Inheritance, Wills & Trusts
The paperwork that inheritance requires—estate-division agreements, draft wills, and collecting family registers—can be entrusted to a gyoseishoshi (administrative scrivener). 四葉行政書士事務所 (Yotsuba Gyoseishoshi Office) prepares and collects inheritance-related documents, while selling, leasing, or keeping inherited real estate is handled by our affiliated company, 四葉不動産株式会社 (Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.). Inheritance registration is the domain of judicial scriveners and inheritance-tax filing that of licensed tax accountants; we connect you with our partner professionals in each field.
What can a gyoseishoshi do in an inheritance?
The inheritance services our office handles are as follows.
- Preparing estate-division agreements
- Support in drafting wills (holographic and notarized)
- Preparing diagrams of heirs and collecting family registers and other required documents
- (Inheritance registration: judicial scrivener / inheritance-tax filing: licensed tax accountant / disputes: attorney—we connect you with our partner professionals.)
Can you also help with inherited real estate?
Yes. Managing, using, or selling inherited real estate is handled by our affiliated company, 四葉不動産株式会社 (Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.), a licensed real estate brokerage. The paperwork (gyoseishoshi) and the property (real estate brokerage) are each engaged under a separate contract. Your first inquiry can start in one place. Yotsuba Real Estate's complete guide walks you through what to do with inherited property.
Note: 四葉不動産株式会社 and 四葉行政書士事務所 are separate businesses, and each accepts engagements independently (no referral fees are exchanged).
Please note that applying for inheritance registration has been mandatory since April 1, 2024 (Article 76-2, Paragraph 1 of the Real Property Registration Act; within three years in principle, and by March 31, 2027 for inheritances that occurred on or before March 31, 2024). The deadlines are one more reason to start early.
Can you handle an inheritance involving non-Japanese nationals, in Chinese?
Yes. Uramatsu Joji, the representative of 四葉行政書士事務所 (Yotsuba Gyoseishoshi Office), is a former China Bureau Chief of the Mainichi Shimbun and speaks with you directly in Chinese (traditional and simplified) and English. Where the deceased or an heir is a non-Japanese national or lives outside Japan, our gyoseishoshi work covers preparing the estate-division agreement, reviewing identity and family documents issued abroad—such as Taiwanese family registers and removed-register transcripts, or Chinese notarial certificates—and arranging their Japanese translation, and preparing the diagram of heirs. Managing, using, or selling the inherited property is handled by 四葉不動産株式会社 (Yotsuba Real Estate Co., Ltd.), a licensed brokerage, and the paperwork and the property are each engaged under a separate contract.
Note: which country's law applies (the governing law), and the specific determination of shares and statutory reserved portions, depend on the individual circumstances. Where such a determination is required, we connect you with our partner attorneys, judicial scriveners, and licensed tax accountants. Residency-status procedures are offered as a separate service.
Fees & How Engagement Works
→ Fees for preparing inheritance-related documents (fee schedule)