Heirs of the first stage by law without a will - how the inheritance is divided between the heirs of the first stage - who are the heirs of the 1st stage by law

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The Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines two options for inheritance: by will and by law. And if in the first case everything is clear and the inheritance is distributed according to the will of the deceased, then inheritance without a will is one of the most complex and controversial topics in legal practice. The main disputes occur at the stage of property distribution, when legal successors are determined and their shares are calculated.

Order of succession

The rules of inheritance are enshrined in the “Civil Code of the Russian Federation” dated November 30, 1994. (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), “Family Code of the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 1995. (hereinafter referred to as the RF IC) and other legislative acts.

According to Art. 1142-1145 and 1148 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation determine the sequence of receiving an inheritance. Depending on the proximity of family ties, the law distinguishes 7 lines (queues) of successors. Property is distributed on a descending basis, when relatives of each subsequent line are called up if there are no relatives of previous lines or they:

abandoned property;
have no right to inheritance;
recognized by law as unworthy heirs;
have not entered into rights.

The closest relatives by blood and by law are classified by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation as heirs of the first priority, and they are the main beneficiaries.

First row

The first heirs after the death of a husband without a will are his closest relatives. These include:

children of any age;
spouse;
parents.

At the same time, trustees, guardians and adoptive parents cannot be considered recipients of property by inheritance of the first priority. The same cannot be said about adoptive parents.

Common-law spouses and people who “replaced parents” are not recipients of inheritance in principle.

Who is the first priority heir by law?

According to Art. 1142 these are the children, spouse and parents of the deceased.

Children

The law equalizes the rights of all children of the deceased: both by blood (biological) and by law. Illegitimate children can also apply for a share in the inheritance, subject to documentary confirmation of the fact of kinship (genetic examination). Stepsons and stepdaughters belong to the 1st stage only in the case of official adoption, otherwise they are relatives of the seventh stage.

If there is an unborn heir, then the property cannot be divided until the moment of his birth (Article 1166 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Attention! Children remain first-line relatives, even if the father or mother were deprived of parental rights by court during their lifetime.

Spouse

A husband or wife is considered a first-degree relative only in the case of an official marriage. If there is no will, then a civil marriage (cohabitation) or wedding does not give the right to receive property.

In the event of a divorce and a court decision is received before the opening of the inheritance, the spouses cannot inherit property from each other.

Parents of the deceased

Legal successors include both blood parents and adoptive parents. A parent who has been officially deprived of parental rights has no right to apply for the allocation of a portion.

Dependents

Legal heirs also include dependents - disabled persons who are supported by the testator for at least a year. According to Art. 1148 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, dependents do not have to live in the same territory as the deceased.

If one of the main successors died before the testator or together with him, then by right of representation his descendants enter into the inheritance, i.e. the testator's grandson can claim the property in place of his deceased father.

Distribution of inheritance is one of the most controversial and controversial issues in the process of accepting property rights. Its result is influenced by many factors. Among them: the basis for the transfer of property rights, the number of applicants, their status and even behavior. And in order to find out who receives inherited rights and obligations and in what shares, it is necessary to analyze all the accompanying circumstances, taking into account excerpts from the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Price

The heir's main cost line consists of the cost of the state fee for issuing the certificate. So, in accordance with Art. 333.24 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, the successor of the deceased is obliged to pay:

0.3%, but not more than 100 thousand rubles of the value of the inherited property (for successors of the 1st stage, as well as brothers and sisters);
0.6%, but not more than 1 million. rubles (for other heirs).

The value of the deceased's estate is assessed on the basis of inventory or cadastral documents. In some cases, an independent examination may be appointed.

If several heirs claim the property of the transferor, each pays a fee in the amount of his share.

How is the inheritance divided between first-line heirs?

— Without a will (by law)

The legislation strictly regulates the rights of relatives to receive the property of the deceased through the provisions of Chapter 63 of the Civil Code. An important factor here is the order of entry into rights. The first-line relatives are called upon first; after their refusal, non-acceptance, or in case of premature death (before the property is accepted), second-line relatives or descendants of the first-priority applicants by right of representation, and so on.

In total, the law provides for 7 lines of successors:

Husband (wife), officially recognized children (natural or not), parents.
Brothers, sisters, grandparents.
Uncles and aunts.
Third degree relatives (parents and grandparents).
Aunts and uncles of parents, children of nieces and nephews.
Cousins of parents, grandchildren of nieces and nephews.
Children of a legal spouse, husband (wife) of a parent.

If there are no heirs, the property of the deceased passes to the state.

