Probate of a will (検認) ― what to do with a handwritten will you have found, before you open it

If you find a handwritten will at home, do not open it; take it to the family court. Opening the seal makes you liable to a non-penal fine, and destroying it on your own makes you disqualified from inheriting. This article sets out where to apply for probate (検認, the family court's inspection of the will), the documents needed, the flow on the day, the one to two months it takes, the fact that probate is a procedure that \"does not decide validity\", how to use the certificate of probate, and why it becomes unnecessary if the will is kept at the Legal Affairs Bureau.

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

An envelope turned up in the drawer of a mother's desk. "Will" was written on it in her handwriting, and it was sealed. The eldest son opened it on the spot. Inside was a handwritten will: "The house to my eldest son, the savings to my eldest daughter." The following week the son came to me with the will and asked, "Can I register the house with this?" No, you cannot; probate comes first. And did you tell your sister that you had opened it? He had not. This article is about what happened after the envelope was opened.

You are sorting out a parent's belongings and an envelope marked "Will" comes out of a desk drawer. At that moment there is one thing you must not do and one thing you must do. What you must not do is open the seal. What you must do is apply to the family court for probate (検認).

Probate is the procedure in which the family court confirms the existence and contents of the will and records its state at that point (the paper, the handwriting, the date, the signature, and whether there are additions, deletions or corrections). It exists to prevent the will from being tampered with later, and it is mandatory for holographic wills (自筆証書遺言) and secret wills (秘密証書遺言). A notarised will (公正証書遺言) and a holographic will deposited under the Legal Affairs Bureau's custody system do not need probate, because the original is at the notary office or the Legal Affairs Bureau.

A sealed will is supposed to be opened at the family court in the presence of the heirs, and opening it on your own makes you liable to a non-penal fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen. Opening it does not make the will itself invalid, but it is a spark for suspicion from the other heirs: "didn't you rewrite it when you opened it?" Worse still, if you destroy or hide it because the contents are unfavourable to you, you lose your right to inherit, as described in the article on this site on disqualification from inheritance (相続欠格). If you find one, keep it as it is, envelope and all, and tell the other heirs that you have found it.

The application is made by the person who kept the will or the heir who found it, to the family court for the deceased's last address. You need the probate application form, the will (still sealed), the deceased's family registers from birth to death, and the family registers of all the heirs. Depending on who the heirs are, you may also need the family registers of the deceased's parents or siblings. The cost is an 800 yen revenue stamp per will and postage stamps for notifying the heirs.

From the application to the probate hearing takes one to two months. The family court notifies all the heirs of the date, and the applicant brings the will on the day. Attendance by the other heirs is optional; probate goes ahead even if they are absent. At the hearing, the judge opens the will in front of the heirs, checks its state and prepares a probate record. It takes a few tens of minutes. When it is over, a "certificate of probate" (検認済証明書) is attached to the will (150 yen per copy), and you use the will with this for inheritance registration and closing bank accounts.

From finding a will to being able to use it. On finding it: do not open it, and tell the other heirs (opening it on your own carries a fine of up to 50,000 yen; destroying or hiding it means disqualification from inheriting). Application: apply for probate to the family court for the last address (the will, the full set of family registers, an 800 yen stamp per will, postage stamps). One to two months later: the probate hearing (opening and recording the state; other heirs' attendance optional). From that day: go to the procedures with the certificate of probate (150 yen) attached (usable for inheritance registration and closing savings accounts).

Here I want to write about a point many people misunderstand. Probate is not a procedure that decides whether a will is valid. It is not "a will that has been through probate = a valid will" but "a will that has been through probate = a will recorded as existing in that state on that day." If formal requirements are missing, such as no date or no signature, it is invalid even after probate. Conversely, even if one heir says at probate "this is not my father's handwriting," probate does not decide it; to contest validity, you bring separate proceedings (an action for confirmation that the will is invalid).

What probate tells you and what it does not. What it tells you: that the will existed on that day in that state (paper, handwriting, date, signature, corrections), which prevents later tampering. What it does not tell you: whether the will is valid (whether it meets the requirements, whether the testator wrote it, whether they had mental capacity). To contest validity: separate proceedings for confirmation that the will is invalid.

Until probate is over, you cannot proceed with anything based on the contents of the will. Both inheritance registration and closing bank accounts require the will with the certificate of probate attached. In other words, a holographic will kept at home takes two to three months, for gathering family registers and probate, between the death and the point where it can be used. The inheritance tax filing deadline (10 months) does not move, so if you find a will you need to act at once.

In order. First, telling the sister. That same day the eldest son phoned his sister and told her that the will had turned up, that he had opened it, and what it said. She said, "Opening it was a mistake, but the contents sound like Mum," and it did not turn into suspicion. Opening a will carries a fine of up to 50,000 yen, but in practice cases where the fine is actually imposed are rare, and it was not imposed in this family. The danger was not the fine but the possibility that the sister would think "he rewrote it when he opened it," and that disappeared because the son phoned her the same day.

Next, the probate application. To the family court for the mother's last address: the application form, the will (opened, as it was), five family register certificates covering the mother from birth to death, and the son's and daughter's family registers. An 800 yen revenue stamp and postage stamps. Seven weeks from application to the hearing. The son brought the will, and the daughter attended too. The judge checked the state of the will (that it had been opened, the date, the signature, the seal, no additions or corrections) and prepared the probate record. It took 20 minutes. The certificate of probate (150 yen) was attached, and they went straight from there to the Legal Affairs Bureau. Inheritance registration, filed by the family themselves, took two weeks; closing the savings account, three weeks. From the mother's death to the will being usable, gathering family registers and probate took three months.

I will also write about one thing that probate revealed. The will was dated "March, Reiwa 5 (2023)," with no day written. Because probate does not decide validity, a probate record was made even with this date, but without a specific date, it lacks a requirement of a holographic will. Knowing that the will might be invalid, the son and daughter drew up an estate division agreement (遺産分割協議書) exactly following the will's contents, and proceeded with registration and closing the account on the basis of the agreement. This route was open because the two of them agreed. Without agreement, it would have been an invalid will, and the division of the estate would have started from scratch.

This is what "deposit it with the Legal Affairs Bureau," as I wrote in the article on the custody system for holographic wills, means. If it is deposited, probate is not needed, and the heirs can get a will information certificate (遺言書情報証明書) at the Legal Affairs Bureau and start the procedures straight away. I recommend the custody system to anyone about to write a will, and to anyone who already has a will at home, depositing it with the Legal Affairs Bureau while they are alive. The testator can do this by going to the Legal Affairs Bureau, and the cost is 3,900 yen.

The opened envelope did not become a source of suspicion, thanks to one phone call on the day, and after probate it was usable within three months. But the contents lacked the date requirement, and in the end the family proceeded with an agreement. At the end of the main text I wrote, "I recommend the custody system to anyone about to write a will." If the mother had deposited this will with the Legal Affairs Bureau, the bureau would have pointed out at the time of deposit that "no day is written," probate would not have been needed, and there would have been no moment when the son opened the seal. 3,900 yen is the price of those three things.

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).

Courts in Japan: Probate of a will (遺言書の検認) ― Where to apply, documents needed, cost

All translated articles · Read the Japanese original

Probate of a will (検認) ― what to do with a handwritten will you have found, before you open it

Official sources

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