# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百七十三条 (Article 973) - 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: 第九百七十三条 (Article 973)（成年被後見人の遺言） — address `art-973` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-973 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-973 - 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. --- ### 第九百七十三条（成年被後見人の遺言） — (Will of an Adult Ward) caption: Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System art-973 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-973 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-973 **第一項** 成年被後見人が事理を弁識する能力を一時回復した時において遺言をするには、医師二人以上の立会いがなければならない。 art-973/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-973/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-973/par-1 At least two doctors must be present in order for an adult ward to make a will at a time that the ward's capacity to appreciate the situation at hand has recovered temporarily. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 遺言に立ち会った医師は、遺言者が遺言をする時において精神上の障害により事理を弁識する能力を欠く状態になかった旨を遺言書に付記して、これに署名し、印を押さなければならない。ただし、秘密証書による遺言にあっては、その封紙にその旨の記載をし、署名し、印を押さなければならない。 art-973/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-973/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-973/par-2 The doctors present during the making of a will must make a supplemental note on the will indicating that the testator did not lack the capacity to appreciate the situation at hand at the time of making the will, and must sign it and affix their seals thereto; provided, however, that for a will in the form of a sealed and notarized instrument, the doctors must write an indication to that effect on the closed and sealed instrument, sign it, and affix their seals thereto. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System ## Cited by 1 provision cites this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第九百八十二条第一項（普通の方式による遺言の規定の準用） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-982/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-982/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