How to inherit by will

Everything is included in the inheritance

The house or apartment in which the deceased lived, his personal belongings, valuables, transport, other real estate and land, securities, the right to a share in the business. As well as loans and credits, debts (and it doesn’t matter whether the deceased himself owed someone, or was owed to him).

ATTENTION! It is important for heirs under a will to understand the overall picture of the inheritance. It may turn out that, despite the apparent wealth of the testator, all valuable property is mortgaged, and you were bequeathed “only debts.” During the six months during which the inheritance rights will be formalized, the interest on the loans may become more than the value of the property.

In such cases, it would be wiser to waive the right of inheritance so as not to deal with other people's loans. To do this, it is enough simply not to apply for inheritance rights. However, the opposite situation also happens, when during the registration of an inheritance, the value of the property increases many times (this can happen with shares or real estate).

Will as a document

A will is qualified by law as a “unilateral act of expression of will.” The owner of the property expresses his desire as to who, after his death, will own all the property earned and accumulated by him during his life. And if, in the absence of a will, everything passes to the legal heirs in shares determined by law, then the will can be drawn up for any individual or legal entity. With some reservations, which we will discuss below.

The will is personally drawn up by the citizen and notarized. In some cases, a notary can draw up a will himself using dictation. At the same time, he is obliged to make sure that the citizen is in a capable state, understands the meaning of his actions and is able to bear responsibility for them.

After drawing up a will under dictation, the testator must read its text and put his signature. Only after this the notary certifies the signature, affixes a seal and enters the document into the register. After the death of the testator, his will is executed in accordance with the requirements of the law.

In what cases is a will invalidated?

Contesting a will is a fairly common procedure. The will is declared invalid, in whole or in part, by the court. Moreover, according to the law, only relatives (heirs of all orders) or the person indicated as an heir in the previous will (if there was one) can file an application. Most often, this role is played by relatives who consider themselves “left out.”

The grounds for challenging a will and declaring it fully or partially invalid are:

Failure to comply with the legal form of the document (lack of signature, notary seal, other violations)
Inconsistency of the essence of the will with the legislation of the Russian Federation
Incapacity of a citizen at the time of writing a will (proved by documents)
Unfair actions of the heir towards the testator (threats, physical and psychological violence, direct deception or misrepresentation), which must also be proven

In cases where the court recognizes the invalidity of a will, the heirs indicated in it do not enter into the inheritance (if we are talking about strangers) or enter on a general basis (if we are talking about family members).

When does inheritance take place under a will?

You can submit documents to enter into the right of inheritance immediately after receiving a document certifying the death of the testator. But you are not obliged to do this immediately; the main thing is to have time to declare your inheritance rights before six months have passed. The period begins to count from the next day of the date on the death certificate, or the date of entry into force of the court decision declaring the citizen dead.

ATTENTION! If you miss the six-month deadline, the notary will rightfully refuse to accept your documents. If you had valid reasons that prevented you from filing on time, you can submit an application to the court to have the inheritance period extended, attaching documents confirming that the reason that prevented you from doing everything on time is valid.

What is the period for accepting an inheritance by law and by will?

Lawyer Antonov A.P.

The general period for accepting an inheritance is six months from the date of opening of the inheritance. In addition, there are special deadlines if the right of inheritance arose as a result of non-acceptance of the inheritance by another heir, his refusal of the inheritance or his removal.

1. Acceptance of an inheritance To acquire an inheritance, it must be accepted. An accepted inheritance is recognized as belonging to the heir from the date of opening of the inheritance, regardless of the time of its actual acceptance and the moment of state registration of the heir's right to inherited property, when such a right is subject to state registration (clauses 1, 4 of Article 1152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The period for accepting an inheritance does not depend on whether it is accepted by law or by will.

