Actual acceptance of inheritance

Deadlines for acceptance and missed period

According to the law, the period is limited to 6 months from the date of opening of the inheritance case, that is, from the date of death of the testator, in no case after notification of each of the heirs. The specified period remains the same for all successors, regardless of when they were informed of the death.

If during this time you do not have time to fill out an application for inheritance, you will miss time and you will be denied the right to inherit. It will be necessary to prove in court the reason for missing the deadline.

As valid reasons, the court may take into account:

severe form of the disease, in particular disability;
obstructive actions on the part of trustees or guardians;
the language barrier;
moving abroad during the life of the testator;
long business trips;
inability to leave a seriously ill relative unattended;
concealment of the fact of the death of the testator.

It is worth noting that for the following unjustified reasons, a 100% refusal will follow:

ignorance of the laws of the Russian Federation;
ignorance of death due to a long quarrel;
being on sick leave.

An additional 3 months are provided if the primary heirs do not make themselves known within six months.
LAWYER FOR CIVIL CASES call now: ☎ 8 (495) 532-75-40

What does ownership and management of property mean?

The main basis confirming the actual acceptance of property is the ownership and management of it at one’s own discretion. Possession means the physical possession and use of things received. This includes living in the testator’s house, using his tools, changing locks, etc.

If the heir has become the owner of at least part of the property of the deceased, this is the basis for recognizing the fact of full acceptance of the inheritance, no matter what it is expressed in.

Another example is living in the same apartment with the testator for some time, since it implies joint use of things that are the common property of the heir and the testator.

Property management is any action that involves its use. One of the simplest management options is to move things from one place to another. This list includes taking measures to ensure the safety of the property, extracting useful properties from it (harvesting or renting) or paying the costs of its maintenance.

Legal procedure for registration

Following the opening of the inheritance, it is necessary to seek assistance from a notary with an application for acceptance of the inheritance in order to assign a certificate of ownership. If the inheritance case has not been opened, then the legal adviser will open it at the request of the heir. The legislation does not set a time frame for obtaining a certificate of title, in contrast to the application for inheritance, which is limited to six months.

The procedure is similar to the standard acceptance of an inheritance, with the exception of the list of requested documents.

documents from the Housing Office, ERC confirming cohabitation with the testator;
certificates from municipal authorities and cooperatives proving the use and maintenance of the property of the deceased;
receipts and checks for tax, utility, insurance payments and loan payments;
contracts with organizations for the conclusion of construction and repair work;
photo, audio and video materials.

In the absence of documents, you can obtain testimony from witnesses (relatives and third parties), however, this is only indirect evidence.

In addition to the above documents, the notary will require you to provide:

applicant's passport;
death certificate;
evidence of the right to property of the testator;
characteristics of the property received and its market price.

The notary is assigned the right to independently evaluate the actions of the plaintiff, study the documents provided and make decisions regarding the fact of accepting the inheritance.

Factors that give a notary the right to independently make a positive decision:

the presence of evidence of cohabitation until the death of the testators, while cohabitation could take place not only in the premises from the inheritance list, but also in a non-privatized apartment, and on the territory of the heir’s living space.
The heir is a co-owner of the inherited property (joint or shared).

After analyzing the above circumstances and the provided evidence of acceptance, the notary will determine the fact of acceptance of the inheritance and issue a certificate.

Reasons for refusal to recognize the fact of acceptance:

if the notary concludes that the actions do not truly indicate the fact of acceptance of the inheritance;
if there are no necessary written materials for the actual acceptance of the inheritance;
the notary will also forward the appeal to the court if there is a dispute between the legal successors;
if there is no documentary evidence of relationship between the deceased and the applicant, the second will have to first establish family ties in court.

What to do to enter into an inheritance after the fact

An approximate list of actions confirming the actual acceptance of an inheritance in accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is indicated in Article 1153. These include:

Possession. Legally, this means direct possession of the item. In practice, this can be expressed, for example, in the heir moving into an apartment (transporting his own property).

Use. Legally, these are any manifestations of ownership of inherited property. In practice, this means using appliances, furniture and other things in the apartment, traveling by car to do your business, cultivating the land at your summer cottage, etc.

Order . Legally, this is the right to determine the fate of a thing in the future (sell, donate, etc.). In fact, the heir will be able to fully dispose of the property or car only after he has completed all the relevant documents and becomes the full owner. But, based on judicial practice, the actual acceptance of an inheritance can be considered, for example, the disposal of any things from the apartment.

Security and protection. To ensure the safety of property, the heir has the right to take various actions: change the locks or insert a new door into the living space; put the car in your garage or install an alarm system on it; put valuables in a safe deposit box or pay a notary for the protection of property, etc.

Payment of property maintenance costs . This includes payment at the expense of the heir of all kinds of taxes, utility bills, repairs, vehicle maintenance, etc.

Payment of property debts . If the testator had debts to pay for utilities, taxes, or a mortgage loan, the heir must pay them off.

