In a situation where there is no will and you have not declared rights to the inheritance, after six months you can lose it forever. This rule, however, has its exceptions. For example, a direct heir can assume inheritance rights automatically. Just conscientiously use the property of the deceased and take care of it - for example, pay bills for the apartment, make repairs to it. If no other heirs appear, the property passes to you. But it’s safer and calmer to make everything official.
Queue for inheritance
There is a waiting list for inheritance, which depends on blood ties with the deceased. Closest relatives come first and second cousins last. If the legal heir of any line dies before his parents or his own children, then the property passes to one of them. This is called the right of representation. Here is a list of those who can claim the inheritance and in what order:
- Natural and officially adopted children, widower/widow;
- Close relatives of the deceased - brothers and sisters, parents.
- Third generation of the family.
- Fourth generation of the family.
- Great-grandparents, great-nephews.
- Second cousins, great aunts, uncles and great-grandchildren.
- Unofficially adopted children, stepparents.
Dependents who lived in the care of the deceased for more than a year and are unable to care for themselves are included in a separate category. They also have the right to a share, but only half of what they would receive if they were in the official queue for inheritance.
The so-called "extraordinary" heirs
There is also a special category of heirs who can join any line called to inherit and receive an equal share with them. This:
- disabled relatives indicated as part of one of the lines of inheritance (from 2nd to 7th), provided that they received constant maintenance from the testator (i.e. they were his dependents) during the last year,
- disabled dependents who were already mentioned in the 8th line of heirs. If none of the heirs of the previous seven orders accepts the inheritance, then they will receive it in full.
But if closer relatives have declared their rights, then such dependents will inherit only a share equal to the rest of the heirs.
Please note that not only disabled people are now recognized as disabled, but also citizens who have reached pre-retirement age (i.e. women - 55 years old, men - 60 years old).
Therefore, such an unexpected situation may arise, for example: the children accepted the inheritance after their father, but he also had a cohabitant who was 55 years old, she did not receive a pension and for the last year she lived on the testator’s money.
Having proved her dependency, such a cohabitant can legally oblige the children to give her an equal share of the inheritance.
Documents for receiving inheritance
The list of papers may vary for each specific case and depends on both the type of property and the type of relationship. General list of documents:
- death certificate;
- evidence of relationship (for a widow or widower this could be a marriage certificate, for a son or daughter a birth certificate);
- identification;
- proof that the inherited property was acquired after marriage (for a widow/widower);
- an extract from the house register about the deceased;
- inheritance documents.
How to calculate inheritance tax without a will
The very concept of inheritance tax has not existed for more than 10 years, but a state duty has appeared, which you must pay at the notary’s office. It includes notary services. The amount depends on the value of the property and the degree of relationship and can sometimes be quite high.
- heirs of the first stage, as well as parents, brothers and sisters give 0.3 percent, the maximum amount does not exceed 100 thousand rubles;
- other family members pay 0.6 percent, the maximum amount does not exceed 1 million rubles.
How to properly register an inheritance
Today we continue the topic “Nuances of registration of inheritance rights and actions of heirs.”
Questions from TOMIN.BY users are answered by the notary of the Brest notary district, the head of the First Brest notary office, Irina Savchuk, and the notaries of the Brest notary district, Anna Alekseevna Vistunova, Anzhelika Grigorievna Shumeiko, Natalya Vasilievna Kulak and Elena Nikolaevna Voytyuk.
The topic of registration of inheritance rights is very diverse and quite complex. The most common consultations with notaries are consultations on inheritance. We discussed current issues and problems that arise in notarial practice when citizens apply for registration of their inheritance rights in the previous issue:
When can you rent out a bequeathed apartment?
“My sister drew up a will for her apartment in my name. Three months ago she died. Do I have the right to rent out a bequeathed apartment to my friend?”
Larisa Gribko, Zhabinka city
In the Republic of Belarus, the procedure for transferring inheritance to heirs is established by law. The presence of the will itself in the hands of the heir does not confirm the transfer of the bequeathed property to the heir. To confirm the transfer of rights to inherited property from the testator to the heir, the notary issues a certificate of the right to inheritance to the heirs.
