Pan-ministerial guidelines for lifetime support services to the elderly

The Cabinet Secretariat (Coordination Team for Guarantorship and Other Support for the Elderly), the Office for Countermeasures for Loneliness and Isolation (Cabinet Office), the Financial Services Agency, the Consumer Affairs Agency, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism have joined forces to publish “Guidelines for Lifetime Support Service Providers for the Elderly”.

1. Purpose of the Guidelines

• The number of elderly people living alone is increasing due to factors such as the aging of society and the increasing prevalence of nuclear families.
• In particular, elderly people often face major life events such as hospitalization/discharge and admission/discharge to/from facilities. Therefore, there is a need for a system to support decision-making, etc. for elderly people who have no one to rely on or whose families live far away.
• Recently, there has been an increase in the number of businesses that provide services to the elderly, such as guarantorship, post-death affairs, and daily life support (hereinafter referred to as “lifetime support services for the elderly, etc.”), and demand is expected to increase further in the future.
• In addition, issues related to lifetime support service providers for the elderly, etc. have been raised, including in the “Survey on the Promotion of Consumer Protection in the Guarantorship and Other Support Services for the Elderly” (August 2023, Administrative Evaluation Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications).
• Since lifetime support services for the elderly, etc. are long-term in nature, often involve prepayment of fees before service provision, and target elderly people whose decision-making capacity may be declining, there are issues such as the difficulty in confirming the proper performance of contracts, and the possibility of disputes arising later over the contractual capacity of the contractor, etc. Therefore, it is important to ensure that these businesses are operated properly, taking into account the provisions of the Civil Code (Act №89 of 1896), the Consumer Contract Act (Act №61 of 2000), etc.
• From these perspectives, these guidelines have been formulated to ensure the proper business operation of lifetime support service providers for the elderly, etc., promote the sound development of lifetime support services for the elderly, etc., and enable users to use such services with peace of mind.
• These guidelines serve as a reference for lifetime support service providers for the elderly, etc., and can also be used as a guide for users to judge service providers.
• The purpose of the services provided is to support the elderly, etc. in their decision-making, etc., and to provide support up to and including after death. Therefore, in these guidelines, the term “guarantorship and other support services for the elderly,” which has been used until now, is referred to as “lifetime support services for the elderly, etc.”
• The content of the services provided, etc. is determined based on the contract between the service provider and the user, and these guidelines summarize the matters, etc. that are considered important for service providers to address at this point in time.

2. Scope of the Guidelines

Lifetime support services for the elderly, etc. include a wide variety of services, but can be broadly classified into “guarantorship and other services,” “post-death affairs services,” and “daily life support services.”

Of these services, daily life support services, such as housekeeping services, are not necessarily intended primarily for the elderly, etc., depending on the service provider, and a certain number of businesses are considered to provide only such services independently. Therefore, these guidelines mainly target service providers that meet the following three requirements:

1. The service provider provides “guarantorship and other services” and “post-death affairs services.”
2. The service provider provides services based on a contract concluded with the user (contractor).
3. The service provider provides services continuously as a business.

These guidelines provide certain guidelines for lifetime support service providers for the elderly, etc. that are not subject to regulations under various laws and regulations. However, businesses that are already subject to regulations under laws and regulations, such as lawyers, judicial scriveners, and administrative scriveners, are not subject to these guidelines. However, when engaging in the businesses described in these guidelines, these businesses are encouraged to refer to these guidelines.

Guarantorship and Other Services

① Joint and several guarantee for hospitalization at medical institutions

② Joint and several guarantee for admission to long-term care facilities, etc.

③ Proxy procedures for hospitalization/admission and discharge

④ Taking custody of the body upon death or departure

⑤ Involvement in supporting medical decision-making

⑥ Acceptance of emergency contact information and response in case of emergency

Post-Death Affairs Services

① Confirmation of death and notification to related parties

② Requesting and receiving a death certificate (autopsy report), applying to the municipality for permission to cremate, receiving a cremation permit and a burial permit, and applying for a death certificate on behalf of the deceased

③ Funeral arrangements

④ Proxy procedures for cremation (application for cremation, presentation of cremation permit)

⑤ Proxy procedures for interment (charnel house), burial (grave), and perpetual memorial services

⑥ Expense settlement, cleaning of hospital rooms, etc., and disposal of belongings and keepsakes

⑦ Proxy procedures for administrative agencies (notification of loss of eligibility for the Late-Stage Elderly Healthcare System, notification of loss of eligibility for National Health Insurance, etc.)

⑧ Discontinuation of lifelines (cancellation of public utilities (electricity, gas, and water), cancellation of internet and Wi-Fi, cancellation of landlines, mobile phones, NHK, etc.)

⑨ Proxy procedures for the disposal of remaining belongings (creation of an inventory of belongings, handover of belongings and inheritance to heirs, etc.)

⑩ Proxy procedures for the management and removal of graves

Daily Life Support Services

Life Support

① Transportation to and from medical institutions and accompaniment

② Accompanying shopping and delivery of purchased items, purchasing items necessary for daily life

③ Disposal of daily necessities and furniture

④ Moving (relocation) and moving/disposal of furniture when hospitalized or admitted to a long-term care facility, etc.

⑤ Proxy procedures for receiving long-term care insurance services, etc.

Property Management

① Proxy procedures for payment of expenses requiring regular payments, such as public utilities

② Management and remittance of living expenses, etc.

③ Proxy procedures for the preservation, management, sale, etc. of real estate, movable property, etc.

④ Matters related to savings deposit transactions

⑤ Proxy procedures for transactions such as cancellation, conversion, and sale of financial products

⑥ Safekeeping of seals, seal registration cards, and other certificates and important documents

⑦ Proxy procedures for tax filing, payment, refund claims, and receipt of refunds

3. Basic Approach to Service Provision

• In providing lifetime support services for the elderly, etc., it is important to protect the dignity of the user and respect their self-determination.
• To this end, it is important to provide necessary information and support through regular interviews with the user, to draw out the user’s own intentions and thoughts, and to consider ways to enable the user to make decisions based on their own values and preferences. When providing daily life support services in conjunction with other services, service providers should consider utilizing these opportunities.
• Furthermore, it is desirable to provide support from the user’s perspective while coordinating and sharing roles with other businesses, etc. that provide related systems and services, in addition to the services provided by the service provider, in accordance with the user’s circumstances.
• If there is a possibility that the user’s decision-making capacity is declining, the service provider should consider procedures for the adult guardianship system, etc., in cooperation with related organizations as necessary, and provide support to respect the user’s self-determination in doing so.

Please follow us to read more about Finance & FinTech in Japan, like hundreds of readers do every day. We invite you to also register for our short weekly digest, the “Japan FinTech Observer”, on Medium or on LinkedIn. Our global Finance & FinTech Podcast, “eXponential Finance” is also available through its own LinkedIn newsletter, or via our Podcast Page.

Should you live in Tokyo, or just pass through, please also join our meetup. In any case, our YouTube channel and LinkedIn page are there for you as well.