Is it possible to formalize the actual entry into inheritance with a notary if the inheritance case has not been opened?

Deadlines for acceptance and missed period

According to the law, the period is limited to 6 months from the date of opening of the inheritance case, that is, from the date of death of the testator, in no case after notification of each of the heirs. The specified period remains the same for all successors, regardless of when they were informed of the death.

If during this time you do not have time to fill out an application for inheritance, you will miss time and you will be denied the right to inherit. It will be necessary to prove in court the reason for missing the deadline.

As valid reasons, the court may take into account:

• severe form of the disease, in particular disability;
• obstructive actions on the part of trustees or guardians;
• the language barrier;
• moving abroad during the life of the testator;
• long business trips;
• inability to leave a seriously ill relative unattended;
• concealment of the fact of the death of the testator.

It is worth noting that for the following unjustified reasons, a 100% refusal will follow:

• ignorance of the laws of the Russian Federation;
• ignorance of death due to a long quarrel;
• being on sick leave.

An additional 3 months are provided if the primary heirs do not make themselves known within six months.
LAWYER FOR CIVIL CASES call now: ☎ 8 (495) 532-75-40

When an inheritance is considered accepted

An inheritance is considered accepted when a citizen turns to a notary with a corresponding application. According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, relatives cannot receive only part of the property of the deceased. For example, re-register an apartment in your own name, but give up debts. Entering into rights to a part of the property is equivalent to accepting the entire hereditary mass, regardless of where it is located or what it consists of. However, if one of the relatives in line decides to receive his share, this does not mean that the remaining successors also enter into property rights. For example, after the death of a husband, the wife may receive her share, but the daughter may refuse.

Sometimes a successor may enter into a share for one or several reasons at once: by will, by law or by the right of hereditary transmission.

According to paragraph 4 of Art. 1152, property passes to the beneficiary from the day the inheritance is opened, regardless of when it was actually accepted or when a certificate of transfer of ownership was received.

Legal procedure for registration

Following the opening of the inheritance, it is necessary to seek assistance from a notary with an application for acceptance of the inheritance in order to assign a certificate of ownership. If the inheritance case has not been opened, then the legal adviser will open it at the request of the heir. The legislation does not set a time frame for obtaining a certificate of title, in contrast to the application for inheritance, which is limited to six months.

The procedure is similar to the standard acceptance of an inheritance, with the exception of the list of requested documents.

• documents from the Housing Office, ERC confirming cohabitation with the testator;
• certificates from municipal authorities and cooperatives proving the use and maintenance of the property of the deceased;
• receipts and checks for tax, utility, insurance payments and loan payments;
• contracts with organizations for the conclusion of construction and repair work;
• photo, audio and video materials.

In the absence of documents, you can obtain testimony from witnesses (relatives and third parties), however, this is only indirect evidence.

In addition to the above documents, the notary will require you to provide:

• applicant's passport;
• death certificate;
• evidence of the right to property of the testator;
• characteristics of the property received and its market price.

The notary is assigned the right to independently evaluate the actions of the plaintiff, study the documents provided and make decisions regarding the fact of accepting the inheritance.

Factors that give a notary the right to independently make a positive decision:

• the presence of evidence of cohabitation until the death of the testators, while cohabitation could take place not only in the premises from the inheritance list, but also in a non-privatized apartment, and on the territory of the heir’s living space.
• The heir is a co-owner of the inherited property (joint or shared).

After analyzing the above circumstances and the provided evidence of acceptance, the notary will determine the fact of acceptance of the inheritance and issue a certificate.

Reasons for refusal to recognize the fact of acceptance:

• if the notary concludes that the actions do not truly indicate the fact of acceptance of the inheritance;
• if there are no necessary written materials for the actual acceptance of the inheritance;
• the notary will also forward the appeal to the court if there is a dispute between the legal successors;
• if there is no documentary evidence of relationship between the deceased and the applicant, the second will have to first establish family ties in court.

How to accept an inheritance?