2. General period for accepting an inheritance According to the general rule, the period for accepting an inheritance is six months from the date of opening of the inheritance (clause 1 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). The time of opening of the inheritance is the moment of death of the citizen. The medical certificate issued to the relatives of the deceased indicates, in particular, the date and time of his death. Thus, the moment of death of a citizen, and therefore the time of opening of the inheritance, can be determined down to the hour and minute of a specific calendar day. Accordingly, the day of opening of the inheritance should be considered the date on which the moment of death of the testator falls, that is, the date of his death (clause 1 of Article 1114 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). When a citizen is declared dead, the day of opening of the inheritance is the day the court decision to declare the citizen dead comes into force (clause 1 of Article 1114 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). If the day of death of a citizen is recognized as the day of his alleged death, then the day of opening of the inheritance is the day and moment of death specified in the court decision. However, the six-month period for accepting an inheritance in this case is calculated from the date of entry into force of the court decision declaring the citizen dead (clause 1 of Article 1114, paragraph 2 of clause 1 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

3. Special deadlines for accepting an inheritance If your right to inheritance arose only as a result of non-acceptance of the inheritance by another heir, the inheritance can be accepted within three months from the end of the six-month period from the date of death of the testator or from the date of entry into legal force of the court decision declaring the testator deceased (Clause 3 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). If the right arose as a result of the heir’s refusal of the inheritance or the removal of the heir, then you can accept the inheritance within six months from the date the right of inheritance arose in you. The period begins the next day after the date of the heir’s refusal of the inheritance or the heir’s removal (clause 2 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; clause 38 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of May 29, 2012).

There are two ways to accept an inheritance (Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation): 1) submit an application for acceptance of an inheritance or an application for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance; 2) take actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance. It is considered that the heir has accepted the inheritance if he, in particular: has taken possession or management of the inherited property; took measures to preserve the inherited property, protect it from encroachments or claims of third parties; incurred expenses for maintaining the inherited property; paid at his own expense the debts of the testator or received funds due to the testator from third parties. After submitting an application to a notary or an official authorized to issue certificates of the right to inheritance, or when performing actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance, the heir is considered to have accepted the inheritance and the six-month period for him is no longer calculated. You can register an inheritance for an unlimited time. The period for applying for a certificate of the right to inheritance by an heir who accepted the inheritance upon application for acceptance of the inheritance or in fact is not limited. An accepted inheritance is recognized as belonging to the heir from the date of opening of the inheritance, regardless of the time of its actual acceptance, as well as regardless of the moment of state registration of the right to inherited property, when such a right is subject to state registration (clause 4 of Article 1152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Note! The heir's acceptance of part of the inheritance means his acceptance of the entire inheritance due to him. When an heir is called to inherit simultaneously on several grounds, he can accept the inheritance due to him on one, several or all grounds. It is not allowed to accept an inheritance under conditions or with reservations (clause 2 of Article 1152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Sincerely, lawyer Anatoly Antonov, managing partner of the law firm Antonov and Partners.

Still have questions for your lawyer?

Ask them right now here, or call us by phone in Moscow +7 (499) 288-34-32 or in Samara +7 (846) 212-99-71 (24 hours a day), or come to our office for a consultation (by pre-registration)!

Hereditary transmission

Another legal basis for extending the inheritance period is the so-called hereditary transmission - the heir dies later than the testator, but before he enters into the inheritance. In such cases, the property passes to his heirs, who, in theory, should also enter into an inheritance before the end of the six-month period from the date of death of the first testator.

But if, when the first heir died, less than half of the legal period (3 months) remained, it is extended for another 3 months. During this time, the next heirs must have time to take over their rights. Or they will also have to pass the inheritance period through the court.

The heir is the spouse of the deceased

The spouse who was officially married to the deceased can enter into inheritance. If the couple divorced on the day of the testator's death, the divorced spouse does not have the right to claim first priority.

It is also necessary to raise the issue of jointly acquired property. If one of the spouses in the family dies, the property share of each of them is determined. Property that belongs to a living spouse is not divided among heirs. This process is called allocation of a share of property.

The allocation of a share does not require legal proceedings. The living spouse must provide notaries with documents that confirm ownership of specific property (this could even be receipts for payment for expensive repairs to a shared apartment).

Mandatory share of inheritance - what does this concept mean?

Every citizen, of course, has the right to bequeath his own property to anyone he deems worthy, be it his relative, loved one, neighbor, friend, charitable foundation or other legal entity.

However, the law identifies certain categories of citizens who, under no circumstances, can be completely “disinherited.” These include:

Children under the age of majority
Disabled adult children, spouses, parents of the testator
Disabled persons who were dependent on the testator at the time of his death

Whether specified or not specified in the will, the law regulates the specific share that disabled dependents must receive as an inheritance.

This mandatory share must be no less than 50% of what disabled dependents would receive under the usual, legal order of succession.

