How is a privatized apartment inherited after the death of the owner without a will?

The testator owns the privatized apartment on the basis of legal ownership. For this reason, he has the right to transfer it by inheritance.

The number of heirs includes citizens whom the testator included in the will, or persons related to him.

Ownership of an apartment

Ownership of any property, including an apartment, implies the unconditional ability of a person to make transactions. The current legislation defines cases when a person acquires the status of owner of real estate. First of all, the emergence of property rights is the result of property transactions. These include: buying and selling, donation and barter. This may also be the result of inheriting an apartment.

Another reason is privatization. According to the Law of the Russian Federation of July 4, 1991 No. 1541-1 “On the privatization of housing stock in the Russian Federation,” as a result of this procedure, ownership of the apartment is transferred from the state to the person. As confirmation, the new owner must receive a certificate of appropriate content.

It should also be taken into account that if two people are married at the time of purchasing real estate, then it will be considered joint property.

Procedure after opening of inheritance

In a situation where the person who was the tenant of the residential premises died, the persons who lived together with him in the same living space have the right to continue to use it. In order to do this legally, any of the relatives of the deceased tenant has the right to enter into an agreement with the owner of the apartment or an authorized person.

Important! After such a social tenancy agreement has been concluded, the new tenant has the right to begin the procedure for privatizing the apartment.

Inheritance by law

Inheritance, by virtue of current legislation, is implemented in cases where the deceased owner did not leave a will. This situation may be due to a number of reasons: the person did not have knowledge of the laws, forgot to do so, or simply did not want to draw up a will. This method is not very beneficial to potential recipients, since the last will of the owner is not taken into account due to the absence of one. Inheritance by law will create certain difficulties for an outsider who was counting on a share in the property. For example, a person cared for the deceased during his lifetime due to his poor condition. However, he was not his relative or family member.

If the deceased made a will and indicated such a person as the recipient of the inheritance, then this gives the person the full right to count on a share in the property. However, when the deceased did not formalize his last will, an outside applicant cannot count on material assets. Only relatives or family members will be able to get an apartment.

All issues related to how a privatized apartment is inherited by law after the death of the owner without a will are reflected in Chapters 63 and 64 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. The specified normative legal act establishes the order, sequence, terms and size of parts for each heir by law.

If an application has not been submitted

If the successor has actually accepted the inheritance: lives in an apartment, pays utilities, does repairs, pays taxes, from the point of view of the law, he is considered to have accepted the inheritance.

Regardless of how much time has passed since the death of the owner, such an heir has the right to turn to a notary for paperwork. A sufficient amount of paperwork gives the notary the right to register the property without sending the person to court.

There is another option: the remaining heirs who submitted the documents on time, upon a general application, have the right to agree that those who missed it also receive their share.

Circle of heirs

The Civil Code of the Russian Federation determines the order of transfer of an apartment after the death of its owner. It is formed depending on the presence of kinship and family ties.

The first priority includes the children, spouse and parents of the deceased owner. The second includes full and non-siblings, grandparents on both the father's and mother's sides. The third includes the owner's uncles and aunts. The fourth included great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers, the fifth included cousins, granddaughters, grandfathers and grandmothers, the sixth included great-great-grandsons, great-granddaughters, nephews, uncles and aunts. The seventh includes stepsons, stepdaughters, stepfather and stepmother.

The owner and the person adopted by him and his descendants are recognized as consanguineous. Moreover, if the parents of a person who has come under the guardianship of other people die, then he will not receive their property. This is only possible if, by court decision, the child has maintained a relationship with one of the former parents.

If the heir himself dies before receiving the apartment, then the property is transferred to his legal successors, unless the recipient was deprived of such a right by the owner.

Disabled persons can inherit property on an equal basis with the successors of the order who receives the apartment, provided that they were supported by the deceased owner for at least twelve months before his death. If there are no other claimants by law, then the dependents inherit the property in eighth order.

Where it all begins

The countdown of the six-month period of time begins from the day of the death of a person or the adoption of a court decision establishing his death in a special proceeding.

A will is a disposition of property in the event of death, drawn up by a notary and certified by him. In emergency circumstances, it is allowed to draw up an order without a notary in front of witnesses. Returning to normal conditions invalidates such a document.