Obtaining a certificate of inheritance is the right of the heir, not an obligation. However, the heir needs to know that without receiving a certificate of the right to inheritance, he will not be able to dispose of this inherited property legally.
The law provides for a 6-month period for applying to a notary for acceptance of an inheritance; if you miss it, it is possible that the heir may be left without an inheritance altogether.
Therefore, you need to contact a notary to register the inheritance. Initially, you need to obtain a certificate of inheritance for the apartment bequeathed to you and register the transfer of ownership using it with the relevant agency for state registration and land cadastre.
After the ownership of the inherited apartment has been legalized, you legally have the right to dispose of this apartment at your own discretion, including renting it out.
How and where can I find a will drawn up by a deed?
“I know that my grandfather left a will. He died a month ago, on the day of his death he lived and was registered in a boarding house in the Kobrin district. How can I find out who he made a will for?”
Victor Malykha, Telma village, Brest region
You can contact a notary office (notary office), where, in your opinion, the will from your grandfather could be certified.
Information about the existence of a will of the deceased is issued to the applicant subject to the following conditions:
- drawing up a will in favor of the person who applied to the notary;
- provision of an identity document to the notary by the applicant;
- provision to the notary by the applicant of a document confirming the fact of the death of the testator.
If the will is not drawn up in favor of the person who applied, then information about the will can be given to the spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, grandparents, siblings of the testator, in connection with which the notary is presented with documents confirming family relationships, the fact of registration of marriage between the deceased and the person who applied to the notary.
If the applicant does not have documents confirming the death of the testator, or confirming family relations, the fact of marriage registration, then the notary, at his request, will request the necessary copies from civil status records to confirm the above facts.
As follows from the question, on the day of his death your grandfather lived in the Kobrin district, where his last permanent place of residence was. To register your inheritance rights, you need to contact the notary office of the Kobrin region. A notary will be able to request information about the will drawn up by your grandfather after opening an inheritance case based on your application. The notary has the right to send the relevant requests to the notary offices or notary bureaus indicated by you.
***
“My husband died in October of this year. We don’t have children together, but he has a son from his first marriage. The husband did not draw up a will. Among the property, my husband owns an apartment, donated by his mother before our marriage. In addition, during his lifetime, my husband did not have time to repay the loan that he took out during our marriage. How will the inheritance of the apartment be formalized and who should pay the loan? Do I have the right to receive most of the apartment, since I will remain living in this apartment?
Tatiana Petrenko, Brest
The first priority heirs include the children, spouse and parents of the deceased. In connection with what is indicated, you and your spouse’s son have the right to claim the inherited property - an apartment in equal shares.
The residence of the heir in the inherited apartment is not the basis for the notary to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance for a large share in the ownership of this apartment.
Since there is no will, the inherited property is divided in equal shares between the legal heirs who accepted the inheritance, that is, you and your spouse’s son.
In accordance with current legislation, the inheritance includes all rights and obligations that belonged to the testator at the time of opening the inheritance, the existence of which does not cease with his death. Therefore, if you and your spouse’s son register an inheritance, then, accordingly, your spouse’s debts for paying off the loan will be transferred to both of you in equal shares. The heirs who accepted the inheritance are liable for the debts of the testator to the extent of the value of the inherited property transferred to them.
***
“After my mother’s death, an apartment was left privatized in her name. The following people took part in the privatization: mom, dad, me and my younger brother. Our housing quota for all four of us was included. In addition, parents paid the difference in money. Now, when registering an inheritance, do my brother and I have the right to some part of the apartment or will the apartment be registered only in the name of the father? My mother did not make a will. If we have the right, and my father objects, will he be able to prevent us from obtaining the document?”
