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2026-09-09
The overall picture and deadlines of inheritance procedures ― from the death notification to inheritance registration three years later, what to do by when
After someone dies, the procedures are dealt with in order of deadline. The death notification within 7 days, pension and insurance notifications within 14 days, renunciation of inheritance within 3 months, the quasi-final tax return within 4 months, the inheritance tax return within 10 months, inheritance registration within 3 years. This article puts the whole on one timeline and sets out, for each procedure, who you file what with, and which article on this site covers it in detail.
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
The day after her father died, the woman brought the "list of procedures after death" that the funeral company had given her. Forty-two items. She asked, "Do I have to do all of them?" and I answered, "In your family, 14 of these are needed." Of the 42, a family with no business income does not need the quasi-final tax return, a family with no farmland does not need the agricultural committee notification, and a family with no inheritance tax does not need the return. This article is those 14, rearranged as a timeline in order of deadline.
Inheritance procedures are many, their deadlines are scattered, and the places to file are split between the city office, the pension office, the Legal Affairs Bureau (法務局), the tax office and the family court. The first thing I hand over in a consultation is a one-page timeline in order of deadline. This article gives that timeline with the key points of each procedure and references to the articles that cover them in detail.
The deadlines, counted from the date of death: within 7 days, the death notification and cremation permit, at the municipality (the funeral company often handles this). Within 14 days, notifications for health insurance, pension and head of household, at the municipality and pension office (forget to stop the pension and you must repay). Within 3 months, renunciation or limited acceptance of inheritance, at the family court (if you cannot make it, apply for an extension before the deadline). Within 4 months, the quasi-final tax return, at the tax office, if the deceased had income that year. Within 10 months, the inheritance tax return and payment, and the farmland notification, at the tax office and agricultural committee. Within 3 years, inheritance registration, at the Legal Affairs Bureau, compulsory since April 2024 (if the division is unfinished, the heir declaration registration). By the end of the third year, the deadline for the 30,000,000 yen special deduction on a vacant house, if you sell the inherited family home.
Within 7 days of the death comes the death notification (死亡届). It is filed with the municipality together with the doctor's death certificate, and you receive the cremation permit. The funeral company often handles this. Within 14 days, notifications of the deceased's health insurance and pension (loss of eligibility for National Health Insurance or the medical system for the elderly, stopping pension payments), change of head of household, and loss of eligibility for long-term care insurance go to the municipality and the pension office. If you forget to stop the pension, it is overpaid and repayment is demanded.
With no deadline but better done early: settling who the heirs are and grasping the assets. Collect the family registers and settle the heirs (see another article on this site on collecting registers). List the savings, real estate, shares, insurance and debts. For real estate, prevent omissions with the fixed asset tax statement and the name-based property list (名寄帳); for debts, check the post and make enquiries with the credit information agencies. If this is delayed, every later deadline becomes painful.
Within 3 months is the deadline for renunciation of inheritance and limited acceptance (see another article on this site on renunciation). If the debts exceed the assets, or you want no involvement, go to the family court within this deadline. If the overall picture of the assets is unclear, apply for an extension of the deliberation period before the deadline.
Within 4 months is the quasi-final tax return (準確定申告). If the deceased had income that year (business income, rent from real estate, pension above a certain amount and so on), the heirs file the income tax return on their behalf for 1 January to the date of death. People whose only income was salary or pension with tax withheld at source often do not need it.
Within 10 months is the inheritance tax return and payment (see another article on this site on the basic deduction). A family above the basic deduction, or one using a special rule to bring the tax to zero, completes the division of the estate and files by this deadline. On the same rough 10-month timescale, there is also the notification to the agricultural committee if farmland is inherited (see another article on this site on farmland).
The deadline is 3 years, but what you in practice run in parallel with the 10 months is the estate division agreement and the changes of title based on it. Prepare the estate division agreement (see another article on this site), obtain the legal heir information chart (another article), and proceed with closing the bank accounts, transferring shares, changing the vehicle registration and registering the inheritance of real estate. Inheritance registration has been compulsory since April 2024, within 3 years of the day you learned of the acquisition (another article). If agreement cannot be reached, stop the clock with the heir declaration registration (another article).