The successors choose how to receive the inheritance - according to the will or the law.

Distribution of shares

According to the requirements of regulatory legal acts, property is divided between recipients by law in equal shares.

In this case, we are talking only about the volume, and not about the types of material assets. This rule also applies to real estate. The recipients' shares in the apartment will be equal. Even if there were several participants in the property, and during privatization the deceased received only part of the property, it will be divided equally among the heirs.

Also, potential recipients can enter into an agreement on the division of the apartment and determine the share of each of them. The number of participants in the procedure in this case is limited by the total number of heirs by law. However, in such a situation it is necessary to take into account the rights of absent but potential recipients. For example, if the child who is the heir has not yet been born, the issue of division of property will be decided after his birth. In relation to minors, incompetent or partially capable citizens, the transaction is executed only with the consent of the guardianship authorities.

What is not subject to privatization and social hiring

There are several categories of real estate that cannot be inherited this way:

• Rooms in dormitories and communal apartments
• Located in emergency buildings
• Owned by municipalities of closed cities
• Located in office buildings

There are debates about how you can privatize a room in a communal apartment . This cannot be done on the general basis of the law. Judicial practice shows that this can be done, but only with the consent of all neighbors and if the apartment is in good condition.

As you can see, the death of an old tenant is not an obstacle to privatization. The main thing is to take preventive measures, register some family member in the old person’s apartment in order to draw up a social tenancy agreement and begin privatization faster. This is the only way the apartment can henceforth be inherited normally, through a will.

Video: advice and recommendations from a lawyer on recognizing the right to privatize a non-privatized apartment.

Design algorithm

To inherit a privatized apartment, you must adhere to a certain procedure. First of all, you need to collect certain documents that will confirm the legal capacity of applicants to receive property. Then you need to draw up a statement of appropriate content. Next, you need to transfer all the information to the notary office. The procedure ends with the issuance of a certificate.

As for non-privatized housing, the responsible tenant cannot inherit anything. Indeed, in this case, the residential premises are municipal and do not belong to the residents, which means they cannot perform any actions with it.

Collection of documents

The first stage of the procedure will be the collection of documents. The interested party can do everything independently or entrust it to a legal representative. In this case, the latter must have a power of attorney confirming his authority.

The list of required documentation includes:

1. Death certificate of the owner of the apartment. It can be obtained from the civil registry office. Also, a document confirming the fact of a person’s death can be a court decision declaring him deceased.
2. Passport of the potential recipient.
3. Documents confirming the existence of a family or relationship with the deceased. This could be a birth or marriage certificate. These documents are mandatory for cases of inheritance by law.
4. Information confirming the deceased’s ownership of the apartment. This could be an agreement of gift, exchange, purchase and sale, or a certificate of the right of inheritance by the deceased himself.
5. Technical passport for the apartment indicating the characteristics, area, number of rooms, availability of utilities, sources of electricity, water, gas, heat. If redevelopment was carried out, this should be reflected in the documents.
6. Certificate of registration of real estate.
7. Certificate from the tax authority confirming that there is no payment arrears.

Documents can be submitted in originals or certified copies.

Submitting an application

The basis for starting the inheritance procedure is an application drawn up by a notary. A prerequisite in this case is a written form of application.

The text of the document must contain the following information:

1. Last name, first name, patronymic of the notary to whom the application is sent, as well as the address of the office.
2. Information about the initiator - name, where he lives, contact phone number and passport details.
3. Detailed description of the apartment - location, total area.
4. Information about the deceased owner - last name, first name, patronymic, date of birth and death, place of last residence.
5. Information about other applicants. If anyone has given up their share, this should also be indicated.
6. Date of registration of the application and personal signature of the initiator.

The initiator attaches certified copies of the collected documents to the application. In this case, the notary has the right to require originals for verification.

Then the collected material must be transferred to a specialist. To do this, you need to determine the place where the inheritance case will be opened. Usually this is the address of the deceased's last residence. If the deceased was not registered, then the probate file is opened at the location of most of the property. You can find out this information at your place of last residence, or by taking an extract from the ERPN. Then you will need to come to the office in person. This option allows you to correct possible errors and obtain clarification on issues of interest. It is permissible to use the services of a legal representative; in this case, the latter must have a power of attorney confirming his right to carry out transactions. You can contact any other notary. In this case, the completed application will then be sent to the place where the inheritance was opened.