- If there is a will

The presence of a valid will can change the legal procedure for entering into an inheritance - this expresses the exclusive right of a citizen to independently dispose of personal property. This possibility was approved by Ch. 62 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, and guarantees freedom of unilateral expression of will on the following points:

Transfer of property rights to a specific person, regardless of whether he is a relative and legal heir or not.
Disinheritance of individuals or all major claimants.
Forcing heirs to perform a certain service of a property or non-property nature in relation to a specified person, to carry out actions to achieve a generally beneficial goal (testamentary refusal or assignment).
Appointment of executor of the will.
Dividing your assets between loved ones in the desired ratio and quality.
Sub-appointment of successors for situations where the appointees are unable to accept the rights, renounce them, or die before receiving them.

Based on the above, shares in the inheritance and its composition can be determined by their owner, and access to them can be closed even to the closest relatives. In this case, the testator is not obliged to indicate the reasons and grounds for such decisions.

But the legislation has approved provisions limiting the right of a citizen to independently distribute his property. In accordance with Article 1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, regardless of the contents of the will, the following have the right to an obligatory share:

children of the deceased under the age of 18 (if there is a note on the paternity of the testator in the birth certificate);
disabled parents, spouse and adult children;
dependents from among relatives who were supported by the testator for at least a year before his death (regardless of whether they lived together or not);
dependents without a legal right to inheritance, who during the last year of the testator’s life were supported by him and lived in the same living space.

Right of representation

This system is relevant in the case when the original heir dies before receiving the property due to him. In this case, his part is divided not between all the other relatives of the line of inheritance in which he was included, but his heirs by right of representation. They also differ depending on the line of succession.

Right to represent line of inheritance No. 1: grandchildren and descendants of the testator’s grandchildren.
Right to represent line of succession No. 2: nieces and nephews of the testator.
Right to represent line of succession No. 3: cousins and brothers of the testator.

Example: After the death of the testator, his son receives the right to receive the inheritance. However, he does not live to see the receipt of the property, and it automatically passes to his children (grandchildren of the testator).

In this case, the issue of division of property becomes even more complex due to the fact that if the heir has several of his own heirs (for example, two sons), then the property between them is also divided in equal parts (provided that there is no will or this point is not mentioned in it). indicated).

Example : The testator has two first-degree heirs: a daughter and a son. If they receive property (50% each), then in order to conveniently divide it, it will be enough to agree with each other. However, the son, who already has two children of his own, dies before actually receiving the inheritance. In this situation, each of his children (grandchildren of the first testator) receives 25% of the original property. It turns out that the testator’s daughter will have ownership rights to 50% of the property, and the testator’s grandchildren will have 25% each. Now, in order to divide the property in a convenient way, three people will have to agree among themselves.

Marital share

In addition to all of the above, there is such a thing as a marital share. It is allocated automatically upon the death of one of the couple. If there is no separate agreement or marriage contract, then the living spouse receives 50% of the deceased’s property and only then everything is divided among the heirs, including the living spouse. That is, he actually receives the inheritance twice.

Example : One of the spouses who owned the apartment dies. 50% immediately goes to the second spouse. The remaining share is divided between him and one of the parents of the deceased. There are no other relatives in the first line of inheritance. As a result, the living spouse receives 50+25=75% of the apartment and another 25% goes to the testator’s parent.

Mandatory share

This is one of the options for how you can obtain the right to inheritance without even being removed from the current line of inheritance. In this case, the obligatory share is received by disabled, incompetent parents and spouse, minor children of the testator, as well as his dependents, regardless of which line the latter belong to. (Article 1148-1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). Moreover, even if these persons do not appear in the will, they still receive their obligatory share by reducing part of the property of other heirs, regardless of the data specified in the will. An exception to this rule is situations in which the property was used for a long time by another heir, and not a dependent. In this case, the mandatory share may be reduced, but not by more than 50% of the amount required by law.

A dependent receives the right to inheritance only if he was dependent on him for at least 1 year before the death of the testator.

Example : The testator has a dependent who did not live with the deceased, but was supported at his expense. Of the other heirs, there is only a son. According to the will, all property goes to the son, however, given the presence of a dependent, the inheritance is supposed to be divided between them in two equal parts. Let's assume that the inheritance is an apartment in which the son lived permanently, but no dependent lived. In such a situation, the court may decide to reduce the dependent share by 50%. As a result, the son will receive 75% of the property (50% due to him and 25% from the dependent’s share, due to the fact that the latter did not use the housing). The dependent receives only 25%.

Good practice

The outcome of a case in court if a deadline is missed largely depends on the completeness of the evidence presented and compliance with the requirements of the law.

