My mother unexpectedly passed away earlier this year, she was a Japanese citizen and I am American. She has a bank account at Sakura Bank, but every Japanese person I have talked to said that trying to withdraw whatever money from her account would be very difficult. I am a beneficiary on her account (I have paperwork), and I also have a copy of her family registry that I am on. I am hoping to go back to Japan next year and try to close out the account. I live in the United States so I am hoping some people can share some tips, guidance, or what I can do so that I don’t waste time next year going back to Japan and not being able to deal with the bank account.
Thank you in advance to anyone that can help. I might have a translator in Japan who could come with me to the appointment.
https://www.reddit.com/r/japan/comments/15u1b5d/banking_help/
7 comments
Honestly, your best bet is to get a translator and then get a lawyer to see what your next steps are.
[Now known as SMBC.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sakura_Bank)
My condolences.
You will need full extracts of her family registry for birth (which can be a lot of work if she got married, moved her registry etc.) If the registry records prove that there are any other possible surviving heirs other than you, then the bank will want to see some sort of acknowledgement from them as to what they want done with that part of the estate. This assumes there was no will.
Yes, talk to a lawyer because they have special statutory powers to research family registers. I am not sure what you mean by “I am a beneficiary” Or is that a will? If there is a will then the process will be different.
You say she “was a Japanese citizen” – does that mean “when she passed away” or that she took some other citizenship before that? That would be a complicating factor.
Did she leave a hanko? If you have her hanko and bankbook that might make things easier.
Yeah, your going to want someone that speaks Japanese fluently and knows what to do. Even with their help Japanese bureaucracy is known to be a grueling process akin to pulling teeth. Good luck and sorry for your loss.
r/JapanFinance you might get some experts there.
You must prepare legally valid documents that prove the following
1. a list of all persons besides you who are entitled to inherit her property
2. that all persons on the list in 1. have consented to your closing the account.
For example, if your mother had a child a long time ago before she married your father, he/she is also entitled to inherit. If that is not a possibility, you must prove it legally. To do so, you will need to obtain a copy of all family registers from the time your mother was born until her death. If your mother moved several times, this will take quite some time to do.
I did it for my mother after my grandmother died and it took over a month even if done by a Japanese.If you do it from the US, the procedure is even more complicated. You would be better off delegating it to a Japanese attorney.