Senya Zhuk, Telmy village (Brest district)
By virtue of the legislation in force on the day of privatization of the apartment, each participant in the privatization has the right of ownership of this apartment in proportion to his invested housing quota and monetary surcharge. Such an agreement on determining shares in a privatized apartment is concluded by the privatization participants and the heirs of the privatization participant with a notary when registering inheritance rights. That is, according to the agreement, the share in the ownership of the apartment of each privatization participant will be determined. An inheritance will be issued for the share in the ownership of the apartment of your mother, a participant in privatization, determined in this way.
Therefore, all three of you: your father and you and your brother will need to conclude and sign such an agreement. If one of the participants in the privatization and (or) the heirs objects to the conclusion of such an agreement, then dividing this apartment and determining the shares for it can only be done in court.
If you sign an agreement with a notary, your document confirming ownership of a share of the apartment will be such an agreement on determining the shares in the privatized apartment. After its notarization, you will need to submit the agreement to the Republican Unitary Enterprise “Brest Agency for State Registration and Land Cadastre” and receive a corresponding notification.
In addition, for the share of ownership of the apartment that will be due to your mother, the notary will issue a certificate of inheritance rights to her heirs who apply for registration of inheritance rights. You indicated that your mother did not make a will. In this case, inheritance according to law will take place in order of priority. The first priority heirs are the children, spouse and parents of the deceased. In connection with the above, you, your brother and your father are heirs according to the law of the first priority and can contact a notary in the prescribed manner to formalize your inheritance rights.
***
“We suffered a tragedy. On September 25 of this year, our son, who was not yet 30 years old, died suddenly in his apartment. Unfortunately, he did not have time to start a family, and he had no children. He did not make a will. My wife (his mother) and I are the only legal heirs to the apartment that we bought in Brest and registered in his name. We are wealthy people, and we don’t need this apartment. But we have a daughter. Can we register our son’s inheritance for our daughter?”
Pyotr Vakulich, Zhabinka
In this situation, the inheritance after the death of your son can be issued to your daughter, that is, to the sister of the deceased.
To do this, you need to contact a notary at your son’s last place of residence and write, together with your wife, an application to renounce your son’s inheritance in favor of his sister.
After completing this application, your daughter will have the right of inheritance as an heir according to the law of the second priority. And she will be able to submit an application to the notary to issue her a certificate of the right to inherit according to the law after the death of her brother.
If your son was registered at the time of death in his apartment located in Brest, then you can contact any notary in Brest to register inheritance rights.
It is necessary to contact a notary within 6 months after the death of your son.
***
“To register inheritance rights after the death of my father, I need to contact a notary and submit an application within 6 months from the date of his death. My father and I were registered and lived in different cities: I was in Brest, my father was in Minsk. But I can’t go to a notary’s office because I handed over my passport for a visa, and I won’t pick it up until 6 months have passed from the date of my father’s death. I am the only heir, and my father made a will in my name. I urgently need to register an inheritance for my father’s car. Can I submit another document in my name, such as a birth certificate or driver's license, to establish my inheritance rights? Will the notary give me a certificate of inheritance?
Ruslan Bayan, Brest
Unfortunately, Ruslan, the answer will not be in your favor. When registering any documents with a notary, a citizen’s identification document is required. In your case, this is a passport.
In addition, you and your father were registered in different cities, and in particular, your father was registered in Minsk. Since you did not have joint registration on the day of your father’s death, we recommend that before the expiration of 6 months from the date of your father’s death, you submit an application for acceptance of the inheritance to the notary office of the city of Minsk at your father’s last permanent place of residence. You can prepare such an application in simple written form and send it by mail to the notary's office. These actions should be completed precisely before the expiration of the period for accepting the inheritance.
And when you receive your passport, you will be able to contact the same notary office and submit, in the prescribed manner, an application for a certificate of inheritance if you have all the required documents.
***
“My grandmother died a few months ago. She lived in the Brest region. I recently found out that my grandmother had an account (deposit) with BPS-Sberbank, presumably in Mogilev. In this bank, my grandmother issued a testamentary disposition for me. How and from whom can I clarify information? Is it necessary to open an inheritance case in this case? Where should I go?”
