The execution of wills is a process that many residents of the Russian Federation inevitably encounter. For this reason, it is important to know the procedure for the legal and factual aspects of this procedure. If disputes and conflicts arise, it is worth going to court and using the decision made by him as a basis for further actions.
The essence of the process
The execution of a will is the final stage of the transfer of property by inheritance.
In most cases, this process is carried out by those whose names were recorded in the inheritance document. But the testator has the right to appoint an executor - the person taking responsibility for the execution of the will. A notary public and a court may also participate in the process.
The execution of the will by the executor may begin from the moment of the death of the owner of the property.
Such a process has both a formal side and a monetary one.
The first can include all notarial acts, the purpose of which is to exercise the rights of heirs. As for the monetary side, its essence boils down to the fulfillment of testamentary dispositions in full by persons who have assumed such responsibility.
Artist selection
The probate, notary and heirs participate in this process. The aim is to transfer specific property to designated citizens.
To successfully fulfill the will of the deceased, a person is selected who will be engaged in the execution of the will. The executor of the will can be a legal entity or one of the heirs. The following factors can influence who exactly will be selected.
- The presence of a special item in the property, requiring the use of special skills. An example is the transfer of business or software.
- The heirs are recognized as incapable of work or have not reached the age of majority.
- Choosing a legal entity is the only way to avoid distorting the will of the deceased or the conflict between heirs.
The execution of the will as an obligation of the executor includes thorough preparation by the latter of all the property indicated in the document.
Official consent
The person who is entrusted with the right to execute the will must confirm that he has accepted all the obligations associated with this process.
Consent may be expressed as follows:
- a statement drawn up with a will;
- signature in testamentary disposition;
- filing an application with a notary public;
- Acceptance of their duties within a month from the moment the will was opened.
Possibility of failure
The impact of various factors complicating the process of executing a will is not ruled out. The executor of the will, subject to such circumstances, may be relieved of his duties by the court. This action will be legal, despite the fact that initially the executor expressed his consent in writing.
Since the specific reasons for the refusal are not established by law, the court may release the contractor from the duties taken in the event of:
- quarrels with the testator;
- employment of the executor;
- quarrels with the heir.
Other reasons are possible.
The law gives the right to release the performer from his duties only the court. This means that even if the heirs and the executor agree on the one who should stop his actions, they still have to deal with the court.
How exactly can a testament order be executed
There are certain rules for fulfilling the will of the person who wrote the will, which are based on article 1133 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. According to her, the process can proceed as follows.
- Debt collection from citizens. We are talking about those persons who had a debt to the testator.
- The safety of property transmitted by inheritance, its management and in the case when there are material expenses, their compensation.
- If there are outstanding loans of the deceased, then their full repayment.
- Search for heirs whose location has not been established.
- Ensuring both the assignment of testamentary disposition and the refusal of inheritance.
- Organization and competent implementation of the procedure for transferring property to heirs. In this case, the interests and personal rights of the latter should be taken into account.
Interpretation of the will
There is always a risk that the will of the testator and the external form of her expression will not correspond. To avoid such problems associated with the execution of the will, the norms of its interpretation established by law are used.
The interpretation of the will of the deceased may be engaged in:
Any interested persons, including heirs, cannot act as subjects of interpretation of the will of the deceased.
In most cases, various details of the will become clear already at the stage of notarization of a document, provided that the specialist has a high level of qualification.
Nevertheless, when working with the deceased’s order regarding his property, nuances may arise that complicate the process of executing a will. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation in such cases provides two main ways to solve the interpretation problem:
- All words and phrases are taken literally. That is, a restrictive or broad interpretation of the will of the deceased is not allowed. The content of the document cannot be determined wider or narrower than the existing verbal expression.
- Juxtaposition. When the analysis of the literal meaning does not allow to obtain the level of clarity necessary for the full and accurate execution of the will, other provisions and the meaning of the document as a whole are analyzed.
What to do if you can’t interpret
There are situations when the literal meaning and comparison of documents do not give a clear picture regarding the will of the deceased owner of the property.
An example is the situation when a citizen divided his property into equal shares and bequeathed them to his son and wife. But at the same time, he did not indicate the names and surnames of his family members.
