Forced Heirship Apportionment Calculator | How Multiple Recipients Share the Burden
When there are multiple recipients (of a bequest or lifetime gift) facing a forced heirship claim, this free simulator applies Article 1047 of Japan's Civil Code to work out exactly how much each one owes.
When a forced heirship claim involves multiple recipients — people who received a bequest or a lifetime gift — how much can be claimed from each one is governed by the order of liability set out in Article 1047 of Japan's Civil Code. (1) If there's both a bequest and lifetime gifts, the bequest is drawn on first. (2) If there are multiple bequests, or multiple gifts made at the same time, the burden is split in proportion to the value each recipient received. (3) If there are multiple gifts made at different times, the most recent one (closest to the date of death) is drawn on first.
Simulate each recipient's share from the claim amount and the list of recipients
Tips
- Paste the forced heirship claim amount you calculated with money.wealth.forced_heirship_claim straight into the claim amount field here to work out each recipient's share in one pass.
- This also works if there's only one type of recipient — bequests only, or gifts only. With just a single recipient, that recipient simply owes the full claim amount.
- Enter the "timing" of a lifetime gift as the number of years before the inheritance began. A smaller number means the gift is treated as more recent (closer to the date of death).
- If the combined value received by the recipients falls short of the claim amount, a warning appears alongside the apportioned totals — check whether you've left out a recipient.
Frequently Asked Questions
Side Note — Why "bequests first, then the newest gifts" became the rule
The order set out in Article 1047 reflects an attempt to respect the intentions of both the person who made the will and the person who made the gifts. A bequest represents the will-maker's final decision at the time of death, while a lifetime gift reflects an earlier decision. Drawing on the more recent, final decision — the bequest — first is a way of honoring the will-maker's intent as much as possible.
The same thinking explains why, among multiple lifetime gifts, "the newest one is drawn on first." The longer ago a gift was made, the more likely the recipient has already folded that property into their life plans. Older gifts are assumed to have a bigger impact on the recipient's life, so the rule draws on the newer, less-settled gift first — a nod to the recipient's legal stability.
And when there are multiple bequests, or multiple gifts made at the same time, splitting the burden "in proportion to value" avoids piling the whole burden onto just one person, instead sharing it fairly according to how much each person actually received. Together, these three rules balance protecting the claimant's reserved portion against preserving the legal stability of the people who received a bequest or gift.