Actual topic

Even if you inherited not a luxurious apartment of a foreign aunt, but just a modest one-room apartment on the outskirts of your hometown, in order to accept the inheritance you must follow a certain algorithm of actions. Read more about this in our article.

***

As a general rule, in order to acquire an inheritance, the heir must accept it within six months from the date of opening of the inheritance (clause 1 of article 1152, clause 1 of article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). There are two ways to accept an inheritance (Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation):

• submit an application to a notary (the most common method);
• perform actions indicating the actual acceptance of the inheritance.

Let's consider these methods in more detail.

The “ABC of Law” of the ConsultantPlus legal reference system provides up-to-date answers to everyday questions, spells out the procedure with references to laws

The procedure for accepting an inheritance by submitting an application to a notary

To accept an inheritance by submitting an application to a notary, we recommend following the following algorithm.

Step 1. Prepare an application for acceptance of inheritance and submit it to a notary

To accept an inheritance, within six months from the date of death of the testator, you need to submit to the notary at the place of opening of the inheritance (last place of residence of the testator) an application for acceptance of the inheritance or an application for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance (Articles 1113, 1115, paragraph 1 Article 1153, Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

In advance, you can check whether the inheritance case has been opened by other heirs on the official website of the Federal Notary Chamber using the “Search for Inheritance Case” service in the “Reference - Search for Inheritance Cases” section. The request must contain the last name, first name, patronymic (if any), date of birth and date of death of the testator (Part 5 of Article 34.4 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries).

When submitting an application, you will need a passport (another identification document) (clause 10 of the Regulations, approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice of Russia dated August 30, 2017 N 156; clause 5.18 of the Methodological Recommendations, approved by the Decision of the FNP Board of March 25, 2019, Protocol No. 03/ 19).

In the absence of an identification document, or if there are doubts about the identity of the applicant, the notary has the right to establish your identity through a unified biometric system, provided that your biometric personal data, as well as your mobile phone number, are contained in the specified system (Part 5 of Article 42 of the Fundamentals legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries; clause 10.1 of the Regulations; clause 1, Procedure, approved by Order of the Ministry of Justice of Russia dated September 30, 2020 N 228).

The notary is obliged to explain to you what documents still need to be submitted to obtain a certificate of inheritance (clause 4.5 of the Methodological Recommendations).

The application can be submitted by the heir in person, by the heir's representative, by another person, or by mail. In the last two cases, the heir's signature must be properly witnessed. In this case, a power of attorney to transfer the application to another person is not required.

Acceptance of an inheritance through a representative is possible if the power of attorney specifically provides for the authority to accept the inheritance. To accept an inheritance by a legal representative, a power of attorney is not required (clause 1 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; clauses 5.18, 5.19, 5.23, 5.24 of the Methodological Recommendations).

Step 2. Prepare documents to obtain a certificate of inheritance and present them to the notary

You will need to prepare an application for a certificate of inheritance rights if you have not previously submitted one. You will also need to submit documents specified by the notary confirming, in particular, the grounds for the call to inheritance and the fact of your acceptance of the inheritance (part 1 of article 72, part 1 of article 73 of the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries; clause 48, of the Regulations N 156; clause 4.5 of the Methodological Recommendations).

If the request for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance was stated in the application for acceptance of the inheritance, then an additional application for the issuance of this certificate is not required, provided that the composition of the inherited property is indicated in such an application (clause 13.1 of the Methodological Recommendations).

For the issuance of a certificate of inheritance by a notary, you need to pay a state fee (or a notary fee - when contacting a private notary) (Parts 1, 2 of Article 22 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries).

In addition, if necessary, a private notary is paid for legal and technical services in accordance with established tariffs (Parts 7, 8 of Article 22 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries; Clause 17 of the Review of Judicial Practice of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 2 (2021), approved. Presidium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation 06/30/2021).

Previously we told you how to correctly draw up a will in order to express your will as accurately as possible and deprive unwanted claimants of the inheritance of the opportunity to challenge it .

Step 3. Obtain a certificate of inheritance

Upon inheritance, the heir is issued a certificate of right to inheritance.

