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2026-09-12

Procedures after divorce ― in order: surname and family register, the child's surname, health insurance, pension, child rearing allowance, and address

Even after the divorce notification is accepted, there are close to ten procedures left. A notification within three months if you keep your married surname; family court permission and a notification of entry into the register if you put your child in your own family register; switching health insurance within 14 days; changing your national pension category; child rearing allowance and child allowance; address and household; the My Number card; and changing your name with banks and on your licence. This article sets them out in order, starting with those that have deadlines, together with the documents needed.

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 submitting her divorce notification, the woman asked at the city office counter, "What do I do next?" The clerk asked her four questions in a row: "Have you filed the surname notification?" "What about your children's family register?" "Have you joined the national health insurance?" "And the child rearing allowance?" She had done none of them. The divorce notification is not the end; it is the first line of a list. This article is the order of the procedures that woman went through in the three weeks from the next day.

Submitting the divorce notification is not the end. In the article on the overall inheritance procedure I wrote "a list of procedures after a death," and after a divorce there is a list of about the same length. Here they are in order, starting with those that have deadlines, together with the documents needed.

First, when you submit the divorce notification, get a "certificate of acceptance of the divorce notification" (離婚届受理証明書) at the same time. It takes one or two weeks to be reflected in the family register, and in the meantime this is the only document that proves you are divorced. It can be used in place of a family register certificate for health insurance and pension procedures.

List of procedures after divorce (starting with those that have deadlines). Obtaining the certificate of acceptance of the divorce notification: at the same time as the notification; municipal office; identification. Switching health insurance (the spouse who leaves the other's coverage, and the children): within 14 days; municipal office (national health insurance) or employer; certificate of loss of eligibility. Changing national pension category (Category 3 to Category 1): within 14 days; municipal office; pension book or basic pension number. Moving-out and moving-in notifications, change of head of household: within 14 days; municipal office; identification and My Number card. Notification to keep the married surname: within three months; municipal office. Applying for child rearing allowance: the sooner the better (paid from the following month); municipal office; family register certificate, resident record, income certificate, bank account. Changing the recipient of child allowance: the sooner the better; municipal office; bank account, identification. Permission to change the child's surname, then notification of entry into the register: no deadline (but do it early); family court then municipal office; family register certificate, 800 yen stamp. Request for pension splitting: five years from the day after the divorce (two years for divorces up to March 2026); pension office; information notice, and agreement or notarial deed. Transfer of real estate and cars: by the deadline in the agreement; Legal Affairs Bureau and Transport Bureau; agreement, certificate of registered matters and so on. Changing your name on your licence, accounts, cards, insurance and at work: one after another; each organisation; new family register certificate or resident record.

One: your surname. The spouse who changed surname on marriage automatically returns to their pre-marriage surname on divorce. If you want to keep using your married surname (to have the same surname as your child, or because you use it at work), submit a "notification to use the surname used at the time of divorce" (離婚の際に称していた氏を称する届) to the municipality within three months of the divorce date. After three months, family court permission is needed. This notification can also be submitted at the same time as the divorce notification.

Two: the child's surname and family register. Children do not move out of a parent's family register automatically on divorce. If the head of the family register (筆頭者) is the father and the mother returns to her pre-marriage surname and creates a new register, the children stay in the father's register. If the mother is the holder of parental authority and wants the children in her own register, she applies to the family court for "permission to change the child's surname" (子の氏の変更許可; if the child is under 15, the holder of parental authority applies; 800 yen in stamps; usually a paper review taking a few days to a few weeks), and once permission is granted, submits a "notification of entry into the family register" (入籍届) to the municipality. Even if the mother keeps her married surname, the registers are separate, so this procedure is still needed.

Three: health insurance. The spouse who was the other's dependant is removed as a dependant on divorce, so within 14 days they join the national health insurance (国民健康保険) or their own employer's health insurance. Get a "certificate of loss of eligibility" (資格喪失証明書) from the other spouse's employer and take it to the municipal counter. For the children too, decide which insurance they will join and complete the procedure.

