2019/09

LEGAL ISSUES OF FOREIGNERS LIVING IN JAPAN

南竹 要

LEGAL ISSUES OF FOREIGNERS LIVING IN JAPAN

Yokohama is a port town that has been open to foreign countries for a long time. In Kanagawa Prefecture as a whole, 212000 foreigners (As of January 1, 2019) live here, 97000 in Yokohama City and 41000 in Kawasaki City.
In addition, the number of Japanese marrying foreigners to form families and assets has increased, and the family structure has grown over many generations.
Under these circumstances, many foreigners living in Japan and Japanese married to foreigners have unfortunately become involved in divorce and inheritance problems.
Our law firm provides prompt and appropriate legal services to such people, and we would like to actively provide information in this column.
International Divorce Issues
In order to resolve the divorce issue, there are the issue of jurisdiction, which country requires legal procedures, and the issue of the applicable law, which country's law should be applied to resolve the case.
If Japan has jurisdiction, they mediate in a family court or file a divorce suit to advance a divorce case.
There are four core issues in divorce.
The first issue is the question of parental authority (If you have children). In Japan, joint parental authority is not allowed, so the court always decides which is the right person to have parental authority.
Lawyers give appropriate advice based on past judicial precedents and court practices.
The second issue is the distribution of property. In Japan, basically, we give each other half of the increased assets from the time of marriage to the time of separation. However, assets acquired through inheritance or gifts are not subject to division (specific property).
The third issue is child support (If you have children). The amount is decided by each other's income. Other special expenses such as medical expenses or going to a private school are adjusted. After the child support is decided at the time of divorce, if the number of children increases due to remarriage or income decreases, the amount of monthly child support payment can be reduced to an appropriate extent if the family court mediates the child support reduction.
The fourth issue is consolation. In the event of infidelity, compensation of \1.5 million to \2 million may be accepted as consolation money. Also, if the other party is responsible for the cause of divorce, you can claim compensation.
In addition, in the case of international divorce, there are unique issues such as disposition of foreign assets, issues of parental authority, and issues of delivery of legal proceedings, so I strongly recommend that you ask a lawyer who has expertise.

international succession
In the United States, if a person dies and his or her total assets exceed a certain amount prescribed by state law, a division and inheritance process, usually under the supervision of a "Probates" court, is required. Whether or not you have a will, this will be done in accordance with the laws of the state and through a process of offering a rebate.
Since the procedural burden is large, it is necessary to devise a way such as living trust.
In the United States of America etc, where inheritance procedures are conducted under the control of such courts, the administrator of the host country may prepare a written opinion as an expert of Japanese law on how inheritance procedures are handled under Japanese law, who the heir is and what the share of inheritance will be.
When an international inheritance problem occurs, we can support the heirs who are based in Japan, and lead them to a solution by negotiating with a lawyer in the other country about how to divide the inheritance between foreign countries and Japan.

Free Consultation
In addition, there are a variety of problems such as the impact on the status of residence of foreign nationals, and how to deal with criminal cases when you become a perpetrator or a victim while you are in Japan.
From my experience of traveling and staying abroad, I often feel uneasy about the rules of the country. I would like to protect the legal rights of foreigners living in Japan, so please feel free to contact me if you have any problems.
https://nantik2.wixsite.com/attorneykm