Inheritance procedures: collecting family register records and preparing an estate division agreement
Reference translation
When my father passed away, my two siblings and I were all living far from one another, and we did not know where to begin with the inheritance procedures. At our first meeting, they recommended putting an overview of the assets into a single table and sharing the order of the procedures with everyone in advance. Following that advice helped us keep our discussions from becoming emotional. It also helped that we did not have to visit government offices ourselves to collect the family register records. When the agreement was ready, my older sister and I were able to say to each other, “We got through this without a dispute.” I think that was the biggest achievement.
Read the Japanese original
相続手続き(戸籍の収集・遺産分割協議書)
父の相続で、きょうだい3人がそれぞれ遠方に住んでいて、何から手をつけていいか分かりませんでした。最初の面談で、財産の全体像を一枚の表にすること、手続きの順番を先に全員で共有することを勧められました。その通りにしたら、話し合いが感情的にならずに済みました。戸籍を集めるのも、私たちが役所を回らなくてよかったのが助かりました。協議書ができたときに「これで揉めなかったね」と姉と言い合えたのが、一番の成果だと思っています。