To make it clearer, let's give an example.

A woman leaves all her property as an inheritance to her niece (the daughter of her deceased sister), leaving her two daughters and her husband without an inheritance. One daughter is 25 years old, the second is 15, her husband is a disability pensioner. Thus, her family has two members who have the right to receive a compulsory inheritance share: a teenage daughter and a disabled spouse.

They are the heirs of the first stage, while the niece is the heir of the second stage, since the inheritance rights of the testator's sister were transferred to her. If there were no will, she would not have the right of inheritance at all, since there are heirs of the first priority. The two daughters and husband would split the inheritance equally, 1/3 each.

The testator's adult, able-bodied daughter has no right to inheritance, since she is not specified in the will. But the minor daughter and disabled husband should receive 50% of what would have been legally due to them in the absence of a will. That is, 1/6 of the inheritance each.

Thus, the inherited property is divided into the following parts: 1/6 goes to the husband, 1/6 to the minor daughter, and 4/6 (2/3) goes to the niece.

Actual acceptance of inheritance

Judicial panel for civil cases of the Moscow City Court, consisting of presiding judge Gornova M.V.,

and judges Vishnyakova N.E., Bykovskaya L.I.,

under secretary M.,

having heard in open court the report of judge N.E. Vishnyakova. civil case on appeal Z.E.Yu. on the decision of the Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow dated September 6, 2017, which decided:

Establish the fact of acceptance of T.N. inheritance that opened after the death of O.T., who died * years.

Determine the share of O.T. in the common property of the spouses in the form of 1/2 share in the ownership of the apartment at the address: *, including the specified share in the inheritance mass after the death of O.T.

Recognize for T.N. ownership of * a share of the apartment at: * by inheritance.

Recognize as Z.E.Y. ownership of 5/6 shares of the apartment at address * by inheritance.

The decision is the basis for making a record of T.N.’s ownership in the Unified State Register of Real Estate. for a 1/6 share of the apartment at the address: * and about the ownership of Z.E.Yu. for 5/6 shares of the specified apartment.

installed:

T.N. filed a lawsuit against Z.E.Yu. on establishing the fact of acceptance of the inheritance, allocating a share in the common property of the spouses, including the property in the hereditary mass, recognizing the right of ownership in the order of inheritance by law, motivating their demands by the fact that * her mother died - O.T., her heirs first daughters appeared in turn - T.N. and Z.E.Yu., as well as husband O.Yu., who died * years ago. During the period of marriage, namely 08/16/2002, the parents of the plaintiff and defendant in the name of O.Yu. purchased apartment N * in house * under a sales contract. On the day of death of O.T. permanently resided at *. After the death of her mother, the plaintiff took her personal belongings (precious jewelry, household items and documents). Also, after O.T.’s funeral, which was handled by the plaintiff, she disposed of her mother’s belongings and gave her daughter her grandmother’s ring and bracelet. Within the period established by law, the plaintiff did not apply to the notary to accept the inheritance, but believes that, having completed the above actions, she actually accepted the inheritance left after the death of O.T.

The plaintiff and her representative at the court hearing supported the claim on the grounds set out in it.

The defendant and her representative did not admit the claims, believing that the plaintiff did not provide sufficient evidence indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance.

The court made the above decision, the cancellation of which, as illegal and unfounded, according to the arguments of the appeal, Z.E.Yu.

Having checked the case materials, having listened to the representative of the plaintiff - Vorobyov A.S., the defendant Z.E.Yu., her representative - S.O., having discussed the arguments of the appeal, the judicial panel comes to the conclusion that there are no grounds for canceling the appeal decision made in accordance with the actual circumstances of the case.

In accordance with Art. 195 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court’s decision must be legal and justified.

In accordance with Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 23 of December 19, 2003, a decision is legal when it is made in strict compliance with the rules of procedural law and in full compliance with the rules of substantive law that are subject to application to a given legal relationship, or is based on the application, in necessary cases, of an analogy of law or an analogy of law (part 1 of article 1, part 3 of article 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

The decision is justified when the facts relevant to the case are confirmed by evidence examined by the court, satisfying the requirements of the law on their relevance and admissibility, or by circumstances that do not require proof (Articles 55, 59 - 61, 67 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), and also when it contains exhaustive conclusions of the court arising from the established facts.

