Entry into inheritance after death after 6 months

Start of counting the 6-month period - opening of inheritance

According to the law, entry into inheritance after death after 6 months must be carried out. The starting point is the day of official recognition of the death of a citizen. Six months are allocated for preparation, applying to a notary and obtaining rights to join. During this time, applicants must decide to assume the property rights and responsibilities of the deceased.

The death certificate issued by the vital statistics office shows the date from which the count begins. If the actual time of death cannot be determined, the countdown begins from the date of the court decision declaring the person deceased.

Judicial order

The most common way to regain the right to inherit after 6 months is to write a statement of claim to restore the missed period. In the document, the applicant must describe the current situation, write why the reason for the delay is valid, and provide evidence. Documents that confirm what is written must be listed in the annex to the claim.

According to Part 1 of Art. 1155 of the Civil Code, the statement of claim is filed within six months from the date of termination of the circumstances that prevented timely entry into inheritance.

Example. Gr. O missed the deadline for entering into inheritance rights on 06/06/2018 due to serious illness. Recovery occurred on July 1, 2018, and this is confirmed in the sick leave certificate. This means that the countdown starts from 07/01/2018 and the last date for filing a claim is 01/01/2019.

In what cases is the term restored through the court?

There are two situations when the issue must be resolved in court:

• for good reasons;
• in actual inheritance.

Each of the cases deserves special attention.

Case 1

If the following extenuating circumstances occurred due to which the successor was unable to submit an application on time:

• stay of the heir outside the Russian Federation;
• a disease that requires hospital treatment;
• if the person was not aware of the death of the testator.

Procedure for entering into inheritance within 6 months

The decision to enter into an inheritance, expressed in writing, must be submitted to a notary. After 151 days, applicants receive the desired certificate.

The kit includes documents providing information:

1. About the personality of the deceased.
2. About the identity of the heir.
3. About the rights of the former owner to property.

About the deceased:

• death certificate;
• a certificate from the internal affairs bodies regarding the deregistration of a citizen;
• certificate of residence.

About the successor:

• passport of the legal successor;
• certificates of relationship: marriage, birth;
• receipt of payment of duty.

About property rights:

• purchase and sale agreement (for an apartment, house, plot);
• technical certificate;
• estimated value of property.

This is a standard package without taking into account the specifics of each individual case. Therefore, before collecting the necessary papers, you should take a list of them from the notary’s office. The notary has the right to request additional information, including about the last will of the deceased. If there is a will, the persons named in it can claim the property. What kind of relationship they had with the deceased does not matter.

Certificate of right to inheritance

Entry into inheritance is formalized by a certificate of the right to inheritance. As a general rule, this certificate is issued after 6 months. However, if there is reliable data that there are no other heirs, with the exception of those who have already applied, then the notary can issue a certificate before the expiration of the six-month period. A reasonable question arises: “What can be considered reliable data?”

Only documents issued by authorized bodies are considered such data. This can be any documents confirming this fact (death certificate, certificate from the registry office). For example, first-degree heirs may include a spouse, children, and parents. If the spouse of the testator presents to the notary the death certificates of his parents and a certificate from the registry office about the absence of children, then the notary has the right to decide to issue the certificate before the expiration of 6 months.

Is it possible to enter into an inheritance before 6 months?

The right of inheritance may be lost if you apply later than the established deadlines. You can obtain a certificate earlier than this period if there are no other candidates. These include relatives and those to whom the owner wished to leave property under a will.

The legal successors are the relatives of the deceased, who receive their obligatory shares in the order of priority. The order is determined by the degree of relationship: first come the spouse, parents and children. If the widow proves that at the time of her husband’s death there were no other relatives, the notary will recognize her as the sole legal successor and may issue her a certificate ahead of schedule.

Entering into inheritance after 6 months

The legislation provides for the possibility of obtaining a certificate later than the established period. The court takes into account the impossibility of regular communication with the deceased, late receipt of news of death and other factors.

Good reasons for absence presented to the court will give a chance to receive additional time. This may include being outside the country, in prison or undergoing treatment.

All three facts must be proven; legal confirmation will be:

• travel certificate;
• certificate from a medical institution;
• certificate of release;
• telegrams, letters, other messages.

You can resort to witness testimony. The new starting point is the date of receipt of news of the incident. What to do when reinstating the term through court and without court, what papers are needed in the first and second cases - questions that require clarification.

Through the court

It is not uncommon for a late successor to decide to restore the terms and obtain rights to use the property of the deceased. The problem becomes more complicated if other relatives have already registered the property in their own name and do not want the case to be reviewed in his favor. When a person who has missed a deadline is confident in his rights and has an excuse for missing the deadline, he must apply to the court. A long and complex process awaits to clarify all the circumstances and divide property rights.

