遺言書作成が必要な人について－相続紛争「争族」予防のため－About people who need to write a will – To prevent inheritance disputes and “family feuds” – - Tokyo Duke-Rei Certified Administrative Procedures Legal Office 東京デュークレイ行政法務行政書士事務所

　－はじめに－
　遺言書がないまま相続が開始した場合に、相続人の間で相続財産の分け方の話し合いをして相続人全員の合意により遺産分割協議書を作成しなければ相続の手続きを進めることが出来ません。
　しかし、相続人の間で話しがまとまらずに揉めてしまった場合には、相続人の申し出により家庭裁判所で遺産分割の調停（相続人間での話し合いにより合意を目指すプロセス）・審判（調停が不成立の場合に裁判所が法的判断を下すプロセス）をすることになり、審判に不服がある場合には２週間以内に高等裁判所に即時抗告をして裁判（訴訟）に移行します。なお、調停不成立の場合で遺産分割の前提となる事実に争いがある場合には審判を経ずに地方裁判所に裁判（訴訟）を提訴することが出来ます。
　いずれにしても相続人間で揉めてしまい遺産分割協議書の作成が出来ない場合には裁判所での解決が必要となり、その結果、裁判（訴訟）に発展して相続紛争「争族」発生のリスクが極めて高くなります。また、裁判所での終局的な判決が下されるまでに多額の費用と何年にも渡る時間も掛かります。
　したがって、相続紛争「争族」の予防のために遺言書の作成が極めて重要になります。
なお、日本国内に相続財産を有する日本国在住の在留資格永住者などの外国籍の人で、母国の相続法により日本国の相続法が適用されることになっている場合には、日本国民と同様に遺言書の作成をすることが出来ます。

－遺言書作成が必要な人－
　さて、遺言書作成が必要な人＝生前に遺言書作成をしない場合で相続開始後に遺産分割協議がまとまらずに遺産分割調停・審判や裁判となる相続紛争「争族」を遺してしまう可能性の高い人とは、どのような状況の人なのかについて以下に代表的な具体例を解りやすい表現で「1⃣家族・親族などの状況により遺言書作成が必要な人」
「2⃣相続財産の状況などにより遺言書作成が必要な人」
「3⃣その他の状況などにより遺言書作成が必要な人」
　に３分類して取り上げて説明します。

1⃣家族・親族などの状況により遺言書作成が必要な人
➀相続人となる家族・親族の仲が悪い人
➁相続人となる家族・親族の人数が多い人
➂相続人となる子どもがいない夫婦で生存する配偶者と親や兄弟姉妹などが相続人となる人
➃相続人となる家族・親族の一部に生前贈与をした人
⑤相続人となる家族・親族の中に無償で財産の維持・増加や療養介護などに貢献した人がいる人
➅相続人とならない６親等以内の家族・親族の中に無償で財産の維持・増加や療養介護などに貢献した人がいる人
➆相続人となる子どもに過去に離婚した前婚に子どもがいる人
➇相続人として財産を相続させるため認知したい子どもがいる人
⑨相続人となる家族・親族に音信不通の人がいる人
➉相続人となる家族・親族に未成年者がいる人
⑪相続人となる家族・親族に認知症の人がいる人
⑫相続人でない人※に財産を相続させたい人
　※事実婚の配偶者、養子縁組をしていない配偶者の子

2⃣相続財産の状況などにより遺言書作成が必要な人
➀相続財産として自宅不動産を主として所有する人
➁相続財産として金融資産（現金・預貯金・有価証券等）より不動産の資産比率を高く所有する人
➂相続財産として不動産より金融資産（現金・預貯金・有価証券等）の資産比率を高く所有する人
④相続財産として賃貸不動産（ローン返済中も含む）を所有する人
⑤相続財産として農地を所有する人
➅相続財産としてオーナー会社の株式を所有する人
➆相続財産として金地金などの貴金属を多く所有する人
➇相続財産として鑑定を要する高額な動産（絵画・掛け軸・陶器その他骨董品等）を所有する人

3⃣その他の状況などにより遺言書作成が必要な人
➀相続人となる家族・親族の一部に生前贈与した財産を相続財産から除きたい人
➁相続人となる家族・親族に相続分を予め指定しておきたい人
➂相続人となる家族・親族に遺産分割方法を予め指定おきたい人
➃相続人となる家族・親族に一定期間の遺産分割の禁止を予め指定おきたい人
⑤相続人となる家族・親族や相続財産を贈与する人に対して、相続開始後に相続人とならなかった家族（配偶者・子など直系卑属や親などの直系尊属の法定相続人）からの金銭請求（遺留分侵害額請求⇒配偶者・子など直系血族は法定相続分の１/２の遺留分相当額を限度としての金銭請求、親などの直系尊属は法定相続分の１/３の遺留分相当額を限度としての金銭請求）に備えて予め金銭請求への相続人支払額の負担割合を指定したい人
➅相続人となる家族・親族の一部から虐待や重大な侮辱を受けたので、その一部の人を相続人から廃除したい人
➆相続人となる家族・親族の一部から虐待や重大な侮辱を受けたので家庭裁判所に申し立てその一部の人を相続人から廃除したが、許して廃除したことを取り消したい人
➇相続人となる家族・親族に対して祭祀主宰者（御墓の承継者・法事の主宰者など）を予め指定したい人