The decision of the court of first instance fully complies with these requirements of the law.

By virtue of Art. 264 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, the court establishes the facts on which the emergence, change, termination of personal or property rights of citizens depends, including the fact that title documents (with the exception of military documents, passports and certificates issued by civil registry authorities) belong to the person, name, patronymic or whose last name indicated in the document does not coincide with the first name, patronymic or last name of this person indicated in the passport or birth certificate; the fact of acceptance of the inheritance and the place of opening of the inheritance.

In accordance with Art. 1111 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, inheritance is carried out by will and by law. Inheritance by law takes place when and insofar as it is not changed by a will, as well as in other cases established by this Code.

In accordance with Art. 1112 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the inheritance includes things and other property that belonged to the testator on the day the inheritance was opened, including property rights and obligations. The inheritance does not include rights and obligations that are inextricably linked with the personality of the testator, in particular the right to alimony, the right to compensation for harm caused to the life or health of a citizen, as well as rights and obligations, the transfer of which by inheritance is not permitted by this Code or other laws . Personal non-property rights and other intangible benefits are not included in the inheritance.

According to Part 2 of Art. 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is recognized, until otherwise proven, that the heir accepted the inheritance if he performed actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance, in particular, if the heir: took possession or management of the inherited property; took measures to preserve the inherited property, protect it from encroachments or claims of third parties; made at his own expense expenses for the maintenance of the inherited property; paid at his own expense the debts of the testator or received funds due to the testator from third parties.

In accordance with paragraph 36 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation No. 9 “On judicial practice in cases of inheritance,” the commission by the heir of actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance should be understood as the commission of actions provided for in paragraph 2 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as other actions management, disposal and use of inherited property, maintaining it in proper condition, which manifests the heir’s attitude towards the inheritance as his own property.

Such actions, in particular, may include: the heir moving into the residential premises belonging to the testator or living in it on the day of opening of the inheritance (including without registering the heir at the place of residence or place of stay), the heir's processing of the land plot, filing a lawsuit applications for the protection of their inheritance rights, requests for an inventory of the testator's property, payment of utilities, insurance payments, reimbursement from the inherited property of expenses provided for in Article 1174 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, other actions regarding the possession, use and disposal of inherited property. Moreover, such actions can be performed both by the heir himself and by other persons on his behalf. These actions must be completed within the period for accepting the inheritance established by Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Based on Art. 1141 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, heirs by law are called upon to inherit in the order of priority provided for in Articles 1142 - 1145 and 1148 of this Code. The heirs of each subsequent queue inherit if there are no heirs of previous queues, that is, if there are no heirs of previous queues, or none of them has the right to inherit, or all of them are excluded from inheritance, or deprived of inheritance, or none of them accepted the inheritance, or all they refused the inheritance. Heirs of the same line inherit in equal shares, with the exception of heirs inheriting by right of representation.

According to Part 2 of Art. 218 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in the event of the death of a citizen, ownership of the property belonging to him passes by inheritance to other persons in accordance with the will or law.

As established by the court and follows from the case materials, T.N. and Z.E.Y. are daughters of O.T. and O.Yu. FROM. died * years ago. After her death, no one applied for acceptance of the inheritance within the period established by law. Moscow notary F. applied to the property of O.T. an inheritance case was opened at the request of T.N., filed on 02/02/2017.

After the death of O.T. an inheritance opened in the form of a 1/2 share of apartment N * in the house *. The heirs of the first stage were the daughters of O.T. (plaintiff and defendant), as well as spouse - O.Yu. O.Yu. died *, the inheritance case to his property was opened by the notary of Moscow S.Z. according to the statement of Z.E.Yu. dated November 26, 2016. Also with an application for acceptance of the inheritance after the death of O.Yu. On January 12, 2017, T.N. contacted

From the materials of the inheritance case to the property of O.Yu. It is seen that during his lifetime, namely on 02/26/2014, he made a will in favor of Z.E.Yu., which was not canceled or changed.

During the period of marriage, in 2001, spouse O. addressed to O.Yu. purchased apartment N * in the building * k. * on the street. * according to the purchase and sale agreement.

In satisfying the claims, the court of first instance proceeded from the fact that T.N.’s arguments were confirmed at the court hearing. that she performed actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance, accepting O.T.’s personal belongings, as well as accepting the fulfillment of obligations under the loan agreement.

