Cross-Border Inheritance(Succession, Will and Trust), Family Law (Divorce, Prenuptial Agreement, and Adoption), and Hague Child Abduction Cases
Cross-Border Inheritance
and Family Law Cases
Legal Profession Corporation CastGlobalToikyo Office 34F Atago Green Hills MORI Tower2-5-1 Atago, Minato-ku,
Tokyo、105-6234, Japan
Office Hours 9:30～17:30
on weekdays
Makiko Mizuuchi(Ms), Attorney-at Law, admitted to practice in
Japan and California, U.S.A. is in charge.
03-5405-7850
International Jurisdiction in Divorce Cases
“International jurisdiction” means that the courts of a given country will be the most appropriate to hear and determine a case that has an international dimension.
Japanese statute law previously did not contain any provision regarding international jurisdiction in international or transnational divorce cases.
If the respondent to a divorce action lives in Japan (is domiciled in Japan), then Japan will have jurisdiction with respect to that case.
But what if the defendant lives outside Japan?
The Supreme Court has held that courts should determine the issue of jurisdiction by taking into account matters of reasonableness, equity (fairness) between the parties, and proper andtimely justice.
The amendment of the Personal Status Litigation Act
The Personal Status Litigation Act was amended particially. The international jurisdiction over personal status cases was specified in Article 3-2.
The amendment came into effect on April 1, 2019.
According to the Article 3-2, filing suits to Japanese courts are granted when;
(i) a defendant’s domicile (if the defendant has no domicile, their domicile is unknown, the defendant’s residence) is in Japan(paragraph 1);
(ii) both the husband and the wife have Japanese nationality (paragraph 5);
(iii) the last mutual domicile of the husband and the wife was in Japan and the plaintiff’s domicile is in Japan (paragraph 6);
(iv) there are special circumstances, such as a situation when the plaintiff’s domicile is in Japan and the defendant has went missing, that it would be equitable to either party, or a fair and speedy trial can be guaranteed if the Japanese courts were to conduct a trial and reach a judicial decision in the action (paragraph 7), etc.
The English translation is a provisional one and is not an official translation.
Please click the button below to view more detailed
information on international divorce.
Contact information
Please contact via e-mail.
03-5405-7850
Office hours 9:30～17:30 on weekdays
Contact us
Strategies for
International Divorce
More information
Representation in
Hague Convention
Cases
More information
Contact information
Attorney at law
Makiko Mizuuchi
Legal Profession Corporation CastGlobal Tokyo Office
34F Atago Green Hills MORI Tower 2-5-1 Atago, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-6234, Japan
Tel 81＋(0)3-5405-7850
Attorney Profile