When living abroad (outside Japan) for many years and reaching your 60s—an age when retirement from work becomes a consideration—your parents living in Japan might also be reaching a stage where Nursing Care and Inheritance issues need to be addressed. When Nursing Care or Inheritance becomes necessary, siblings or other close relatives in Japan may handle procedures on your behalf even if you are overseas. However, if no such cooperative person is available, you will need to handle the procedures yourself.

While hiring a professional to act on your behalf is an option, it comes with costs and does not mean you can delegate everything entirely. Some unscrupulous professionals might take advantage of the fact that you are not in Japan, leading to inadequate handling or financial issues. Therefore, it is important to carefully choose a professional, understand the overall procedures, and distinguish tasks to delegate from those you need to handle personally, possibly by traveling to Japan. Additionally, required documents should be carefully confirmed and promptly arranged.

This article introduces the procedures involved in Inheritance when your parent living in Japan passes away. This time, we focus on financial institution-related procedures.

For reference, this case assumes the passing of a parent who was living alone after the death of the other parent. (Future articles will introduce other aspects of Inheritance procedures.)

 1. What Are Inheritance Procedures with Financial Institutions?

These procedures involve closing accounts and withdrawing the remaining assets (money, insurance payouts, stocks) held at banks, insurance companies, or securities firms by the deceased parent. Since these are  precious possession of parents, even immediate family members or relatives must provide solid proof that they are legal heirs when accessing these funds.

2. Steps in the Inheritance Process

While there may be slight differences between financial institutions, the general steps are as follows:

① Preparation of Documents Related to the Deceased
Prepare documents that show the deceased's account information or contract details with each financial institution. For example:

• Bank: Passbook, bank seal
• Insurance Company: Insurance certificate, registered seal (if applicable)
• Securities Firm: Transaction statements or other documents showing account information

② Notification to the Financial Institution (Branch or Inheritance Center)
Major financial institutions often have dedicated Inheritance centers where you can provide the deceased's and heirs' personal and account information online. For smaller institutions, you may need to visit the branch directly to submit a Inheritance procedure application. After this, you will receive guidance on the required documents.

③ Submission of Required Documents
Fill out the application forms and submit them along with supporting documents such as family registers. These can be mailed or submitted at the branch (most financial institutions now require reservations).

④ Asset Withdrawal and Receipt After Approval
Once the review is complete, the assets will be transferred to the heirs' respective accounts:

• Bank: Funds are transferred to the designated heir's bank account.
• Insurance Company: Insurance payouts are transferred to the beneficiary's bank account.
• Securities Firm: Stocks are transferred to the designated heir's securities account.

 3. Documents Required by Financial Institutions

Below is a comparison of the required documents for Japan-resident and overseas-resident heirs:

Submission Deadlines:
There are no specific deadlines, and procedures can be carried out even years later. However, keep in mind that Inheritance tax must be filed within 10 months of death. Also, for cases where non-cash assets are shared among multiple heirs, it is advisable to liquidate them early.

 4. Period Required for the Procedures

The timeline for steps ① through ④ depends on the financial institution and the season but is generally as follows (as per past experience):

• Steps ① + ②: 1–2 weeks
• Step ③: 1–2 weeks
• Step ④: 3 weeks to 2 months

Note: Overseas residents may face additional delays during step ④ due to document deficiencies or missing items being flagged for correction.

 5. Important Points for Overseas Residents

• As overseas residents are not registered as residents in Japan, they do not have a resident card or a seal certificate (registered seal) to prove their identity. Therefore, they are required to submit a residence certificate, signature certificate, affidavit, etc. instead. However, these are only general principles. It depends on the status of the deceased and the heir (representative), and the response from each financial institution also varies. Be sure to check with the inheritance officer at each financial institution.
• Regarding the family register, an old copy (revised original family register) dating back to the birth of the deceased is also required. The reason is that there may have been other children before the heir (child) was born, so it is necessary to check whether there were any. If the parent has repeatedly transferred (changed the address of the family register), there will be multiple copies, but it is time-consuming and time-consuming to trace the previous family registers one by one from the current family register.

For further information, ensure thorough communication with the Inheritance representatives at each financial institution.