–Introduction —
If an inheritance begins without a will, the heirs must discuss how to divide the inherited property and draft an inheritance division agreement with the consent of all heirs before the inheritance process can proceed.
However, if the heirs are unable to reach an agreement and a dispute arises, the heirs can request mediation (a process in which the heirs seek to reach an agreement through discussion) or arbitration (a process in which the court issues a legal decision if mediation is unsuccessful) in the family court. If the heirs are dissatisfied with the arbitration decision, they can immediately appeal to the High Court within two weeks and move to court (litigation). If mediation is unsuccessful and there is a dispute over the facts underlying the estate division, they can file a lawsuit in the District Court without going through arbitration.
In either case, if the heirs are unable to draft an inheritance division agreement due to a dispute, a court resolution is required, which increases the risk of a lawsuit escalating into a “family feud.” It can also take a significant amount of money and many years for a final court decision to be reached.
Therefore, writing a will is extremely important in preventing inheritance disputes, or “family feuds.”
In addition, if a foreign national with permanent resident status residing in Japan has inherited property in Japan and the inheritance laws of their home country stipulate that Japanese inheritance laws apply to them, they can prepare a will in the same way as Japanese nationals.

–People Who Need to Write a Will–
Now, what kind of people need to write a will? If they don’t write a will during their lifetime, they are likely to leave behind an inheritance dispute (“family dispute”) that could result in estate division negotiations failing and resulting in mediation, arbitration, or litigation after the inheritance begins. To clarify this, we’ll break down typical examples into three categories: “1. People Who Need to Write a Will Due to Family and Relative Circumstances,” “2. People Who Need to Write a Will Due to the Status of Their Inheritance, etc.”, and “3. People Who Need to Write a Will Due to Other Circumstances.”

1⃣People who need to prepare a will due to family and relative circumstances
➀People with poor relationships among potential heirs
➁People with a large number of potential heirs
➂Couples without children whose surviving spouses, parents, and siblings are their heirs
➃People who made gifts during their lifetime to some of their potential heirs
⑤ If there is a family member or relative who will be an heir and has contributed gratuitously to maintaining or increasing the estate or providing medical care, etc.
➅ If there is a family member or relative within the sixth degree of kinship who will not be an heir and has contributed gratuitously to maintaining or increasing the estate or providing medical care, etc.
➆Children who are potential heirs have children from a previous marriage that resulted in a divorce People
➇ People who have children they want to acknowledge as heirs and pass on their assets to them
⑨ People who have lost contact with family members or relatives who will be heirs
➉ People who have minors among family members or relatives who will be heirs
⑪ People who have dementia among family members or relatives who will be heirs
⑫ People who want to leave their assets to a non-heir
*Common-law spouses and children of spouses who have not been adopted

2⃣ People who need to prepare a will due to the status of their inheritance
➀ People whose primary inherited assets are their home real estate
➁ People who own a higher proportion of real estate than financial assets (cash, savings, securities, etc.)
➂ People who own a higher proportion of financial assets (cash, savings, securities, etc.) than real estate
④ People who own a lower proportion of inherited assets People who own rental property (including those still paying off the mortgage) as inheritance property
⑤ People who own farmland as inheritance property
➅ People who own shares in a company as inheritance property
➆ People who own a large amount of precious metals, such as gold bullion, as inheritance property
➇ People who own valuable personal property that requires appraisal as inheritance property (paintings, hanging scrolls, pottery, and other antiques, etc.)

3⃣ People who need to prepare a will for other reasons
➀ People who wish to exclude property gifted during their lifetime to some of their future family members or relatives from their inheritance
➁ People who wish to specify in advance the inheritance shares of their future family members or relatives
➂ People who wish to specify in advance the inheritance division method for their future family members or relatives
➃ People who wish to prohibit their future family members or relatives from dividing their inheritance for a certain period of time
⑤ People who want to designate in advance the proportion of the heirs’ share of the amount to be paid for monetary claims from family members who did not become heirs after the start of the inheritance (lineal descendants such as spouses and children, and legal heirs of lineal ascendants such as parents) against family members and relatives who will become heirs or those who donate inherited assets. (Claim for the amount of infringement of the legally reserved share -> Lineal blood relatives such as spouses and children can claim up to an amount equivalent to half of the legally reserved share of the inheritance, and lineal ascendants such as parents can claim up to an amount equivalent to one-third of the legally reserved share of the inheritance.)
➅ People who have suffered abuse or serious insults from some of their family members or relatives who will inherit and wish to disinherit them from their inheritance.
➆ People who have suffered abuse or serious insults from some of their family members or relatives who will inherit and wish to forgive and revoke the disinheritance, having filed a petition with family court.
➇ People who wish to pre-determine the person who will be the heir (such as a successor to a grave or a person who will be the host of a memorial service)