Inheritance issues are one of the most important for many people. Spears are broken over property, close relatives become sworn enemies, children take up arms against their parents, and many conflicts and quarrels occur. That is why it is very important to follow the legal procedure, one of the keys to which is timely informing the heirs about the need to enter into inheritance. And if previously you had to rely on notifications from relatives and the actions of a notary, now you can use effective web tools. The latter will allow you to find out for free online if you have an inheritance in your last name. And also, who is your notary, and when the case was opened. What these tools are and how to use them – we will tell you in our material.
Who can claim the inheritance?
After the death of the testator, the procedure for opening an inheritance begins. The notary does not independently search for heirs and does not check information about the death of a person (even if there is a will). Therefore, one of the relatives of the deceased person submits a handwritten application to the notary to open an inheritance.
Rights to receive property arise on the basis of inheritance:
- Only relatives can claim property;
- candidates are divided into queues according to degree of relationship;
- the seventh line contains a mention of non-blood relatives - stepdaughter, stepson, stepmother, stepfather;
- dependents who are not related by blood relationship receive a share of the property, along with the inheritance line.
Another basis for the emergence of inheritance rights is a executed will.
It may include:
- relatives;
- strangers;
- companies;
- charity organisations;
- communities;
- state;
- municipality.
Terms of inheritance
Heirs can apply to receive property within 6 months from the date of death of the testator.
Deadlines are calculated according to the following principles:
- the countdown begins the next day from the moment of death of the testator;
- Weekends and holidays are taken into account;
- if the last day falls on a state or calendar holiday, the period is extended to the next working day.
For inheritance based on hereditary transmission, the period for receiving property is extended to 9 months.
Learn more about the timing of inheritance.
Restoring a missed deadline
Missing the deadline is regarded as the candidate’s reluctance to receive an inheritance after the death of a relative. Therefore, after the completion of the six-month period, it will no longer be possible to submit an application to a notary. On the other hand, there is a procedure for reinstating the deadline. To do this, the failed heir prepares a statement of claim in a federal court of general jurisdiction.
Valid reasons:
- the heir did not know about the death of the testator;
- the candidate could not have known about the abandoned property;
- staying outside of Russia in the absence of contacts with relatives of the deceased person;
- serious disease;
- long business trip;
- helplessness;
- ignorance that there are relatives.
The term can also be restored by representatives of a minor or incapacitated candidate for property.
Results
When the need arises to find heirs, you should remember that:
- The lawyer is not obliged to deal with the issues of finding them on his own.
- The procedure can be carried out in various ways: in person, through websites, through the media, through other heirs and even through social networks.
- The process lasts no more than six months.
- If some property has not been found within the time period specified by law, then the applicants claim their rights through the court. The division of what is due also takes place there.
How to find out if there is a will?
There are 2 ways to find out about the existence of a will:
- Search for a will at the place of the testator's last residence. When concluding a will, one copy remains with the notary, and the second is given to the testator and is often kept at home in documents. If possible, you can independently search for the will in the apartment. A search is also possible if the deceased drew up a document in an emergency situation.
- Contacting a notary. You need to contact any notary office in the country. If a notary assures you that there is no will, this does not mean that there is no will at all. The deceased could simply not register it, in which case the first option will suit you better.
Algorithm of actions at the stage of clarifying information with a notary:
- contacting a notary office;
- preparation of the necessary documents (original and copy of your passport, marriage/birth certificate, as confirmation of family ties, death certificate of the testator);
- writing a petition to open an inheritance;
- familiarization with the list of property;
- acceptance or refusal of one's share.
At the stage of opening an inheritance, the notary checks the universal database, where he specifies information about the existence of a will. After this, the will is opened, checked for compliance with the law and read to the heirs. If the will is not annulled or declared invalid, then the distribution of property occurs on the basis of an administrative document.
Terms and time of entry into inheritance under a will after the death of the testator
Does an ex-wife have the right to inherit after the death of her ex-husband?
Real estate registration service in the Unified State Register of Real Estate
Starting from 2021, notaries in inheritance cases send information to the Rosreestr authorities about the transfer of ownership rights to real estate, if this is the result of a notarial act. Thus, heirs do not have to contact the registration authority to register the inherited land plot, apartment, house or garage in their own name.
The notary in charge of the case will independently send applications for registration to transfer ownership of the inherited property to the heirs. After making changes to the Unified State Register of Real Estate, a new extract for the property will be sent to the email address of the notary’s office, where the heirs can receive it. The procedure takes only 1–2 days, whereas previously it took at least a week if you did it yourself. Applicants pay the state fee for registering property rights in the Unified State Register themselves. It is 350 rubles. in relation to a land plot (dacha, individual housing construction, private household plots) and 2,000 rubles for other objects.
How to find out if there is an inheritance?
Upon learning of the death of a relative, the heir must contact the notary's office located at the registered address of the deceased testator. You can view the list of public and private notary offices here.
