When you cannot make the inheritance registration deadline: the heir-reporting registration (the 2024 scheme) and the family-register investigation

In short: inheritance registration became mandatory when the amended act took effect on 1 April 2024. Under Article 76-2(1) of the Real Property Registration Act, an heir who acquires ownership of real property by inheritance must apply for the inheritance registration within three years of the day they learn that the inheritance has commenced for them and that they have acquired the ownership; a failure to apply without a justifiable reason is subject to a fine of up to 100,000 yen under Article 164(1). When the estate division does not settle and the three-year deadline cannot be met, the simple way to discharge the duty is the "heir-reporting registration" under Article 76-3 of the same Act. This is a procedure of reporting to the registrar that the inheritance has commenced and that you are an heir, and an heir who makes the report is deemed to have discharged the application duty under Article 76-2(1) (it is, however, a provisional measure and not a registration that fixes the right itself). We (an administrative scrivener) handle gathering family registers, confirming the heirs, and preparing the chart of heirs. The heir-reporting registration's report, and the application for the ordinary inheritance registration itself, are registration procedures and go to a judicial scrivener; inheritance tax and valuation to a tax accountant; and, where there is a dispute among heirs, to a lawyer — each on the premise that you contract with each as an independent business. The brokerage of the sale of inherited real property is handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business. This article is general information and does not guarantee individual deadline eligibility or whether a fine applies. Because the fine detail may change with how the system is run, confirm with the Legal Affairs Bureau and official materials immediately before the procedure. Our office receives no referral fee.

By when must you register, and what happens if you do not?

Long optional, inheritance registration was made mandatory on 1 April 2024 to prevent the emergence of land whose owner is unknown. Article 76-2(1) of the Real Property Registration Act imposes on an heir who acquires ownership of real property by inheritance (including by will) a duty to apply for the registration of transfer of ownership within three years of the day they learn that the inheritance has commenced for them and that they have acquired the ownership. The same duty applies to a person who acquires ownership by a bequest to an heir.

Situation	Deadline to apply (starting point)
Acquired ownership by inheritance	Within three years of learning of the commencement of inheritance and the acquisition of ownership (Article 76-2(1))
An estate division occurs after a registration by statutory shares	Within three years of the day of the estate division, apply for a registration that follows the result of the division (Article 76-2(2))
An inheritance that had commenced before the enforcement date (1 April 2024)	Within three years of the enforcement date or the day the requirements are met, whichever is later (transitional measure)

A failure to apply without a justifiable reason is subject to a fine of up to 100,000 yen under Article 164(1). A "justifiable reason" is illustrated in the Ministry of Justice's materials by cases such as: the heirs are extremely numerous so that gathering registers and other materials takes time; the validity of a will or the scope of the estate is in dispute; the person under the duty is seriously ill; the person is a victim of domestic violence forced to take refuge; or the person is in financial hardship and unable to bear the registration cost. Whether a case applies turns on the individual circumstances, so rather than asserting it, it is safer to start the procedure early. The flow of the inheritance registration itself is organised in The flow of the inheritance-registration application.

What is the heir-reporting registration, and how does it differ from an ordinary inheritance registration?

For reasons such as an unsettled estate division or an heir who cannot be reached, you may be unable to reach the inheritance registration within three years. The simple way to at least discharge the duty then is the heir-reporting registration under Article 76-3 of the Real Property Registration Act.

Under Article 76-3(1), a person under the duty of Article 76-2(1) may, as prescribed by Ministry of Justice ordinance, report to the registrar that inheritance has commenced for the registered owner of the property and that they are an heir. Under paragraph 2, a person who makes this report within the period is deemed to have discharged the application duty under Article 76-2(1) (acquisition by an estate division made before the report is excluded). The registrar makes, ex officio, a supplementary entry of the name and address of the person who made the report in the registration of ownership.

