How can you prove your relationship with your grandmother?

In order to carry out legal actions without problems, in some cases you have to prove your relationship with someone. This is done easily when you have supporting papers.

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But when documents are lost, and family ties need to be confirmed across generations, the missing papers have to be restored. At first glance, it seems that this is unrealistic and will take a lot of time. After reading the article, you can understand that it is not such a difficult procedure to confirm family ties.

Why is proof of relationship needed?

Determining kinship is a common procedure in the modern world. Nowadays there are many situations in which confirmation of blood ties is required. This is often necessary to establish inheritance rights.

Let's look at this issue using this example:

When entering into an inheritance according to the law, the receiver is obliged to prove a close relationship with the testator, since only relatives can lay claim to the property. Each of the succession lines goes through confirmation of family ties. When entering into an inheritance under a will, establishing a relationship is not required, since the testator himself chose the heir, and he could be any stranger or acquaintance.

The most common circumstances for establishing the fact of blood ties are the following:

entry into inheritance;
proof of paternity;
determination of nationality;
burial in a cemetery in a place assigned to a specific family;
others established by legal provisions.

In court they never take a person’s word for it, but only pay attention to a number of documents. If it happened that you had to marry a foreign citizen and move for permanent residence to his country, then the relationship will have to be proven through embassy employees. Also, the correctness of documents is important when applying for a visa to move or drawing up a gift deed. It is important that it comes into force between two living people and involves the payment of a tax deduction.

It doesn’t often happen that a situation can be resolved without filing lawsuits and legal proceedings, by acknowledging paternity or by restoring lost documents. However, the connection between family members is most often established by the court.

How to prove your relationship with your grandmother?

A person knows who and what kind of relative he is. But when kinship needs to be proven, words alone will not be enough.

You can prove family ties with a living person by the following actions:

form a genetic tree;
carry out tests for kinship.

But there are situations when a person is no longer alive, and the relationship needs to be proven. The most common situation is when the grandmother left an inheritance, and in order for the heirs to receive it, they need supporting documents about the relationship with the grandmother.

Note! It is possible to confirm family ties with the deceased using supporting papers, records in documents, etc. They must be provided to the notary. If papers are missing, they must be found or renewed. This can be done in specialized organizations.

Documents confirming relationship

You can confirm family ties with your paternal or maternal grandmother thanks to the following documentation:

grandson's birth certificate;
birth certificate of the mother (father), where the grandmother will already be indicated as a parent.

Thanks to the documented sequence, it is possible to confirm the blood ties of the grandchildren with their grandmother.

Let's celebrate! If the mother changed her last name due to marriage, then a marriage certificate must be provided.
If the surname has changed several times, then confirmation will be a certificate from the registry office about each change.

Confirmation procedure

Family relationships are sometimes required to be confirmed. You can do without this if the deceased took care in advance by leaving a will, or when the heir is in the first line of inheritance. This applies when the applicant is a child, spouse or parent of the deceased. If the relationship is distant, then everything is complicated by the obligation to provide documents confirming the connection with the deceased relative. The first step towards a future inheritance should be to contact a notary, who will give instructions on further actions. If necessary, he will refer you to the court, which will make a decision on the fact of relationship. Sometimes cases of this nature are resolved quite quickly, but sometimes they can take more than one year.

What to do if the documents are lost or not all have been preserved?

In the event that all or part of the papers are lost, the resolution of legal matters is suspended. It is imperative to renew them with the help of the city archive or through the registry office. Nowadays, recovering lost papers is not a problem.

To get your lost birth certificate, you just need to contact the registry office. If the father’s (mother’s) certificate is lost, he (she) must independently contact the registry office or issue a power of attorney.

To restore the certificate you will need the following documents:

passport;
birth certificate indicating the mother (father);
power of attorney;
check for payment of state duty;
application for a copy of the birth certificate of one of the parents.

Let's celebrate ! In cases where the parents are not alive, a death certificate is provided instead of a power of attorney. Considering that all documents are in order, obtaining a repeat certificate will take no more than 20 minutes.

Possible difficulties in document recovery

Until recently, the main inconvenience was that it was necessary to contact the registry office where the certificate was issued. But what to do if that civil registry office no longer exists? On the website of the regional registry office you can track the movement of archives.

