Domestic Relations Case Procedure Act

• From a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 December 2028, when the Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc. (Act No. 45 of 2026) comes into force, a family court decides by adjudication (家事審判) the matters listed in the Act's Appended Tables 1 and 2 (別表第一・別表第二), each resting on a provision of the Civil Code or another Act, and the other matters the Act sets out; it mediates (家事調停) cases on personal status and other family matters, except the Appended Table 1 matters, which it cannot mediate. Appended Table 1 then lists starting assistance (補助) and attaching a specified assistant (特定補助人) in place of adult guardianship (成年後見) and curatorship (保佐) — though adjudication proceedings on adults under guardianship (成年被後見人) or curatorship (被保佐人), and on their guardians, curators and supervisors, whom that Act's supplementary provisions (附則) keep under its earlier rules still follow this Act's earlier provisions — and keeps voluntary guardianship (任意後見), now including an adjudication starting it, alongside appointing a guardian for a minor, a declaration of presumed death (失踪の宣告), permission to adopt and the establishment of a special adoption (特別養子縁組), the loss or suspension of parental authority (親権), accepting a renunciation of inheritance (相続の放棄), permission to change a surname or given name or its reading, and a change in how a person's sex is treated in law. Appended Table 2 — matters that can also be mediated — includes cooperation and support between spouses, sharing the costs of married life (婚姻費用), child custody (子の監護), including contact between a parent and the child and sharing the costs of the child's care, division of property (財産の分与), designating or changing who holds parental authority, the order and extent of support between relatives, division of an estate (遺産の分割), and the ratio for splitting employees' pension records under the Employees' Pension Insurance Act.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 39(1), Art. 244(1), Art. 154(3), Appended Table 1, Appended Table 2, Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Among the grounds the Act gives, Japanese courts have jurisdiction over a case on parental authority or a child's custody (other than the costs of the child's care) where the child is domiciled in Japan; over support between relatives where the person owing support (if not the petitioner) or the person entitled to it — for the costs of a child's care, the child or the person caring for the child — is domiciled there; over inheritance cases, including dividing an estate, where the deceased was domiciled in Japan when the inheritance began, the parties being free to agree which country's courts will hear the division of an estate or a special contribution; over division of property (財産の分与) after a divorce where the other former spouse is domiciled in Japan, both former spouses are Japanese nationals, or the applicant is domiciled in Japan and the couple last shared a domicile there; and over mediation where Japanese courts would have jurisdiction over a suit or adjudication on the matter, where the other party is domiciled in Japan, or where the parties have agreed to apply to a Japanese court — the last two not for personal-status matters other than divorce and dissolution of adoption (domicile meaning, for someone with none or none known, residence). Even then, a court may dismiss all or part of a petition where special circumstances — the nature of the case, the burden on others involved, where the evidence is, the interests of a minor child — mean a hearing in Japan would stand in the way of a proper and speedy hearing or be unfair between the parties, unless the petition, on dividing an estate or on a special contribution, rests on the parties' agreement that only Japanese courts may hear it. A final decision of a foreign court in a domestic relations case, or a like decision of a foreign public body, is treated, so far as its nature allows, under the Code of Civil Procedure's rule that a foreign judgment has effect only if the foreign court's jurisdiction is recognised by law or treaty, the losing defendant was served the summons or order that started the case (not by public notice or the like) or took part anyway, its content and procedure do not offend public order or good morals in Japan, and there is reciprocity.