Legal Support Adult Guardianship Registry

Legal Support (公益社団法人成年後見センター・リーガルサポート) is a nationwide body of judicial scriveners (司法書士) that helps families use the adult guardianship (成年後見) system in Japan. This is where parents turn when they are planning for a child or adult relative who cannot fully manage legal and financial matters on their own, whether because of an intellectual disability, dementia, or another condition. The organization provides guidance on statutory adult guardianship, voluntary guardianship (任意後見), and guardianship for minors (未成年後見制度), and it explains related tools such as the guardianship support trust (後見制度支援信託) that protects a ward’s assets.

Support runs through roughly 50 branches across every region of Japan, staffed by more than 8,500 member judicial scriveners. Each branch offers consultations by phone and in person, and many also provide home visits and free accompanied visits for people who cannot travel to an office. The site includes a member search tool so families can find a qualified judicial scrivener near them, and branch contact numbers are listed by prefecture from Hokkaido down to Okinawa.

Legal Support is a public interest incorporated association, and beyond individual consultations it runs a guardianship grant fund (成年後見助成基金), publishes materials, and sends speakers to community sessions on guardianship. The head office is in Yotsuya, Shinjuku ward, Tokyo, though the network serves the whole country. The site is in Japanese with only a few English navigation labels, so foreign residents will want to bring an interpreter or a bilingual helper when arranging a consultation.