I recently came into owning this plant and Im not sure the health of it. It appears to have many branches with no leaves. I tried pruning the branches with no leaves and it still has some green inside. Its getting later into the spring and I dont see any new buds. Is it dying? I dont have any experience with gardening so I appreciate any insight.

It looks like its not getting enough water. Dead branches are grey and easily snap out of the plant (cut the bigger ones).

to the forum Lacpat!
Where are you? It's not that late for it to still be leafing out. Patience is a virtue.

I have 2 established Emperor I that are looking scarce like this right now, but I noticed that there are still a lot of unopened buds, as CPPgardener said, it is still early (17th May now) and at least where I'm (Montreal Quebec) it has been a rather cold Spring so far. Low day temps do not promote fast growth. Even if you don't see big obvious buds JMs can throw new growth from secondary buds, you can't easily see. Best of luck with your tree and do post updates so we all can learn from your experience