Natalya Kozhevnikova, Vysokoye
The funds of the testator stored in the accounts are inherited property. Inheritance rights to the specified inheritance will be subject to notarization in the prescribed manner. Registration of inheritance rights is carried out in the notary's office at the last permanent place of residence (registration) of the testator, that is, in the notary's office of the Brest region.
To register an inheritance for funds in deposits that belonged to your grandmother, you need to contact a notary at your grandmother’s last permanent place of residence. In accordance with the established procedure, the notary will open an inheritance case, request all information from the bank you indicated about the available funds in deposits or other accounts in the bank and the presence of testamentary dispositions for them.
Additionally, we inform you that in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 1048 of the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, before submitting to the bank a certificate of the right to inheritance, the heirs specified in the testamentary disposition may be issued from the testator’s account funds not exceeding one hundred times the base amount established by law.
***
“Since 2021, my mother was registered and lived with me in Luninets. Until this time, she lived in Ukraine. Mom died a month ago. In my name, my mother drew up a will for an apartment located in Ukraine. There are also deposits opened in my mother’s name in a bank in Luninets; no will was drawn up for them. Which notary can I register an inheritance with: in Luninets or in Ukraine?
Kirill Mayevsky, Luninets
In accordance with Article 45 of the Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations in Civil, Family and Criminal Matters, signed in the city of Minsk on January 22, 1993, which was also signed by Ukraine, the right to inherit property is determined by the legislation of the Contracting Party in whose territory the testator had his last permanent residence. location.
The right of inheritance of real estate is determined by the legislation of the Contracting Party in whose territory this property is located.
Since your mother’s last permanent place of residence was the city of Luninets, the application for acceptance of the inheritance is submitted to the notary at the last permanent place of residence of the testator, that is, a notary in the city of Luninets. Inheritance rights to movable property - deposits will be registered in the notary office of the Luninets district.
Due to the fact that the apartment bequeathed to you by your mother is located in Ukraine, you need to apply for registration of inheritance rights to such property and submit an application for the issuance of a certificate of inheritance rights for this apartment to a notary in Ukraine at the location of the real estate.
***
“Two months ago my mother, who lived in Kobrin, died. She still has an apartment in Minsk. I myself live and am registered in Brest. Tell me, where should I go to register an inheritance?”
Nikita Kovalenko, Brest.
To register an inheritance, the heir must accept it. According to current legislation, there are two forms of accepting an inheritance:
- submission by the heir or his representative to the notary office at the place of opening of the inheritance of the corresponding application for acceptance of the inheritance or an application for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance;
- actual acceptance of the inheritance by the heir. That is, it is recognized that the heir accepted the inheritance when he actually took possession or management of the inherited property or when he submitted an application for acceptance of the inheritance to the notary office at the place where the inheritance was opened.
These actions must be completed within 6 months from the date of opening of the inheritance.
On the day of your mother's death, you were registered separately. Therefore, in order to accept the inheritance, you must, before the expiration of 6 months from the death of your mother, submit to the notary at the place where the inheritance was opened an application for acceptance of the inheritance or an application for the issuance of a certificate of the right to inheritance.
The place of opening of the inheritance is the last place of residence of the testator, determined by the registration of the testator at the place of residence (in its absence, the place of stay) on the day of opening of the inheritance. In your case, the inheritance case will be opened in the notary office of the Kobrin region.
***
“My grandmother left me an apartment in her will. It’s already 6 months since her death, but I can’t confirm the relationship, since my grandmother got married several times and she didn’t have the marriage registration documents. I contacted the registry office, but they couldn’t help me. I have witnesses - neighbors who can confirm our family relationship. Will I be able to inherit a bequeathed apartment or will I have to go to court?
Svetlana Yakimova, Brest.
According to the law, evidence of kinship and other relations of the heir with the testator are certificates of civil registration, copies of civil registries, certificates containing information from civil registries, copies of a court decision establishing the fact of kinship. Therefore, the notary cannot take into account the testimony of your grandmother’s neighbors when registering inheritance rights.
