Should make a Prenup in Japan
Prenuptial agreement (“Prenup”) will be very helpful when the relationship between a married couple gets wrong and starts divorce discussion. But Prenup is not popular in Japan since it is considered as cultural taboo to talk about separation at the time of marriage. As you may know, Japanese people avoid using the words which associate with separation in wedding ceremonies. For example, at the reception of wedding, we prefer to use odd number to even number because even number can be divided by 2. However, data shows that international couples are more interested in making Prenups. 16.4% of Prenups registered at registry offices in Japan are entered into by international couples. This is quite high ratio given the ratio of international couples in Japan is only 3 to 4%. This may reflect the concern of non-Japanese husband or wife about the troubles at divorce discussion. In Japan, married couples can divorce by agreement without court involvement. The divorce by agreement takes effect on the acceptance of notification of the divorce by the municipal office. However, when a married couple cannot agree on divorce or conditions of divorce, they need to go through family court mediation to reach agreement. Husband or wife can file a legal suit for divorce only after this mediation process has been failed. In this article, we explain
- Benefit of Prenup
- How to make prenup?
- What conditions should be agreed in Prenup?
This article was written by ATSURO TSUJINO （Attorney at Law of Ashita no Shishi Legal Office）
