On February 9^th, 2021, the MHLW announced the “Results of a Fact-Finding Survey on Petitions for Guardianship Made by the Heads of Local Governments”. Under the adult guardianship system, where those who need guardianship do not have anyone to file a petition on their behalf because they have no relatives, the right to file a petition for legal guardianship is given to the head of the local government. However, there are still some challenges with this system, such as in cases where multiple local governments are involved, due to a mismatch of the person’s actual residence and registered address etc. There are not yet any clear guidelines as to which local government should conduct an investigation and file a petition for guardianship in these cases. “The Expert Meeting on the Promotion of the Adult Guardianship System” concluded that a petition by the head of a local government should be made promptly and appropriately reflect the situation of each case, and that a measure to facilitate smooth coordination between local governments should be discussed. Moreover, “The Government Policies on the Requests and Suggestions made by Local Governments in FY 2019 (Cabinet Decision of 23^rd December 2019)” stated that the government would conduct a fact-finding survey on the execution of the system and consider measures to facilitate smooth coordination between local governments. The government aimed to reach a conclusion by the end of FY 2019 and subsequently take necessary measures based on the results.

On 6^th October 2020, the government set up a “Working-level Consultation regarding Petitions for Guardianship Made by the Heads of Local Governments” and presented the results of a fact-finding survey. The main findings are as follows:

For further information, please visit the following link (Japanese only). https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/newpage_13833.html