Hereditary transmission is a term that is officially used in the legislation of the Russian Federation. Understanding the essence of this concept is important not only for people associated with legal science and practice, but also for ordinary citizens. Everyone can face in everyday life with the receipt of an inheritance, including in the form of transmission. Therefore, we suggest you familiarize yourself with these rules for the acquisition of material wealth and find out some of its important nuances.
The concept of hereditary transmission
In the legal literature, transmission is considered as a special situation when the unfulfilled right to inherit property is transferred not to the heir, but to other persons by testament or by law. It becomes possible in the event of the death of the assignee, which occurred after the implementation of the procedure for opening the inheritance. An important condition is that a person does not have time to accept tangible and intangible benefits within the time period established by law. In this situation, the opportunity to receive the property of the deceased is vested in his own near and dear ones - by law or testament, if it had a place to be. In the framework of a hereditary transmission of a deceased heir is called a transmitter. And the new one, which is vested with the privilege of obtaining property, is called the transmissary.
Inheritance law of the Russian Federation: transmission
In Russian law, until the development and adoption of the third part of the Civil Code on inheritance and international private law, the term "inheritance transmission" was not officially fixed. It was used only in judicial practice and scientific literature. Of course, the Civil Code of the RSFSR of 1964 (Article 548) considered the possibility of transferring the right of inheritance in special cases. The concept of "transmission" in the inheritance law of the Russian Federation was described and received formalization only in March 2002, in the third part of the Civil Code.
Its essence lies in the fact that the right to accept the material goods of the transmitter passes to the transmission (in the event of the death of the first) after the implementation of the procedure for opening property. Hereditary transmission occurs when a transmitter has the privilege of receiving wealth at the time of his death, that is, he does not lose this right through a court of law, by will or does not refuse it at will. An important circumstance is that the transmission will be able to receive only the share of the inheritance that was intended for the transmitter itself. If the latter has several successors, they will inherit the property together, possibly in equal parts.
Features of the transfer of inheritance rights to the transmissions
Let's look at some features of the hereditary transmission mechanism. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 1156, paragraph 1) establishes that the privilege of inheritance of property that appeared to the transmisser after the death of the transmitter is not included in the composition of his inheritance. That is, if the transmisser dies before he has realized his right to take property, he will not be able to transfer to his own heirs. In the event that the transmitter has other transmissions, the deceased’s share will go to them, and if not, to the heirs, who were called to accept the right of inheritance after the death of the main testator. Sometimes it also happens that a transmitter dies after the death of his testator, but still up to this point he manages to accept the wealth owed to him. In this case, it is included in his own property, the rights to which will be transferred to his relatives on a common basis.
Acceptance of an inheritance. Inheritance transmission in judicial practice
To understand the position of paragraph 1 of Art. 1156, consider the following example. The testator died, but managed to draw up a will in which he expressed a desire to appoint his half-brother and son as heirs. A month after the opening of the inheritance, the brother died. In the order of a hereditary transmission, the right to receive material goods passed to his wife, who was the only heiress of the first stage. However, the brother’s wife suddenly died, not having time to exercise her right. Therefore, the share of the property of the main testator, which was originally due to her husband, will be given to the second available transmitter - the son of the testator.
Personal property of the transmitter. In what order will it be received by his relatives?
In the event of the death of the transmitter, his family and friends will have the opportunity to inherit his personal tangible and intangible goods. That is, in fact, it turns out that the successors of the transmitter are given the opportunity to simultaneously accept two wealth - one that opens after the death of their testator, and one that passes to them in the order of a hereditary transmission. Both of these rights are independent and can be exercised independently of each other. The personal inheritance of the transmitter will be made on a common basis, that is, either by law or by will.
The mechanism for acquiring wealth through inheritance transmission is somewhat different. In this case, the assignment of successors will be made only by law, and the heirs will be elected from the circle of relatives and relatives of the deceased. But there is an exception to this rule. If the transmitter has time to draw up and sign a will in which he expresses a desire to transfer all his property to one specific person, the right to dispose of the inheritance in the form of transmission will also pass to him. If at least an insignificant part of tangible and intangible goods was not indicated in the will (household items, furniture, etc.), the possibility of obtaining property will be transferred to the heirs under the law. In this case, the choice of persons will be carried out according to priority.
