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- To lose my rights: the court cited the reasons for the refusal to extend the term of inheritance
To lose my rights: the court cited the reasons for the refusal to extend the term of inheritance
Relatives who have missed the deadline for receiving inheritance cannot give residence in another city and insufficient close contact with the deceased as a valid reason for their extension. The Supreme Court came to such conclusions. He considered a cassation appeal against the decision of two instances — they extended the term for a woman who had not communicated with her father for about 17 years. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered that the late heiress was not deprived of the opportunity to show interest in the fate of her parent and exercise her inheritance rights on time. The lawyers interviewed acknowledged that such disputes are among the most common in this area. About how the Supreme Court's decision will affect judicial practice and how to properly enter into inheritance, see the Izvestia article.
What has changed for the "late" heirs
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation clarified the approach to restoring the inheritance acceptance period: living in different cities and not communicating with the testator cannot be valid reasons. This follows from the definition of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Izvestia has it).
According to the Civil Code, an inheritance can be accepted within six months from the date of opening, while a late heir can take over if he missed the deadline for a valid reason.
"Such reasons include circumstances related to the identity of the plaintiff, for example, serious illness, helplessness or illiteracy," the court ruling says. "Circumstances such as a short—term health disorder, ignorance of civil law norms about the timing and procedure for accepting inheritance, and lack of information about the composition of inherited property are not valid."
In addition, circumstances related to the identity of the deceased cannot serve as a basis for restoring the term. The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation considered the dispute of the plaintiff Olga Malysheva, claiming the inheritance of her deceased father. The defendants were her stepmother and younger brother.
According to the case file, Olga Malysheva's father, Vladimir, died in 2021. According to the plaintiff, her parents divorced in 1963: at first, the father maintained a relationship with his daughter, but after he had a new family, communication became rare, and in 2005 it completely stopped. Subsequently, the plaintiff learned that Vladimir Malyshev had moved from Novokuznetsk to Moscow.
Olga Malysheva claims that she wanted to find her father, but all attempts were in vain. She learned about her father's death in September 2022 and appealed to the court with a request to restore the deadline for accepting the inheritance. Olga Malysheva's brother Nikolai and her stepmother Tamara accepted the inheritance in February and March 2022.
"The plaintiff demanded to recognize for her and the defendants the right to 1/3 of the share of the property, consisting of an apartment in the Moscow region and two apartments in Moscow. As well as 1/6 of the share in the right to funds held in accounts for each of the heirs," the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation recalls in its definition.
In December 2023, the Zyuzinsky Court of Moscow satisfied the claims, and the subsequent court agreed with it. Then Nikolai and Tamara Malysheva challenged this decision in the Supreme Court.
"In itself, the reason for Malysheva O.V. missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance <...> is not valid, since it did not deprive Malysheva O.V. of the opportunity to show attention and concern for the fate of the testator and, if there was such an interest, to learn about his death in a timely manner and, accordingly, to exercise his inheritance rights in accordance with the procedure and within the time limit established by law.", — the definition says.
What to do if the inheritance deadline has passed
People quite often miss the deadlines for inheritance, the press service of the Federal Notary Chamber (FNP) told Izvestia. It is necessary to apply to a notary public within six months from the date of the testator's death, and not after that time.
— Those who are abroad or work in shifts are also confused about the deadlines. Sometimes people miss the deadline for inheritance because they do not have time to come to the right notary. The inheritance case is opened at the last place of residence of the deceased. At the same time, the heir may live in another region and not be able to come, for example, because of work, a small child or caring for a sick relative, they noted.
If the heir cannot come to the testator's place of residence, then he should contact any notary office in his city. The notary certifies the signature, digitizes the application for inheritance and transmits the electronic version to a colleague who has opened an inheritance case.
— It will not be difficult to find out whether an inheritance case has been opened and which notary is conducting it, — the FNP clarified. — There is a public registry for searching for open inheritance cases.
If a citizen has not submitted an application within the allotted time, but has actually accepted the inheritance and can confirm this, the notary may include him in the list of heirs. Proof of the actual acceptance of the inheritance may be, for example, a joint residence permit with the testator and payment of utility bills after his death.
— If there was no actual acceptance of the inheritance, but the deadline was missed, the most convenient way out is to negotiate with the heirs who managed to take over their rights on time. They may agree to include the late heir in their ranks. If it was not possible to reach an agreement, it remains to go to court and prove that you did not know and could not have known that you had become an heir," the experts said.
How to prove a valid reason
There is no general exhaustive list of such valid reasons, the lawyers interviewed by Izvestia noted. In each specific case, the court will consider all the circumstances and make a decision based on a combination of factors.