After that, the citizen managed to remarry, in which he had three sons. As a result, the text of the will does not allow to determine which wife and to which of the sons should belong to the deceased.
All that can be done with such a document is to invalidate it, since the risk of distorting the will of the testator is extremely high. However, inheritance will be carried out. The procedure for such a process is determined by law.
What rights and obligations does the performer have
Since the realization of the will of the testator in most cases is associated with an appeal to various competent bodies (court, state institutions), the law gives the executor the right to conduct business on his own behalf.
Confirm the credentials of the performer corresponding certificate. He does not need other documents to carry out his duties. A person in the status of executor has the right to:
- receipt of material compensation, provided that it is indicated in the will;
- transfer of property and money of the deceased to his heirs;
- appeal to any authorities when the situation requires it;
- receiving compensation for expenses incurred in the process of fulfilling the assumed responsibilities;
- the presence during the inventory of the inheritance indicated in the will;
- appeal to internal affairs bodies upon detection of weapons;
- control of the actions of a notary concerning the safety and management of property specified in the will.
Cost Compensation
A person who has received the right to execute a will, while fulfilling his duties, may be faced with certain costs. The law provides for a specific procedure for action in such a situation.
Based on the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, reimbursement of expenses related to the execution of the will is the legal right of the executor. Moreover, compensation is made at the expense of the inheritance.
In order for the reimbursement to occur without any questions, the contractor must provide documentary evidence of all the expenses that took place in the process of fulfilling his duties.
Such evidence may include checks, receipts and other securities that record the fact of payment.
If the process of fulfilling a testamentary disposition stretched out over a long period of time, then the amount that was spent by the contractor may partially depreciate due to inflation. In such a situation, the heirs are not obliged to charge interest for full compensation, since there is no such requirement in the law.
The executor, agreeing to perform his function, should take into account such risks.
Difficulties in the implementation of the will
Despite the fact that the law defines the procedure for executing a will, controversial issues and uncomfortable situations may arise.
These include:
- The requirement to withdraw the previously approved candidacy. This, accordingly, will lead to additional time costs for the implementation of the testamentary disposition.
- Controversial issues regarding the distribution of shares. To come to a concrete decision in a similar situation, the court helps. It is the sentence that will be used in the future as the basis for the division of property.
- Refusal of the contractor to perform his duties.
- The conflict associated with the full compensation of expenses of the executor.
As you can see, the concept and the meaning of the execution of the will, precisely defined by law, do not always save participants in the process from contentious situations.
Disposal of funds in an account with a credit institution
There are two ways to make a will, which make it possible to use such funds:
- contact a notary public;
- leave an order with the credit organization itself.
Heirs will be able to access these funds after the death of the testator. In order to exercise this right, they will have 6 months. If during this time they did not show their rights, then the term can be restored.
An extension is possible only if there are documents confirming the fact that the heirs did not try to gain access to the funds in the first six months for valid reasons.
As a result, the issue of restoration of the term will be resolved in court.
Case Example
In the Moscow court (2016), the appellate ruling was adopted due to a dispute. The essence of the latter was that the grandson could not receive the inheritance that his grandfather bequeathed to him. Namely - an apartment.
The notary explained the fact of the refusal to provide property by the fact that the grandfather managed to draw up another will, according to which the apartment should be transferred to the property of his wife.
But these are not all the problems of the execution of the will that arose in this situation. Two more of his daughters claimed their rights to the immovable property of the deceased. As the basis for their claims, they identified the fact that, in their opinion, the will was written by another person, and the testator himself could not clearly express his will, since he was not able to give an account of his actions.
Having examined the arguments of all parties, the court ruled that:
- The testator had the right to change his will at any time and draw up a new order (which happened).
- The signature on the will was made by the deceased owner. This was confirmed by experts after the study.
- The testator gave an account of his actions when drawing up the last order. This fact was confirmed by post-mortem examination.
- The document is valid because the plaintiff was unable to provide evidence to the contrary.
As a result, the apartment was received by the wife of the deceased.
Summary
The execution of a will is the process of transferring property to heirs. A court, a notary public or an individual - an executor may engage in such a task. The latter receives special rights necessary for the effectiveness of his actions, and can rely on compensation for expenses incurred.