JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Atsushi Oishi and Makoto Sakai, Mori Hamada & Matsumoto
8.2 Appointment of a Guardian A statutory guardian must be appointed with court approval. In addition, a voluntary guardian may be appointed before a notary public. Creating a civil trust has recently become more popular among wealthy families, as it is more flexible than appointing a guard - ian. 8.3 Planning for Incapacity Legal mechanisms addressing mental incapacity include the statutory adult guardianship system and the voluntary guardianship system. In addition, the establishment of a civil trust is also utilised as a means of enabling a trustee to hold, manage, and administer There is a national pension system in Japan. How - ever, as pension payment under the national pension system is limited to a minimum standard, people are expected to have a separate personal fund for future financial stability. 9. Planning for Non-Traditional Families 9.1 Children A child born out of wedlock can inherit the estate of a deceased parent if the parent acknowledges the child; this also applies to adopted children. These children will be treated in the same manner as other children. Surrogate pregnancy arrangements and posthumous conceptions are not permitted in Japan. 9.2 Same-Sex Marriage specified assets. 8.4 Elder Law Same-sex marriage is not currently permitted under the Civil Code, although there are a number of cases in which the validity of the current system is disputed. The supreme court is likely to decide on this issue in the near future. There are practical arrangements through which a same-sex married couple achieves basically the same rights as a couple in a statutory marriage. A number of local governments issue a certificate of same-sex “partnership” for same-sex couples.
location in which an individual continually resides for a certain time, but which does not qualify as a base and centre of one’s life. However, there is no clear-cut definition of domicile in Japanese tax laws; therefore, whether a person is a resident or a non-resident cannot be simply decided based on specific and clear numbers under domestic laws in Japan (eg, days spent in Japan), unlike coun - tries that have a 183-day rule. Generally speaking, whether an individual has a domi - cile in Japan would be decided by taking into account many factors, including time spent in Japan, place of living, place of domicile of their family, place of occu - pation and location of assets. Citizenship If either the father or the mother is a Japanese citizen when their child is born, the child obtains Japanese nationality. A person who is not a Japanese citizen may acquire Japanese nationality through naturalisa - tion, which is under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Justice. 7.2 Expeditious Citizenship If a person’s father or mother is a Japanese citizen when they apply for Japanese citizenship with the Minister of Justice, that person may acquire citizen - ship without the need to satisfy the requirement of continuous residence for at least five years. Even in that case, the applicant must be residing in Japan during the process of naturalisation. 8. Planning for Minors, Adults with Disabilities and Elders 8.1 Special Planning Mechanisms There are mechanisms for minors and adults with dis - abilities. Minors are represented by a statutory repre - sentative (eg, parents). The statutory adult guardian - ship system and the voluntary guardianship system are typically used. Also, a civil trust is used in some cases.
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