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2026-09-09

Making a notarised will in practice ― from booking the notary office to receiving the authenticated copy: the steps on the day and the cost

A notarised will (公正証書遺言) is a will drawn up by a notary (公証人) at a notary office (公証役場). The custody system for holographic wills has reduced the occasions for it, but it is still the first choice for wills with complicated contents and for people whose mental capacity is beginning to be in doubt. In the order of actual practice, this article covers choosing a notary office, the documents you hand over at the preliminary meetings, arranging two witnesses, the reading aloud and signing on the day, how the fee is calculated (by the value of the property and the number of people receiving it), what to do with the authenticated copy and certified copy, and having the notary come to you.

About this translation ― This page is an English translation of an article originally written in Japanese by KuraLab's operator, a licensed real-estate transaction specialist (宅地建物取引士) and administrative scrivener (行政書士) in Japan. The Japanese original is the authoritative text; where the two differ, the Japanese version prevails. The article explains Japanese law and procedure in general terms as of the date shown. It is not legal, tax or immigration advice for your situation ― please confirm with a licensed professional in Japan. Japanese terms are kept in parentheses so you can search for them. Read the Japanese original

I once made a notarised will at a hospital bedside. The testator was an 82-year-old man in hospital with stomach cancer; he had been told he had weeks to live. His property was his home (valued at 24,000,000 yen) and 13,000,000 yen in savings. The people he wanted to leave it to were his eldest daughter, who had lived with him for many years and nursed him, and his eldest son, from whom he was estranged. "I want to leave more to my daughter. And a little to my son, too." He no longer had the strength to write a will by hand, and he could not go to the Legal Affairs Bureau to use the custody system. The option left in that situation was a notarised will made by a notary who comes to the testator. This article is the story of those five days.

In the article on the types of wills, I wrote that the standard in practice has shifted to "a holographic will finished with a professional's help and deposited under the custody system." Even so, there are situations where you choose a notarised will: the property is complicated and the will has many clauses, you are leaving property to someone who is not an heir, the testator's mental capacity is starting to be in doubt, or the testator cannot write. This article is about how such a notarised will is actually made.

First, you choose a notary office. There are about 300 across Japan, and any of them will do (there is no jurisdiction). One near your home or office, or one that the professional you ask for help works with regularly. The list is on the website of the Japan National Notaries Association. Phone and say "I would like to make a will," and book a preliminary meeting.

Next come the preliminary meetings. You settle the contents of the will with the notary (or the clerk in charge). The testator can go in person, and it is also common for a professional (an administrative scrivener (行政書士), judicial scrivener (司法書士) or lawyer) to go instead with the draft and the documents. The documents to hand over are: the testator's certificate of seal registration (印鑑証明書, issued within the last three months) and registered seal; family register certificates (戸籍謄本) showing the relationship between the testator and the heirs; a copy of the resident record (住民票) of anyone receiving property who is not an heir; the certificate of registered matters (登記事項証明書) and the fixed asset tax valuation certificate (固定資産税評価証明書) for real estate; information on savings and securities (bank name, branch, type, approximate amount); and the draft of the will. The notary puts the draft into proper legal form, so bullet points saying "what goes to whom" are enough. You also pass on here the supplementary message (付言事項) described in another article on this site. There are one or two meetings; the notary prepares the draft and asks the testator to check it, and once it is final, the date for signing is set.

You arrange two witnesses. Presumptive heirs and legatees, their spouses and lineal relatives, and minors cannot be witnesses. In other words, family members who receive property under the will cannot be witnesses, so you ask an acquaintance or a professional, or ask the notary office to introduce someone. A witness introduced by the notary office is paid a daily allowance. There is no fixed amount, but 5,000 to 10,000 yen per person is a guide. The witnesses will hear the contents of the will on the day, so it also matters not to choose someone you do not want to know them.

