Reasons for the discharge of the deceased
First, let's figure out why it is necessary to sign a deceased person out of an apartment, and who should do this.
First of all, it is necessary to discharge the deceased from the living quarters in order to recalculate utility bills. Another reason for deregistration is the possibility of further alienation of real estate (sale) by heirs in the event of the death of the home owner.
If the deceased was simply a family member, when preparing documents for sale in the future, you will still have to deal with his registration: no one should be registered in the property being sold. Because an apartment with a ready-made package of documents is a more advantageous option for the buyer than one where the documents are not completed.
So, to the question of whether it is necessary to discharge a deceased person from an apartment, we answer in the affirmative.
What happens if a person is not discharged after death?
The legislation of the Russian Federation does not establish any time limits for the discharge of the deceased . This means that the state cannot impose a fine for failure to register. However, the relatives of the deceased may not specifically write it out if the deceased enjoyed benefits during his lifetime. In this case, the state has the right to impose a fine and demand reimbursement of the amount saved on taxes and utility bills.
Removing a deceased person from registration is a common legal procedure that must be performed after the death of a citizen. As a rule, the deceased’s relatives are responsible for extracting the deceased from his place of residence. The legislation is not burdened with time limits for citizens to request deregistration of a deceased person. Delaying the deregistration procedure threatens to overpay utility bills and legal difficulties with real estate transactions.
Extract from a privatized apartment
Extract from an apartment that is owned (privatized) takes place according to standard rules. Let's take a closer look at how to discharge a deceased person from an apartment if he is the owner of the property.
To do this, a relative or citizens who lived together with the deceased contact the department of the migration service with a corresponding application and a package of documents, which will be discussed below. The procedure is free and short.
As you can see, there are no difficulties in discharging a deceased person from a privatized apartment. Let's figure out what to do if the apartment is municipal.
Extract from a municipal apartment
Municipal apartments are inhabited not by owners, but by tenants. Let's consider the procedure for discharging a deceased person from the apartment if he once entered into a social tenancy agreement.
If the deceased was the responsible tenant of the property, then in order for family members to continue living there, they need to contact the municipality to renew the social tenancy agreement.
To do this, a new responsible employer is selected, who writes an application for a change of employer to the municipality; other adult family members express written consent by signing the document personally. Along with the application, a copy of the entry in the house register and passports of everyone registered in the apartment are provided.
It is important to remember that people already registered in the apartment have the right to renew the contract. If the deceased family member was not legally the employer, then the contract does not need to be renegotiated.
Otherwise, the procedure for discharging a deceased person from municipal housing is no different from discharging him from privatized housing.
Is it necessary to write out
Do not underestimate the importance of timely registration of a deceased person. There are several circumstances in which the interested party is obliged to discharge the deceased from the apartment as soon as possible:
- Reduced costs for monthly utility bills, calculated based on the number of residents.
- Putting things in order regarding the rights to use municipal housing (after the tenant dies, the social tenancy agreement must be re-signed).
- For acceptance of the inheritance mass by citizens claiming inheritance.
- Completion of any legally significant transactions in relation to real estate on the area of which the deceased was registered.
Sometimes, before obtaining the right to freely dispose of the property in which a relative lived, it is necessary to obtain a court document recognizing the person as “deceased”.
To avoid troubles associated with discrepancies between the data in the documents and the actual state of affairs, it is recommended to carry out certain deregistration actions as soon as possible.
What documents need to be collected for discharge?
So, let’s list what documents you need to collect to extract the deceased from the apartment:
- death certificate;
- applicant's passport;
- documents confirming relationship with the deceased.
If the apartment is municipal, then to discharge the deceased you will additionally need:
- old social tenancy agreement (for re-registration to a new tenant);
- home Book.
Where to apply to obtain documents
Taking into account the fact that the documents necessary for the discharge of the deceased are issued by different institutions, you will have to visit them all. Although now multifunctional centers are actively operating throughout the country, where you can issue a death certificate without directly visiting the department of the civil registry office. True, you will have to wait a little longer. The exception is a death certificate issued by a medical institution. Let us consider in more detail the procedure for obtaining it.
