Gaijin retired in Japan, engaged with Japanese 17-yrs my junior, needs a how-to for setting up household affairs, considering I want to preserve some resources for my grown children from previous marriage living in Japan. My fiancee is a salaried worker at a large company though I don’t think earns a great deal and will likely have much less finances than I do at the start.
I receive a pension and part-time earnings allowing a modest but comfortable living. I own several properties but two are co-owned with my ex-wife. Those two I will leave for my ex- and children. I wonder about my third property, my home, that I own outright. Should I leave that also for my children or my new wife? She will, if not immediately, receive a pension.
Once married, should we put our incomes in one pot for both of us to draw from, or keep things separate, mutually contributing to the household according to some ratio. I wonder too about her present condo. If she moves in with me and I earmark my condo for her if I pass on, shouldn’t she do the same for me regarding her condo if she passed on before me? Before discussing such with her, I would like to know standard ways of dealing with these issues.
Also would anyone know about a municipal office in Japan that registers wills that I heard about, which would seem a way to avoid paying the huge lawyer fees for wills.
Thank you for you attention.
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11 comments
You really have a high opinion of Reddit don’t you!
I don’t have any advice for you but here to admire how thoughtful you are and you aren’t one of those selfish twats who dump all behind once they divorce. Respect mate 🫡
I would start with a frank discussion with your soon to be wife about expectations of finance, life, and retirement. Much easier if both of you have similar viewpoints on finance and spending .
Or a different note, you can’t have a mutual bank account (joint holders is not a thing) though you can decide that one account is “mutually”. Personally my wife and I have 3. One for me, one for her, and one that’s common. We contribute to the common one each month and our personal ones are just that, personal.
Property: get expert advice as this opens up taxation and inheritance laws. I think the Japan finance group would be a better a source for this issue.
But once again, discuss expectations and discover those assumptions you both may have. Those are the hidden minefields imo.
> Also would anyone know about a municipal office in Japan that registers wills that I heard about, which would seem a way to avoid paying the huge lawyer fees for wills.
Your local legal affairs bureau. Searching for “遺言書保管制度” will lead you to the appropriate site that explains how the system works.
> shouldn’t she do the same for me regarding her condo if she passed on before me? Before discussing such with her, I would like to know standard ways of dealing with these issues.
She definitely could. Of course without a will it will just be handled according to the statutory distribution rules. I’m not sure there is necessarily a “standard” way of dealing with this as lots of couples arrange to do things in different ways.
The only thing I can say for sure is don’t co-mingle money. Designate one person to pay the utilities, etc. from their account and have the other person wire their share before/after. Don’t share your PINs. Other than that, talk to a lawyer and your future wife.
You need to do the math on inheritance taxes. If your children can’t pay the taxes then they will lose the properties. In the worst case scenario your ex-wife will have to sell the property because no one has the cash to pay the taxes.
The only “loophole” inheritance taxes is for your current wife who gets a very large deduction on any assets she receives. You may find it makes more sense to let you current wife inherit your share of the properties for that reason.
r/japanfinance
1. Discuss with your soon to be wife.
2. You need a will, this is not optional, since she’s almost certainly going to outlive you how your property will pass to her unless you have a will registered will be entirely based on inheritance law.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! give her the job as the “accountant”, lol.
So many in here “my wife gives me an allowance” or “I’m getting divorced, my wife in charge of the money”.
To give you the in-a-nut-shell version, generally speaking, basic premise type explanation:
The law in Japan is that your estate will be split 50/50 between your current(future) spouse and your children. The children will then split their split equally.
So, that means that the condo that you live in will be split between your children and your current(future) spouse. If your current(future) spouse wants to continue to live in the house, then she will need to ‘pay out’ your children for their half of the condo. However, your children could refuse this portion of the estate and let her have the condo outright without the payout, but that would be their decision, not yours or your current wife’s.
Keep in mind, that the two properties that you own with your ex-wife will also be split. Your ex will retain her ownership and your portion of the property will go 50% to your children (and then split equally amongst them) and 50% to your current(future) wife.
In this situation, you could probably work it out so that your current(future) wife gives up her claim on the property with your ex-wife so that it all goes to the children in exchange for them doing the same for your current condo. But you would have to get them all to agree in advance to it. You could have that written into a will, but wills are not strictly enforceable. They are only effective if everyone agrees. If one of the people who has a legal claim to the estate objects to your plan, then it basically invalidates the will. You can designate who gets what, etc., but you are not allowed to cut anyone out per se, again generally speaking.
For the most part, the government doesn’t really care who gets what and who gets how much as long as the taxes are paid.
Keep in mind, there is no probate court. Disputes are handled by family court. The family court will basically tell your family members to work it out amongst themselves and then give them a few years. If they are unable to do so, then the court will split your assets strictly following the law regardless of a will.
As for your soon-to-be wife’s condo, should she die first, you will inherit 50% of the value of the condo and her children will inherit the other 50%. If she doesn’t have any children, then 66% would come to you and 33% to her parents or siblings. Her parents and/or siblings could refuse the inheritance so you get it all, or they could claim their 33%. Again, you have to work it out amongst yourselves.
Leave it for your kids