As a general rule, you can receive it after six months from the date of opening of the inheritance. If there is reliable information that, apart from the persons who applied for the issuance of a certificate, there are no other heirs entitled to the inheritance or its corresponding part, the certificate may be issued before the expiration of the six-month period (clauses 1, 2 of Article 1163 Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

A certificate of the right to inheritance issued on paper from December 29, 2020 must have machine-readable markings, with which you can check its accuracy (Article 5.1, Part 2, Article 45.1 of the Fundamentals of the Legislation of the Russian Federation on Notaries; Part 1, Article 6 of the Law dated 12/27/2019 N 480-FZ).

Rights to certain types of property received by inheritance are subject to state registration with the relevant authorities, for example, ownership of an apartment. The received certificate of the right to inheritance is one of the grounds for such registration (clause 1 of article 131 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; part 2 of article 14 of the Law of July 13, 2015 N 218-FZ).

After issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance, the notary is obliged to submit to Rosreestr an application for state registration of the right and the documents attached to it (parts 3, 4 of article 72, parts 3, 4 of article 73 of the Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries).

The completed state registration of property rights is certified by an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate (Part 1, Article 28 of Law No. 218-FZ).

The procedure for actual acceptance of inheritance

To actually accept the inheritance, we recommend following the following algorithm.

Step 1. Take actions that indicate your actual acceptance of the inheritance

The heir is considered to have accepted the inheritance when he performs actions indicating its actual acceptance, in particular actions to manage, dispose and use the inherited property, maintaining it in proper condition, in which the heir’s attitude towards the inheritance as his own property is manifested.

So, you can move into the testator’s apartment, make repairs there, install new locks and a security alarm. It is also possible to pay the testator's debts or receive money owed to him or her from others. You can perform these actions yourself or entrust them to other persons, but it should be obvious that it is you who intend to accept the inheritance (clause 2 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; clause 36 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of May 29, 2012 N 9).

These actions must be completed within the six-month period established for accepting an inheritance (clause 1 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Note! Receiving compensation for funeral services and social benefits for burial does not indicate actual acceptance of the inheritance (clause 36 of Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 9).

Step 2. Submit an application to the notary for a certificate of inheritance and supporting documents

Documents confirming the actual acceptance of the inheritance are, for example: receipts for payment of taxes, utility bills, contracts for repairs in the apartment. If it is not possible to submit such documents, you have the right to apply to the court to establish the fact of acceptance of the inheritance, and if there is a dispute about the right, with a corresponding claim (clause 1, part 1, article 262, clause 9, part 2, article 264, Article 265 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation; paragraph 36 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation No. 9).

You must submit the specified documents, as well as an application for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance, to the notary at the place of opening of the inheritance (last place of residence of the testator) (Articles 1113, 1115, paragraph 1 of Article 1162 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation; paragraph 52 of Regulation No. 156).

The state duty is paid in the same amount as in the first case.

Step 3. Obtain a certificate of inheritance

The procedure for obtaining a certificate upon actual acceptance of an inheritance is similar to the procedure for obtaining it when submitting an application to a notary and is set out in step 3 for the first case.

Electronic magazine "ABC of Law"

Questions and answers – SPS ConsultantPlus information bank, containing answers from government agencies and independent experts to questions from taxpayers.

Judicial procedure for approving the fact of accepting an inheritance

As previously mentioned, contacting judicial institutions will be required in two cases:

• If you need to restore the missed deadline for notarization.
• If the notary refuses to register the inheritance.

Both direct and indirect evidence are important for the court.

If there are objections from other heirs, the court will not take such proceedings into account and will inform the plaintiff of the right to file a lawsuit.

The court's determination of the fact of acceptance of the inheritance is the basis for the employee of the notary's office to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance. If the heir is recognized as the owner of the property, then the title document will be entered into the state registration service.