Judicial procedure for approving the fact of accepting an inheritance

As previously mentioned, contacting judicial institutions will be required in two cases:

If you need to restore the missed deadline for notarization.
If the notary refuses to register the inheritance.

Both direct and indirect evidence are important for the court.

If there are objections from other heirs, the court will not take such proceedings into account and will inform the plaintiff of the right to file a lawsuit.

The court's determination of the fact of acceptance of the inheritance is the basis for the employee of the notary's office to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance. If the heir is recognized as the owner of the property, then the title document will be entered into the state registration service.

Statement of claim

As mentioned earlier, the court will need to fill out either an application to establish the actual entry into the inheritance, or file a claim for recognition by the highest authority of the heir’s right, or ask for a solution to both issues in one application. It is important to correctly write an application to the judicial structural unit. A correctly executed claim document must contain:

the name of the judicial authority and the address where the plaintiff applied;
information about the applicant (full name, passport details and other contact information);
information about other interested parties;
the cost of the inherited object;
the name of the document itself (“Statement of Claim”);
the cost of the claim (depending on the estimated value of the property);
information about the property and a list of all actions of the heir regarding his possession of this object with an evidentiary base;
the plaintiff’s demands with a request to the court to satisfy them;
list of attached documents, accompanying papers and materials;
dating of the document;
signature of the plaintiff or his representative.

Next, copies are made for each participant in the process and, together with the originals, they are sued.

It is also necessary to pay the state fee and attach the receipt to the case.

Actual acceptance

This independent method of entering into legal inheritance is approved by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It is possible if only one citizen claims the property of the deceased and has committed the following actions:

became the actual owner of the inherited property;
took actions to ensure the safety of the received property;
independently paid the costs of maintaining the property;
paid off the debts of a deceased relative.

All conditions are assigned in Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The list of grounds is open, therefore, at the discretion of the notary or the court, other cases similar to those described above may also be included.

Documents confirming the right to inheritance

The following documents may be considered proof of ownership or management of property:

Certificate of cohabitation from the housing department or local administration.
Certificate of use of real estate issued by representatives of dacha or garage cooperatives.
Receipts for payment of property maintenance expenses (fees, taxes, utilities, etc.).
Checks for payment of debts or loans of the testator.
Agreements on improvement of real estate objects.
Other similar documentation.

Proof of the above actions must be provided within six months after the death of the testator.

Who can apply to the court

As a rule, the heir himself goes to court. However, in judicial practice there have been cases when a banking institution made a similar request. The testator had a large loan, and therefore the heirs were in no hurry to formalize the inheritance, but used the real estate, constantly living in the apartment of the deceased. Thus, upon actual acceptance of the property, the debts of the deceased relative were also inherited, which the banking institution proved in court.

In some cases, proving actual inheritance can be difficult. The reason for this may be the lack of necessary documents, the presence of other claimants to the property of the deceased, the emergence of disputes between heirs, etc. Experienced lawyers of our portal will be able to help you understand a difficult situation.

You can get a free consultation by asking a question on the website ros-nasledstvo.ru, or order the services of a professional lawyer on a turnkey basis.

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Application Rules

Establishing the acceptance of property is a procedure initiated by the plaintiff. In most cases, there is no defendant, since we are talking about establishing facts, and not about conflicts among competitors in the inheritance procedure. Enter your contact information for feedback. When witnesses are involved, write down their full name, passport details, actual addresses and telephone numbers. The same list of details applies to all participants in the process. The fee, when established, is payment for the services of court employees and must be transferred without fail.

Terms of consideration

It all depends on the complexity of the case and the degree of preparation of the evidence base. The establishment process may be delayed if the judge requires additional certificates and extracts in order to establish legality. Then the meeting will be postponed, and the establishment of rights is possible only on the basis of a resolution. Sometimes the decision involves conducting a new probate case. That is, the establishment will be delayed for 3 or 6 months (determined by the judge).

Payment of state duty

How to correctly calculate the amount of payment for conducting the establishment process, ask consultants or check with the office. Money is deposited into the account in various ways at the request of the plaintiff. It could be:

transfer to the bank's cash desk.
Cashless transfer from a card using Internet banking.
Debiting from the account with subsequent crediting through the terminal.
Payment from card via ATM.
A transaction completed on the State Services website.

In any case, this must be done before filing a complaint demanding establishment of the fact of inheritance.

Be sure to keep your receipt or receipt. Attach a photocopy to the claim. If the check is lost, a duplicate taken from the original will be accepted for use. The same rule applies to all documents necessary for the procedure.

How to prove a deceased person's right to inheritance

In court, it is possible to prove the actual acceptance of property not only by the heir, but also by the deceased testator. We are talking about situations where the testator used and disposed of the property of deceased relatives, i.e. actually accepted the inheritance, but did not apply to a notary during his lifetime. Accordingly, he did not have documents for the inherited property.

To register rights to real estate, the heir will first need to prove the actual acceptance of the property by the deceased testator.