Typical inheritance advice sought by Japanese people for estate in Hong Kong

- how to deal with a deceased Japanese leaving asset held in a bank account, insurance account or securities account created in Hong Kong.
- how to deal with the shares or real estate for deceased Japanese leaving a Hong Kong company or property registered under his name in Hong Kong.
- how to deal with the situation when Japanese people were told by financial institutions in Hong Kong to look for a lawyer in Hong Kong for the reason due to the complicated probate and estate administration procedure in Hong Kong.

Differences between inheritance procedures in Japan and Hong Kong

In Japan, if there is no inheritance dispute, the estate of the deceased will become the joint property of all heirs as soon as the deceased passes away. Therefore, if the Deceased left with a will, the inheritance will be divided according to the tenor and instructions under the will, on the other hand, if there is no will (i.e. intestate), the heirs can discuss how to divide and administer the estate and agree on the allocation of financial assets located in Japan to be shared between the heirs.

On the other hand, in Hong Kong, even if there is no inheritance dispute (i.e. non-contentious) between the heirs. In the case of intestacy, a person (applicant) is required to act as the “administrator” of the estate for the purpose of administering and dealing with the estate and paying off all the debts related to the deceased, and that the applicant must go through the complicated process under the supervision of the court before he can be granted with the Letters of Administration to administer the estate. In the case of the Deceased leaving a will, a person (i.e. applicant) named in the Will as executor is required to undergo similar procedures in order to obtain a Grant of Probate from the court. Upon death, the estate of the Deceased shall automatically deemed to be in the form of a “statutory trust”. Save in exceptional circumstances, no one can “move” or “touch” any assets in the Deceased until he is granted with the Letters of Administration or Probate from the court. In addition, the Probate and estate administration procedure is very strict in Hong Kong. For Japanese, due to the inherent complexity of various legal issues, most of the applications (99%) to the court for a grant is conducted by a Hong Kong solicitor, due to the inherent nature of the probate application (i.e. ex-parte), the court has to rely on documents submitted by the applicant unilaterally, as such the vetting process leading to grant of the application is very complicated. In short, a person without any legal training will find it almost impossible to handle the queries (i.e. requisitions) raised by the court.

However, many Japanese heirs are unaware of these fundamental differences in the inheritance procedure operated under 2 completely different concept of law, some may under the misconception that the procedure in Hong Kong is “easy” and is the “same” as that in Japan. For example, some may just visit Hong Kong and come directly to a bank with their inheritance documents (usually in Japanese), but even if the documents have been translated, they will not be recognised in Hong Kong (because usually the documents are not “authenticated”). At the end, they will be dismissed by the bank staff being told “please find a lawyer in Hong Kong!”. Meanwhile, please be aware that transferring assets of the estate of the Deceased without following legal procedures after death (in simple words, without a grant of letters of administration or a grant of probate) can result in severe criminal liabilities such as fines and imprisonment.

If you encounter with the above difficulties, we are able to:

- carry out inheritance procedures on your behalf if you are unable to do so by yourself.
- There is no need for the heirs to travel to Hong Kong.
- We have experience and know-how in handling over hundreds of inheritance applications for Japanese leaving estate in Hong Kong.
- There is a possibility that a guarantor or insurance is required by the court (the so-called sureties’ guarantee), which is a costly and hard-to-achieve requirements (especially if there are minor’s interest) but we are experienced in applying for waiver of such a requirement.
- Costs are reduced because there is no agent in between (it is illegal in Hong Kong for anyone other than the heir or a Hong Kong lawyer submit an application for probate).
- (2) The legal (conflict of law) and language differences between Japan and Hong Kong can be bridged.

Even for local Hong Kong residents, due to the complicated inheritance procedure, it is very common for them to ask a Hong Kong lawyer to handle the inheritance procedures, it goes without saying that the Japanese is advised to engage a Hong Kong lawyer to handle their case, as the language and the laws of the two countries are involved, and the procedures and laws are complex and difficult for the layperson to understand. For a smooth procedure, practical know-how is important in addition to legal knowledge.

Our track record:

Our track record:
We having been dealing with a lot of banks, insurance companies, securities companies and other than financial institutions in Hong Kong (some of them are listed below for your information), so please contact us if you have any questions.

- HSBC銀行
- Hang Seng Bank Hang Seng Bank
- Standard Charter Bank Standard Charter
- Citibank Citi Bank
- Bank of China Bank of China
- Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Hong Kong Branch
- Nanyang Bank
- OCBC Bank
- Computer Share
- Manulife Manulife Insurance
- HSBC Insurance
- AIA Insurance
- HSBC Bank of China (HSBC on the mainland, so the process is handled in China)
- Construction Bank
- Mizuho Bank Hong Kong Branch
- MPF
- GMO-Z.com Forex HK Limited
- Friends Provident
- Standard Life
- Tax Office
- Safe Box Safe Box
- CHRISTIE’S
- Everbright Securities
- Wing Fung Securities
- Ever-Long Securities
- Hong Kong Real Estate
- Companies in Hong Kong
- Companies in BVI Corporations

The procedures and processes required will depend on the nature of the case and its complexity, so please contact us to discuss your situation and we will provide an individual quote.

Please note that the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Chapter 10A of the Laws of Hong Kong) explicitly prohibits any persons, who are not qualified solicitor, from acting on behalf of or providing advice or appearing as adviser to heirs for their inheritance matters in Hong Kong, whether paid or unpaid.