Acceptance of an inheritance. Hereditary transmission: circle of heirs
The Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines citizens who, in the order of transmission, can receive the legal right to accept intangible and material goods. In Art. 1156 indicates that the possibility of obtaining wealth, which was originally due to the transmitter, passes to his heirs by law or, if all wealth was fully bequeathed, to the heir by will. There are seven lines in total. At the same time, persons of the second and subsequent stages can accept the right of inheritance only in the absence of closer relatives (or their refusal to inherit) from the previous queue. A greater priority in obtaining the wealth owed to the transmitter is given to his spouse, mother and father, as well as children, including those unborn but conceived during his lifetime.
Obtaining values in transmission order by parents deprived of parental rights
According to the Civil Code, namely, Art. 1156, for parents who did not fulfill their duties of upbringing and care, and as a result of which they were deprived of parental rights, there is the possibility of inheriting the property of their child in the form of transmission. To understand the essence of the problem, consider the following situation. A citizen dies without a will. His father is deprived of parental rights. The testator does not have children of his own, his mother and wife died long ago. In accordance with the law, property should be received by his half-brother, who was related to the testator through his father. In the event of the death of a brother after the opening of the inheritance and the absence of a will, the right to accept tangible and intangible benefits will pass in the form of transmission from the transmitter to his first-order heir - his father, who was not deprived of parental rights with respect to the deceased successor. Thus, it turns out that the parent will receive the property of his son, in respect of whom he was deprived of parental rights and initially had no right to his material goods as an unworthy heir. From a legal point of view, this nuance is justified, since an actually unworthy parent inherits property not after the child whom he did not raise and did not support, but after the transmission agent in respect of whom he was not deprived of parental rights.
What is the deadline for accepting an inheritance?
Russian law establishes the time period during which the procedure for accepting property must be carried out. It equals six months from the day of the testator’s death, that is, from the time the right of inheritance arose. In the case of a hereditary transmission, a special period is established. It is calculated from the day when the inheritance was opened. In the event that less than 3 months remain from the moment of the death of the transmitter, the period shall be extended to the limit (up to 90 days). To accept property that directly belonged to the deceased transmitter, a period of six months calculated from the moment of its opening is used. Those heirs who are late to receive wealth in the form of transmission through the court may be recognized as having accepted it. In addition, if the said authority recognizes that the reasons for not accepting material assets during the established time period were truly valid, the period may be restored.
Transmission and right to wealth. How are they different?
Inheritance by right of representation and hereditary transmission are two different mechanisms for transferring property and intangible goods from the testator to the assignees. Let's see what their essence is. A hereditary transmission differs from a person's right to inherit as a result of the opening of an inheritance, refusal or removal of other relatives of the deceased. It also has differences with inheritance by the right of representation, the appointment of the heir and the increment of shares of property. Firstly, the transmission begins to operate only in the event of the death of the transmitter, after the discovery of the property of the main testator. And inheritance by the right of representation becomes possible if a person who, by law, must be called to receive property dies before the opening of the inheritance (that is, before the death of the testator or at the same time). In this case, wealth passes to certain individuals, according to order. Secondly, the hereditary transmission, in addition to providing the right to receive the property of the deceased, regulates the very procedure for accepting wealth. The right of representation, being only the subjective privilege of specific persons established by law, does not. When implementing this mechanism, the standard scheme is respected, as with ordinary inheritance. Thirdly, in the transmission procedure, the right is transferred from the transmitter to the transmission. When inheriting according to the representation of succession, there is no successor between the heir who died before the opening of the property and his children and descendants.
In what cases is the transmission mechanism canceled?
The law provides for several exceptional situations when this succession procedure cannot be carried out:
- at the same time both - the testator and the heir die;
- there is a will in which the testator indicated another successor;
- the transmissar acts as a mandatory heir.
Let's take a closer look at them. The first situation does not allow the transfer of the right to receive property to the transmission officer, since the simultaneous death of the testator and the heir does not meet the most important condition of the transmission of the death of the transmitter after the inheritance is opened. The second situation: the presence of a will also excludes the possibility of the transmission mechanism. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 1121, Section 2) gives the right to the testator to choose another heir (in addition to the main) in case the first he dies after or before the opening of the inheritance or refuses it. An important condition for this is the need for the will of all property, and not its parts. Otherwise, transmission will be possible, and persons from the circle of legal heirs will be selected as transmissions.
Instead of a conclusion
So, in this article we examined what a hereditary transmission and the right of representation are. We described the circle of heirs, the timing of obtaining wealth and the mechanism for the transfer of personal property of the transmitter. We learned how inheritance occurs in the order of hereditary transmission. We hope that this information will be of benefit to you and will help you if you need to receive the property due.