(Art. 3-8(1), Art. 3-10(1), Art. 3-11(1), Art. 3-11(4), Art. 3-12(1), Art. 3-12(1)(i), Art. 3-12(1)(ii), Art. 3-12(1)(iii), Art. 3-13(1), Art. 3-13(3), Art. 3-14(1), Art. 79-2(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 118(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In an adjudication on parent and child, parental authority or the guardianship of a minor, or any other whose outcome will affect a minor child, the family court must try to learn the child's wishes — by hearing the child, an investigation by a family court investigating officer (家庭裁判所調査官) or another suitable way — and take them into account according to the child's age and development; the same applies in mediation. Before it decides a child-custody matter other than sharing the costs of the child's care, or designates or changes who holds parental authority (親権者) or designates who is to exercise it over a matter (親権行使者), it must hear the child if the child is 15 or older; before it decides on the loss or suspension of parental authority, or of the right to manage the child's property (管理権), it must hear, unless they are the petitioner, the child if 15 or older and the person holding parental authority, that person at a hearing (審問の期日). In a child-custody case other than on the costs of care, and in mediation of one or of a divorce, the court may, where nothing in the child's state of mind and body makes it inappropriate and it is needed to investigate the facts, urge the parties to try out contact with the child, setting how, when and where, who takes part, and conditions such as forbidding words or acts harmful to the child, and may ask them to report the result.(Art. 65(1), Art. 258(1), Art. 152(2), Art. 169(2), Art. 169(1), Art. 169(1)(i), Art. 152-3(1), Art. 152-3(2), Art. 152-3(3), Art. 258(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Before bringing a suit in a case the family court can mediate — a divorce, for instance — a person must first apply to a family court for mediation; if they sue without doing so, the court must refer the case to mediation unless it finds that inappropriate. Mediation is conducted by a mediation committee (調停委員会) of a judge and two or more domestic relations mediation commissioners (家事調停委員), or by a judge alone where the court thinks fit — but by a committee whenever a party asks. A domestic relations mediator (家事調停官), a part-time post the Supreme Court fills from lawyers of five or more years' standing, handles the mediation cases the family court assigns, with the powers this Act gives the court and the judge in them.(Art. 244(1), Art. 257(1), Art. 257(2), Art. 247(1), Art. 247(2), Art. 248(1), Art. 250(1), Art. 250(4), Art. 251(1), Art. 251(2), Personal Status Litigation Act Art. 2(1)(i)) (the provisions it rests on)
• When the parties reach an agreement in mediation and it is recorded, the mediation is concluded and the record has the effect of a final judgment — for an Appended Table 2 matter, of a final adjudication — except in personal-status matters other than divorce and dissolution of adoption, where an agreement does not itself conclude the case. The mediation committee may end a case without mediating where it finds the case by its nature unsuited to mediation or the petition brought recklessly for an improper purpose, and may end it as failed where agreement is out of reach or the one reached is not appropriate, unless the court makes a ruling in lieu of mediation; the parties are told when it fails. For an Appended Table 2 matter, a petition for adjudication then counts as made when mediation was applied for; for another matter, a suit brought within two weeks of that notice counts as brought when mediation was applied for.(Art. 268(1), Art. 268(4), Art. 271(1), Art. 272(1), Art. 272(2), Art. 272(3), Art. 272(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where mediation fails and the court thinks fit, it may of its own motion, weighing fairness to both sides and every circumstance, make the ruling needed to resolve the case — a ruling in lieu of mediation (調停に代わる審判), which can order a child handed over or money paid. A party may object within two weeks, and a lawful objection makes it lose effect — unless, outside a divorce or dissolution of adoption, the parties have jointly asked in writing to submit to the ruling, which takes away the right to object; once no objection is made, or one is dismissed by a decision that has become final, the ruling has the effect of a final adjudication for an Appended Table 2 matter and of a final judgment otherwise. In mediation of a personal-status matter other than divorce or dissolution of adoption — whether a marriage is void, say, or rebutting the presumption that a husband is a child's father (嫡出否認) — the court makes no such ruling, but, while both parties to the relationship are alive, if they agree to a ruling as applied for and do not dispute its grounds, it may, after investigating the facts and finding the agreement justified, make a ruling equivalent to the agreement (合意に相当する審判), which has the effect of a final judgment once no objection is made within two weeks or an objection is finally dismissed.(Art. 284(1), Art. 284(3), Art. 286(1), Art. 286(2), Art. 279(2), Art. 286(5), Art. 286(8), Art. 286(9), Art. 287(1), Art. 277(1), Art. 277(1)(i), Art. 277(1)(ii), Art. 279(1), Art. 281(1), Personal Status Litigation Act Art. 2(1)(i), Personal Status Litigation Act Art. 2(1)(ii)) (the provisions it rests on)