The court also indicated that the disputed apartment was purchased during the marriage of O.T. and O.Yu. and is their common property, which belonged to the spouses in equal shares, having satisfied the requirements for the allocation of the marital share of O.T. and inclusion of 1/2 share of the apartment in the estate after her death.

The panel of judges considers it possible to agree with the conclusion of the trial court, since it is legal and reasonable and does not contradict the norms of current legislation.

In his complaint Z.E.Yu. refers to the fact that T.N. the statute of limitations has expired for filing claims to establish the fact of acceptance of the inheritance, as well as for filing claims for the allocation of the marital share from the property acquired during the marriage of O.T. and O.Yu.

The panel of judges does not agree with this argument due to the following.

In accordance with Art. 195 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period is the period for protecting the right under the claim of the plaintiff, whose right has been violated.

According to Art. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the general limitation period is set at three years.

By virtue of Part 2 of Art. 199 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period is applied by the court only upon the application of a party to the dispute made before the court makes a decision. The expiration of the limitation period, the application of which is declared by a party to the dispute, is the basis for the court to make a decision to reject the claim.

Based on clauses 1, 2 of Art. 200 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the limitation period begins from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right. Exceptions from this rule are established by this Code or other laws. For obligations with a specific performance period, the limitation period begins upon the expiration of the performance period.

The panel of judges recognizes the court's conclusions on establishing the fact of the plaintiff's acceptance of the inheritance as legal, based on admissible written evidence and the plaintiff's explanations. Legally significant actions were performed by him within the six-month period established by law and give rise to legal consequences in the form of recognition of ownership of the inherited property. Thus, the plaintiff did not expire the limitation period.

The claims of heirs for the allocation of a share in the common property of the spouses are subject to a general limitation period (3 years), which begins from the day when the person learned or should have learned about the violation of his right.

The plaintiff learned about her violated right only after contacting the notary S.Z. in January 2021 with an application to accept the inheritance, when the notary informed her of the existence of a will dated February 26, 2014, according to which O.Yu. bequeathed the disputed apartment to Z.E.Yu., therefore, the statute of limitations has not expired.

A reference in a complaint to disagreement with the court’s assessment of the evidence also does not entail the cancellation of the court’s decision, since the determination of circumstances relevant to the case, as well as the request, reception and assessment of evidence, in accordance with Art. Art. 56, 59, 67 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, falls within the exclusive competence of the court of first instance.

The court assessed all the evidence presented, including the testimony of witnesses questioned at the court hearing, as well as material evidence that was examined at the court hearing.

Under such circumstances, the court came to a reasonable conclusion that the claims made by the plaintiff were proven.

At the same time, the reference in the complaint to the fact that the possible demonstration of jewelry is not proof of their ownership and the basis for establishing the fact of acceptance of the inheritance cannot lead to the cancellation of the decision of the court of first instance, since at the meeting of the judicial panel the jewelry was examined: a gold bracelet with an engraving “to mom” from Natasha", a gold ring with precious stones - emerald and diamonds with the engraving "O.T.A."

A reference in the complaint to the fact that a power of attorney was attached to the statement of claim by way of subrogation, while the main power of attorney was not attached, and therefore the court, in the opinion of the applicant, should have returned the statement of claim, cannot lead to the cancellation of the court decision, since At the meeting of the judicial panel, the representative of the plaintiff presented the main power of attorney N * dated 02.02.2017 from T.N. in the name of T.S., who subsequently issued a power of attorney N * dated July 14, 2017, in the order of reassignment to the name of R., on whose behalf the statement of claim was signed and filed in court.

The conclusions of the court's decision are confirmed by the case materials, which the court gave a proper assessment. The court determined the legally significant circumstances correctly. The arguments of the appeal do not contain circumstances that refuted the conclusions of the court decision and are aimed at a different assessment of the evidence, which is not a basis for overturning the court decision.

Based on the above, guided by art. Art. 328 - 329 Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, judicial panel

determined:

The decision of the Cheryomushkinsky District Court of Moscow dated September 6, 2017 is left unchanged and the appeal is not satisfied.

Step-by-step instructions for entering into an inheritance according to a will

This is usually the case in historical films. A notary comes to the house of the deceased, solemnly opens the will and reads it to the relatives. After which the heirs either take over the rights or argue in court.