Without trial

If the persons receiving the inheritance agree to a compromise, you can do without going to court. Peaceful settlement takes place in a notary's office. Participation of all interested parties is mandatory. The basis for reviewing the case is a statement signed by all participants and certified by a notary. When a person is alone and actually uses the property as his own, it is easier to restore rights.

To re-register the property in his name, he only needs to present to the notary the paid bills for housing, receipts for the transfer of taxes, and acts of repairs.

Differences between inheritance with and without a will

When the process of obtaining rights to the inherited mass occurs under a testamentary act or without it, no differences are provided. In any situation, a citizen will need to contact a notary office within the allotted time. In this case, it is necessary to collect a complete package of documentation. At the same time, differences are established regarding how rights to the property of the deceased arise.

Based on the law, property will be transferred:

• when a citizen did not form a testamentary act during his lifetime or it is recognized as inconsistent with reality;
• the person specified in the will died before the testator;
• there is a rejection of mass;
• The document reflects only part of the property.

Information!

In case of inheritance, according to the provisions of the law, the order of precedence is provided. At the same time, the first group includes those who were closely related to the deceased. Including children and parents, husband/wife. The remaining relatives are included in groups 2 to 8.

If we talk about a will, then this principle of division does not apply. This is due to the fact that property can be transferred not only to relatives, but also to strangers. In addition, the right of inheritance is vested in government organizations. When drawing up a will, it is possible to specify conditions in it.

Also among the differences is that when submitting documentation using legal grounds, a citizen will need to provide proof of relationship with the deceased. When it comes to a testamentary act, such a need does not arise. Each of the given grounds has a condition - this is the allocation of a share of a mandatory type. This portion is allocated to the children or dependents of the deceased.

Methods for accepting an inheritance after the six months allotted by law

Re-registration after the expiration of the time allotted by law can be done in two ways: through the court and through a notary. Litigation of inheritance disputes requires a lot of documents and takes a lot of time. It’s easier to solve the problem without a will - then everything goes to the relatives. The situation becomes more complicated if the deceased has dependents.

The law stands up for the protection of disabled citizens, whether they are disabled people, children or the elderly. The blood relationship of the persons supported by the former owner and the testator himself does not matter.

A will is the last expression of the will of a citizen; doubts about its competence are considered by the judicial authority.

We address the servants of Themis

The first step when going to court is filing an application with a notary. The applicant informs of his intention to restore the terms of inheritance. The notary refuses, which serves as a reason to challenge the case in court.

The sample claim includes the following items:

• data of the court: address, name;
• information about the applicant: last name, first name, patronymic, residential address, contacts;
• information about the defendants - heirs who have assumed rights;
• information about the deceased: last name, first name, patronymic, address of last place of residence, date of birth and death;
• information about the property claimed by the applicant;
• explanation of the reasons for missing the deadline for entering into inheritance;
• request for review of the decision;
• date, signature.

The statement of claim is accompanied by the original and photocopies of the passport, certificate of residence, death and relationship certificates and evidence of the weight of the reasons for the delay. Recognition by the court of the convincing reasons why the applicant did not have time to formalize his rights is the main condition for making a decision in his favor.

Notarized return of deadlines

Return of deadlines - providing additional time for re-registration of inheritance rights. This can be done through a notary in the following cases:

• persons who received the certificates on time agree to allocate his share to the latecomer without trial;
• a late candidate uses the property of a deceased citizen as his own, that is, he is its owner in fact;
• there are no other contenders.

Procedure for notarized return of deadlines:

1. The applicant makes a request to other owners to allocate his share to him.
2. They draw up a written consent to review their rights in favor of a new candidate.
3. The notary speaks about the consequences of such a decision. He notifies about the loss of part of the acquired possessions and about the procedure for re-registration. The option of complete disinheritance of all or individual persons from their number is not excluded.
4. Previously received certificates become invalid and new documents are issued.
5. Based on newly received certificates, changes are made to the unified state register of real estate (if we are talking about houses, plots, apartments).

Lawyers consider this method of returning deadlines to be optimal. But you can use it only if good relations between relatives are maintained.

What should a “late” heir do? Judicial and extrajudicial procedure

Restoring the deadline for accepting an inheritance provides several options:

• out-of-court procedure - involves an indisputable resolution of the issue between all heirs without going to court;
• judicial procedure is necessary if no one has entered into the inheritance or it is impossible to voluntarily agree with the new owners.

What to do if you didn’t inherit on time and how not to be left without property?

A more detailed consideration of these methods will allow you to apply them in practice to a specific situation.

Partial entry

Receipt of a certificate of inheritance is given for the acceptance of the entire property. Having decided to rewrite the farm in their name, the successors inherit the obligations of the deceased owner. Partial inheritance is not possible. It is impossible to take one thing without giving up the other. Debts on utility bills, unpaid taxes, and loans are transferred to the new owners.