The flow on the day. The testator and the two witnesses gather at the notary office; the notary confirms the contents of the will with the testator and reads the will aloud (or lets them read it). The testator states that the contents are correct, the testator and the witnesses sign (from October 2025, an electronic signature on the original, which is now electronic data), and the notary adds an electronic signature and digital signature, and the will is complete. It takes about 30 minutes to an hour. If the testator cannot sign because of illness or the like, the notary can note that fact in place of the signature. The notary checks the testator's mental capacity through the conversation on the day. If the answers are vague, the notary may decline to proceed. This is the basis of the notarised will's strength: it is hard to challenge later.

The fee is set by the Notary Fees Order (公証人手数料令) and calculated from the value of the property covered by the will and the number of people receiving it. For each recipient, you find the fee corresponding to the value of the property that person receives, and add them up. The fee by value (after the October 2025 revision) is 3,000 yen up to 500,000 yen, 5,000 yen up to 1,000,000 yen, 7,000 yen up to 2,000,000 yen, 13,000 yen up to 5,000,000 yen, 20,000 yen up to 10,000,000 yen, 26,000 yen up to 30,000,000 yen, 33,000 yen up to 50,000,000 yen, and 49,000 yen up to 100,000,000 yen. If the whole estate is 100,000,000 yen or less, a further 13,000 yen is added. For example, home worth 20,000,000 yen to the eldest son and savings of 10,000,000 yen to the second son: 26,000 + 20,000 + 13,000 = 59,000 yen. On top of this comes the fee for receiving the authenticated and certified copies on paper (number of pages × 300 yen). Add the witnesses' allowance and, if you ask a professional to draft the will, their fee (from tens of thousands to a little over a hundred thousand yen), and you reach the "from 100,000-something yen" I wrote in the article on the types of wills.

The steps to a notarised will, in order. 1: book a notary office (any office will do; the list is on the Japan National Notaries Association website). 2: one or two preliminary meetings (certificate of seal registration, family register, certificate of registered matters, valuation certificate, savings information, draft). 3: the notary prepares the draft and the testator checks it (the supplementary message is settled here too). 4: arrange two witnesses (heirs, legatees and their families cannot serve; a witness introduced by the office costs about 5,000 to 10,000 yen per person). 5: on the day, the reading aloud and electronic signature (30 minutes to an hour; the notary checks mental capacity). 6: receive the authenticated copy and certified copy; the original is kept at the office (registered in the will search system; no probate needed).

If the testator cannot go to the notary office, the notary travels to the hospital, home or care facility. The fee based on the value of the property (excluding the will surcharge) may be increased 1.5 times, and the notary's daily allowance (20,000 yen a day, 10,000 yen for up to four hours) and travel costs are charged. This is used when a will is made during a hospital stay, but it presupposes that the testator is in a state where mental capacity can be confirmed.

A worked example of the fee (home worth 20,000,000 yen to the eldest son, savings of 10,000,000 yen to the second son): eldest son's share (20,000,000 yen, in the band up to 30,000,000 yen), 26,000 yen; second son's share (10,000,000 yen, in the band up to 10,000,000 yen), 20,000 yen; will surcharge (whole estate 100,000,000 yen or less), 13,000 yen; fee for paper authenticated and certified copies, a few thousand yen; two witnesses (if introduced by the office), about 10,000 to 20,000 yen; a professional's drafting (if you ask for it), tens of thousands to a little over a hundred thousand yen. Rough total: from 100,000-something yen.

Once complete, the original is kept by the notary office (in principle for 20 years, and in practice for a long time after the testator's death), and the testator receives the authenticated copy (正本) and the certified copy (謄本). The authenticated copy has the same effect as the original and is what the executor or the heirs use for the procedures. Notarised wills made since 1989 are registered in the "will search system," and after the testator's death the heirs can ask any notary office in Japan whether a will exists. Even if the authenticated copy cannot be found at home, the will does not disappear. The probate (検認) described in another article is not needed, and the heirs can go straight to registration and closing accounts with the authenticated or certified copy.