Four: pension. The spouse who was the other's dependant (a Category 3 insured person) changes to a Category 1 insured person under the national pension at the municipal office within 14 days (not needed if they join their employer's employees' pension). Separately, submit the request for revision of standard remuneration described in the article on pension splitting to the pension office within five years of the day after the divorce (within two years for divorces before 1 April 2026).

Five: allowances for the children. For child allowance (児童手当), if the recipient changes (from father to mother, for example), you carry out a change of recipient at the municipal office. Child rearing allowance (児童扶養手当) is paid to single-parent households, has an income limit, and is paid from the month after you apply, so apply as soon as you are divorced. The documents needed are a family register certificate, a resident record, proof of income, a bank account and so on. As described in the article on child support, 80% of child support received is counted as income. Ask at the counter too about each municipality's own schemes, such as medical expense subsidies for single-parent households, reduced childcare fees and school expense assistance.

Six: address and household. If you move, the moving-out and moving-in notifications (within 14 days); if you stay in the same home, a change of head of household. When your resident record changes, you also update the details on the face of your My Number card (surname or address) at the municipal office.

Seven: changing names on things. If your surname has changed: driving licence, passport, bank accounts, credit cards, mobile phone, life insurance (also review the policyholder and beneficiary), and notifying your employer. If you received real estate in the division of property, register the ownership transfer on the ground of division of property at the Legal Affairs Bureau (registration and licence tax of 2% of the valuation); for a car, change the name at the Transport Bureau. Proceed by the deadlines in the agreement described in the article on division of property.

Here is the order over the three weeks. Day one: obtained the certificate of acceptance of the divorce notification. The same day, submitted the "notification to use the surname used at the time of divorce" (to keep the same surname as her children). Day two: received the certificate of loss of eligibility from her husband's employer and joined the national health insurance at the city office, with both children. At the same counter, changed her national pension category from Category 3 to Category 1. Day three: applied for child rearing allowance. The documents were a family register certificate (not yet updated, so the certificate of acceptance was used instead), resident record, income certificate and passbook. Within the income limit, an expected 45,000 yen or so a month (two children), paid from the month after applying. The same day, she also applied for the medical expense subsidy for single-parent households and reduced childcare fees.

Week two: the divorce now appeared in the family register, so she applied to the family court for "permission to change the child's surname." The children were eight and five; the mother applied as holder of parental authority, with 800 yen × 2 in stamps, and after a paper review, permission came eight days later. She took the permission to the city office, submitted the notification of entry into the register, and both children entered the mother's register. By this point, surname, family register, insurance, pension and allowances were done. Week three: changing names and details. Since she did not change her surname, the name on her driving licence stayed the same, but her address had changed, so she changed the address on her licence, her bank accounts, credit cards and mobile phone, and the address on the face of her My Number card. And at the pension office, she made the request for revision of standard remuneration for pension splitting. In three weeks, everything on the list was finished.

One thing that was put off and caused a problem: life insurance. On a policy where the woman was the policyholder, the beneficiary was still her ex-husband. She noticed three months later and changed it, but if anything had happened to her in those three months, the insurance money would have gone to her ex-husband. The line I wrote at the end of the main text, "after divorce, review your will and your life insurance beneficiary," is the line most easily put off, because it comes at the end of the list. In this family, there was a three-month gap.

Finally, one point about reviewing a will. A former spouse ceases to be an heir on divorce, but a will written during the marriage saying "all my property to my wife" does not disappear automatically. As described in the article on inheritance in families with divorce and remarriage, after divorce, review your will and your life insurance beneficiary. That is the last line on the list of post-divorce procedures.

The answer to "what do I do next?" is the list in this article's table, and the woman finished it in three weeks, except for the last line. The last line came three months later. The divorce notification is the first line of the list, and changing the beneficiary is the last. Walk from the first line to the last in three weeks. From the day after she was asked four questions at the city office counter, that is what the woman set about doing.

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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