Sample will for inheritance in 2021: procedure for registering a will

Features of drawing up a will

In accordance with the rules enshrined in Art. 1118 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a citizen must make a will independently. It is not permitted for the testator's representative to perform the relevant actions. This limitation also applies to inheritance agreements.

At the time of making a will, the testator must have full legal capacity. This means meeting the following criteria:

reaching the age of majority (with the exception of situations where a minor is married or works under an employment contract; in such cases, a citizen can be recognized as fully capable if he has reached the age of 16);
absence of mental illnesses that affect the ability to adequately assess the situation or control one’s actions;
absence of pathological addictions that have a negative impact on a person’s consciousness and behavior (alcoholism, drug addiction, substance abuse, drug addiction, etc.).

It should be emphasized that even if the testator is mentally ill or has a pronounced dependence on any substances, a medical certificate alone is not enough to declare him completely or partially incompetent. His legal capacity can only be limited by a court decision.

A will does not have to express the will of only one citizen. It is allowed for its compilers to be persons in a marital union. In the latter case, we are talking about a joint will of the spouses. Its effect may be terminated in the event of a divorce or recognition of the marriage as invalid. If a joint will of the spouses is prepared, it can bequeath both their common property and property that belongs to them separately.

A will is inherently a one-sided transaction. Its completion entails the emergence of certain rights and obligations only after the death of the testator. An exception is a will executed in the form of an inheritance agreement. Under such an agreement, the fulfillment of the obligations provided for by it can be assigned to the heirs during the lifetime of the testator.

According to Part 2 of Art. 1119 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the testator is not obliged to provide heirs or other persons with information about the contents of the will. He also must not notify anyone if a decision is made to change the will or cancel it.

The testator is vested with powers allowing him to:

bequeath the property in his ownership to any persons and determine the shares of each of them (this provision also applies to property that is planned to be acquired in the future);
include in the text of the will a clause on the creation of an inheritance fund for the purpose of managing the testator’s property;
determine who will be the executor of the will, and also indicate the scope of his powers;
add to the text of the will orders according to which the heirs are assigned any property responsibilities.

If the will involves the formation of an inheritance fund, then on the basis of Part 4 of Art. 50.1, part 4 art. 123.20-1 and part 5 of Art. 1124 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation should include:

decision to establish an inheritance fund;
charter of the inheritance fund;
conditions relating to the management of this fund.

What is better, a gift deed or a will?

Is it possible to bequeath a mortgaged apartment?

As a rule, transactions with property that is pledged require the consent of the pledgee (bank), which is difficult to obtain. However, you can also bequeath an apartment that is under mortgage . Based on clause 2 of Art. 1119, the owner of the mortgaged property has the right not to notify the bank either about the contents of the will, or even about its existence.

Attention

The bank does not have the right to prohibit bequeathing an apartment that is under mortgage. Any restrictions violate the provisions of Part 3 of Art. 37 of the Federal Law “On Mortgage (Pledge of Real Estate)” and are void.

According to Art. 38 of the Mortgage Law, by accepting a mortgaged apartment, the heir assumes all the obligations of the testator to repay the mortgage loan. If the apartment was passed to several heirs, then the debt is divided between them in proportion to the shares in the inherited housing. If none of the heirs accepted the apartment, then it goes to the bank.

List of documents for preparing a will

Before you begin drawing up a will, you need to prepare certain papers. They will be needed both in the process of writing it and to certify the transaction by a notary.

Here is a list of necessary documents for drawing up a will:

A document identifying the citizen who is the author of the will. This should be considered a passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation.
A document that serves as evidence that the property being bequeathed belongs to the testator. If the subject of the will is an apartment or other real estate, an extract from the Unified State Register will be required.
If the testator is over 70 years old, it is recommended to obtain a certificate from a psychiatrist stating that he can be fully responsible for his actions. This will prevent the will from being contested after his death.
Documents allowing the identification of heirs. For adult citizens and adolescents over 14 years of age, civil passports will be required, and for young children - birth certificates.
When drawing up a joint will of spouses, a marriage registration certificate will be required. The same document will also be needed in a situation in which the testator has not yet reached the age of majority, but is already officially married.
If the testator is a minor citizen working under an employment contract or engaged in entrepreneurial activity, it is necessary to prepare a certificate from the guardianship and trusteeship authorities or a copy of the court decision on his emancipation.