Obtaining a certificate

The certificate of inheritance is issued on a standard form. You cannot use regular office paper in this case.

The document includes the following information:

1. Coat of arms of the Russian Federation.
2. Date and place of opening of the inheritance case.
3. Information about the deceased - name, where he lived, passport details, date of birth and death.
4. The heir’s details – last name, first name, patronymic, date, month and year of birth, actual residence address, number, series and date of issue of the passport.
5. Information about the transferred property. It is necessary to reflect the type, volume, location of material assets, and the size of the recipient’s share.
6. Last name, first name, patronymic of the notary or authorized official of the local government body, date and number of the document on the basis of which he acts.
7. Certificate number in the official register.
8. Signature of the specialist who issued it.

The certificate must also bear the seal of a government agency or a notary. The document is issued by a notary or an authorized official of the local government authority at the place where the case was opened.

Who inherits a privatized apartment

A common type of inheritance is the inheritance of privatized housing. If a will is drawn up, where a potential heir is indicated, no difficulties arise.

There is also no problem about the new owner of privatized housing after the owner has passed away, when the only heir claims it.

In this situation, you will need to provide a certificate confirming the right to the inherited property.

In addition, there are other subtleties, for example, you will need to obtain a certificate of the right to living space from the Office of the Federal Registration Service.

Be sure to find out whether the testator has tax arrears. This information can be provided by the Federal Tax Service office located in the area where the testator lived.

If the testator has debts, pay them off to avoid seizure of the living space by the state in order to pay the debt.

Also prepare a document confirming the cost of housing. When there is only one claimant for the inheritance, the assessment of the living space is carried out in accordance with current market prices.

If other heirs also claim their rights to the housing, only the part allocated to the heir who draws up the assessment document is assessed.

When there is no will, entry into inheritance rights occurs on the basis of law.

But persons entitled to receive housing by law can challenge a testamentary disposition. For example, if parents die, then the right to inherit privatized living space by law belongs to their children.

In addition, applicants for property include:

• The father and mother of the deceased, if they have reached retirement age or are disabled;
• Former husband or wife, if they were dependents of the deceased.

These persons can claim inheritance even if a will is made in the name of other persons. In addition, there is the concept of a marital share, which, according to the law, is due to the husband or wife of the deceased.

Conflicts often arise related to the question of who will inherit privatized housing. In the absence of a will, the property is transferred in equal shares to the heirs, taking into account the degree of relationship with the deceased.

If there are heirs of the first priority, the remaining categories do not have the right to receive property.

The order in which shares in a privatized apartment are distributed

If, according to the privatization agreement, the apartment belongs not to one citizen, but to a group of persons, the heir can only count on receiving a share after his relative has died.

Heirs receive real estate in the following order:

• The first priority includes children, father and mother, husband and wife;
• Secondly include grandparents, sisters and brothers;
• The third line includes aunts and uncles;
• The fourth stage includes great-grandparents;
• The fifth line includes great-aunts, grandfathers, grandchildren and granddaughters;
• The sixth stage includes cousins, uncles, nephews, nieces, great-grandmothers, great-grandfathers;
• The seventh line includes stepdaughters, stepsons, stepmother and stepfather.

Every citizen has the right to formalize the renunciation of his inherited property or transfer it to another heir. But if, refusing the inheritance, he formalizes the refusal in a notary’s office, this decision cannot be canceled. Accordingly, this can only be done once and without the possibility of returning the property.

Deadlines

Property left by the deceased can be received within six months.

This period is calculated from the moment the inheritance case is opened. The preparation of this material begins from the date of the owner’s death or from the entry into force of a court decision declaring him deceased. If a person has abandoned the property or is an unworthy recipient, then the property will be transferred to other persons within six months from the moment such a right is acquired. In case of non-acceptance of the inheritance to the remaining persons, it will be transferred within three months after the expiration of the general period.