• 24 June 2026

  The text on this site

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 45 of 2026The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

  Act No. 53 of 2023The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 21 May 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, etc.

  民事訴訟法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 48 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 April 2026

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 October 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts to Promote the Use of Information and Communications Technology in Civil Procedures, etc.

  民事関係手続等における情報通信技術の活用等の推進を図るための関係法律の整備に関する法律

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• 1 June 2025

  Act on the Arrangement of Related Acts upon the Enforcement of the Act Partially Amending the Penal Code, etc.

  刑法等の一部を改正する法律の施行に伴う関係法律の整理等に関する法律

  Act No. 68 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 1 June 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Child Welfare Act, etc.

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  Act No. 66 of 2022The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

• 26 May 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures, etc.

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• 1 March 2025

  Act Partially Amending the Code of Civil Procedure, etc.

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• 24 May 2024

  Act Partially Amending the Civil Code, etc.

  民法等の一部を改正する法律

  Act No. 33 of 2024The text after this amendment, on e-Gov

All 29 amendments already in force

• The Code of Civil Procedure's rule that a minor takes steps in proceedings only through a legal representative, unless the minor may perform juridical acts independently, which this Act applies, gives way in some cases: a child may act on their own in an adjudication or mediation on their custody (other than one seeking money or property), and a child and their parents may in mediation on who holds parental authority or who is to exercise it over a matter. Where a person whose capacity to act is restricted takes steps this way, the presiding judge may, where necessary, appoint a lawyer (弁護士) to act for them on application, and may order such an appointment or make it of the judge's own motion; the fee they owe that lawyer is what the court finds reasonable.(Art. 17(1), Art. 151(1), Art. 151(1)(ii), Art. 252(1), Art. 252(1)(ii), Art. 252(1)(iv), Art. 252(1)(v), Art. 23(1), Art. 23(2), Art. 23(3), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 31(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A petition for adjudication can normally be withdrawn until the adjudication is made, but one on an Appended Table 2 matter can be withdrawn until the adjudication is final, and after it is made only with the other side's consent — which they are treated as giving if they do not object within two weeks of being told. A petition for division of property (財産の分与) or of an estate needs the other side's consent once they have filed a written statement on the merits or spoken at a hearing, and a petition to designate who holds parental authority (親権者の指定), in adjudication or mediation, can be withdrawn only with the court's permission. A petition for mediation can otherwise be withdrawn until the case ends — but not at all once the court has made a ruling in lieu of mediation, and only with the other side's consent once it has made a ruling equivalent to the agreement; a petition on dividing an estate, for adjudication or mediation, needs the other side's consent once ten years have passed since the inheritance began.(Art. 82(1), Art. 82(2), Art. 82(3), Art. 82(4), Art. 153(1), Art. 199(1), Art. 199(2), Art. 169-2(1), Art. 273(1), Art. 273(2), Art. 273(3), Art. 278(1), Art. 285(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In mediation on a divorce or the dissolution of an adoption (離縁), the mediation cannot be concluded over an audio-only link, though a link carrying both video and sound will do, nor by a party accepting proposed terms in writing; and the parties cannot jointly agree in advance to submit to a ruling in lieu of mediation so as to give up their right to object to it.(Art. 268(3), Art. 270(2), Art. 286(8)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Each party bears their own costs of the proceedings, though the court may, where the circumstances call for it, make another party or intervenor (利害関係参加人), another person subject to the adjudication, or someone in a like position who directly benefits from the decision bear all or part of them. A person who cannot afford the costs of preparing and pursuing a case, or whose living would be seriously harmed by paying them, can be granted procedural aid (手続上の救助) on application, unless they are plainly petitioning or acting for an improper purpose.(Art. 28(1), Art. 28(2), Art. 32(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Where a petitioner for adjudication twice in a row fails to appear at a hearing they were summoned to, or leaves one without making a statement, the family court may treat the petition as withdrawn; where withdrawing it would need the other side's consent — a petition for division of property or of an estate — this applies only where both parties do so.(Art. 83(1), Art. 153(1), Art. 199(1), Art. 199(2)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person who files something in a domestic relations case, or their legal representative, who shows that their address or other usual whereabouts becoming known to the parties or others in the case would seriously hinder their social life can ask the court to keep it — or their name — secret, under the Code of Civil Procedure's rules, which this Act applies. Where the court so decides, it sets what is to stand in for the address or name, and only that person may ask to inspect the part of the record where they gave it.(Art. 38-2(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 133(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 133(5), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 133-2(1)) (the provisions it rests on)

