spouse or children are next of kin when a parent dies.
spouse or children are next of kin when a parent dies.
who is next of kin when a parent dies?
spouse or children
for example, if a person dies intestate, the laws of some jurisdictions require distribution of the estate to the deceased's spouse or children. however, if there are none of these, the estate can often be distributed to the next closest group of living relatives, whether they be parents, grandparents, first cousins, aunts and uncles, or second cousins in extreme cases. if a person dies intestate with no identifiable next of kin, the person's estate generally escheats (i.e., legally reverts) to the government.
next of kin
moreover, something that is somewhat unusual in japanese custody arrangements is the system of "koseki," which legally defines households and persons' legal identity in japanese law. when a non-japanese marries a japanese, the foreign spouse's name is recorded into japanese spouse's koseki upon filing of the marriage, but the spouse's entry is not created in the koseki because of lack of japanese citizenship. when their child is born, because the child has japanese citizenship, an entry is created for the child in the japanese spouse's koseki. there is a widespread misunderstanding that when a divorce occurs, the foreign spouse is removed from the koseki and the children's custody is automatically kept by the japanese spouse who hold the koseki. koseki and custody are not related. the confusion is increased by the fact that completely uncontested divorces are performed not by a court, but by the spouses simply filling out a family registry form at the city hall. when a divorce is finalized at the city hall, the name of the custodial parent of each child must be written in the filing. the name of the custodial parent is then recorded in each child's entry in the koseki. therefore, it is wrong to assume that unless custody is litigated in japan, the japanese parent will automatically hold custody of children in japan, irrespective of the ruling of the foreign court. a divorce is not finalized in japan unless custody is agreed to by the spouses or determined by the japanese court. furthermore, it is also wrong, but common, to assume that if the custodial parent dies, custody of the child is transferred within the koseki, which would mean that custody would be retained by the dead spouse's new married partner or japanese grandparents who retain their custody as primary caregiver and would not be transferred to the surviving parent. when a sole custodial parent dies, the family court starts the procedure of appointing a guardian unless one has been designated in the will of the custodial parent.
international child abduction in japan