution must be made within three months after the expiry of the period set in the liquidator-appointment notice (Civil Code Article 952, paragraph 2) (Civil Code Article 958-2, paragraph 2). Past this deadline you can no longer receive a distribution, so timing matters. Whether to distribute, and how much, is decided by the family court in light of the closeness of the relationship with the decedent and the state of the property. Who counts as a person with a special connection is ultimately for the family court, and this article does not assert the likelihood in advance. Ways for a person living alone to prepare during life are organised in The post-death affairs mandate contract and The voluntary guardianship contract.

How did the 2023 Civil Code reform change the liquidation procedure and its period?

The Act partially amending the Civil Code and other acts (Act No. 24 of 2021), which took effect on 1 April 2023, substantially reorganised this field. The points are the name and the notices.

Point of reform	Before	After
Name	Estate administrator	Estate liquidator
How notices run	The appointment notice, the claim-filing notice and the heir-search notice were given in sequence	The heir-search notice (at least six months) and the claim-filing notice (at least two months) run in parallel
Rough period required	At least ten months, because notices were stacked in sequence	At the shortest, roughly six months, by running the notices in parallel

Before the reform, three kinds of notice had to be stacked in sequence, so completing the liquidation took at least ten months. After the reform, the notice for creditors and beneficiaries to file claims (Civil Code Article 957, paragraph 1) is given so as to expire within the period of the notice searching for heirs (Civil Code Article 952, paragraph 2), running in parallel, so the period was shortened. Note that this reform also created a separate system, the estate administrator for preserving the estate after inheritance begins (Civil Code Article 897-2); as the names are similar, take care not to confuse them.

Who should you consult for the appointment petition, registration and inheritance tax?

The procedure for the absence of heirs involves the family court, registration and tax, and spans the fields of several qualified professionals. The roles divide as follows, each on the premise that you contract separately as an independent business.

• Organising the whole picture of the procedure, and organising information on the property and the parties → Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office (within the scope of administrative-scrivener work)
• The petition and adjudication for appointing the estate liquidator and other family-court procedures, and contentious cases → a lawyer (representation and negotiation) and a judicial scrivener (preparing the petition documents)
• Registration changing title into the estate liquidator's name, and real-estate registration accompanying escheat or distribution to a person with a special connection → a judicial scrivener
• Filing of tax such as inheritance tax and capital gains → a tax accountant

An administrative scrivener cannot represent you in a family-court adjudication petition, and the person appointed as liquidator is usually a lawyer or judicial scrivener. Our office's role stays within making the road map of the procedure and organising information within the scope of administrative-scrivener work. For the whole picture of inheritance work, see Inheritance services; for the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; and for fees, see Fee Schedule. Escheat as an option for letting go of land is also covered in The system for escheat of inherited land to the treasury. For matters such as selling inherited real estate, Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business, handles them at The desk for inherited real estate. Yotsuba Administrative Scrivener Office and Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd. are separate businesses, and each field is on the premise that you contract separately with each as an independent business. Our office receives no referral fee.

FAQ

Q. Do I still need an estate liquidator if all the heirs renounced?
A. Where all heirs renounced and there is no one to succeed, it falls under "it is not clear that heirs exist," and the estate becomes a juridical person (Civil Code Article 951). Where payment to creditors or disposal of property is needed, an interested party or a public prosecutor petitions the family court to appoint an estate liquidator (Civil Code Article 952, paragraph 1).

Q. Can a common-law spouse receive the property?
A. A common-law or de facto spouse is not a statutory heir, but may request the family court for a distribution as a person with a special connection, such as someone who shared a livelihood with the decedent (Civil Code Article 958-2, paragraph 1). The request must be made within three months after the expiry of the liquidator-appointment notice period (paragraph 2 of the same Article). Whether it is granted is for the family court.

Q. How long does the procedure take?
A. With the reform effective 1 April 2023, the notices can now run in parallel, so a rough guide is at the shortest around six months. Before the reform it took at least ten months because the notices were stacked in sequence. The actual period varies with the content of the property and the state of conversion to cash.

Q. What finally happens to the property that remains?
A. After liquidation, property not disposed of even by distribution to a person with a special connection escheats to the national treasury (Civil Code Article 959). Where real estate remains, the change of title (registration into the estate liquidator's name or the escheat registration) is handled by a judicial scrivener and inheritance tax by a tax accountant, each as an independent business under a separate contract.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Civil Code" (Act No. 89 of 1896), Articles 897-2, 951, 952, 957, 958, 958-2 and 959 (accessed 2026-09-08)
• Ministry of Justice, "Act partially amending the Civil Code and other acts (Act No. 24 of 2021)" (renaming the estate administrator to the estate liquidator and streamlining the notices; effective 1 April 2023) (accessed 2026-09-08)
• Courts, "Appointment of an estate liquidator" (an adjudication case in Appended Table 1 of the Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act; explanation of where to file, interested parties and the advance deposit) (accessed 2026-09-08)

This article is general information and does not make the final judgement on who counts as a person with a special connection or whether a distribution can be received, nor give advice on contentious individual matters. The petition and adjudication for appointing an estate liquidator are family-court procedures; representation and negotiation are handled by a lawyer, preparing the petition documents and real-estate registration by a judicial scrivener, and inheritance tax by a tax accountant, each as an independent business under a separate contract. Consultation on selling inherited real estate is handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business, and 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.