In ordinary life, you can’t count on this (unless, of course, the testator kept his own notary on his payroll). Therefore, first you have to check for yourself whether the deceased relative left a will. So.

Find out whether there was a will. This may not be necessary, since the testator has long told all family members what to expect after his death and even named the notary holding the will. If not, go to any notary office and inquire. All wills are entered into a special register, and any notary will tell you whether a given citizen made a will, and if so, which notary certified it and stores it.
Prepare the necessary package of documents (we will discuss this in more detail below).
When everything is ready, go to the notary who keeps the will and go through the procedure for entering into inheritance rights

What is the procedure for entering into an inheritance according to a will?

This procedure itself is not complicated and does not take much time. Difficulties may await you later, in the process of re-registration of rights to real estate, transport, land, etc. In the meantime, you have to do the following:

Go to the notary who keeps the testator's will and write a statement that you accept the inheritance and are ready to receive a certificate of the testator's right to inheritance. He will give you a sample or form.
Provide the notary with all the documents necessary to become the legal heir
Pay for his services and fee (he will tell you all the details and amount)
The notary will set the date of entry into rights under the will
You will receive your certificate within the specified time frame.
Start registering rights to inherited property

What will happen if you don’t tell the notary about other heirs and take the entire inheritance for yourself?

“If you want to quarrel with your relatives, leave them an inheritance.” The more you deal with inheritance matters, the more often you become convinced of the truth of these words.

Sometimes the opening of an inheritance is accompanied by a very tough “knockout” game: after all, the fewer heirs, the more you get. Therefore, not many people are interested in helping their “competitors” by reporting them to the notary.

The trick is simple: even when the heir has all the legal grounds to receive the inheritance, he will still be left with nothing if he does not manage to accept it within 6 months from the date of opening. It is very difficult to restore this deadline: you need to give very good reasons why it was missed.

What if you don’t tell the notary about other heirs? In this case, a very tempting prospect emerges: to take the entire inheritance for yourself, bypassing other relatives.

By law, the notary who opened the inheritance case is obliged to notify all the heirs - please note - about the place of residence or work of whom he knows .

How can he find out such information if no one obliges him to search for heirs? Of course, first of all, from those heirs who have already turned to him. Therefore, it actually depends on them whether others will receive the inheritance.

Does the law provide for any liability for the fact that the heir keeps silent about other relatives of the testator known to him? This issue was recently considered by the Supreme Court (Case 5-KG18-268).

A man has passed away. He lived alone lately, communicating only with his sister. Among the first-line heirs was her own daughter, but her sister did not inform her about her father’s death.

As it turned out later, the silence was kept for a reason: the sister turned to a notary and filed an application to accept the inheritance. There was no will, and according to the law, the sister belongs to the second line of heirs.

This means that she can inherit only if none of the first-line heirs declares their rights. The notary, as expected, asked her if her brother had other close relatives. But she replied that she knew nothing about them.

6 months passed, no one contacted the notary again, and he issued his sister a certificate of inheritance - she became the sole heir to the apartment, a house with a plot and a bank deposit.

And about a year later, the daughter began to become interested in the fate of her father, found out that he was no longer there, and began to seek an inheritance. Of course, she accused her aunt of not specifically telling the notary that her brother had a daughter, otherwise she would never have seen the inheritance.

The Moscow City Court recognized that the sister acted in bad faith by keeping silent about the heir of the first priority.

Considering this behavior as an abuse of right (Article 10 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), the court canceled the certificate of right to inheritance issued to the sister and restored the deadline for accepting the daughter’s inheritance.
That is, in fact, the heir was held responsible for the fact that he did not report other relatives known to him.

But the case reached the Supreme Court, and there it took a completely different turn. Here the court did not find any violations on the part of the sister.

Indeed, nowhere in the law is the heirs obligated to inform the notary that there are other heirs. And since there is no such obligation, it means that one cannot be held responsible for its failure to fulfill it.

The fact that the daughter did not know about her father’s death is entirely her fault.
She did not maintain communication with him, citing a difficult relationship. But this is not a valid reason for reinstating the deadline for her to accept the inheritance. In other words, the verdict is this: the heir has every right to keep silent about other contenders for the inheritance known to him and take everything for himself. In matters of inheritance, everyone is for himself.

