Japan’s Supreme Court May Change Position on Discriminatory Inheritance Laws

Under Japan’s Civil Code, children born out of wedlock areentitled to inherit only half the amount granted to children born to marriedcouples.  With international criticismmounting, the Supreme Court could soon repeal a law they have thus far judgedconstitutional.

A plaintiff in one of the two upcoming cases pertaining tothe provision’s constitutionality says the Civil Code stipulations contradictedher father’s intentions of entrusting all of his assets to her.  The plaintiff in the other case is a man inhis 40s demanding an inheritance equal to that given to his father’s offspringwith his wife.

Japan is the only developed nation still differentiating betweenchildren born in and out of wedlock with regards to inheritance. 

See YomiuriShimbun, Children Born Out of WedlockHopeful Top Court Will Grant Equal Inheritance, The Japan News, July 9,2013.