Here are the five days, day by day. Day one: I met the testator at the hospital, heard what he wanted, and put the draft into bullet points. The home to the eldest daughter, 10,000,000 yen of the savings to the eldest daughter, 3,000,000 yen to the eldest son. In the supplementary message, "my thanks to my daughter for looking after me for ten years." The same day, I phoned the notary office, explained the situation and provisionally booked a date for the notary to come. Day two: I gathered the family registers, the certificate of seal registration, the certificate of registered matters, the fixed asset tax valuation certificate and evidence of the savings balances, and took them to the notary office. Day three: the draft arrived from the notary, and I read it to the testator at the hospital to check it. Day four: the notary came to the hospital, and the will was made in the presence of two witnesses (me and one person introduced by the notary office). The testator was able to sign, so he signed himself; it took 40 minutes. Day five: I handed the authenticated copy and certified copy to the eldest daughter. The testator died two weeks later.

I will give the cost too (the fees are calculated under the Fees Order as revised in October 2025). The notary's fee: 33,000 yen for the 34,000,000 yen the eldest daughter receives, 13,000 yen for the son's 3,000,000 yen, and the will surcharge of 13,000 yen, 59,000 yen together. Because the notary came to a sickbed, the 46,000 yen based on value became 1.5 times, 69,000 yen, and with the will surcharge, 82,000 yen. The notary's daily allowance (up to four hours) of 10,000 yen and travel costs of about 2,000 yen. The witness's allowance, 10,000 yen. About 3,000 yen for the paper copies. My fee, 80,000 yen. About 187,000 yen in total. It is an example at the upper end of what I called "from 100,000-something yen" above.

The cost of the notarised will made in hospital (this article's example: home 24,000,000 yen + savings 10,000,000 yen to the eldest daughter, savings 3,000,000 yen to the eldest son): notary's fee (33,000 yen for the daughter's 34,000,000 yen + 13,000 yen for the son's 3,000,000 yen) × 1.5 for the sickbed visit, 69,000 yen; will surcharge (not multiplied by 1.5), 13,000 yen; notary's daily allowance (up to four hours) and travel, about 12,000 yen; one witness's allowance (introduced by the office), 10,000 yen; fee for paper authenticated and certified copies, about 3,000 yen; administrative scrivener's fee (draft, documents, witness), 80,000 yen. Total about 187,000 yen.

I will also note the questions the notary asked the testator on the day. "Please tell me your name and date of birth." "What are we meeting for today?" "To whom are you giving your home?" "Why is that?" The testator answered all of them in his own words, and only after hearing the answers did the notary begin reading aloud. These questions and answers remain in the notary's memory and records. The reason I wrote above that the will is "hard to challenge later" is these four questions. The eldest son was not satisfied with the contents of the will, but faced with the fact that the notary had confirmed his father's mental capacity, he did not contest it.

It takes money and effort, but a record remains that the notary confirmed the testator's intentions, the original is at the notary office, and no probate is needed. These three things are what you pay for with a notarised will. For people whose affairs are complicated, people who expect a dispute, and people whose mental capacity is starting to be in doubt, I still recommend this form.

The month after the testator died, the eldest daughter took the authenticated copy of the will made in those five days round the Legal Affairs Bureau and the banks, and without probate, all the procedures were finished in two months. In the last paragraph I wrote, "a record remains that the notary confirmed the testator's intentions, the original is at the notary office, and no probate is needed. These three things are what you pay for with a notarised will." Whether a price of about 190,000 yen is expensive or cheap depends on when, and by whom, those three things are needed. In this family, all three were needed within those five days.

Written by: 長澤 湊（licensed real-estate transaction specialist, administrative scrivener, assistant surveyor）　Content checked on: 2026-10-24

This article is a general explanation of Japanese rules and procedures, not advice on an individual case. Figures and rules are as of the date shown. For your own situation, consult a lawyer, judicial scrivener, tax accountant or administrative scrivener in Japan.

Official sources

The rules and figures in this article can be checked against the following official pages (in Japanese).

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