VAT – 2022

The best speaker on tax topics, , will prepare you for filing your return on January 14 . There are 10 out of 40 places left for the online workshop . The flow is limited, as there will be live communication with the teacher live. Hurry up to get into the group. Sign up>>>

What documents will you need

A document certifying the death of the testator. The most common is a death certificate. In some cases, this may be a court decision declaring a citizen dead or a certificate from the Migration Office (Office for Migration) about the last place of residence of the testator
Documents confirming rights to inheritance. In the case of a will, your passport is sufficient. But if there are heirs claiming an obligatory share of the inheritance, in addition to passports, they are required to provide evidence of kinship (birth certificate, adoption certificate, marriage certificate)
Additional documents are required to prove the right to an obligatory part of the inheritance. This could be: a pension certificate, a disability certificate, documents proving residence as a dependent of the testator, etc.

It makes sense to call the notary in advance so that he can tell you what additional documents may be required and prepare them in advance. Otherwise you will have to go to him again. You can also contact a notary on our portal Prav.io.

General provisions

Opening of inheritance is a legal procedure that connects the moment of emergence of rights to property and the beginning of the period for calculating acceptance or refusal of inheritance.

Regardless of what type of inheritance we consider, the stage of its discovery begins from the moment of the actual death of the testator. The death of a person in all cases must be documented. Therefore, a death certificate or a court decision that has entered into force, which confirms the fact of death, are the basis for opening an inheritance.

This legal procedure is carried out:

at the place of residence of the deceased;
at the location of the property or its most significant part (only if the place of residence of the testator is unknown).

The inheritance property must be accepted within 6 months from the date of opening the inheritance case. If the heirs do not contact the notary during this time, the property will be transferred to the state treasury.

Important: the deadline for acceptance may be extended by court decision. To do this, it is necessary to provide significant evidence that explains the reason for the late application (for example, treatment or military service).

The inheritance process can occur in two ways:

According to the will (the deceased left a notarized document in which he indicated a list of heirs. In this case, the heirs should not be close relatives of the deceased).
According to the law (the general provisions of this method and the circle of persons who have the right to claim the property are enshrined in Articles 1141-1145 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

A situation in which one part of the property is transferred by will, and the other by law, is not acceptable.

Duty amount

Inherited property is not subject to tax. But the notary fee for the state fee, which is charged for carrying out the procedure and issuing inheritance certificates, can be quite high.

The duty amount is calculated based on:

Degree of relationship between the testator and the recipient of the inheritance
Total value of inherited property

Heirs of the first two stages, namely, children and parents, spouses, siblings, pay a duty of 0.3%, but not more than 100 thousand rubles.

Heirs of other orders and persons not related to the testator by blood ties - 0.6%, but not more than 1 million rubles.

In some cases, inherited property does not require payment of a fee at all. For example, an apartment, if the heir lived in it until the death of the testator and continues to do so.

How to register property rights to inheritance

This is the final stage of inheritance. The property is now yours, and you are faced with the task of obtaining full rights to it. In fact, all procedures are not much different from those that citizens undergo who have acquired property or received it as a gift.

To re-register real estate and land plots, you should contact Rosreestr, to re-register a vehicle - to the traffic police. You should have a passport, property documents, and a certificate of inheritance with you.

All this can be done after the 6 months allotted for entering into inheritance rights have expired.

Registration of property rights

The legislation establishes a list of property to which property rights must be re-registered. These include:

a private house;
apartment;
part or share of a house;
a room in a communal apartment;
dorm room;
land plot (including those intended for private construction, farming, going along with a private house);
vehicles;
bank accounts.

The legislation does not limit the period during which the heir must apply to the competent authorities to re-register property rights. This can be done at any time after receiving a notarized certificate of inheritance. But it is necessary to remember that if property rights are not re-registered in a timely manner, then, if necessary, it will not be possible to fully dispose of the objects.

The problem of de facto inheritance of property is particularly acute. If the deceased testator had only one relative claiming the inheritance and after the death of the testator he continued to care for the property, guaranteed its safety, monitored repairs, supported repairs, he has the opportunity to obtain ownership of the object regardless of the execution of a notarial certificate for the property. In the future, the actual heir, in any case, will have to contact a notary to obtain a certificate for re-registration of property rights.