In the cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, which was prepared by the Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov and Partners bar association, for example, a method was proposed for assessing the validity of the reasons for missing the deadline. Thus, it was proposed to take into account the criterion of the insurmountability of circumstances and the criterion of personality — the connection of circumstances with the personality of the heir.
"For example, the heir's stay in a coma is unequivocally interpreted by the courts as a valid reason," the board explained.
The cassation appeal noted that only simultaneous observance of these criteria can indicate the validity of the reasons and allow restoring the deadline for accepting the inheritance.
The clarification of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation will help prevent cases of abuse by late heirs who for years have not shown interest in the life of a relative, but at the same time could claim the property, lawyer Makka Saligova believes.
— The number of unfounded claims will decrease: the court has clearly indicated what evidence the heir must provide. The clarifications of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation make the procedure for restoring the term more understandable and fair. Now the heirs will have to prove the real reasons for missing the deadline, which will protect the rights of those heirs who have preserved and accepted the inherited property on time, the expert believes.
The courts are quite strict about missing the deadline for inheritance, said Vyacheslav Pechnikov, president of the Moscow Law Corporation.
— In practice, the courts clarify whether the heir communicated with the testator, whether he could have known about his death, whether he was informed about it. Nowadays, remote living does not prevent obtaining information about the fate of the testator and does not exclude the possibility of communication between people," the lawyer said.
Should notaries look for heirs
In Russia, a notary is not required to actively search for heirs about whom he has no information or who live abroad, Yulia Andreeva, partner and lawyer at Vertical Law Firm, told Izvestia.
— Notaries usually rely entirely on additional information from relatives submitting an application. The situation is similar in India and Turkey when inheriting by law rather than by will. Nevertheless, in many countries there are rules that oblige the executor of a will, or a notary, to find and notify the heirs," she said.
According to her, in the Anglo-Saxon legal system, the duty to dispose of inherited property lies with the executor of the will. In the United States, the executor is required to notify all known heirs, including those living abroad (in person, by mail, even through publication in the media if it is difficult to find heirs). In Canada, the law requires the executor of the will to do everything possible to find the heirs, and in the UK — at least to take reasonable measures to find them.
In Russia, a notary who receives a notification of an open inheritance must notify those heirs whose place of residence or work is known to him, Alina Laktionova, partner and head of private client practice at Mitra Law Firm, reminded. In addition, the notary has the right to summon the heirs by public notification or message in the media.
"The dispositive nature of the second part of this rule — it can, but it is not required to — creates certain legal consequences: heirs who have lost touch with the testator often find out about his death much later than the deadline set by law for accepting the inheritance," she said. — This creates difficulties in the implementation of inheritance rights and becomes the basis for legal proceedings.
Yulia Andreeva added that judicial disputes about the restoration of term are considered the most common in the field of inheritance disputes.
"You need to understand that in inheritance disputes, every situation, every lawsuit is a separate, individual case," she said. — And the fact that the method of assessing the respectfulness of missing a deadline is being improved is really important.
She added that contesting a will and disputes concerning the actual acceptance of an inheritance are also common inheritance disputes.
— The establishment of the fact of kinship with the testator, perhaps, can also be attributed here, — said the expert. — If documents were suddenly lost, or there was any mistake in them, or the registry office archive was lost, all this requires going to court.
Why are inheritance deadlines skipped?
Some citizens miss the deadline for inheritance, as they serve their sentences in prison and go to court after leaving the colony, Vyacheslav Pechnikov recalled.
— But being in a place of imprisonment in itself is not proof that a person did not know and could not have known about the death of the testator. It is also necessary to prove the absence of communication and information exchange between them or other relatives," he explained.
The press service of the Federal Notary Chamber shared with Izvestia cases from practice. For example, they told how a notary was approached by a man who missed the deadline for accepting an inheritance, but managed to negotiate with other heirs who had already received inheritance certificates.
"The latecomer had a valid reason and the heirs understood that he had a serious chance to restore the terms in court," they noted. "People didn't want to waste their time and effort, and according to their written statements, the notary included a new person in the list of heirs."
The FNP also told about the case when the illegitimate and unrecognized child of the testator turned out to be the heir. In this situation, he needed to go to court not only to restore the terms, but also to prove a kinship relationship with the testator.
"In notary practice, there was a case when daughters tried to prove the fact of accepting an inheritance from their father, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, referring to the fact that his medals were taken away. However, the women did not take into account that state awards, in principle, cannot be inherited. There is a special protocol with them, so we had to return everything," the chamber noted.
Experts also told about a story when a cat helped to prove the fact of accepting an inheritance. The girl did not know that her deceased grandmother had included her in her will, and therefore missed the six-month deadline. But out of good intentions, she took the animal for herself and took care of it. Thanks to this, I got a share in my grandmother's apartment. According to civil law, a pet is a property that can be inherited.
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