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よしこ先生/Yoshiko

Hello, I am Yoshiko, a Certified Public Tax Accountant of Japan, 税理士 pronounced “ZEIRI-SHI” (hereafter CPTA).
Hikaru, a tax staff member of mine, asked me to explain an article on Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the Nikkei, one of the most major newspaper in Japan,  on August 10, 2019.  We would like you all, my website viewers now, to join us.
Hikaru, what kind of article is it?

ヒカル/Hikaru

Hello, I am Hikaru, an apprentice of Yoshiko’s.
I found an interesting article on Nippon Keizai Shinbun.  I would like to know this matter better so that I asked Yoshiko to give me some comments on it.

Everyone in front of PCs, let’s learn together.

I. Overview

The Supreme Court of Japan made a new decision regarding when to disclaim undesirable heirship.

In this decision, the Supreme Court of Japan stated that the plaintiff, a woman who became an heir of her uncle’s debts without knowing it, is allowed disclaiming her heirship within 3 months from the time she learned she had inherited her uncle’s debts.

ヒカル/Hikaru

You know my uncle, Kensaku, has just started a business and he has now a quite bit of debts through it.  His son, my first cousin, Kenta, and I talked about it and, coincidentally, we found the article on the Nikkei.  Uncle Kensaku is a responsible person so he has been running his business in a well- planned manner, however, not everybody is like him.

よしこ先生/Yoshiko

Besides, personal ties among relatives have been getting weaker in Japan.  Who knows that you have half-blood brothers or sisters from your parent’s previous marriages or those cases of your parents from your grandparents’ previous marriages.

Ⅱ. What happened

According to the article of 日本経済新聞 (the Nikkei), 

■　Plaintiff A: A woman who learned that she obtained heirship of Uncle C in November 2015 and disclaimed it in February 2016.
■　Father B: Father of the plaintiff A, who died in October 2012 without knowing that he became an heir of Uncle C because Cousin D, Uncle C’s original heir, disclaimed her heirship.
■　Uncle C: Uncle of the plaintiff A (a brother of Father B), who died in June 2012 and left the large debts as his estate.
■　Cousin D: Uncle C’s child, who disclaimed her heirship.

■　Re-transferred Inheritance or 再転相続 in Japanese (pronounced “Saiten Souzoku“)
If your father died before making a decision whether or not to inherit the estate of someone else, you take over your father’s decision-making right as his heir.

よしこ先生/Yoshiko

 According to this article, in this case, Uncle C died in June 2012 and left a quite bit of debts as his estate so that his child, Cousin D, disclaimed the heirship.

ヒカル/Hikaru

Consequently, Father B became Uncle C’s heir regardless of whether or not Father B wanted.  Hence, he should have disclaimed his heirship within 3 months from the day Father B learned the fact that he had become Uncle C’s heir if Father B did not want the heirship.  However, Father B did not do the procedure of course because he did not even know that he had become his brother’s heir.  Then, he died in October 2012 without knowing that he was the heir and had a right to choose whether or not he accepted the heirship.

よしこ先生/Yoshiko

Now, it became Plaintiff A’s problem because Father B’s decision making right about Uncle C’s heirship is automatically passed to Plaintiff A without her knowledge or will.

ヒカル/Hikaru

I wonder if Cousin D did not have an obligation to provide Father B the information about Uncle C’s heirship.

よしこ先生/Yoshiko

As far as we read the article, the answer is no, I suppose.  The fact is that we all might become suddenly legally responsible for the debts of someone else without any knowledge. 

According to this article, even in the case of re-transferred inheritance, Plaintiff A, the legal heir of Father B, must have disclaimed her heirship of Uncle C within 3 months from the time she leaned Father B’s death.  This is what the generally accepted interpretation of the Civil Code of Japan said before this court decision.

ヒカル/Hikaru

Now, the Supreme Cort of Japan made the new decision and it is a favorable decision for Plaintiff A.

よしこ先生/Yoshiko

Yes, according to this article.
However, we ran out time today.  Let’s talk about it again some other day.

Ⅲ. How Plaintiff Got to Know She Inherited Someone’s Debts.

Ⅳ. When to Start Counting 3-month Decision Making Period.

Ⅴ. What is Future Influence of New Decision?