Unfortunately, in life there are moments associated with the death of relatives or other loved ones. It is regrettable, but, in the end, it is still necessary to solve the situation with the inheritance of the deceased. And then people have questions: "What is the deadline for accepting an inheritance?", "Is restoration of the deadline for accepting an inheritance permissible?" This article contains answers to these questions.
What is it for?
This statute of limitations for inheritance is determined by the civil law of Russia, in particular, the norm of 1154 Civil Code. The establishment of this kind of restriction is connected with the fact that it is necessary to determine the legal status of inheritance property in a civil circulation, to determine new owners in order to establish their rights and obligations, to satisfy the legitimate requirements of creditors, as well as other persons, including the heirs themselves. In addition, the period for acceptance of the inheritance is determined in order to ensure the continued functioning of the inheritance item.
The listed points are not the only ones for which such a time period is set. This period, among other things, is also provided in order to establish the circle of heirs, to reveal all the property of the testator, to determine its value, to find out its location. In turn, in the designated period, the successors are obliged to decide whether they will enter into the inheritance or refuse it.
From the moral and ethical part, the period of acceptance of an inheritance by law (testament) allows you to distinguish between the very procedure for this adoption and the process associated with the burial of the testator. It allows the relatives of the deceased to recover from the shock and only after that do hereditary affairs.
Total term
The terms in question vary in duration, on the basis of the calling of the heirs to the inheritance, at the moment from which the term begins to expire. For these reasons, the terms in the law of succession are divided into special and general. The total period for acceptance of the inheritance is determined by a certain amount of time, it is established by law in six months and begins its countdown from the time when the opening of the inheritance was completed. In other words, if the heir inherits right from the moment of opening the inheritance, then the general term applies to him.
It should be noted that a six-month period applies in almost all cases. An exception to this rule is only situations for which special terms are defined.
The heirs to whom the general terms apply are divided into the following persons:
- Successors of the initial priority when accepting inherited property under the law.
- Heirs by will.
- Assigned successors by will, if the persons indicated in this will by the heirs have died, are removed from the inheritance and do not have rights to it.
- The successors of further queues, if the successors previous in priority are absent or do not have the right to accept the inheritance.
Recognition of a citizen as dead
There are times when a person is presumed dead by court order. For example, if he is missing and cannot be found for a certain amount of time, then relatives have the right to go to court, which can recognize such a person as dead. With such a development of the situation, the opening of the inheritance occurs on the date of entry into the legitimate force of the judicial act.
Such a term is special. It applies to persons who have gone missing if, at the time of such disappearance, circumstances accompanying them suggest that the person died. In this case, the established period for acceptance of the inheritance is the same amount of time as for the general term, that is, 6 months. The difference is only in the moment from which such a period of time initiates the flow.
In a judicial act, the judge must indicate the alleged day of death, for example, the day when dangerous circumstances or an accident occurred. This day will be considered the day of death and, accordingly, the moment of opening the inheritance. However, the course of the term will begin only on the day when the decision of the judiciary enters into legal force. The legislator in this case tries to preserve the rights of those heirs who were on the day of the alleged death, but for some reason were absent from the circle of successors at the time the court order came into force.
The legislator also protects the rights of heirs with such a special period of time, which, on the one hand, cannot accept the inheritance until the judicial act has received legal force, and on the other hand, if the countdown was carried out from the day of death, then such a six-month period must have been would be skipped.
The circle of heirs and the property of the testator to be included in the property is determined on the day that is the day of the alleged death, fixed by the decision of the judicial authorities.
Special term for refusal of inheritance or removal of unworthy heirs
The special term for the adoption of an inheritance by law (will) applies also to persons for whom the right to inherit appears due to the unworthiness of previous heirs or their removal. In addition, such a right may arise on the basis of a waiver of the inheritance. It is known that inheritance is considered the competence of a person and cannot be assigned to him against his will. In a different way, if the successor refuses to accept the inheritance, then, accordingly, the right to it is transferred to other persons in order of priority or according to the will. A special period also applies to such persons, which will still be six months, only its calculation is considered to be from the moment when such heirs have the right to inherit. Moreover, such a right arises from the day when the notary certifies the application to refuse the inheritance of the previous heirs, and if the useless successors are removed, then from the moment the proper decision of the judicial authorities entered the legitimate force.
If the successors did not receive the estate
The specialized deadline for the adoption of an inheritance by testament or by law may also apply to persons for whom such a right arises as a result of non-acceptance of inheritance property by the other heirs. As a rule, such a special period is determined in three months, and its course begins on the day when the general period, calculated from the time of opening the inheritance, or the specialized period, calculated from the date of entry into force of the judicial act by which the testator is declared dead, ends.
This three-month period of actual acceptance of the inheritance is used only in cases where other successors have not received the inheritance. How to determine this? The assignee shall be deemed not to have accepted the estate if he has not shown his will to the opened inheritance in any way possible. That is, if such a person during the course of the general or special six-month period did not submit a corresponding demand to the notary to accept the property, did not declare the document confirming his right to this property. In addition, if the heir did not take any factual measures that could indicate that he accepted the hereditary property, then he, too, would be considered not to accept it. For example, if the apartment, which is part of the estate, is maintained at the expense of the heir, he pays for all utilities, bears the burden of maintaining this apartment, paying tax payments, but at the same time he did not contact the notary to register his rights, it is impossible to consider such a successor as not having accepted hereditary property. After all, in fact, he accepted it. But if he, in general, pulled away from such actions, then we can assume that the inheritance is not accepted.