Statement of claim

As mentioned earlier, the court will need to fill out either an application to establish the actual entry into the inheritance, or file a claim for recognition by the highest authority of the heir’s right, or ask for a solution to both issues in one application. It is important to correctly write an application to the judicial structural unit. A correctly executed claim document must contain:

• the name of the judicial authority and the address where the plaintiff applied;
• information about the applicant (full name, passport details and other contact information);
• information about other interested parties;
• the cost of the inherited object;
• the name of the document itself (“Statement of Claim”);
• the cost of the claim (depending on the estimated value of the property);
• information about the property and a list of all actions of the heir regarding his possession of this object with an evidentiary base;
• the plaintiff’s demands with a request to the court to satisfy them;
• list of attached documents, accompanying papers and materials;
• dating of the document;
• signature of the plaintiff or his representative.

Next, copies are made for each participant in the process and, together with the originals, they are sued.

It is also necessary to pay the state fee and attach the receipt to the case.

Jurisdiction of an application for actual acceptance of inheritance

If the estate does not include real estate , then an application to establish the legal fact of acceptance of the inheritance must be filed with the district court at the applicant’s place of residence (Article 266 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation).

The situation is different if the inheritance includes real estate - in this case, the rules of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation on exclusive jurisdiction are applied (Article 30 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation), accordingly, the application is submitted at the location of the real estate. This directly follows from the content of Article 266 of the Code of Civil Procedure of the Russian Federation, into which the legislator included the rule of exclusive jurisdiction, indicating that an application to establish the fact of ownership and use of real estate is submitted to the court at the location of the real estate . If we turn to Part 2 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, we will see that it directly states that the actual acceptance of an inheritance is nothing more than the entry of the heir into possession or management of the inherited property. In other words, establishing the fact of accepting an inheritance in the form of real estate is clearly related to establishing the circumstances of ownership and use of this property.

The rule on exclusive jurisdiction also applies if the claim states a claim for recognition of ownership of real estate by inheritance.

Let's summarize:

• An application to establish the actual acceptance of the inheritance, in the absence of real estate as part of the inheritance, is submitted to the court at the place of residence of the applicant .
• An application to establish the fact of acceptance of an inheritance that includes real estate, as well as a claim to establish the fact of acceptance of an inheritance and recognition of ownership of the inheritance, is filed with the court at the location of this real estate .

How to enter into an inheritance after the fact

If a relative treats the property of the deceased as personal and performs the same actions regarding it that he would do with personal property, then according to Art. 1153 of the Civil Code, it is considered that a citizen has entered into an inheritance in fact. Thus, the person who takes possession, manages, protects the property or bears the costs of its maintenance is actually considered to have accepted the inheritance.

1. Possession or so-called physical possession, i.e. living in an apartment or house during the period of entry into rights, moving the personal belongings of the deceased to his apartment.
2. Management – ​​transfer to third parties for hire, rent, free use.
3. Protection – any action to protect property from third-party interference. For example, changing locks, installing alarms, bars, transferring some things for safekeeping.
4. Maintenance - in the case of real estate, this can be payment for utilities, in the case of a car - payment for maintenance, replacement of spare parts, repair work.
5. Payment of debts - repayment of a loan or credit, overdue payments for utility services, tax or insurance payments.

Important! The list is not final. In each individual case, the notary evaluates the actions of the beneficiary depending on the situation.

How to correctly draw up an application to establish the fact of acceptance of property?

The document is submitted to the court at the applicant’s place of residence or location of assets. The header indicates the name of the court, full name, contact information of the applicant and other heirs (if any). The following text states:

• what is included in the actually accepted inheritance;
• what actions were performed by the citizen regarding the accepted property;
• list of evidence;
• purpose of the application (issuance of a certificate and state registration of transfer of ownership), the applicant’s requirements;
• date of compilation, personal signature of the applicant.

The claim consists of the following parts:

1. Introductory – where to submit, information about the plaintiff, the deceased, and other applicants. The value of the assets must be indicated.
2. Descriptive - indicates what served as the basis for inheritance; circumstances preceding entry into rights; what actions were performed by the plaintiff to actually accept the property; How can this be proven? It also lists what exactly is included in the hereditary mass.
3. Petition - a request to recognize the actual inheritance and transfer of ownership.
4. List of supporting documents:

• death certificate or court decision;
• documents confirming kinship or will;
• any evidence of actual acceptance of the inheritance;
• certified receipt from the bank confirming payment of the state duty

Actual taking over of rights seems to be the simplest way to take over property. However, in reality everything is much more complicated. Legal practice shows that in most cases, if there is evidence, the court takes the side of the plaintiff. However, sometimes difficulties arise if the assets were actually accepted, but not documented.

