The concept of unworthy heirs and their meaning in the civil law of the Russian Federation
The significance of the concept of unworthy heirs in the legal system of the Russian Federation is very great, because the very concept of exclusion from the right of inheritance, in this case, will represent the only legal way to deprive potential candidates of their right to receive property from the inheritance mass.
That is why judicial practice in this matter determines the mandatory need to have accurate and indisputable evidence that will confirm the correctness of recognizing a person as an unworthy heir. Any interested persons, for example, children or parents of the testator, can present such evidence in the course of legal proceedings.
The most important caveat in this matter will be the fact that a person previously deprived of the right to inheritance can restore his right, but only if this is indicated in the text of the will of the deceased.
The property share of a person who has been recognized as an unworthy heir is distributed among other heirs.
Do you need the help of an inheritance lawyer?
We solve the most complex cases in favor of the client!
+7
Heirs' shares
A court decision is also necessary so that the notary, when determining the circle of heirs, can correctly calculate their shares (since the removal of an heir entails an increase in the share of other heirs) and issue legal certificates of the right to inheritance.
Thus, Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation dated May 29, 2012 N 9 “On judicial practice in inheritance cases” states that when issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance, a notary first analyzes all the documents available in the inheritance case:
- statements from heirs regarding acceptance of inheritance;
- documents confirming the degree of relationship, marriage and other relations of the heirs with the testator;
- wills, possible revocations of wills, testamentary refusals and assignments;
- applications for refusal of inheritance;
- grounds for increment of hereditary shares;
- existing court decisions;
- other documents and information.
At the same time, the notary finds out whether there are other heirs who are subject to inheritance, and also whether there are unworthy heirs among the citizens who accepted the inheritance (Article 1117 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).
In practice, rarely anyone is puzzled by the issue of recognizing a particular heir as unworthy. As a result, the unworthy heir calmly enters into inheritance rights, and this is possible solely because the necessary corresponding court decision is missing.
My article is intended to protect the rights of citizens - worthy heirs from violation of their rights by unworthy heirs. I would really like to hope that at least someone, having read this article, will make an attempt to stock up on useful evidence in case of opening an inheritance and will still receive the cherished decision, which in the future will be able to protect against illegal inheritance.
Types of unworthy heirs in the legislation of the Russian Federation
The civil law of our country establishes an exhaustive range of persons who may be considered unworthy heirs. These include:
a) persons whose intentional and unlawful actions were directed against the testator or against other persons included in his circle of relatives, or actions that resulted in the impossibility of expressing the testator’s last will in the will;
b) parents by law after their children, if they were deprived of parental rights in relation to the latter by way of legal action;
c) other persons who avoided fulfilling any obligations to support the testator assigned to them by force of law.
Existing judicial practice shows that recognition of someone as an unworthy heir, in most cases, occurs in court.
However, legal proceedings are not always required. For example, if the notary is aware of a court decision declaring the heir unworthy on the grounds specified in paragraphs “a” and “b”.
How to prove?
In order for a notary to remove unworthy heirs from inheritance, it is necessary to prove this fact.
The first thing that needs to be established is the intent of the offender. Illegal actions must be committed for one purpose - obtaining an inheritance, that is, the pursuit of selfish motives.
It is also worth clarifying that the heir can commit crimes not only with the aim of obtaining property himself, but also with the aim of the inheritance passing into the hands of other persons (for example, his children, etc.).
It should be taken into account that illegal actions can be carried out not only against the testator, but also against other heirs.
At the same time, if the crime was committed out of jealousy or revenge, then such a person cannot be recognized as an unworthy heir.
This also applies to cases where a crime is committed through negligence; all crimes committed without intent (if confirmed in a court decision) are not considered aimed at obtaining an inheritance or increasing one’s share of the inheritance.
In civil proceedings, the burden of proving that the attacker’s motive was to obtain property must be the one who challenges the recognition of the defendant as an unworthy heir.
That is, the law establishes that a person is recognized as not involved in illegal actions if he proves his innocence. In a criminal trial, everything is different - a person cannot be considered guilty until the court makes a decision on this.
Information!
It should be noted that a crime against the testator may consist not only of active action, but also of inaction (for example, failure to provide necessary medications to a patient).
