# 破産法 / Bankruptcy Act — 第二百三十一条 (Article 231)

- 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: 第二百三十一条 (Article 231)（相続債権者及び受遺者の地位） — address `art-231`
- Text in force since: 2026-05-21
- URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-231
- Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-231
- 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.

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### 第二百三十一条（相続債権者及び受遺者の地位） — (Status of Creditors of Succession and Legatee)
<sup>caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>
<sup>art-231 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-231 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-231</sup>

  **第一項**  相続財産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、相続人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。
  <sup>art-231/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-231/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-231/par-1</sup>
  If an order of commencement bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an estate, an creditor of the succession and a legatee may participate in bankruptcy proceedings with regard to the entire amount of their claims even when an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an heir.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

  **第二項**  相続財産について破産手続開始の決定があったときは、相続債権者の債権は、受遺者の債権に優先する。
  <sup>art-231/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/bankruptcy-act/art-231/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/416AC0000000075/art-231/par-2</sup>
  If an order commencing bankruptcy proceedings is issued against an estate, claims held by an creditors of the succession take precedence over claims held by a legatee.
  <sup>Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System</sup>

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## 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