Taiwan Estate Lawyer vs Daishu: Costs, Roles, and When You Need Each

Foreign families settling an estate in Taiwan face an immediate question: do you hire a full-service lawyer, or work with a local land registration agent called a daishu (代書, formally 地政士)? The cost difference is enormous — from tens of thousands of NT$ to hundreds of thousands — and most estates don't need the expensive option.

What a Daishu Does

A daishu is a licensed land registration agent who handles the routine administrative filings that make up 80% of estate settlement work. They're the local equivalent of a conveyancer — procedural experts who know exactly which forms each government office requires, in what order, and with what stamps.

Typical daishu fee schedule:

Total cost for a typical estate with one property, one tax filing, and two bank accounts: roughly NT$45,000 to NT$55,000 (US$1,400-1,700).

Daishus work on fixed-fee, per-service pricing — not hourly billing. You know the cost upfront. They handle the HRO transcript collection, tax bureau filings, land office registration, and bank closure paperwork with practiced efficiency.

What a Daishu Cannot Do

Daishus are administrative practitioners, not lawyers. They cannot:

• Represent you in court for disputed inheritances
• Draft or contest wills
• Negotiate between hostile heirs
• Provide legal opinions on complex cross-border tax issues
• Handle litigation over forged documents or contested claims

When You Need a Lawyer

A bilingual corporate lawyer in Taiwan charges minimum retainers of US$5,000+, with hourly rates of US$300-500. The total cost for full-service estate representation can easily reach US$15,000-30,000 for a complex estate.

You need a lawyer when:

• Heirs disagree about how to divide the estate and won't sign the partition agreement
• A will is being contested — particularly disputes over compulsory portions
• The estate has significant debts that require court-supervised limited liability proceedings
• Cross-border tax complications exist (dual residency, assets in multiple countries)
• Document fraud is suspected — forged seals, unauthorized transactions, or missing assets

For everything else — the routine filings, tax returns, bank closures, and property transfers — a daishu is the right professional at a fraction of the cost.

The English-Speaking Problem

Most daishus work exclusively in Mandarin. They have deep procedural knowledge but no English materials, no English-facing web presence, and limited ability to communicate with foreign heirs directly.

This creates a practical gap: the foreign heir can't explain what they need, and the daishu can't explain what documents are required, in a language both sides understand. The result is miscommunication, rejected filings, and repeated trips to TECO for corrected POAs.

English-speaking daishus exist in Taipei but are significantly harder to find. English-speaking estate lawyers are more available but charge dramatically more.

The Hybrid Approach

The most cost-effective strategy for foreign heirs is a hybrid: use a daishu for all routine filings while hiring a bilingual lawyer only for the initial consultation (to understand the legal landscape) and for any contested issues.

The consultation frames the work — what needs filing, in what order, with what documents. The daishu executes the filings at standard rates. If a dispute arises mid-process, the lawyer steps in for that specific issue.

Even with a full-service lawyer, the heir still must source, compile, and translate 90% of the identity and kinship documents. No professional can skip the TECO authentication process for your overseas POA or produce your birth certificate proving kinship.

The Someone Died in Taiwan: English Speaker's Emergency Guide includes a professional selection guide, standard pricing benchmarks to prevent overcharging, and bilingual scripts for directing a daishu through each filing step.

See more Taiwan guides →