Hereditary transmission

This form of acceptance of property is different in that the heir dies after the opening of the inheritance and does not have time to declare its acceptance. This is an important point, because from the moment of acceptance a person is considered the owner, regardless of whether he managed to register his rights or not.

It should be noted that the property offered by transmission is not considered part of the inheritance. As in the case of the right of representation, one successor is replaced by another. However, citizens have the right to indicate a transmitter in their will.

At the same time, if the heir had the right to an obligatory share in the apartment, this right does not pass to his successors.

If after his death there are less than 3 months left to accept the inheritance, the remaining period of time is automatically extended. Those who did not manage to submit an application to the notary on time have the right to go to court to restore the deadline for acceptance. The applicant is also allowed to ask the court to recognize him as having accepted the inheritance.

Registration of rights

Ownership of real estate must be registered with Rosreestr. This rule is established by current legislation. To do this, you will need to contact the registration authority with an application.

The text must indicate:

1. Name and address of the registration authority.
2. Data of the new owner - last name, first name, patronymic, passport series and number, year of birth and place of residence.
3. Description of the apartment - location address, total area.
4. The application itself for registration of property rights.
5. List of attached documents.
6. Date of application and signature of the person.

You will need to attach some documents to your application. These include:

1. Applicant's passport.
2. Power of attorney of the legal representative, if he takes part in the procedure.
3. Certificate of right to inheritance.
4. Receipt of payment of the state fee for the provision of services.

You can submit these documents in person to Rosreestr, through a legal representative or a multifunctional center, by mail or the Internet. The service period is seven working days. If the information was sent through the MFC, the procedure will be implemented within nine working days. Completion of such a process is the issuance of a certificate or extract from the Unified State Register to the initiator. It should be noted that the initiator may be refused if the application submitted is incomplete or unreliable.

Stages of registration of non-privatized property

You need to complete the privatization procedure in a timely manner. The law allows six months from the date of death of the testator to enter into inheritance. Although a non-privatized apartment does not belong to the inheritance estate, you must also declare your desire to include it in the inheritance within 6 months. If this deadline is missed, it can only be restored in court and if there are good reasons for missing the deadline.

First of all, the heir needs to make sure that there is a basis for inheriting the apartment. They are considered to be the privatization started by the deceased. This is followed by a visit to the notary and application of rights to the inheritance.

After refusal to include a non-privatized apartment in the inheritance, the heir must file a claim in court. The courts are accommodating to plaintiffs regarding this type of application.

Another way is to draw up a social tenancy agreement for a relative who lived with the testator, and further privatization of the apartment by this relative.

Application Form

The social tenancy agreement is drawn up at the registration service at the place of residence. The application must ask to conclude an agreement in connection with the death of the employer. You will have to provide documents about your relationship with him, registration at your residence address, etc. The exact list of documents should be checked with the registration service.

Collection of documents for privatization

The time required to collect documents can be quite long, since you will have to obtain certificates from various authorities.

To privatize an apartment, the municipality will ask for:

• Passport.
• Technical documents for real estate.
• A certificate according to which the family can move into the house. It will be issued by the district council.
• Social tenancy agreement in the name of the privatization applicant.
• Extract from the house register about registered residents.

A complete package of documents allows you to privatize an apartment without any problems, if housing in this building can be privatized.

Payment of state duty

The entire procedure for receiving a privatized apartment as an inheritance entails certain expenses. They relate to the payment of state fees for services provided by a notary and Rosreestr authorities. Payment can be made directly at the place of service, through a bank or via the Internet.

For issuing a certificate

The amount of the fee for issuing a certificate of inheritance depends on the degree of relationship of the recipients with the deceased.

Children, parents, husband, wife, siblings will have to pay thirty percent of the cost of the apartment, the rest of the applicants will have to pay six tenths. For the first category, the upper maximum amount is one hundred thousand rubles, for the second - a million.

For state registration

A fee must also be paid for state registration. Its size depends on the status of the initiator. For an individual, the payment amount will be 2 thousand rubles, for a legal entity - 22 thousand.

Judicial procedures

If you miss the deadline for submitting an application to a notary, real estate lawyers advise two options:

• ask the court to restore the period for entering into inheritance;
• ask the court to recognize the fact of its adoption.