	Ordinary inheritance registration	Heir-reporting registration
Nature	A registration of the right that fixes who owns, and in what share	A report (a reportorial supplementary entry) that inheritance has commenced and that you are an heir
Premise	A settled estate-division agreement (or statutory shares) and confirmation of all heirs	The estate division need not have settled; it suffices that the reporting person is identified as an heir
Registers to gather	The range that can confirm all heirs (from the decedent's birth to death, etc.)	Reduced to the range showing that the reporting person is an heir
Effect	Discharges the application duty and publicly shows the right	The reporting person is deemed to have discharged the application duty (the right is not fixed)

The heir-reporting registration is, after all, a provisional measure to discharge the duty within the deadline. By itself it does not become the registration of the right that is the premise for selling the property or putting it up as security, so ultimately an ordinary inheritance registration through the estate division becomes necessary. For the method of registering in all heirs' names by statutory shares (which requires confirming all heirs), see also Using the chart of statutory-heir information.

How far do you gather family registers for the reporting registration?

In an ordinary inheritance registration, you trace the decedent's family registers in principle from birth to death and confirm all the heirs. In the heir-reporting registration, by contrast, it suffices to gather registers up to the range showing that the reporting person is an heir of that decedent, and there is no need to confirm all heirs. For example, where a child makes the report, it is usual to proceed to the report with the register bearing the decedent's record of death and a register showing that they are that child (confirm the specific required documents in the Legal Affairs Bureau's guidance).

Gathering family registers, confirming the heirs, and preparing the chart of heirs are tasks an administrative scrivener can carry out by official request. The way to think about the scope of heirs when it becomes complex through representation inheritance or successive inheritance is organised in The scope of heirs in representation and successive inheritance, and how to proceed with the entry-point register investigation in The family-register investigation at the entrance to inheritance. The gathered registers can be used both for the heir-reporting registration's report and for the later estate-division agreement and ordinary inheritance registration, so getting them exactly right at the first stage reduces rework.

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After the reporting registration, what do you do once the estate division settles?

The heir-reporting registration is not the goal. Article 76-3(4) provides that when a person who made the report subsequently acquires ownership by an estate division, they must apply for the registration of transfer of ownership within three years of the day of that estate division. In other words, even after once discharging the duty with the reporting registration, once the estate division settles you must proceed anew to an ordinary inheritance registration.

• First gather the registers to confirm the heirs and organise the scope of the estate (tasks an administrative scrivener can handle).
• All the heirs carry out the estate-division discussion and prepare an estate-division agreement.
• Following the result of the discussion, apply for the ordinary inheritance registration (registration of transfer of ownership) (the registration is by a judicial scrivener).

The basic flow is to meet the deadline with the heir-reporting registration while the estate division is unsettled, and to move to the proper inheritance registration as soon as the discussion is settled. Because inheritance also carries other deadlines — the three-month deliberation period for renunciation and the ten-month filing deadline for inheritance tax — see also A summary of the main inheritance deadlines.

Who handles the register investigation and the registration application?

Responding to the mandatory inheritance registration splits by role into "the investigation that confirms the heirs" and "the registration application." Because the fields differ, they are divided and handed off on the premise that you contract with each as an independent business.

• Gathering family registers, confirming the heirs, preparing the chart of heirs, and supporting the preparation of the estate-division agreement → an administrative scrivener (us)
• The report of the heir-reporting registration and the application for the ordinary inheritance registration (registration of transfer of ownership) → a judicial scrivener (registration procedures are a judicial scrivener's work)
• The filing of inheritance tax and the tax treatment of the valuation of real property → a tax accountant
• Negotiation, mediation, or adjudication where there is a dispute among heirs → a lawyer
• The brokerage of the sale of inherited real property and advice on the sale price → a real estate broker (Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business)

What the administrative scrivener handles is the register investigation and confirming the heirs, and organising materials to pass to each professional. We do not make the final judgement on whether a registration can be made, or a definitive legal outlook on a disputed case. For the flow of engagement, see Engagement Flow; for fees, see Fee Schedule; for the whole picture of inheritance work, see Inheritance services; and for the sale of inherited real property, see the separate business's window for inheritance and sale of real property. We can receive your consultation at one window and organise and pass materials to each professional, but the engagements are separate. Our office receives no referral fee.