Disputes also often arise between relatives if some have gone through the legally established notarial procedure, while others have only actually inherited part of the property. Such disputes are resolved exclusively in court.

The article covers general issues; each particular case requires an individual approach. The lawyers of the portal https://ros-nasledstvo.ru/ will help you understand all the intricacies of succession. To receive a free consultation, you must fill out the electronic form.

FREE CONSULTATIONS are available for you! If you want to solve exactly your problem, then

:

• describe your situation to a lawyer in an online chat;
• write a question in the form below;
• call Moscow and Moscow region
• call St. Petersburg and region

Save or share the link on social networks

- FREE for a lawyer!

Write your question, our lawyer will prepare an answer for FREE and call you back in 5 minutes.

By submitting data you agree to the Consent to PD processing, PD Processing Policy and User Agreement

Useful information on the topic

46

Entry into inheritance after death under a will

The procedure and rules for entering into inheritance under a will are established by the chapter...

23

Lawsuit to restore the deadline for accepting an inheritance in 2021

The judicial hearing of the case on restoration of the period for accepting an inheritance begins with...

49

How to enter into an inheritance for grandchildren after the death of a grandmother or grandfather

The legislation establishes two methods of inheritance: by will and by law....

31

How to challenge a will for an apartment?

According to Article 62 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Civil Code of the Russian Federation), citizens...

101

Heirs of the first stage

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines two options for inheritance: by will and...

34

Terms of inheritance after death according to law

The procedure for receiving an inheritance or a share in it after the death of someone...

What does it mean to actually accept an inheritance?

If the deceased left property, it passes to his heirs: relatives by law or claimants by will.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

The remaining property, even after the death of a person, is still registered in his name. In order for the heirs to be able to fully dispose of the assets, they will need to re-register the papers. Part of the procedure is carried out by a notary: accepting applications, protecting and distributing property, issuing certificates of inheritance. If the heirs accept the inheritance, they are given 6 months to submit applications to the notary.

Even if the heir carries out only one of the named actions, it is considered that he actually accepted the inheritance (Clause 2 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Consequently, he has every right to contact a notary and obtain a certificate of inheritance. Until the heir receives the certificate, he will not be able to become the owner of the property of the deceased.

If you actually accepted the inheritance, but did not formalize it

Sometimes a relative who has actually accepted the property can use it for a very long period of time without re-registering any documents. However, in the case of real estate or cars, it is better to follow the standard procedure and contact a notary within six months to issue a certificate. Otherwise, future successors will have difficulty taking ownership. The property cannot be registered, since the testator did not receive a notarial certificate at the time, but only actually accepted the property. In this case, the successor cannot do without legal support, because You must first prove the fact that the deceased relative accepted the property, and then accept the inheritance. The case is complicated by the remoteness of the events and difficulties in finding witnesses and documents.

Attention! The actual acceptance of the property must be documented.

Date of actual entry into inheritance

Legally significant actions with property show that the heir is ready to accept the inheritance. However, we should not forget about the deadline for accepting the inheritance.

The main condition is to meet the 6-month deadline from the moment the inheritance case is opened (clause 1 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Let us remind you that it opens after an appeal from the relatives of the deceased.

If the heir did not have time to accept the inheritance, it is considered that he has lost the rights to the assets of the deceased. However, the law allows for the restoration of the deadlines for accepting an inheritance after the fact - in accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 1155 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the heir has the right to file an application with the court with a request to restore the missed period.

Of course, there must be good reasons for this (ignorance about the opening of an inheritance, long-term treatment, business trip, being in an emergency or combat zone). If the court considers that the reason deserves attention, the term will be restored, which means the applicant will have a chance to contact a notary and accept the inheritance in fact.