The main places for changes of title: real estate, the Legal Affairs Bureau, with the inheritance registration application, the full set of registers or the heir chart, the agreement and the valuation certificate. Savings, each financial institution, with its prescribed form, the registers or chart, the agreement and seal certificates. Shares and investment trusts, the securities company, with its form, the registers or chart and an account in the heir's name. Vehicles, the District Transport Bureau (the Light Motor Vehicle Inspection Organization for light vehicles), with the vehicle inspection certificate, registers and the agreement (or the declaration of completed division). Life insurance, the insurer, with the claim form, a copy of the death certificate and the beneficiary's identification.
The end of the third year is the deadline for the 30,000,000 yen special deduction when selling a vacant house (see another article on this site). You must sell by 31 December of the third year after the inheritance began. The special rule for adding inheritance tax to acquisition cost when a person who paid inheritance tax sells land is within 3 years and 10 months of the start of the inheritance (see another article on taxes on a sale).
Finally, two things without a deadline. If there is a will, a holographic will needs probate (検認) at the family court (not needed if it was kept at the Legal Affairs Bureau), and a notarised will goes straight to execution (see other articles on the custody system and on executors). And cancelling the mobile phone, utilities, subscriptions and credit cards still in the deceased's name. No deadline, but leave them and the direct debits continue.
This woman's family's 14 items, in order of deadline. Within 7 days, the death notification (handled by the funeral company). Within 14 days, loss of eligibility for National Health Insurance and long-term care insurance, change of head of household (the mother became head), and stopping the pension. The first three were done at once at the city office counter, taking an hour and a half (the pension alone is a separate counter; more on that below). No deadline but urgent: collecting the registers (seven documents from the father's birth to death, two weeks) and listing the assets (three bank accounts, the home, life insurance). Within 3 months, renunciation: not needed, as there were no debts; confirmed and done. Within 4 months, the quasi-final return: not needed, as the only income was pension. Within 10 months, inheritance tax: not needed, as the assets of about 29,000,000 yen were within the basic deduction of 48,000,000 yen (three heirs: the mother, the woman and her brother). Within 3 years, the estate division agreement, closing the three accounts, the life insurance claim, and inheritance registration of the home. No deadline: cancelling the mobile phone, credit card and newspaper.
The time it actually took in this family. Ten days from the death to the city office procedures. Two weeks to collect the registers. Three weeks to draft the agreement and get the three seals. Closing the accounts took two weeks from submission per account, a month for the three in parallel. Inheritance registration was filed by the family themselves, ten days from application to completion. In all, about three months from the death. The "it will take a year" the woman imagined when she saw the list of 42 became three months once the necessary items were narrowed to 14.
One thing in this family was left behind: stopping the father's pension. The father received an employees' pension, so the place to notify was the pension office, not the city office. The family assumed it had been done on the day at the city office, and the contact with the pension office was delayed. Pension is payable up to and including the month of death (amounts not yet received are claimed by the bereaved family as "unpaid pension"). If the notification is late and later months are paid in, a demand for repayment follows. The repayment procedure itself is simple, but this is what I meant above by "forget to stop it and you repay." For the pension alone, telephone the pension office before the city office (for those whose My Number is registered with the Japan Pension Service, the death notification itself can in principle be omitted, but the claim for unpaid pension is still needed).
You do not have to do everything yourself. As set out in another article on this site on the difference between an administrative scrivener (行政書士) and a judicial scrivener (司法書士): registers and the agreement to the administrative scrivener, registration and the family court to the judicial scrivener, tax to the tax accountant, disputes to the lawyer. Deciding which parts of this timeline you do yourself and which you delegate is the first judgment in inheritance procedures.
The list of 42 became 14 in the woman's family and was finished in three months. The timeline at the start of this article is the full timeline including those 14, and not every family needs all of it. I wrote at the end that "deciding what to do yourself and what to delegate is the first judgment." Before that, there is one more judgment: which of the 42 your family needs. The timeline exists for crossing them off.
Written by: 長澤 湊（licensed real-estate transaction specialist, administrative scrivener, assistant surveyor） Content checked on: 2026-10-14
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.