FAQ

Q. By when must I register, and what happens if I do not?
A. In principle within three years of the day you learn you have acquired ownership of real property by inheritance (Article 76-2(1) of the Real Property Registration Act). For an inheritance that had commenced before the enforcement date, it is within three years of the enforcement date or the day the requirements are met, whichever is later. A failure to apply without a justifiable reason is subject to a fine of up to 100,000 yen under Article 164(1). Whether a case applies turns on the individual circumstances.

Q. The deadline is near but the estate division has not settled. What should I do?
A. There is a way to use the heir-reporting registration under Article 76-3. You report to the registrar that inheritance has commenced and that you are an heir, and if you report within the period you are deemed to have discharged the application duty under Article 76-2(1). But because it is not a registration that fixes the right, once the estate division settles an ordinary inheritance registration is again needed within three years of that day.

Q. How far do I gather family registers for the heir-reporting registration?
A. It suffices within the range showing that the reporting person is an heir of that decedent, and there is no need to confirm all heirs. Fewer registers than an ordinary inheritance registration is the feature. Confirm the specific required documents in the Legal Affairs Bureau's guidance. Gathering registers, confirming the heirs, and preparing the chart of heirs can be handled by an administrative scrivener by official request.

Q. Can I ask one office to handle everything from the register investigation to the registration?
A. Gathering registers, confirming the heirs, and preparing the chart of heirs are for an administrative scrivener (us); the report of the heir-reporting registration and the ordinary inheritance registration are for a judicial scrivener; inheritance tax is for a tax accountant; and a disputed case is for a lawyer — each contracted separately as an independent business. We can receive your consultation at one window and organise and pass materials to each professional, but the engagements are separate. Our office receives no referral fee.

Sources (Primary Information)

• e-Gov Law Search, "Real Property Registration Act," Article 76-2 (application for registration of transfer of ownership on inheritance, etc. = the three-year application duty and starting point in paragraph 1, and the registration after an estate division in paragraph 2); Article 76-3 (report that one is an heir, etc. = the report in paragraph 1, the effect of being deemed to have discharged the application duty in paragraph 2, and the within-three-years-of-the-estate-division registration duty in paragraph 4); Article 164(1) (a fine of up to 100,000 yen for a failure to apply without a justifiable reason) (accessed 2026-10-22)
• Ministry of Justice, "To those who have inherited real property — the application for inheritance registration and change-of-address registration is becoming mandatory," and other materials on the mandatory inheritance-registration application (the enforcement date = 1 April 2024; the transitional measure for inheritances before the enforcement date; the purpose and procedure of the heir-reporting registration; the subject of the fine; examples of a "justifiable reason" = extremely numerous heirs making material-gathering time-consuming / the validity of a will etc. in dispute / serious illness / a victim of domestic violence in refuge / financial hardship) (accessed 2026-10-22)
• Legal Affairs Bureau, "The master plan toward enforcement of the mandatory inheritance-registration application," and the regional Legal Affairs Bureaus' guidance on the heir-reporting registration (that the range of registers needed for the report does not require confirming all heirs; the ex officio supplementary entry) (accessed 2026-10-22)

This article is general information and does not guarantee individual deadline eligibility, whether a fine applies, whether documents are needed, or acceptance of a report. Because the fine detail may change with how the system is run, confirm with the Legal Affairs Bureau and official materials immediately before the procedure. Gathering family registers, confirming the heirs, and preparing the chart of heirs are for an administrative scrivener (us); the report of the heir-reporting registration and the ordinary inheritance registration are for a judicial scrivener; inheritance tax is for a tax accountant; and a disputed case is for a lawyer — each as an independent business under a separate contract. The brokerage of the sale of inherited real property is handled by Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd., a separate business, and our office receives no referral fee. Written by Joji Uramatsu, administrative scrivener and licensed real estate broker.