Persons who have not accepted the inheritance can also be attributed to those heirs who did not perform any direct actions, that is, did not write a letter of refusal and at the same time did not give consent to accept this property. If the successor died after the opening of the inheritance, it can equally be considered as not having accepted the estate.
Reinstatement in court
The methods and deadline for accepting the inheritance, if the ordinary or specialized deadlines are missed, may also be different. Civil legislation of Russia also provides for this.
Quite frequent are the cases when the deadline for accepting the inheritance has passed. The restoration of the term of acceptance of the inheritance may help in such a situation. Legislatively such an opportunity is provided so that the heir can exercise his rights. However, in order for this period to be restored, grounds are needed. One of them is the heir’s ignorance of the opening of the inheritance. Other legitimate reasons may also be recognized as such grounds.
There are two ways to restore a missed deadline for accepting an inheritance. This is a judicial order and the so-called conciliation order. The first method, as its name implies, is through the court. The successor who missed this period of time shall submit an application to the judicial authorities with a request to restore it. Such a statement is considered in the lawsuit. If the claim of the plaintiff is satisfied, he will be recognized as the heir and he will be determined a share in the estate. Of course, in the application the plaintiff is required to list the factors by which he missed the period of time specified by law for entering into the inheritance. The court will carefully analyze such reasons, they will be given a proper assessment. One of these are, for example, the facts of concealment from the heir of the death of the testator and, accordingly, the opening of the inheritance.
It should be noted that the heir himself should not be able to establish the fact of opening the inheritance, that is, he was not obliged to know about the death of the testator and that the period of acceptance of the inheritance began to flow. The restoration of the acceptance of the inheritance in this circumstance will be greatly complicated. Typically, to such persons who could not be aware of the incident, the legislator classifies legally incompetent citizens who do not understand the legal results of opening an inheritance. Among such incapacitated and young children, and persons deprived of legal capacity due to illness, etc. Also, these can be attributed to the heirs of the will. For example, a person is indicated by the heir in the will, but the remaining heirs and the notary hid this fact from him. A person living far from the testator and not maintaining contact with him, not properly notified of the opening of the inheritance, may also be considered unaware and must know about this legal fact.
Other valid circumstances
Other circumstances that may be recognized by the court as valid:
- serious illness;
- illiteracy;
- finding a person in a helpless state;
- a long business trip in which there is no opportunity to perform legal actions (for example, a business trip to remote places where there is no notary public or persons capable of performing notarial acts).
Of course, the listed circumstances are only basic, not exhaustive. When considering such a civil case, the court will evaluate all factors and reasons. He may also acknowledge other circumstances, by virtue of which the plaintiff could not accept the inheritance in time.
Another important point is the feasibility of restoring the term for accepting an inheritance by will or by law through a court of law also has a certain period of time. An application to the court should be sent no later than 6 months from the date when the prerequisites that interfere with the acceptance of inheritance property have disappeared. For example, an heir who lives in a region remote from the testator and does not maintain contact with him receives a telegram or other message that he has died. A six-month period is activated from now on.
Conciliation
If the deadline for accepting the inheritance is violated, the restoration of the deadline for accepting the inheritance can be carried out in the second way. It is considered voluntary recognition of the right of the heir to receive the inheritance by other successors who have already accepted it. This method is called conciliation. The actions of the person who missed the period in question, in this case, differ from the first method. He is not turning to the court, but to the other heirs with the desire to restore the deadline for acceptance of the inheritance. When all such heirs agree to fulfill the request of the latecomer, they give their written consent. Usually it is certified by a notary.
Difference from court
There are several fundamental differences between the conciliation regime for the restoration of the period for acceptance of inheritance from the judicial one.
- The consenting heirs or those who refuse this are not required to determine in their application the reason for their expression of will.
- In conciliation, successors who have inherited property shall not consider the grounds for missing time as a late heir.
- Refusal to consent cannot be appealed to the judiciary. Such a refusal of at least one heir creates irreparable obstacles to the use of conciliation.
- The heirs can give such consent only to the person who is the heir to the same line, that is, from the same circle as they, as well as to the person who, having entered into the inheritance, can force out another of the same successor who has already received the hereditary property. In other words, persons who have inherited only due to the missing of a term by another heir, having given their permission to renew this term, lose their rights.
- Conciliation can be applied regardless of the period that has passed. The principle of goodwill applies here.
Conclusion
Thus, depending on the specific circumstances, the very term of acceptance of the inheritance is different. The restoration of the term for accepting an inheritance can be complicated by various factors, including the opposition of those who have already accepted the inheritance. It is also impossible to predict the position of the court to miss the deadline for one reason or another. Therefore, in order to preserve their legal rights and interests, it is necessary to know what period for the adoption of the inheritance, and such a gap is desirable not to violate. In any case, if a similar situation arose, it is better to apply conciliation rules to restore the missed deadline, and if it is impossible to apply to the judicial authorities.