• Domestic relations proceedings are not open to the public, though the court may let anyone it thinks fit observe, and a family court adjudicates after hearing the opinions of counselors (参与員) — designated for each case from people it selects in advance each year — unless it thinks fit not to. The family court investigates the facts of its own motion and examines the evidence it finds necessary, on application or of its own motion, in mediation as in adjudication; it may have a family court investigating officer (家庭裁判所調査官) investigate the facts and report the results, and may ask public offices or others to investigate, or ask banks, trust companies, a person's employer and others to report on that person's deposits, trust property, income and other matters. A counselor or domestic relations mediation commissioner (家事調停委員), serving or former, who without good reason reveals a person's secret learned in that work faces imprisonment (拘禁刑) of up to one year or a fine of up to 500,000 yen, and a fine of up to 300,000 yen awaits a commissioner who reveals the course of the mediation committee's deliberations, or the opinions of the judge, mediator or commissioners or how many held them, and a counselor who reveals the opinions of the judge or counselors.(Art. 33(1), Art. 40(1), Art. 40(6), Art. 56(1), Art. 58(1), Art. 58(3), Art. 62(1), Art. 258(1), Art. 292(1), Art. 293(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• A person concerned whom the family court summons to a hearing (期日) must appear — or, for unavoidable reasons, may send a representative — and one who fails without good reason to appear is given a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 50,000 yen. Evidence is examined under the Code of Civil Procedure's rules, so a witness who fails without good reason to appear can be made to bear the costs this causes and given a non-criminal fine of up to 100,000 yen, faces a criminal fine of up to 100,000 yen or penal detention (拘留), and can be brought to court by force (勾引) — as can a party the court has ordered to appear to be questioned, who is also given a non-criminal fine of up to 100,000 yen for refusing without good reason to take the oath or to answer. A party who disobeys an order to produce a document or other object, or destroys or spoils one to defeat the evidence, is given a non-criminal fine of up to 200,000 yen, and one who defeats the comparison of handwriting or seals in the ways the Act lists, up to 100,000 yen — in mediation as in adjudication.(Art. 51(1), Art. 51(2), Art. 51(3), Art. 64(1), Art. 64(3), Art. 64(4), Art. 64(5), Art. 64(6), Art. 258(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 192(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 193(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 194(1), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 209(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• In adjudication of cooperation and support between spouses, the costs of married life, sharing the costs of a child's care, or the extent or way of providing support between relatives, the family court may, where necessary, order a party — on application or of its own motion — to disclose their income and assets, and in a division of property (財産の分与), their property. A party who fails without good reason to disclose, or discloses false information, is given a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen; the same orders can be made in mediation of those matters and of a divorce. While a mediation case is pending, the mediation committee may order whatever it finds necessary for the mediation (調停前の処分); the order cannot itself be enforced, but a party or intervenor who disobeys it without good reason is given a non-criminal fine of up to 100,000 yen.(Art. 152-2(1), Art. 152-2(2), Art. 152-2(3), Art. 184-2(1), Art. 184-2(2), Art. 258(3), Art. 266(1), Art. 266(3), Art. 266(4)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An adjudication ordering the payment of money, the handover of a thing, the performance of a duty to register or another act has the same effect as an enforceable title of obligation (執行力のある債務名義). In an adjudication on child custody — who is to have custody of the child, how custody is divided, contact between a parent and the child, the costs of the child's care or another matter of the child's custody — or one designating or changing who holds parental authority (親権者) or designating who exercises it over a matter, the court may order a party to hand over the child, to pay money or give other property, or to do another act. A non-criminal fine (過料) under this Act is enforced by a judge's order, which has the same effect as an enforceable title of obligation.(Art. 75(1), Art. 154(3), Art. 171(1), Art. 291(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Once a petition for adjudication or mediation is made on cooperation between spouses, the costs of married life, child custody or division of property, the family court may, on the petitioner's application, order provisional seizure, a provisional disposition or another provisional order (保全処分) where needed to secure later enforcement or to prevent imminent danger to a child or another person concerned, and, on the same grounds, a provisional disposition or another provisional order once one is made on designating or changing who holds parental authority or designating who is to exercise it over a matter. Once a petition is made for the loss or suspension of parental authority (親権) or of the right to manage the child's property, or for designating or changing who holds parental authority, the court may also, on the petitioner's application and where the child's interests require it, suspend the holder's exercise of parental authority until the adjudication takes effect, or appoint someone to act in their place. A provisional disposition settling a position in the meantime (仮の地位を定める仮処分) requires hearing the person it will affect and, on child custody (other than the costs of care) or parental authority, the child if 15 or older — unless hearing them would defeat the order's purpose.(Art. 105(1), Art. 107(1), Art. 157(1), Art. 157(2), Art. 175(1), Art. 175(2), Art. 174(1), Art. 175(3)) (the provisions it rests on)