In practice, there are cases when the actual heir received property and continued to dispose of it without re-registration. Further, after the expiration of the six-month period, the notary, in accordance with the law, recognized the specified property as escheated and transferred it in favor of the state. Thus, a dispute arises between the actual heir and the state, which can only be resolved in court. Therefore, it is better not to delay the deadlines, but to begin re-registration of property rights as soon as possible.

For an apartment

Article 131 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides that property rights to real estate must be registered in a unified register. All information is stored electronically in the unified state real estate register EGRN. The re-registration procedure is carried out by employees of Rosreestr, which is located in almost every locality.

Important! The heir is obliged to contact Rosreestr located at the location of the property.

To complete the procedure, you must submit the following documents:

heir's passport;
notarial certificate;
technical documents for property;
real estate passport;
receipt for payment of state duty.

Attention! In 2021, the state fee for re-registration of property rights to real estate is 2,000 rubles.

When carrying out the procedure, the following nuances must be taken into account:

the process takes about a month;
upon completion of the procedure, the person receives an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate, which is confirmation of property rights;
Each heir who inherits a share of real estate receives a separate extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate.

For house and land

Acceptance of inheritance of a house is re-registered in a similar way, since a private house is a piece of real estate. This means that the re-registration of property rights takes place in Rosreestr. As for a land plot, you can inherit not only the plot of land that is in your possession, but also the land plot that is under perpetual lease.

Required documents:

passport;
receipt of payment of state duty;
certificate of inheritance;
cadastral plan;
cadastral passport;
handwritten application for re-registration.

An application for re-registration of land ownership rights is submitted to Rosreestr, after which the applicant will have to wait up to 30 days until the re-registration procedure is completed.

For car

Re-registration of ownership of a vehicle is carried out at the traffic police department located at the place of registration of the heir. In addition, you can contact any traffic police department operating on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Important! Property rights to cars and other vehicles must be registered with the State Traffic Safety Inspectorate within 10 days from the date of receipt of the notarized certificate. Violation of this deadline will result in an administrative fine.

The procedure for re-registration of property rights consists of the following stages:

Carrying out technical inspection of the machine;
obtaining a diagnostic card confirming serviceability;
registration of an insurance policy;
preparation of necessary documents (passport, car passport, notary certificate, insurance policy, receipt of payment of state duty);
waiting for the traffic police to make changes to the register, which takes up to one working day.

As for the MTPL insurance policy, the heir does not have to re-issue a new document. The following options are allowed:

inheriting a vehicle policy;
transferring the current policy from one car to another.

To a bank account

Re-registration of property rights depends on the content of the agreement with the bank. So, if the agreement includes a person receiving a bank deposit in the event of the death of the depositor, then the bank is obliged to transfer the money to a specific person. To do this, the heir must submit a handwritten application from the financial organization, which is confirmed by the following documents:

passport of a Russian citizen;
death certificate of the testator;
a copy of the application for opening of inheritance;
notarial certificate, if the six-month period allotted for inheritance has already been completed.

A bank employee reviews the appeal, agrees on it with the contents of the deposit agreement, and then transfers the amount of money to the heir’s bank account.

If the banking agreement does not provide for the person to whom the money will be transferred in the event of the death of the depositor, then the division of property is carried out by a notary in the order of legal order on the basis of a drawn up will. In the absence of a will, the amount of the contribution is divided in equal parts among all heirs who have acquired property rights.

Debentures

A person cannot formalize property rights only to valuables, ignoring debt obligations. In order to protect the property rights of creditors, as well as to guarantee the repayment of the testator's debts, it is provided that each heir is transferred a portion of the debts equal to the share of the property received.

Important! The amount of debt cannot exceed the value of the property received.

When calculating the debt obligations of established heirs, the following rules are taken into account:

after the death of the testator, the creditor stops calculating fines and penalties, that is, the heir is obliged to repay only the amount that was formed on the day of the death of the testator;
if there are several heirs, the debt is divided between them;
in the presence of a will, by which one claimant receives all the valuables, and the second only debts, is declared invalid;
the heir is not obliged to independently contact different banks in order to find a lender.

In practice, the credit institution is obliged to independently find the notary who opened the inheritance proceedings in order to report that there are outstanding debts of the testator and they need to be divided among the heirs. This takes into account the statute of limitations, under which the creditor can only demand compensation for the debt for the past three years. If the bank misses the deadline, it can no longer demand repayment of the debt.