Death certificate as an initial document
So, a death certificate is issued by the medical institution that established the fact of death, the inpatient institution where the person was treated, or the morgue. Which agency you contact depends on the specific circumstances of the death.
To receive a certificate you must submit:
- passports of the deceased and the applicant;
- outpatient medical record;
- medical insurance policy (if available)
- inspection report (issued by police if a person died in the apartment).
Within three days from the moment the fact of death is established, it is necessary to contact the civil registry office or MFC with a statement about the death of a person in order to obtain a death certificate.
How to obtain a death certificate
So, at the registry office or the nearest MFC we write a statement of death, present the passport of the deceased, our passport, a death certificate, as well as documents confirming the degree of relationship with the deceased. This could be a birth or marriage certificate.
In addition to relatives, the following may apply to the registry office for a death certificate:
- workers of a social or medical institution where the person died;
- UIN employee;
- commander of a military unit;
- captain of the ship;
- police officers.
The initial document is issued free of charge.
Court decision as a document establishing the fact of death
The procedure for obtaining a death certificate discussed above applies if this fact is beyond doubt. If a person does not make himself known and his whereabouts are unknown, then the relatives can go to court with a demand to recognize the person as dead.
According to general principles, a person can be declared dead no earlier than five years after the loss.
If a person disappeared under emergency circumstances, then this procedure can be initiated six months after the specified circumstances. If we are talking about a military serviceman, then you need to wait two years after the end of hostilities.
Having considered all the circumstances of the case, the court makes a decision to declare the person dead. In this case, the date of death is considered to be the date the decision enters into legal force.
Various situations
The procedure for canceling the registration of the deceased is one of the simplest accounting measures, however, there are differences depending on who owns the home and other conditions.
Extract from privatized housing
If the deceased lived in a private property, then this is the most easily resolved issue of discharge, if all the documents are in order and there is a passport, a death certificate from medical workers.
In this case, it will be easy to obtain a death certificate, and on its basis, deregistration.
You only need to take the application and hand it in, along with a copy of the death document.
From non-privatized
Non-privatized housing belongs to the state, which means that the death of a tenant may lead to problems with re-registration of the rental contract , especially if the deceased was written in the singular in the contract.
First, they ask for a solution to the question of who will be allowed to re-register the lease rights, and only then they write out. If other family members were mentioned in the contract, then re-conclusion will not be required . You can find out more about extracting from a municipal apartment in this material.
If the deceased is a relative
A relative usually leaves behind a part of the apartment as an inheritance, which they can register in 6 months, providing, among other papers, a certificate about the people registered in the living space.
The notary will definitely check everything, and questions will not arise only if the name of the deceased relative is not indicated among the residents of the apartment in the certificate.
If the deceased close relative did not participate in privatization and does not have any property rights to the living space, then termination of registration at this address will not cause any problems.
If he is the owner
When the owner of an apartment who lives alone dies, lawyers do not advise removing him from the registration register before the expiration of the six-month period.
This is due to the fact that all resource providers and utility providers who provide services on the basis of an agreement with the consumer will not be able to renew the agreement until they accept the inheritance and register ownership of the apartment.
For this reason, you should not announce the death of the owner to the housing maintenance company until the moment when it comes to re-registration of ownership rights by the new owner: utility companies must be sure that their services will be paid, and in the absence of payment they will be able to use the contract as a lever of influence on defaulter.
Is it possible to remove a person from an apartment without his consent if he is the owner? Find out more from our article!
If there is no death certificate
If the death document is lost, or one of the relatives does not give it, then there is an option to order a duplicate from the registry office. But it is not always possible to obtain a death certificate. If the person registered in the apartment:
- disappeared without warning and without making itself known for a long period;
- disappeared while fighting or being in the territory where hostilities are taking place;
- went on duty or on vacation to a place where there is a mortal threat, and does not show signs of existence in the world of the living, etc.
In such cases , you must first make sure that the missing person has died , or go all the way provided for in Art. 45 Civil Code of the Russian Federation:
- report missing;
- declare in search;
- wait due to Art. 45 time and through the court to recognize the person as missing or dead, based on the court decision, and carry out an extract.
In reality, deregistration of a deceased person is one of the most elementary procedures, but only if you have the necessary documents , otherwise you will have to spend many years on the court recognizing the person as deceased, and then formalizing his discharge.