Here is one such example: On the date of death of citizen N. there were no primary heirs, so two sisters took over. The testator's third sister had already died by this time, and her son was working abroad. Soon the nephew of the deceased returned to the country and learned that, by law, he was entitled to a third of his uncle’s property.

Since 8 months had passed since the death of his relative, the man went to court. In his statement, he referred to the fact that his aunts did not inform him about his uncle’s departure and presented the following documents as evidence of the missed deadline:

an agreement with an employer, under the terms of which the man was sent on a business trip abroad for a period of 1 year;
return ticket;
testimony of witnesses confirming the fact of deliberate failure to inform the heir of the news of his uncle’s death.

Having studied the case materials, the court found the plaintiff’s arguments justified and convincing, and the defendants’ arguments weak, and then satisfied the heir’s demands in full.

How is inheritance distributed after death?

How is the inheritance divided among heirs? Shares are distributed according to Art. 1141 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. If all the successors of one line are alive, then they inherit in equal parts , with the exception of relatives who inherit by right of representation (for example, grandchildren).

For example, if the husband dies, then 1/2 of the property acquired during the marriage goes to the surviving spouse, regardless of other direct heirs. And everything that was purchased before the wedding will be divided proportionally between the first-degree relatives (including the wife).

There are precedents in legal practice when the surviving spouse received half of the property acquired before marriage. For example, an apartment was purchased before marriage, but the wife invested a large sum of money in its renovation and redevelopment. The fact must be confirmed by receipts for the purchase of building materials, a certificate of completion of work with the contractor and payment orders for payment for the services of the contractor company.

The law also establishes the so-called “preemptive right”, according to which a relative living in the same territory as the testator at the time of his death can receive household items and furnishings against his share (Article 1169 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The dependents' share of the inheritance is ¼ of the property.

If the first-degree successor dies, his share will be divided equally among his descendants. The size of the share depends on the number of successors.

For example, a man and his son died in a traffic accident. The heirs are his wife, father and mother. The daughter has 3 adult children. In this case, ¼ each will go to the wife, father, mother and daughter’s children. In turn, the children will divide their share among themselves into three equal parts.

If the testator did not have time or did not consider it necessary to divide his property during his lifetime, the rights to it in equal shares are received by the heirs of the first priority within 6 months after his death. In case of failure to submit an application for inheritance during this period, over the next three months the right passes to the applicants of the second priority, then the third and further down the list. The procedure for obtaining a share as a result of refusal by priority successors looks similar, only in this case the time frame for declaring one’s rights is doubled.

Otherwise, the nuances of asset distribution may vary slightly depending on the type of relationship with the testator.

From father

After the death of the father, the inheritance is divided between the children, spouse and surviving parents. As already mentioned, each of them receives the same part and what will be included in it can be determined both by agreement between the heirs and in court.

In the latter case, when dividing property that includes indivisible objects, for example, an apartment or a house, the advantage of transferring ownership of a share of the living space will be given to the person who already has ownership rights to part of it, and in the absence of such, to the person living in it and not having other housing.

Here it is necessary to take into account such an important circumstance as the existence of property acquired during marriage. If it is available, half of the joint property of the father and mother (or stepmother) is allocated, which is not inherited by the children and parents of the testator. And this fact does not deprive the father’s wife of the right to a share of his half of the property as an inheritance.

The presence of dependents also matters. They receive property on an equal basis with the heirs of the first stage, even if they are not included in it.

From mother

The property rights and responsibilities of the mother after her death are distributed between natural and adopted children, legal husband and parents. This happens in a similar way to inheritance from the father. Moreover, if one or more heirs renounce their share without indicating the person in whose favor the refusal is being made, his part of the inheritance passes in equal shares to the remaining legal successors who have assumed their rights.

In the event of the death of the mother's husband before accepting the inheritance, his rights are transferred downward to the children, and not only from marriage with the now deceased.

From my husband

The property of the deceased husband is equally received by other close relatives: parents and children. All children of the spouse are taken into account, including adopted children and those not born at the time of opening of the inheritance, but conceived during the husband’s lifetime.

The widow's inheritance share, not counting her legal half of the property acquired during the marriage, depends on the total number of equal applicants.

Only the legal spouse of the testator has the right to inherit. The “common-law” wife and ex-wife are deprived of this right. An exception is the mother of a minor child of the deceased, who is responsible for managing his property until he reaches 18 years of age.

From my wife

A widower assumes the property rights of his late wife based on their marriage certificate. In addition, the spouse’s property goes in equal shares to her other first-degree heirs and, if any, dependents.

