Grandmothers Inheritance

[dfujita]

Need assistance on our grandmothers inheritance. It may be a little complicated, but hopefully some can help.

Grandmother just recently passed away, she had one daughter which was our mother, and our mother had 3 boys.

Mother was divorced then remarried to our current step-father. Our mother passed away in 2007 and all assets that our mother owned went to step-father, all these assets were based in Japan.

Now that grandmother has passed away, sounds as if step-father would get 50% of property owned and the 3 boys would split the other 50%.

Well step-father had received a good inheritance from our grandmother and mother after there passing, now step-father has remarried in Japan.


Does all the assets the step-father own get passed to his new wife or is it determined by a will of some sort?


BTW, all 3 boys are american citizens and grandma, and mom are japanese citizens.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[KansaiBen]

Does all the assets the step-father own get passed to his new wife or is it determined by a will of some sort?


BTW, all 3 boys are american citizens and grandma, and mom are japanese citizens.


Any help would be greatly appreciated!

The money goes to whoever he designates in his own will and is under no obligation to share any of it with his wife's offspring.

You can contest a will that you disagree with but it will require lawyers.

[TJrandom]

...Mother was divorced then remarried to our current step-father. Our mother passed away in 2007 and all assets that our mother owned went to step-father, all these assets were based in Japan. ...

This is odd - as the Japan standard would have been for 50% of Mother's assets to go to her husband, and the remaining 50% to have been split evenly between the three children. Unless of course if she left a will that specified all to go to husband.

[hml]

This is odd - as the Japan standard would have been for 50% of Mother's assets to go to her husband, and the remaining 50% to have been split evenly between the three children. Unless of course if she left a will that specified all to go to husband.

I agree. And while things can be enforced with a court order, possession is 9/10 of the law. OP should get cracking!

[hml]

Wait. Upon reading again...

1. Mom dies
2. THEN Grandma dies

So... when Mom died, her assets should have been split 50-50. Half for hubby, half for kids, split 3 ways. But she may not have had much, if any assets. Anyway, they all went to hubby. OP should request half of it for himself and his brothers.

My question is, when there is no will present, who stands in line first when Grandma dies? Grandchildren by blood? Or son-in-law?

OP had better get on this ASAP.

[skippyrobobuns]

If there is no will then it is considered intestate. No relative has an automatic right to the money when there is no written will. The government takes a large chunk first and then they decide how it gets divvied up by the surviving relatives.

I honestly don't understand why you keep espousing this sort of carp, when the facts are so much different.

[Effected After]

I'd say about 90% of his responses are his own thoughts about how things should be, but phrased as if they were fact.

[Sits back and awaits completely irrelevant response from KB ]

[KansaiBen]

I honestly don't understand why you keep espousing this sort of carp, when the facts are so much different.

Google intestate wills and see what comes up. Facts are what you make them.


Intestacy: if the deceased has not made a will, the case is resolved in accordance with the deceased’s national law.
The measures under the Japanese Civil Code for a decedent with Japanese nationality are provided here for reference. In Japan, if there is no will, the scope and the rank of the heirs of a decedent with Japanese nationality, under the Japanese Civil Code, is as follows:

First, a spouse always becomes an heir.

A spouse becomes a sole heir only if there are no heirs in the first, second or third rank. The scope of heirs who are relatives by blood, is as follows:

The first rank: a child and his/her lineal descendants (including heirs per stirpes)
The second rank: a lineal ascendant
The third rank: a sibling and his/her child (including heirs per stirpes)

The statutory share in inheritance is as follows:

The first rank (1/2), spouse (1/2)
The second rank (1/3), spouse (2/3)
The third rank (1/4), spouse (3/4)



Rules may be different for Japan though


How do I espouse carp?

[hml]

Is the OP also a Japanese citizen? Are he and his brothers on their mother's family registry?

[Call_It_Like_Eye_See_It]

Any one who counts on an inheritance in this day and age for affluence or the better life is just plain naive, greedy or Japanese...

Use her inheritance to give her a proper burial...

[ozzijp]

[Sits back and awaits completely irrelevant response from KB ]

I thought KB's comments were fair, relevant and relatively accurate (this time). The lack of a response from the OP puts us quite lost in troll city but I will add, for the benefit of the soon to be deceased foreign passport holders, it should be noted that if you are not Japanese, the rules of your home country trump any J-laws. I have recently become quite religious, so you can be assured that it is quite true.

[dfujita]

Thanks everyone for your input on this matter.

Another question, I believe our mother/grandmother had a safety deposit box at a bank. I'm not 100% if it has been accessed. Will the bank open the safety deposit box without keys or access code to the box with proper paperwork on the deceased?

[TJrandom]

Thanks everyone for your input on this matter.

Another question, I believe our mother/grandmother had a safety deposit box at a bank. I'm not 100% if it has been accessed. Will the bank open the safety deposit box without keys or access code to the box with proper paperwork on the deceased?

I believe that to have a safety deposit box - one must also have an account - so if the tax people have processed the accounts, then the safety deposit box will have been processed. Years ago you could open an account in a false name, so if it happened that way - then there is a possibility.

I am guessing on this... but if a box does still exist, and you can approach with death certificate - then I believe they would be asking for tax authority participation as well as heirs according to her family register.

[hml]

Thanks everyone for your input on this matter.

Another question, I believe our mother/grandmother had a safety deposit box at a bank. I'm not 100% if it has been accessed. Will the bank open the safety deposit box without keys or access code to the box with proper paperwork on the deceased?

Bank accounts (and I would guess deposit boxes as well) are often frozen when someone dies to prevent theft. They wait for instructions from authorities, I believe.

Still, I've always wondered how they know someone has died... If you had grandma's bank book and card or inkan stamp, you could withdraw money I suppose. I have never used a safety box (my money is under my mattress) so I'm not sure how that works.

[Genkii]

Any one who counts on an inheritance in this day and age for affluence or the better life is just plain naive, greedy or Japanese...

Use her inheritance to give her a proper burial...

This!!!

The world is ____ed up with moneyhungry people it seems

Shoganai

[dfujita]

This!!!

The world is ____ed up with moneyhungry people it seems

Shoganai

Ok, does principal mean anything to you?
Why don't you ask some questions before assuming. Do you think I laid everything out in detail regarding the family history? What about my current assets now?

[KansaiBen]

Ok, does principal mean anything to you?
Why don't you ask some questions before assuming. Do you think I laid everything out in detail regarding the family history? What about my current assets now?

We can only go off what we read. Seems you are ticked off the money is going to your mothers second husband (who is not a blood relative) rather than to the grandkids.