Note! Now, by contacting the nearest registry office, you can write a statement sent to the regional office. And after some time the answer will come. If the information is not found, then a negative response will be sent. In this case, blood ties will have to be restored through the courts.

Documents confirming family relationships

There are several acts and certificates to confirm the existence of a family relationship. Among them:

certificates, including marriage, birth of a child and others;
certificates from archives or the registry office, if data on the required persons could be saved. They are evidence that can be provided to a notary office;
court order. In the absence of basic acts or the need to resolve legal disputes, they turn to the court, which makes a decision and issues documentation, with which you can then contact a notary.

Each option has its own characteristics and processes for obtaining them if necessary.

Certificate

According to the law, any civil act is registered and issued in the form of a certificate. This could be the birth of a child, a marriage or its dissolution, as well as the death of a person or a change of data (full name). This documentation is kept in the hands of the person, but if lost or damaged, they can be obtained from the same authority where they were issued.

Attention! If they do not want to provide a duplicate, then this can be achieved with the help of the court.

The number of certificates that certify the presence of blood affinity varies depending on the distance of relatives to each other. Example, to formalize a line of descent with a grandmother, a grandson will need the following documentation:

birth data of the father or mother, depending on who is the grandmother’s child;
own birth data;
information on parents' marriage.

Identification

An identity document is most often expressed as a birth certificate or a Russian passport.
Citizens have notes in their passports about marriages, their dissolution, as well as about children and parents. This information is used to establish family relationships.

Genetic testing result

The DNA test has a high accuracy of determination, which allows it to be used in controversial issues and various court decisions.
The procedure has a fee and must be carried out strictly in organizations with a license for these services. Genetic testing requires the following steps:

provision of genetic material for research from two individuals for whom it is necessary to establish the degree of relationship;
concluding a contract for the provision of services;
receive official results in document form.

On a note! If necessary, such a procedure is authorized through the judicial system.

Since the examination establishes the degree of proximity, it is possible to involve another person who is a relative of the deceased or absent person.

During legal proceedings, based on the data received, the court officially establishes the existence of proximity between the participants in the process and other persons.

Establishing relationship through court

If it was not possible to establish blood ties with the help of the registry office, then this issue is resolved in a judicial manner.

To begin with, an application for the restoration of kinship is written, which contains the following information:

address and name of the court;
applicant details;
name of the notary;
the reason for the restoration of kinship;
confirmation from 2-3 eyewitnesses;
please obtain confirmation of the fact of blood ties.

You can also provide personal papers to the court: photographs, postcards, personal correspondence, powers of attorney, etc.

Establishing kinship through the court has its own specifics. For example, relatives, close acquaintances, and neighbors can act as witnesses. Those people who know information about the applicant’s personal life. When preparing for a court hearing, the court makes a request to the notary.

The verdict is made after analyzing the provided papers and available evidence, testimony of witnesses, and examination of the inheritance file. If the court has no objections, the decision is made quickly.

Let's celebrate! Closeness with grandmother is not difficult to attest, since such a family connection is quite close. Even in the complete absence of documentation, existing marks in the registry office or testimony of witnesses will be recognized as confirmation.

To prove blood ties with your grandmother, you only need to have two birth certificates. Considering the fact that papers may be lost, and it is necessary to prove blood ties, this can be done in three simple steps:

Restoration of documentation. Remember that you need to contact the registry office or city archive.
Request for the issuance of a duplicate certificate when contacting the relevant institution.
If for some reason the papers are missing from the registry office and the city archive, then the restoration of kinship is carried out through the court.

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Visit to a notary

Any matter related to inheritance should begin with a consultation at the reception of a notary, who has to make a decision on the rights of a particular relative to enter into an inheritance. Faced with difficulties that he is unable to resolve, the applicant is sent to court. Based on the results of the judicial review, he continues what he started by identifying an heir.

Judicial confirmation of relationship

It is important to know how to prove relationship through court. You have to contact it when there are no documents confirming relationship, or it is not possible to restore some of them. To obtain a reliable result, you need to prepare evidence that would help the judge make the right decision. These include:

witness's testimonies;
photos and videos that can help establish relationships;
postal letters;
certificates clarifying marital status;
various entries or receipts from the house register;
evidence of all kinds;
family tree;
documents from the employer or from the place of study (characteristics from school, questionnaires and autobiographies).