The loss of time is due to various reasons, which objectively did not make it possible to go to the notary or send a representative. For example, a person spent a long time in a place where there was no connection with the outside world or in a barracks position, and suffered from a serious illness (it is considered valid when being in a hospital). Another reason is force majeure events (natural disaster). The law does not provide an exhaustive list of them. The point is to prove the applicant’s intentions to participate in the inheritance of a privatized apartment, which was prevented by objective factors.

The statement of acceptance has a different focus. Its goal is to prove that, despite the absence of a documented application, the acceptance of the inheritance took place. It is submitted when the notary does not have sufficient conclusive evidence of the actions of the heir. Only the court has the right to take into account the testimony of witnesses.

A person who does not have experience and knowledge in the field of jurisprudence is better off turning to a real estate lawyer to draw up documents.

Is it possible to inherit a non-privatized apartment?

If a person has not privatized an apartment during his lifetime, then his successors will not be able to receive the property by inheritance either by law or by will. There are two ways out of this situation.

First. Conclude a rental agreement with the government agency and privatize the apartment in the future. But in this case, other applicants who do not live in this premises lose their right to property.

Second. If privatization was started by the deceased, the successors will be able to complete it and inherit the housing. However, in such a situation there is a risk of a dispute with other applicants, which can only be resolved in court.

Why is it important to privatize an apartment after renewing the contract?

Because otherwise you will never become the owner of the property, which means that after the death of the current tenant there remains the risk of losing living space. A non-privatized apartment cannot be sold, rented out, or inherited. Residents of such an apartment are given only the rights to indefinite residence and repairs.

Having received a new contract from your municipality, immediately submit an application to the BTI for the privatization of non-privatized living space, so that your heirs become full owners of the property.

Sample documents

Sample application for registration of ownership of an apartment
Sample agreement on division of property

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Sample application for registration of property rights

Sample application for renunciation of inheritance

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Sample application for inheritance

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State duty on inheritance

According to the previous legislation, upon entering into the rights of inheritance of a privatized apartment, the legal successors paid a tax. Currently, payment of a state fee is required instead. Its size depends on the presence of family relationships. Thus, for heirs of the first and second stages, the amount of the mandatory fee will be 0.3% of the value of the real estate that went to the successor, but not more than 100,000 rubles.

For all others, this amount is equal to 0.6% of the price of the property, but not more than 1,000,000 rubles.

The nuances of inheriting privatized housing

The process has certain features that must be taken into account when implementing it.

In a situation where, during the privatization process, several people were registered in the apartment, the applicant will be able to inherit only the part of the testator that was allocated to him in accordance with the agreement on the transfer of living space into ownership.

If the deadline for entering into an inheritance was missed, and the notary did not register it, the problem can be solved in the following ways:

1. A procedure for out-of-court resolution of an issue when relatives have no claims against each other.
2. Restoration of inheritance rights in court proceedings. But its implementation will require valid reasons, supported by documents. It can be:

• Ignorance of the successor about the death of the testator;
• Illness or absence of the applicant throughout the entire time in the country;
• The heir did not know about the existence of the inherited property.

If there is no will

In a situation where there is no will, inheritance is carried out in accordance with the norms of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the law establishes the allocation of a mandatory part of the hereditary mass for certain types of the population that can lay claim to it. These include:

• Minor children;
• Parents who adopted a child;
• Persons who were dependent on the deceased before his death - spouse or parents.

The amount of the obligatory share for such people can reach up to 2/3 of the total inherited property transferred to legal successors.

Partial acceptance of inheritance is prohibited by law. For example, you cannot get housing by waiving debt obligations for utilities or fees for major repairs.

Court practice

The situation regarding the consideration of inheritance disputes is very ambiguous. Judges' opinions are shared when resolving controversial issues. Thus, in some cases, the court took the side of the employer, recognizing him as the owner who began the privatization procedure, but did not have time to complete it. In others, the right of ownership was recognized immediately to the successors of the testator.

It should be noted that the issue of recognizing the validity of an agreement must be considered in the context of Article 165 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, but not only when a party cannot participate in confirming a transaction with a notary, but also when it is physically unable to take part in the procedure due to its death.