Inheritance processing: List of documents and important deadlines
Currently, questions concerning the acceptance of inheritance and the procedure for its registration are very relevant. Citizens are faced with questions about what to do after the death of a close person? Where to go? What documents are necessary when formalizing inheritance rights?
We provide answers to these questions in brief form in this article.
Inheritance Registration
Inheritance registration in our country is exclusively within the competence of notaries. There is no difference between state and private notaries when registering inheritance—they both can perform this notarial action.
It is important to remember that inheritance registration has territorial limitations. An inheritance case is opened only at the last place of residence of the deceased person (at the last registered place of residence). If the place of residence of the deceased is unknown, the inheritance case is opened at the location of the inherited immovable property. In the absence of immovable property, inheritance registration is carried out at the location of the main part of movable property.
Currently, there are two types of inheritance in Ukraine: by will and by law. The legislator gives preference to inheritance by will since the will of the property owner and property rights is his priority right.
Therefore, inheritance by law occurs only when there is no inheritance by will, that is, there is no will (a disposition of a natural person in case of death made in the form established by law and certified by authorized officials).
When inheriting by law, the property passes to the heirs specified in the law according to the established order of priority. The current Civil Code of Ukraine provides for five lines of heirs by law. Each subsequent line is called to inherit in the absence of heirs of the previous line, their refusal, or non-acceptance of the inheritance. The shares in the inheritance of each heir by law are equal.
The grounds for calling to inheritance by law can be marital relations, kinship or family relationships, adoption, being dependent on the testator for at least five years before his death.
Acceptance of inheritance is a complex process that includes many legal nuances, so to successfully go through it, it is worth consulting with lawyers.
Deadlines for Acceptance of Inheritance
According to the legislation, the period for submitting an application for acceptance of inheritance is 6 months from the moment of the testator’s death. It is within this period that the notary can accept applications from all potential heirs and issue certificates only after the expiration of the specified 6 months.
What to do if the deadline for opening the inheritance is missed?
For those heirs who missed the deadline for submitting an application for acceptance of inheritance, there are 2 exceptions:
- Persons who permanently resided (were registered) with the testator at the time of opening the inheritance accept the inheritance automatically;
- Minor, underage, and legally incapable persons also accept the inheritance automatically.
If a person does not belong to the exceptions mentioned above, then with the written consent of the heirs who have accepted the inheritance, the heir who missed the deadline for acceptance of inheritance can submit an application for acceptance of inheritance to the notary office at the place of opening the inheritance. In the absence of such consent, upon the claim of the heir who missed the deadline for acceptance of inheritance for a valid reason, the court may determine an additional period sufficient for submitting his application for acceptance of inheritance.
Refusal of Inheritance
In case of acceptance of inheritance, it should be taken into account that acceptance of inheritance under condition or with reservations is not allowed. That is, you cannot accept only some part of the property included in the inheritance and refuse from another part altogether or accept it under some condition. An heir who has accepted part of the inheritance is considered to have accepted the entire inheritance.
It is worth noting that when accepting inheritance, not only the rights of the testator but also the obligations pass to the heir. In view of this, not only a positive balance—the inherited property—but also the negative—all the debts of the testator—are inherited. Therefore, if you find out that the debts of the testator exceed the value of the inherited property, you should think about whether it is worth accepting such inheritance.
In this case, such civil law norms as the right to refuse inheritance should be taken into account. If you do not wish to accept the inheritance, any heir can submit an application for refusal to accept inheritance. To formalize the refusal of inheritance, the heir needs to submit to the notary who opened the inheritance case an appropriate application. But we emphasize that such an application must be submitted within a certain period—before the expiration of the six-month period from the date of the testator’s death.
Such refusal of inheritance can be unaddressed—that is, just a refusal and that’s it—or addressed—in favor of another heir.
An heir by will has the right to refuse to accept inheritance in favor of another heir by will.
An heir by law has the right to refuse to accept inheritance in favor of any of the heirs by law, regardless of the line of inheritance.
Features of Inheritance Registration During Wartime
In connection with the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, a number of settlements in various regions of our state found themselves under Russian occupation. Because of this, many Ukrainians were forced to face the issue of inheriting property located in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.
For such territories, an exception to the general rule is provided.
According to the general rule, the place of opening the inheritance is the last place of residence of the testator. However, if the last place of residence of the testator is a temporarily occupied territory, the place of opening the inheritance is considered to be the place where the first application is submitted. Submission of the application will testify to the expression of will regarding the inherited property, heirs, executors of the will, persons interested in the protection of such property, or creditors’ claims. Based on the received first application, the notary opens the inheritance case, which is subject to state registration in the Inheritance Register in the manner established by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.
Thus, the inheritance case can be opened in any settlement in the territory controlled by Ukraine.
Today, state registration of the fact of death that occurred in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine is carried out by the civil status registration authorities on the basis of a court decision establishing the fact of death in such territory, issued in the order of separate proceedings under a simplified procedure.
The new legislation establishes peculiarities regarding the calculation of time limits in inheritance during martial law on the territory of Ukraine and within two years from the day of its termination or cancellation. According to the general rule, the civil legislation establishes a period of 6 months for acceptance of inheritance, which is calculated from the day of the person’s death. If the death of a natural person is registered later than one month from the day of death of such person, the time limits specified in the Civil Code of Ukraine regarding inheritance are calculated from the day of state registration of the death of the testator.
If an inheritance has opened on the territory of Ukraine to which a person who has left abroad has the right, such person can contact the embassy/consulate of Ukraine in the country of their stay and certify their signature on the application for acceptance of inheritance.
If the death of a citizen was registered on the territory of another state, the notary is provided with the relevant document issued by the competent authorities of the foreign state, which is valid on the territory of Ukraine provided it is legalized, unless otherwise provided by law or international treaties of Ukraine.
Also, it is possible to certify an application for acceptance of inheritance with a notary of a foreign country with subsequent apostille affixed to such document.
An apostille is affixed to official documents used on the territory of countries that have signed the Convention Abolishing the Requirement of Legalization for Foreign Public Documents (the Hague Convention) of October 5, 1961. Then such an application can be sent by postal service to a notary in the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which an inheritance case will be opened in the general order.
Necessary Documents for Inheritance Registration
A certificate of the right to inheritance is issued to the heirs after the expiration of the period for acceptance of inheritance (that is, as a general rule, after six months from the date of death). When issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance, the notary verifies the fact of the testator’s death, the time and place of opening the inheritance, the availability of grounds for calling heirs to inheritance by will/law, and the composition of the inherited property.
To confirm these facts, the notary requests the relevant documents.
In one case or another, the list of documents is variable, depending on the methods of inheritance, hereditary relations, and the inheritance mass.
Approximately, the following documents can be named:
- Death certificate of the testator;
- Certificate of the cause of death;
- Certificate of the last place of registration of the testator;
- Certificate of persons registered together with the testator;
- Will (if available);
- Passport and tax identification number of the heir;
- Documents confirming family relations (birth certificate, marriage certificate, name change certificate, etc.);
- Title documents in the name of the deceased (documents of ownership of real estate, bank deposit agreements, vehicle registration certificate, etc.).
For more detailed consultation and features of acceptance and registration of inheritance, you can contact the lawyers of the Law Firm “First Legal” by filling out the application form on our website or simply by calling us at: +38 (044) 35-35-164, +38 (067) 306-89-89, +38 (063) 45-85-448, +38 (099) 367-89-89.