• Once a petition to start guardianship (後見開始) for an adult is made, the family court may, where the person's living, care or management of property requires it, on application or of its own motion and without requiring security, appoint a manager of their property or instruct those involved in the case until the adjudication on the petition takes effect — and likewise once a petition to start curatorship (保佐) or assistance (補助) is made. Where the person's property especially needs protecting, it may, on the petitioner's application, order that the person's dealings with property, other than buying daily necessities and other acts of daily life, be subject to the manager's guardianship (後見命令). The person and the manager can then undo dealings with property the person makes.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 126(1), Art. 126(2), Art. 126(7), Art. 134(1), Art. 143(1), Civil Code Art. 9(1)) (the provisions it rests on)
• From a day a Cabinet Order sets, no later than 23 December 2028, once a petition to start assistance (補助開始) is made, the family court may, where the person's living, care or management of property requires it, on application or of its own motion and without requiring security, appoint a manager of their property or instruct those involved in the case until the adjudication on the petition takes effect. Where the person's property especially needs protecting, it may, on the petitioner's application, order that the dealings the petition asks to make subject to an assistant's consent — or, where attaching a specified assistant (特定補助人) is also sought, the acts the Civil Code lists for that, other than buying daily necessities and other acts of daily life — be subject to the manager's assistance. Such orders made before that day on a petition to start guardianship or curatorship stay in effect under the earlier provisions, read as orders on a petition to start assistance, and petitions for them still pending on that day count as petitions under the new rule.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 23 December 2028 at the latest.(Art. 126(1), Art. 126(2), Art. 126(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 1(1), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(2), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(3), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(4), Suppl. Prov. Art. 8(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For a duty set by an adjudication, a mediation, a ruling in lieu of mediation or an order made for the mediation, the family court can, at the request of the person entitled, look into how it is being performed and recommend that the person bound perform it (履行勧告), itself or through a family court investigating officer. Where a duty to pay money or give other property set by an adjudication, mediation or ruling in lieu of mediation is neglected, the court can, on the entitled person's application, where it thinks fit and after hearing the person bound, order them to perform within a reasonable time what they have neglected up to then (履行命令); failing without good reason to comply brings a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen.This is the rule until the change takes effect, 13 June 2028 at the latest.(Art. 289(1), Art. 289(3), Art. 289(7), Art. 290(1), Art. 290(2), Art. 290(3), Art. 290(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• For a duty set by an adjudication, a mediation, a ruling in lieu of mediation or an order made for the mediation, the family court can, at the request of the person entitled, look into how it is being performed and recommend that the person bound perform it (履行勧告), itself or through a family court investigating officer. Where a duty to pay money or give other property set by an adjudication, mediation or ruling in lieu of mediation is neglected, the court can, on the entitled person's application, where it thinks fit and after hearing the person bound, order them to perform within a reasonable time what they have neglected up to then (履行命令); failing without good reason to comply brings a non-criminal fine (過料) of up to 100,000 yen.This is the rule from a day still to be set, 13 June 2028 at the latest.(Art. 289(1), Art. 289(3), Art. 289-5(1), Art. 290(1), Art. 290(2), Art. 290(3), Art. 290(5)) (the provisions it rests on)
• An adjudication can be challenged by immediate appeal (即時抗告) only where the Act provides for it — the parents and the person with custody of the child, for instance, against an adjudication on child custody — within two weeks unless the Act sets another period, a period that cannot be extended, counted from when the person appealing was notified of it, or, for someone not entitled to be notified, from when the petitioner was. An adjudication open to immediate appeal takes effect only once it is final. A family court adjudication that cannot be appealed, and a high court decision in an adjudication case, can be taken to the Supreme Court by special appeal (特別抗告) on the ground that it misreads or otherwise breaches the Constitution, and a high court decision of a kind open to immediate appeal had a family court made it can also go there if the high court permits the appeal (許可抗告) because it departs from precedent or otherwise raises an important point of law — in either case within five days of notice, a period that cannot be extended.(Art. 85(1), Art. 86(1), Art. 86(2), Art. 74(2), Art. 156(1)(iv), Art. 94(1), Art. 96(2), Art. 97(1), Art. 97(2), Art. 98(2), Code of Civil Procedure Art. 336(2)) (the provisions it rests on)