If you cannot confirm your relationship with your grandmother, you can register an inheritance under a will. In this case, family relationships with the testator may not be documented. In this case, the notary will not indicate your relationship with your grandmother in the certificate of inheritance rights issued. The notary fee for issuing such a certificate of the right to inheritance under a will will be 500 percent of the base value on the day the certificate is received (currently - 127 rubles 50 kopecks).
If, for example, the court establishes your family relationship with your grandmother, the notary fee for issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance under a will will be 100 percent of the base amount on the day the certificate is received (currently 25 rubles 50 kopecks).
***
“I lived with my husband in a civil marriage for 4 years. My husband died in August of this year. He still has money on his card. Where should I go to receive money? He didn’t have time to make a will.”
Ilona Komarova, Kamenets.
Unfortunately, you are not an heir at law and cannot inherit the remaining funds after the death of your common-law husband, since he did not leave a will. In fact, marital relations do not give rise to marital rights and obligations between a man and a woman. Mutual rights and obligations of spouses arise from the date of state registration of marriage in the bodies registering acts of civil status.
In accordance with current legislation, if there is no will, inheritance takes place by law. Heirs by law are called upon to inherit in the order of priority provided for by the Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus, up to the sixth degree of relationship.
***
“Our mother recently died. What was left behind was the house. My mother did not leave a will during her lifetime. We have three children: me, my sister and a brother who died before my mother. The deceased brother left behind a son, he is now 9 years old. Is the brother's son the heir of the first line. Can he refuse the inheritance? And if he enters into inheritance rights with us, will it be possible to sell the house in the future?”
Elena Semenova, Brest.
The first priority heirs are the children, spouse and parents of the deceased. The grandchildren of the testator and their direct descendants inherit by right of representation as first-degree heirs instead of their parent who died before the testator. Thus, you, your sister and your brother’s minor son have the right to claim your mother’s inheritance.
A minor child does not have the right to make any decisions independently. His legal representative, who is his mother, will act in his interests. The legal representative of a minor has no right to refuse the inheritance without prior permission from the guardianship and trusteeship authority.
If the inheritance is accepted by a minor child, then with the prior permission of the guardianship authority, the legal representative of the minor heir will be able to dispose of the inherited share in the ownership of a residential building.
Read more on the news portal TOMIN.BY.
If the deadline for registering an inheritance has expired
If you did not manage to enter into an inheritance within six months, you will have to go to court. The only way to resolve the matter without litigation is to obtain written consent from all other heirs who have already accepted the inheritance to recognize your right. This happens very rarely. In order to restore your rights through the court, you need to prove that you missed the deadline for a good reason. For example:
- were abroad for some reason and could not return;
- were seriously ill and were unable to move;
- were in prison or colony without the opportunity to contact a notary;
- did not know about the relative/inheritance;
- did not know about the death of a relative.
There is no exact list; situations can be very different, but these are the most common reasons. Evidence of a valid absence can include, for example:
- medical certificates;
- documents from work, if we are talking about a long business trip.
The documents depend on the situation and the reason for the absence. After considering your case, the court makes a decision either to refuse due to insufficiently valid reasons/lack of evidence, or grants the request and restores the term, or allows you to enter into the inheritance immediately.
- Lawyers for inheritance issues
About the timing of inheritance
The application must be submitted to a notary or to the court within 6 months from the date of death of the testator (there are exceptions). What does “within 6 months” mean? and what needs to be done? After the death of a citizen, heirs according to the law of the first priority or according to the will have only 6 months to apply for inheritance:
- to court (if there are any inheritance disputes or there are no documents necessary for registration by a notary;
- to a notary (if there are no disputes and the nature of the documents submitted does not contradict the norms of the notary).
To avoid missing the deadline, you can submit documents in person. The second option is to send them by mail or other official delivery service. The date of sending the correspondence will be considered the proper date for filing the application for acceptance of the inheritance.
