# 民法 / Civil Code — 第九百九十七条 (Article 997) - 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: 第九百九十七条 (Article 997) — address `art-997` - Text in force since: 2026-06-24 - URL (the page that opens at this provision): https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997 - Permanent URL (e-Gov law ID, never renamed): https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997 - 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. --- ### 第九百九十七条 art-997 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997 **第一項** 相続財産に属しない権利を目的とする遺贈が前条ただし書の規定により有効であるときは、遺贈義務者は、その権利を取得して受遺者に移転する義務を負う。 art-997/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997/par-1 If a legacy having as its object rights not belonging to the estate takes effect pursuant to the proviso to the preceding Article, the person charged with the legacy bears a duty to obtain those rights and transfer them to the legatee. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System **第二項** 前項の場合において、同項に規定する権利を取得することができないとき、又はこれを取得するについて過分の費用を要するときは、遺贈義務者は、その価額を弁償しなければならない。ただし、遺言者がその遺言に別段の意思を表示したときは、その意思に従う。 art-997/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997/par-2 In a case as referred to in the preceding paragraph, if the rights prescribed in that paragraph cannot be obtained or if obtaining them would require excessive expenses, the person charged with the legacy must compensate the legatee for the value of those rights; provided, however, that if the testator manifests different intention by will, that intention prevails. Ministry of Justice translation — Japanese Law Translation Database System --- ## Cites - art-997/par-1: 前条 → 民法 第九百九十六条 (Article 996), art-996 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-996 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-996 - art-997/par-2: 前項 → 民法 第九百九十七条第一項 (Article 997, paragraph (1)), art-997/par-1 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997/par-1 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997/par-1 ## Cited by 2 provisions cite this one. No official source publishes this direction. - 民法 第九百六十八条第二項（自筆証書遺言） — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-968/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-968/par-2 - 民法 第九百九十七条第二項 — https://japanlaw.org/ja/civil-code/art-997/par-2 · https://japanlaw.org/l/129AC0000000089/art-997/par-2 --- ## 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