It should be taken into account that the death of a successor in a descending line provides the basis for his children, that is, the grandchildren of his wife, to receive a part of the inheritance. If there are none, then the share of the deceased testator is added to the share of the testator's spouse.

Sometimes the death of a testator gives rise to disputes and disagreements between potential claimants to receive his property. This happens, as a rule, due to the parties being unaware of the procedure for entering into inheritance and how it is distributed among relatives.

The legal portal https://ros-nasledstvo.ru/ is ready to explain the issue of interest free of charge and provide its clients with legal assistance in defending their legal claims.

Possible conflicts with children from a first marriage

The relationship between children and the father's real wife is often characterized as hostile. Therefore, you should expect surprises.

This may be an untimely notification of the death of the father to the children, an attempt to independently appropriate the things of the deceased (books, clothes, equipment) that do not require a written or notarized agreement on the division of inherited property.

Attempts to divide the inheritance mass without the participation of children cannot be ruled out. Let's give a couple of life situations.

Example No. 1. Savings in marriage

After his death, the man was left with a two-room apartment, a garage and 2 million rubles in the bank. Among the heirs were his wife and two children from a previous marriage. The apartment and garage were purchased by a citizen until his last marriage.

The funds were recognized as assets, and the wife received her share in the amount of 1 million rubles according to the law. Everything else was divided in three equal parts between the wife and two children.

Example No. 2. Division of property between wife and children from first marriage

After the death of the husband, his retired wife and son and daughter from a previous marriage remained alive. The inheritance consisted of an apartment, a dacha, a car, and a deposit in the amount of 1 million rubles.

The only common family property was a car. In this situation, the wife teaches 50% of the car as an obligatory part. Everything else is divided between her and the children in three equal shares.

Heirs of the second stage

If there are no 1st line successors or they refuse the inheritance, then the property is subject to division between the second line heirs.

According to the law, 2nd line relatives include: full (full) and half-siblings of the deceased, his grandparents on both sides.

According to the law, “siblings” are considered to be brothers and sisters who have a common father and mother. Half-siblings have only one common parent and are divided by the Family Code of the Russian Federation into half-brothers (born from the same father) and half-brothers (born from the same mother).

Half-brothers and sisters do not belong to the second-order successors, even if their parents were officially married.

Inheritance by right of representation is also applicable to 2nd line heirs, namely: nephews and nieces can receive part of the property if their parent (brother or sister of the testator) died before the testator or at the same time as him (i.e. before the opening of the inheritance) .

The property is divided between the 2nd line legal successors in equal parts.

It is impossible to consider all special cases and precedents of inheritance law, therefore this article provides only general information. However, family disputes regarding the division of inheritance very often end in court and destroy even the closest family ties. In order not to lose your legal right to a share of property, contact the lawyers of the portal https://ros-nasledstvo.ru/ for a free consultation. Our experts promptly respond to requests from site visitors and provide advice taking into account all changes in current legislation.

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About parents

Who is the first heir after the death of a husband/wife? For example, the parents of the deceased. These are father-in-law/mother-in-law and mother-in-law/father-in-law, respectively.

It doesn't matter whether the parents are divorced or not, whether they live together or apart. The main thing is that potential recipients of material benefits from the deceased have parental rights.

The first heirs after the death of a husband cannot be fathers-in-law, who were once deprived of parental rights. In such circumstances, the inheritance will initially be divided between the spouse and children of the deceased.

About children

Who is the first priority heir after the death of her husband? In Russia, according to the law, children receive property by inheritance according to the law “in the forefront.” And it doesn't matter how old they are. It’s just that minors and disabled descendants have the right to an obligatory share of the inheritance.

If the testator was deprived of parental authority during his lifetime, this event will not affect the inheritance rights of the children in any way. The child will still be able to receive his share of the property from the deceased parent in the future.

Adopted children have the same rights as the natural children of the testator. Therefore, without a will, discord often begins in families - everyone wants to get their own “piece” of the inheritance.

Time to receive

The first heirs after the death of the husband without a will will no longer cause any problems. We have identified their circle.

How to get an inheritance? Inheritance rights arise after the death of the testator. As soon as a person dies, his loved ones will have six months to make a decision regarding inheritance of property.

If within 6 months the heirs of the first priority do not indicate their desire to receive property by inheritance or do not refuse the benefits offered to them, the inheritance rights will pass to the recipients of the second priority, and so on.

When one of the heirs remains silent for more than 6 months and does not express his authority to inherit in any way, it is generally accepted that the citizen has abandoned the property allotted to him.