Division into shares is possible if there are several heirs: each receives his part along with the encumbrance. This is not a partial introduction, because in totality everything went to the successors. 151 days from the date of death of a citizen are given for potential owners, having examined the condition of movable and immovable property, to make a final decision.

Entry and actual acceptance: what are the differences?

Entering into an inheritance involves contacting a notary and accepting the inheritance. However, the legislator provides for some situations when the heir will be considered to have actually accepted the inheritance without filing an application.

To recognize actual acceptance, a person must perform certain actions:

• manage the property of the deceased or perform such actions in relation to the property as would be done by its rightful owner - the testator;
• spend and spend your own money on maintaining the property of the deceased;
• pay off the debts of the deceased or receive from his debtors funds due to the testator as money to pay obligations;
• protect inherited property in various ways from unlawful attacks by third parties.

By performing the above actions, the successor confirms the acceptance of the property, even if he did not submit a written application to the notary.

Return of inheritance given to the state

6 months after a person’s death are given to search for possible heirs. If during this period no one claims the abandoned valuables, they fall into the category of escheat and go to the state. Obligations for real estate (house, apartment, land) are assumed by local authorities. Everything else becomes federal property. The body declaring rights to escheated inheritance is the Federal Property Management Agency.

The return of property transferred to the state is carried out through the court. The procedure is the same as in the case of reinstatement of missed deadlines. A positive decision is made if the court recognizes the certificate issued by the notary as invalid or cancels the previously issued act recognizing the property as escheat.

Statute of limitations in inheritance cases

So, above we examined the concept of the period for accepting an inheritance, which is 6 months. If it is missed for a good reason, it remains possible to restore it in court. But there are also time limits for such restoration - only six months, which are calculated from the moment the valid reasons cease.

Now we will look at the concept of the statute of limitations in inheritance cases.

Civil law establishes a universal limitation period of 3 years, which is also applicable to inheritance cases, for example, cases of deprivation of inheritance, invalidation of a will, division of inherited property, protection of the rights of an heir.

In other words, a 3-year statute of limitations is provided in order to defend violated inheritance rights or challenge an illegal inheritance order. During this time period, the heir can file a lawsuit. If the court finds violations, the inheritance procedure will be reviewed, up to the removal of unworthy heirs, redistribution of inherited property, return or compensation of illegally obtained property.

How to calculate the statute of limitations?

As mentioned above, filing claims in inheritance cases is possible for 3 years. But from what moment does the countdown of this period begin? Not at all from the moment of death, as it might seem at first glance, or rather, not only from this moment. The limitation period begins from the moment when the circumstance that is the basis for filing a claim occurred.

Yes, in most cases, it is the death of the testator that serves as a circumstance with which violations of the inheritance order are associated, for example, in cases when all heirs are participants in the inheritance procedure, when all heirs know about the death of the testator. The countdown of the limitation period in such cases begins precisely from the moment of death, but in other cases, completely different events serve as the basis for counting the three-year limitation period. For example, news of the death of the testator, the existence of a will, or a violation of inheritance rights (for example, misappropriation of inherited property), which was received a long time after the death of the testator.

For example, citizen S. did not know about her mother’s death because she lived abroad and did not maintain relationships with her mother and two sisters. When she learned about her inheritance, her mother’s property had already been divided between the sisters. It was not possible to agree with the sisters on the redistribution of shares; it was also impossible to file a claim to extend the period - six months had already passed since S. learned about her mother’s death. But the three-year statute of limitations had not yet expired, so citizen S. filed a claim for the protection of inheritance rights.

In the above example, the limitation period began to count at the moment when citizen S., an heiress, learned about the death of her mother and the violation of her inheritance rights by her sisters

This could happen 5, 10, 20 years after the death of the mother - it doesn’t matter. Within 3 years from this moment, the heiress can file a claim in court

Restoring a missed statute of limitations

Of course, the statute of limitations may also be missed. But even in this case, the law leaves the heirs the right to extend it - if there are good reasons. The procedure for extending the statute of limitations is similar to the procedure for extending the period for accepting an inheritance. As in the case described above, you need to file a statement of claim with the court, attaching a package of supporting documents to it.

Refusal of inheritance

The period of refusal is the time from the opening of the inheritance to its acceptance. The opening of an inheritance begins on the day of the citizen’s death, recorded by the registration authorities. During the 6 months following this date, possible successors must have time to either accept the inheritance or refuse it. If citizens decide that the amount of debt exceeds the value of the inheritance, they can refuse.

Any adult capable citizen has the right to submit an application for refusal. The refusal may be absolute, made in favor of other persons or the state. Absoluteness means the absence of any orders regarding the fate of the property.

It is impossible to withdraw an application for refusal submitted to a notary office. If controversial issues arise, the case may be referred to court. Cancellation of a refusal is possible if it is proven that it was made under duress.