Or a citizen may be deprived of an inheritance due to the fact that during the life of the testator he did not fulfill his alimony obligations (for example, adult children maliciously evaded paying alimony to their disabled parents).
Unlawful actions cannot be considered intentional if they were committed by persons under 14 years of age. This is explained by the fact that minors cannot be found guilty under a number of articles.
Therefore, Art. will not apply to them. 1117 and they cannot be recognized as unworthy heirs.
The procedure for the judicial procedure for removal from inheritance
To answer the question of how to recognize an heir as unworthy, you should refer to the current legislation of the Russian Federation. A person can be recognized as dishonest both in the moral and legal sense. The latter option involves filing an application with the court through a lawsuit. This is especially true in cases where it is necessary to find grounds and prove the fact of an individual’s evasion from the obligations imposed on him by law to support the testator until his death.
In such situations, evidence may be: a court ruling on the recovery of funds from the heir in favor of the testator, as well as other evidence that can confirm the need to deprive an individual of the right to inherit.
According to the law, a statement of claim can be filed by one of the actual heirs. Any interested party has the right to file a claim - his children, spouse and other persons whose rights have been violated. Filling out a statement of claim and going to court can occur within the period allotted by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation for entering into inheritance rights, as well as after the end of the period for entering into inheritance.
A lawsuit to declare an heir unworthy and dishonest is considered in the general manner within two months from the date of filing the application against the heir, after which the court makes an appropriate decision.
If there are grounds specified by law, the court decision and the court’s actions can be challenged. The established procedure implies that the interested person can do this within a month from the day on which this decision was made in final form.
Consequences of declaring an heir unworthy
After a statement of claim has been drawn up against the heir and a corresponding positive decision has been made, he is subject to certain and mandatory consequences that have important legal significance. Their types and categories are also determined by the provisions of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
First of all, unworthy heirs, after being recognized as such, lose the right to own the inherited property, which they received without reason. This may include depriving them of all income received during the direct disposal of someone else’s property after the death of the testator.
Removal from the right of inheritance actually means that all material assets previously owned by the testator must be returned by the unworthy heir as acquired unjustifiably.
This also includes those cases where the inheritance was transferred to the heir under an existing will.
Unworthy heirs in respect of whom the right to inherit was deprived can return this right only in one case - if the testator bequeathed a share to a certain person, and his decision was documented in a will drawn up after they lost the right to inherit.
Consequences of unworthiness of inheritance
There are no problems if an unworthy heir did not manage to receive the inherited property. What happens in a situation where the property has been received by him? Everything here is simple and fair.
An unworthy heir, due to his unworthiness, is obliged to return everything that he received from the inherited property.
This should happen regardless of whether there was a court exclusion from inheritance (ground 3), or whether the unworthy person was excluded from the heirs by a notary (grounds 1 and 2).
Otherwise, unjust enrichment will occur, which is unacceptable under Russian law.
Important rule!
Without exception, all provisions on unworthiness do not apply to heirs who are entitled to an obligatory share in the inheritance.
To whom does the property that was due to the unworthy heir go?
In this case, there will be an increase in inherited shares. In order not to overload the presentation of the topic raised, I will not go into detail about how the increment occurs. The general idea is that the unworthy heir will be considered to have fallen away and his share will be distributed among the other heirs who accepted the inheritance.
Drawing up a claim to declare an heir unworthy
According to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the norms of inheritance law, any persons whose interests were affected by the actions of one of the heirs can go to court against him with demands to deprive the heir of the right to inherit and declare him unworthy. Its preparation and execution must fully comply with established standards, otherwise the document will not be accepted for consideration.
The unlawful actions of one of the heirs can be challenged by another heir or other relatives whose share is contained in the inherited property, for example, children, a spouse, etc.
Filing a claim against an unworthy heir involves including the following information: full name and date of death of the testator, contact details of the plaintiff and defendant, reasons why the person should be deprived of inheritance rights. The unlawful actions of the defendant that were directed against the testator, if any, must be listed here, as well as other important points that belong to the evidence.
If necessary, the claim should always include circumstances that are important and can affect the final outcome of the case.