In certain situations, other documents may be required. Comprehensive information on this issue can be obtained from a notary.

What should you think about before registration?

Before you undertake the steps of making a will, you need to prepare your estate for this purpose. If you are going to submit documents for real estate, you must be 100% sure that it can be included in the transaction. Be sure to pay off all debts and remove encumbrances from him.

You must be the rightful owner, and bequeath to your heirs the property that has no encumbrance. Think about this in advance.

Next, we'll tell you more about writing a document.

Form and content of the will

In accordance with Part 1 of Art. 1124 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, a will is drawn up in writing. In general, it requires notarization. If these rules are not followed, the document is considered invalid and cannot entail any legal consequences.

A will cannot be made using electronic devices or other technical devices. Otherwise, the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation will be violated.

The law does not provide for strict requirements for drawing up a will. It can be written in free form. The main thing is that its content is clear and there are no ambiguous formulations. It should be borne in mind that when interpreting a will by a notary, the executor of the testator's will, or the court, all his words, phrases and expressions are interpreted in their literal meaning (Article 1132 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Although a will can be written on a piece of paper by hand, filling out a prepared form of this document is more convenient. You can download a suitable sample will for inheritance → here

In certain situations provided for by law, the document must be written in the hand of the testator. Such requirements apply to a closed will (Part 2 of Article 1126 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), as well as to a will drawn up in emergency situations (Part 1 of Article 1129 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In these cases, it is recognized as valid only when 2 witnesses were present when it was written.

A well-drafted will must contain the following details:

The name of the document is “Will”.
Information about when and where the paper was written. It is recommended to indicate the date in words.
Information about the testator:

FULL NAME. citizen;
his date of birth;
passport series and number, as well as the date and place of receipt;
registration address.

Information about the heirs to whom the property should pass after the death of the testator. This data should be sufficient to identify them. In any case, you must indicate your full name. and the date of birth of each heir.
A list of bequeathed property that will go to each of the heirs separately. If the testator has not indicated what share of the property belonging to him will be received by the heirs separately, it is subject to distribution between them in equal proportions.
An indication that the content of Art. 1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which talks about the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance, was explained by the notary who certified this paper.
Notification that the will was prepared in 2 copies, and one of them was deposited with a notary. Here you also need to provide information that allows you to identify this notary.
FULL NAME. testator and his signature. If the testator is unable to sign the will himself due to physical impairment, illness or illiteracy, he may authorize another person, called the executor, to sign the will. The executor must sign the will only in the presence of a notary (Part 3 of Article 1125 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In such a situation, the document should also include information about the reasons preventing it from being signed personally by the testator, as well as information about the signatory.

You may find it useful: Samples of applications and documents for inheritance Free consultation with a lawyer for inheritance

Extraordinary circumstances

A will without a notary is valid if it is drawn up in emergency conditions. The legislation does not stipulate which situations are considered emergencies. But experience has determined that these are special cases in which a person cannot come to a professional, and his life and health are in danger.

The reasons for such situations are not taken into account; attention is paid only to the presence of a problem and to the freedom of action of the testator (if he was forced to draw up a document, the court will invalidate it). A will without a notary is valid for only a month. If the person managed to survive, then he needs to go to a notary and have the paper certified, otherwise the order will be cancelled.

If a citizen has died, then the validity of the will is defended by the heirs of the deceased. To do this, you will have to prove the presence of emergency conditions that did not allow the deceased to contact the authorized service. The document must be drawn up only at your own request without outside pressure, which must also be confirmed.