As a result, the judge draws up a conclusion establishing the relationship between people, allowing them to receive property.

Recognition of kinship in court

When confirming paternity of a deceased testator, one cannot do without the help of the court. The minor's representative or the child himself, who has reached the age of 18, performs the following steps:

preparation of a statement of claim to establish paternity;
collection of necessary documents;
submitting a claim to court and paying state fees;
resolving the dispute in essence, which takes on average one and a half to two months;
the court makes a final decision;
transfer of a court decision to a notary, who opens inheritance proceedings.

Documentation

A prerequisite for filing a claim is to draw up an inventory of the attached materials. All materials must be numbered and attached to the application. Required documents include the following:

applicant's passport;
testator's passport;
death certificate of the testator;
refusal of the notary to include the child in the list of heirs;
materials indicating paternity;
payment of state duty.

The statement of claim is accompanied by copies of the specified documents, the originals are brought by the plaintiff to the court hearing.

Contents of the statement

The petition is drawn up taking into account the requirements of the Civil Code and must contain the following information:

The header of the document, which contains the name of the court where the claim is being transferred. In the absence of the defendant, the magistrate's court located at the plaintiff's residence address will consider the appeals. The header contains the personal data of the applicant and the data of all interested participants.
The introductory part describes the grounds and reasons for filing a claim to establish paternity.
A detailed description of the circumstances confirming the existence of a family relationship.
Legal requirements, namely confirmation of paternity, the requirement to include the child in the list of first-priority heirs.
Date and signature of the claim.
Description of the attached materials.

State duty amount

The amount of the state duty is regulated by Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. According to part three of this article, in 2021 a person will have to pay 300 rubles for filing a claim.

When paying the state duty, the number of claims is taken into account, since the state duty is calculated separately for each legal claim.

Arbitrage practice

More often, conflicts arise due to the need to confirm the paternity of the deceased testator and the child. If it is impossible to conduct a DNA test, the court makes a decision based on the documents submitted by the child’s second parent.

If the submitted evidence is sufficient to confirm paternity, then the court makes a decision in favor of the applicant. Such evidence will include personal correspondence, call recordings, witness statements, certificates indicating cohabitation, and photographs.

After considering the claim, the judge makes one of the following decisions:

full recognition of kinship;
partial confirmation of relationship, that is, with the establishment of a number of restrictions;
not satisfying the claim.

Who is the relationship usually established with?

In the inheritance process by law (not by will), according to Art. 72 of the Fundamentals of Legislation on Notaries “Conditions for issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance by law”, all citizens who have declared their intentions to accept the inheritance of a deceased relative must present evidence of relationship to the notary.

Lack of evidence leads to their exclusion from inheritance.

Note : Spouses are related not by kinship, but by family-legal ties.

According to Art. 1142-1145 of Chapter 63 “Inheritance by Law” of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, kinship in order of priority is established by people who have not only a close degree of kinship with the deceased. In addition to children, parents and spouses (primary successors), the following can receive a share :

full and half brothers and sisters of the testator, his grandparents - second priority;
uncle and aunt of the deceased - third;
ancestors - fourth;
cousins, grandparents - fifth;
great-great-grandchildren, uncles and aunts - sixth;
stepsons, stepdaughters, stepfather and stepmother of the deceased - the seventh.

If there is a testamentary document, the notary (according to clause 27 of the Recommendations, approved by the Decision of the FNP Board of February 27-28, 2007, Protocol No. 02/07) has the right to request documents on kinship from applicant relatives. But if the heirs do not have them, the notary will still issue a certificate of rights to the valuables.

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Arbitrage practice

The court's decision will depend on the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the evidence presented. Court practice suggests that most often the applicant wins such cases if his appeal to the court was reasoned and if the documents presented sufficiently confirm the relationship.

The decision may come down, in addition to the recognition of kinship, also to the legal consequences from which the rights of individuals are established. These include obtaining the right to accept an inheritance or pay alimony.

The judge does not call the parties into the courtroom and sends them documents via mail. The court decision has legal force from the moment it is made by the judge. From now on it is mandatory for all citizens. However, if a citizen disagrees with it, he has the right to appeal it.

Watch the video. Proof of relationship for the archives of the Civil Registry Office, Ministry of Internal Affairs, FSB: