Who Ends 'Family Issues'?—10 Years After Grandmother's Death, Thinking About Inheritance and End-of-Life Planning—Day 464

It has been 10 years this year since my grandmother passed away.

Looking back on those 10 years, I have a question once again.

Could this issue really be resolved simply by using the phrase 'family issue'?

Of course, inheritance is a family issue.

Parents pass away, and their children inherit their assets.

If there is a will, you check its contents and, if necessary, discuss it among the heirs.

In that sense, this case was indeed a property issue between family members.

However, I have a sense of unease about that.

It is the question of:

Has the phrase 'it is a family issue' changed in meaning to imply that 'therefore, the system does not need to be involved any further'?

That is my question.

Japan once had a system of family headship succession.

The current Civil Code does not retain the old family system or headship succession as it was.

Therefore, I am not arguing that the current eldest son is naturally burdened with the legal obligations of a 'family head' under the old system.

Even so, there are things that make me think.

In the system of family headship, along with inheriting property and family status, there was the concept of 'maintaining the family'.

However, in current inheritance, when the title to property is concentrated in one person, it sometimes inadvertently changes to the understanding that:

'Once the title is acquired, that property belongs solely to that person, and it can be treated freely, separate from subsequent family relationships.'

Is that really all there is to it?

I have doubts about this.

Of course, you cannot retroactively impose obligations on an heir that do not exist in law.

'Because you are the eldest son, you have an obligation to take care of all your relatives.'

That is not what I am talking about either.

But on the other hand, what you acquire through inheritance is not limited to positive assets.

If there are debts belonging to the estate, that also becomes an issue.

If there is a will, the question of how to realize its contents arises.

If shared relationships or third-party rights remain, they do not disappear just because the title has changed.

And above all, property relationships that were not settled in the previous generation do not necessarily disappear just by transferring the title to one person.

Therefore, I am not saying:

'You inherited it as the eldest son, so take responsibility.'

It is quite the opposite.

I want to raise the issue that perhaps we need to clarify what was acquired through inheritance, what is being burdened, and what remains unsettled before passing it on to the next generation.

And the more I think about this issue, the more I am made to think about the importance of a will.

I do not think a will is something that ends just by writing:

'Give this real estate to so-and-so.'

'Give these savings to so-and-so.'

Precisely because it is a family inheritance, you should, to the extent possible, organize the property situation while alive, confirm debts, clarify the person's intentions, and discuss it with the family if necessary.

And,

What must those left behind handle after I pass away?

Designing with that in mind is what true end-of-life planning is, isn't it?

It makes no sense if a will, which is supposed to end disputes, becomes the gateway to the next dispute.

Inheritance is not just about leaving behind property.

Not leaving behind problems is also an important succession for the next generation.

That is what I think.

10 years since my grandmother passed away.

During that time, this issue even went to court.

Agents were involved.

Yet, as a result, it did not become a vessel that fully accepted the problems the family was carrying and organized them in a way that would not be carried over to the next generation.

Of course, the court is not an institution to rebuild the family itself.

Agents also do not naturally have an obligation to solve the problems of the entire clan beyond the scope of what they were requested to do.

That is precisely why I do not want to blame any one person here.

What I want to think about is a more structural problem.

Where does an issue that has been categorized as a 'family issue' end up?

The court categorizes it as:

'This is an issue that should be handled between family members.'

But it cannot be handled within the family.

Only time passes.

The parties involved get older.

They get sick.

New problems like mental capacity and property management even arise.

And the problems that were not settled in the previous generation are passed on to the next.

And there, it is said again:

'This is a family issue.'

If that happens, there is a danger that the phrase 'between family' will not be a classification for solving problems, but a phrase that pushes problems onto the next generation while leaving the destination of responsibility ambiguous.

From this experience, I have come to think about that strongly.

Inheritance is not just about handing over property.

It is about organizing the property relationships that arose in your own generation as much as possible,

Whose property is it?

To whom are there debts?

What is unsettled?

What does the person want to do with the remaining property?

Clarify that and pass it on to the next generation.

Isn't that the cleanest form of succession?

And I want to call that 'end-of-life planning'.

Problems that arose while alive should be settled while alive as much as possible.

Make an inventory of assets while you can organize it yourself.

Confirm debts.

Talk to your family.

Bring in experts if necessary.

And finally, leave your intentions regarding your remaining property as a will.

In that order, a will can become a 'final wish' in the true sense, rather than the beginning of a dispute.

It is not okay to leave things ambiguous just because you are family.

I think it is the opposite.

Precisely because you are family, you must not pass things on to the next generation while they are still ambiguous.

10 years since my grandmother passed away.

Looking back on these 10 years, the extremely simple conclusion I finally reached was that.

Inheritance is not just about leaving property to descendants.

Entrusting it to descendants after organizing the problems is also inheritance.

And I believe that finishing those preparations while you are still alive is what 'clean end-of-life planning' is.