If the judge recognizes the will of the testator as valid, then the division of property begins in the manner specified in the will. When the authenticity of the order is not proven, the assets are distributed according to the law.

Types of wills of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the main types of wills:

Notarized will (Article 1125).
Closed will (Article 1126).
Wills equivalent to notarized wills (Article 1127).
Testamentary dispositions of rights to funds in banks (Article 1128).
Will in emergency circumstances (Article 1129).

Any type of will must be drawn up in accordance with the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation in order to prevent the document from being challenged.

Notarization of a will

In accordance with Art. 57 Fundamentals of the legislation of the Russian Federation on notaries, approved. RF Armed Forces 11.02.1993 No. 4462-1, a notary certifies a will only if the following conditions are met:

the will was drawn up by a citizen endowed with full legal capacity;
it does not contradict the requirements of legislative acts of the Russian Federation;
the citizen approached the notary personally, and did not send his representative to him to perform this action.

If a citizen’s health does not allow him to visit a notary’s office himself, he can invite a notary to his home or hospital.

The procedure for registering a will with a notary involves conducting a preliminary check of its legality. In a situation where the will is closed, such a check is not done. A will cannot be closed or accepted in extraordinary circumstances in the following cases:

it is planned to create an inheritance fund;
the spouses prepared a joint will (from Part 3 of Article 1118 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it follows that both the husband and wife must be present when it is certified).

Will for all types of property

Closed will

If the testator has drawn up a closed will, it must be sealed in an envelope and handed over to a notary with 2 witnesses (Part 3 of Article 1126 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). They put their signatures on the envelope. In the presence of the same witnesses, the notary seals this envelope in another envelope and makes an inscription on it about the testator, the place and date of acceptance of the document, as well as about the witnesses.

Witnesses may be present in other situations. However, according to Part 2 of Art. 1124 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation they cannot be appointed:

notary and other persons authorized to certify a will;
a citizen who should in the future become the owner of bequeathed property or in whose favor a testamentary refusal was made (this restriction also applies to his parents, children and spouse);
persons not endowed with full legal capacity;
illiterate;
citizens who, due to their physical disabilities, cannot objectively assess what is happening;
persons who do not know the language in which the will is written (if the will is closed, this restriction is not taken into account);
husband or wife of the testator - in the case of a joint will of the spouses;
persons who are parties to an inheritance agreement.

Closed will (sample)

Joint will of spouses

The joint will of the spouses must be submitted to a notary in the presence of each of them. If only one spouse is the author of the will, the other spouse must read it in the presence of a notary. When certifying a joint will, the notary makes a video recording of what is happening, if the spouses do not object to this (Part 5.1 of Article 1125 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Information about the place and date of certification of the will is indicated on the document itself (Part 4 of Article 1124 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The testator will have to pay a state fee to certify the will. If you visit a notary engaged in private practice, you will be charged a notary fee for his services.

Joint will of spouses (sample)

A will equivalent to a notarized will

In cases provided for by law, it is allowed to certify wills not only by notaries, but also by other persons vested with the necessary powers by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In particular, they can be certified by the chief physician of a hospital, the captain of a ship, the head of an expedition, the commander of a military unit, or the head of a correctional colony. However, this procedure is not applicable for certifying a will jointly prepared by spouses (Part 5 of Article 1127 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Disposal of rights to funds

A testamentary disposition concerning funds stored in a bank can be certified by a representative of this financial institution (Part 2 of Article 1128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

When drawing up a will, be sure to indicate the procedure for transferring rights to funds, the signatures of the testator and an authorized employee of the financial institution, and the date of execution.

Will in emergency circumstances

According to Art. 1124 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, in exceptional situations, a will can be drawn up in simple written form without certification by a notary or other authorized person. This rule is subject to application when circumstances arise that really threaten the life of the testator. But after their effect is terminated, the testator must have the will certified by a notary or other authorized official. Otherwise, it will lose legal force. Russian legislation does not allow spouses to make a joint will in emergency situations.