Ways to obtain information about inherited property:
- ordering an extract from Rosreestr about all real estate owned by the testator (a copy of the deceased person’s passport will be required);
- sending a request to the Federal Tax Service to obtain information about the bank deposits of the testator;
- Traffic police – obtaining data on vehicles;
- attracting private companies that provide paid services for searching for the testator’s valuables.
By last name
Information of interest can be obtained online.
To do this you need to follow these steps:
- going to a website where an open online service for tracing testators is available;
- at the bottom of the page there is a button “search for inheritance cases”;
- in the window that opens, enter the last name, first name, and patronymic of the testator (if you have reliable information, you can indicate the date of birth and date of death, but these are optional fields);
- Click on the “search for case” button.
The menu that opens will display a list of testators with the specified information and information about the notary who opened the enforcement proceedings.
The system does not contain information about all testators, since the law does not oblige the notary to open information about all inheritance cases. Finding heirs is the responsibility of the relatives of the deceased person.
You can obtain information if you only know the last name of the testator in the following ways:
- Personal application to the nearest notary office. Having only the original of his passport with him, a person writes a written application to clarify the data on the death of the testator. The notary, using access to a unified system, checks information about the existence of a will and the death of a relative. You can obtain detailed information only after providing the original document on the person’s death.
- Contacting a private company that provides inheritance tracing services. The company operates on the basis of a contract signed with close relatives or strangers and receives a monetary reward.
Outside Russia
In the event of the death of a testator permanently residing outside of Russia, finding an inheritance turns out to be quite difficult.
Potential heirs can use one of the following methods of acquiring valuables:
- personal application to the country's consulate with documents confirming relationship (valid for a total period of 6 months);
- attracting a private company to search for inheritance (doing work outside Russia is more expensive than providing services in the Russian Federation).
You should not rely on foreign relatives, since in 30% of cases facts of deliberate concealment of the death of the testator are recorded.
Free online probate registry
The website notariat.ru provides a convenient form that allows you to find out for free in a few seconds online whether a case has been opened regarding the inheritance of the person you are looking for by his last name. And also when it is open, and who is the responsible notary.
The procedure for working with a resource is as follows:
- Go to the website https://notariat.ru/ru-ru/help/probate-cases;
- In the search line, indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of the deceased (testator) about whom you are looking for information. It is important not to confuse your full name. The last name should come first, then the first name, and then the patronymic. Make sure you type them correctly, even one wrong letter can lead to failure in finding the right probate file;
- If you know the date of birth of the deceased, enter it in the field below in the form day, month, year.
- In the next field, indicate the date of death of the inheritor (day, month, year). Entering this data is also optional, as in the case of the date of birth of the deceased;
- Then click on the “Search Case” button to start searching for the case in the resource database;
- A list of matches found with the name of the deceased, the date of his death, the number of the inheritance file and the name of the notary will open.
Notary's name is clickable - The notary's name is clickable. Clicking on it will open the notary search page;
- By entering the notary's details in the appropriate fields, you will receive information about his location, as well as a contact phone number.
The register of inheritance cases we examined contains information about new cases, as well as old ones, ten years ago and earlier. Notaries are required to submit data to the specified register, so you can find all the relevant information here.
How to find out who has entered into an inheritance?
The only way to obtain information about heirs who have assumed their property rights is to contact a notary.
Based on the application and submitted documents, the notary provides information from the open inheritance file, which includes a list of heirs, a list of persons who received property, and the amount of valuables. Required documents to obtain information:
- candidate's passport;
- death certificate of the testator;
- a document confirming the degree of relationship with the deceased person (marriage registration certificate, birth certificate).
There is no guarantee that information about all facts of inheritance will be online, since Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the actual acceptance of an inheritance without prior notification of a notary.
Waiver of debts of the testator
It is unpleasant when the testator transfers debts along with the property. After all, few people want to pay other people's bills. But Russian legislation is such that if the heir receives valuables from the deceased, he is obliged to fulfill his financial obligations.
Many receivers wonder. Is it possible to waive the debts of the testator? This possibility really exists. If the heir completely refuses the inheritance, then he is not obliged to pay off the debts of the deceased.
If the receiver nevertheless decides to enter into inheritance rights, then the creditor has every right to collect the entire amount of the debt from him.
The procedure for collecting the testator's debt from the heirs
Collection of the testator's debt from the heirs is carried out in the same manner as from the debtor himself. The only difference is that for six months after death it is prohibited to use any methods aimed at obtaining funds from heirs as payment of a debt.
After the receiver receives the certificate of inheritance, the creditor must send a written claim about the need to repay the debt. If the heir evades fulfilling financial obligations, the creditor applies to the court for the issuance of a court order or decision.
Based on this document, the new debtor is obliged to repay the entire amount of debt at the specified time. In case of failure to fulfill obligations, the creditor has the right to seek help from bailiffs. To do this, you must present a court decision and write an application to initiate enforcement proceedings. After its opening, bailiffs will deal with debt collection.
