# 民法 / Civil Code — 第八百四十条 (Article 840) - Law: 民法 (Civil Code), 明治二十九年法律第八十九号 - English title "Civil Code": 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: 第八百四十条 (Article 840)（未成年後見人の選任） — address `art-840` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840 - 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. --- ### 第八百四十条（未成年後見人の選任） — (Appointment of a Guardian for a Minor) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-840 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840 **第一項** 前条の規定により未成年後見人となるべき者がないときは、家庭裁判所は、未成年被後見人又はその親族その他の利害関係人の請求によって、未成年後見人を選任する。未成年後見人が欠けたときも、同様とする。 art-840/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840/par-1 If there is no person to become the guardian of a minor pursuant to the provisions of the preceding Article, the family court may appoint a guardian for the minor at the request of the prospective minor ward, the relative thereof, or any other interested party. This also applies if the minor comes to no longer have such a guardian. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 未成年後見人がある場合においても、家庭裁判所は、必要があると認めるときは、前項に規定する者若しくは未成年後見人の請求により又は職権で、更に未成年後見人を選任することができる。 art-840/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840/par-2 Even if a minor has a guardian, the family court may appoint a further guardian if it finds this to be necessary, at the request of a person provided for in the preceding paragraph, at the request of the guardian of the minor, or sua sponte. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第三項** 未成年後見人を選任するには、未成年被後見人の年齢、心身の状態並びに生活及び財産の状況、未成年後見人となる者の職業及び経歴並びに未成年被後見人との利害関係の有無（未成年後見人となる者が法人であるときは、その事業の種類及び内容並びにその法人及びその代表者と未成年被後見人との利害関係の有無）、未成年被後見人の意見その他一切の事情を考慮しなければならない。 art-840/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840/par-3 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840/par-3 In appointing a guardian for a minor, the family court must consider the age, physical and mental condition, circumstances in the daily life, and financial circumstances of the minor ward, the occupation and personal history of the person becoming the guardian, the existence of any vested interest between them (if the person becoming the guardian is a corporation, the type and content of its business and the existence of any vested interest between the minor ward and the corporation or its representative), the opinion of the minor ward, and all other circumstances. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-840/par-1: 前条 → 民法 第八百三十九条 (Article 839), art-839 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-839 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-839 - art-840/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第八百四十条第一項 (Article 840, paragraph (1)), art-840/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第八百四十条第二項（未成年後見人の選任） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-840/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-840/par-2 - 民法 第八百五十二条第一項（委任及び後見人の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-852/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-852/par-1 --- ## Sources - e-Gov 法令検索, Digital Agency (デジタル庁) — 民法 — the text in force from 2026-06-24 (https://laws.e-gov.go.jp/law/129AC0000000089/20260624_508AC0000000045), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 2 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4275/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - Japanese Law Translation Database System, Ministry of Justice (法務省) — Civil Code — Ministry of Justice translation (part 1 of 2) (https://www.japaneselawtranslation.go.jp/en/laws/view/4848/tb), retrieved 2026-10-11 - This site's parser, version 190 — 民法 — structure, counts, cross-references and defined terms, computed 2026-10-11