# 破産法 / Bankruptcy Act — 第二百四十条 (Article 240) - Law: 破産法 (Bankruptcy Act), 平成十六年法律第七十五号 - English title "Bankruptcy Act": Ministry of Justice translation - Kind: Act — the distinction between 法律 (Act), 政令 (Cabinet Order), 省令 (Ministerial Order) and 条例 (local ordinance) decides who may issue it and what it may say. - Provision: 第二百四十条 (Article 240)（相続債権者、受遺者及び相続人の債権者の地位） — address `art-240` - Text in force since: 2026-05-21 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240 - Every provision below carries its address and both URLs on the line under it. - Japanese text: e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁). English: as marked on each line below. Only the Japanese as published by the government has legal effect; the text below is a copy of it. Every English rendering below is a translation and says which kind: the Ministry of Justice's translation, or this site's machine translation, whose model and date the Sources list names. They are never merged and never substituted for one another. --- ### 第二百四十条（相続債権者、受遺者及び相続人の債権者の地位） — (Status of Creditors of Succession, Legatees, and Heir's Creditors) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-240 · https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240 **第一項** 相続人について破産手続開始の決定があった場合には、相続債権者及び受遺者は、財産分離があったとき、又は相続財産について破産手続開始の決定があったときでも、その債権の全額について破産手続に参加することができる。 art-240/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240/par-1 If an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an heir, even when division of property is made or an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against the estate, a creditor of the succession and a legatee may participate in the bankruptcy proceedings with regard to the entire amount of their claims. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 相続人について破産手続開始の決定があり、かつ、相続財産について破産手続開始の決定があったときは、相続人の債権者の債権は、相続人の破産財団については、相続債権者及び受遺者の債権に優先する。 art-240/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240/par-2 If an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an heir and an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against the estate, with regard to the heir's bankruptcy estate, claims held by the heir's creditors have precedence over the claims held by a creditor of the succession and a legatee. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 第二百二十五条に規定する期間内にされた破産手続開始の申立てにより相続人について破産手続開始の決定があったときは、相続人の固有財産については相続人の債権者の債権が相続債権者及び受遺者の債権に優先し、相続財産については相続債権者及び受遺者の債権が相続人の債権者の債権に優先する。 art-240/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240/par-3 If an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an heir based on a petition to commence bankruptcy proceedings filed within the period prescribed in Article 225, claims held by the heir's creditors against the heir's own property have precedence over claims held by a creditor of the succession and a legatee, and claims held by a creditor of the succession and a legatee against the estate have precedence over claims held by the heir's creditors. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第四項** 相続人について破産手続開始の決定があり、かつ、当該相続人が限定承認をしたときは、相続債権者及び受遺者は、相続人の固有財産について、破産債権者としてその権利を行使することができない。第二百三十八条第一項の規定により限定承認の効力を有するときも、同様とする。 art-240/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-240/par-4 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-240/par-4 If an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an heir and the heir has made qualified acceptance, a creditor of the succession and a legatee may not exercise their rights over the heir's own property as bankruptcy creditors. The same applies when unconditional acceptance of inheritance has the effect of qualified acceptance pursuant to the provisions of Article 238, paragraph (1). Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-240/par-3: 第二百二十五条 → 破産法 第二百二十五条 (Article 225), art-225 — https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-225 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-225 - art-240/par-4: 第二百三十八条第一項 → 破産法 第二百三十八条第一項 (Article 238, paragraph (1)), art-238/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-238/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-238/par-1 ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 破産法 第二百四十二条第三項（限定承認又は財産分離等の後の相続財産の管理及び処分等） — https://japanlaw.org/en/bankruptcy-act/art-242/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-242/par-3 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 破産法 — the text in force from 2026-05-21 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/416AC0000000075/20260521_505AC0000000053), retrieved 2026-10-19 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Bankruptcy Act — Ministry of Justice translation (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4895/tb), retrieved 2026-10-19 - This site's parser, version 204 — 破産法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-19