Emergency Will

Who can be the heir under the contract?

Any person who may be called upon to inherit may be designated as an heir under the contract. The list of persons is specified in Article 1116 of the Civil Code.

Citizens who are alive at the time of opening of the inheritance, as well as those conceived during the life of the testator and born alive after the opening of the inheritance, as well as legal entities, the Russian Federation, constituent entities of the Russian Federation, municipalities, foreign states and international organizations can be called upon to inherit.

Those. under such an agreement, the inheritance under a condition can be transferred not only to citizens, but also to legal entities. For example, bequeath a collection of samovars to a museum, but only on the condition that they will be exhibited and not gather dust in storage rooms.

Procedure for changing and canceling a will

The testator can revoke the will or change its contents whenever he wants. However, he is not obliged to indicate the reasons for such a decision (Article 1130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). In order to revoke a previously made will, he can prepare a new will or issue an order to revoke the previous one.

If a new will is drawn up, it is recommended that it explicitly state that the validity of the previously prepared document is canceled. If this is not done, the old will can be canceled only in the part in which it contradicts the new one (Part 2 of Article 1130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Cancellation of a previous will by issuing an appropriate order is provided for in Part 4 of Art. 1130 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, there is no need to draw up a new will. An order to cancel a document must be prepared in the same form as the document whose effect is being cancelled. According to paragraph 5 of the same article, a will adopted in emergency conditions cancels or changes the validity of only the same will. A new testamentary disposition in a bank can only affect the same previous disposition (clause 5 of the same norm). It will not affect other types of wills.

A new will or order to cancel the previous one must be certified by a notary. After completing the necessary checks, you will receive a copy of the certified document. For notary services, you will need to pay a state fee or pay a notary fee.

For information on the procedure for revoking a will by a testator, read the article: How to revoke a will for inheritance.

In what cases is it invalid?

A will is invalid if it contains errors. If incorrect information from an identification document is provided, the legal force of the will is also lost. The invalidity of such a document may become the basis for a violation of the rights of third parties.

Therefore, carefully check all the nuances before signing such a document. Only a court can recognize a document as invalid and makes a decision on this. If a violation is discovered, then there are grounds for such statements.

Lawyer's answers to frequently asked questions

In what cases can you write a will without a notary?

Executing a will without notarization is permitted in the following cases:

Certification of wills by persons vested with the necessary powers by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. This could be the chief physician of a medical institution, the captain of a ship, the head of an expedition, the commander of a military unit, the head of a correctional colony (Article 1127 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
Rights to funds can be bequeathed by making a testamentary disposition certified by a representative of a financial institution (Article 1128 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
A will made in emergency circumstances, in the presence of two witnesses. Within a month after the cessation of these circumstances, the will must be certified by a notary or a person vested with these powers (Article 1129 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Is it possible to write a will for a third-party child?

You can write a will for a third-party child. But the decision regarding acceptance or refusal of the inheritance is made by the guardians of the minor with the involvement of the guardianship authorities.

How can I find out if there is a will for me?

You need to contact a notary at the place of last residence of the testator. You can read more → here.

My father made his will while he was in the hospital. Is it legal?

If a will is certified by a person vested with the necessary powers, it is equivalent to notarized wills.

Drawed up a will for my daughter. I want to transfer it to my grandson. Can I change my will and do I need to state why?

In accordance with paragraph 1 of Art. 1130 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, you have the right to cancel or change a will without indicating the reasons for its cancellation or change.

Certificate without a notary

In medical institutions, when a person’s life is threatened, nursing homes, military units, for prisoners, as well as when a person is on long expeditions, the right to certify a will is granted to managers and their certification of a transaction is equated to notarial acts.

In exceptional circumstances, when there is a real threat to a person’s life, it is possible to formalize the expression of will in a simple form, certified by two witnesses. The validity of such a will is limited to a month. If it is not then certified by a notary, it is considered invalid.