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When can a deceased person be discharged?
The law does not regulate the exact timing of the deceased’s discharge from housing, but this process should not be delayed. A death certificate is issued within three days from the date of establishment of the fact of death, which certifies the issuance of a death certificate.
You can submit an application to the Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs the very next day after receiving the certificate.
In some cases, the heirs begin to register the deceased after they enter into the right of inheritance, that is, six months after death.
The waiting period mainly affects only the amount of utility bills.
Allotted time frame
The law does not establish an exact deadline for deregistration, however, heirs and other residents of the apartment are interested in quick re-registration in order not to pay additional payments for utility services, and errors in payment bills cannot be corrected due to incomplete documents.
To eliminate legal problems when the deceased was the sole owner of the property and the pretending heirs did not live with him, you should wait until the end of the inheritance period, and disposal is formalized after receiving legal rights to the inheritance.
Due to the death of a relative, all benefits applicable to the tenant lose their force after the fact of death is established.
If the housing is municipal, you should urgently draw up a social rent agreement with updated information. This will eliminate problems with confirming the right to use state or municipal housing.
Utility payments after checkout
So, after completing the procedure for discharging the deceased, the issue of paying for utilities should be resolved. In some cases, relatives try to hide the fact of death from utility workers. This should not be done if you have a death certificate on hand.
Otherwise, you will not only have to pay the required amount, but also receive punishment, including criminal punishment, for fraud or concealment of the fact of death.
We deal with utility bills and rent
To recalculate utility bills and rent, you need to contact the Housing Office or Homeowners Association with a corresponding application, attaching the following documents to it:
- death certificate;
- an extract from the house register;
- copies and originals of payment receipts for the period from the date of death.
If the deceased had payment debts, then they need to be repaid. You should also know that all benefits for utility bills that were in effect during the life of a relative are no longer provided. So payment will be made at different rates.
As a rule, receipts with the recalculated payment amount arrive the next month after the application is submitted.
Untimely deregistration
According to paragraph 33 of the Government of the Russian Federation Resolution No. 713 of July 17, 1995, after submitting documents for an extract, things go quickly.
On the other hand, nowhere in the law does the law specifically describe the deadlines for submitting documents, that is, submitting documents can take a long time. It doesn’t matter here, relatives delayed this process, court workers, housing office, and other services.
The fact remains: the longer you delay registering a deceased person, the brighter the prospect of possible difficulties in the further disposal of real estate looms.
It is impossible to enter into inheritance until the deceased owner has been registered.
Sale or exchange is unlikely , since the potential buyer needs the product, and not the red tape with documents and unnecessary responsibility that falls on his shoulders. Most transactions may simply be invalid and it is important to understand this before entering into them.
If the title of property belonged only to the deceased, then payment receipts will come in his name.
In the case of a municipal apartment, the question arises of re-registering the rental agreement. Until it is changed and signed, you will not be able to make any legal transactions (registration of other residents, for example) with the housing.
Utility payments when a person is declared dead and removed from the apartment
Payment of utilities occurs according to similar scenarios. Here are a few points to pay attention to:
- Since the amount of payment for utilities is calculated based on the area of the housing and the number of people registered in it (not to be confused with those actually living!), it makes sense to discharge the deceased person on time . This way you won’t overpay for someone who no longer lives in the apartment.
- If the process of removing the deceased from registration has been delayed, and this was not your fault , you can demand that the amount of payments be recalculated taking into account new circumstances . You will need to write an application for deregistration and a request to recalculate the payment amount, attach a death certificate, your passport and copies of receipts for transactions paid since the date of death.
- If utility services refuse to recalculate , you can go to court to clarify the circumstances (it is important to indicate in the application the reason for the refusal to recalculate).
- Naturally, if the deceased payer had debts for paying for utility services, the new residents who have entered into rights are obliged to take on their payment. In case of refusal, the further fate of the property is determined by the court (up to and including confiscation of the property).
- The personal account of the deceased person, through which payment transactions took place, should be closed and a new one opened in the name of the new owner (or simply re-registered). To do this, it is enough to submit your passport, death certificate to the relevant services (EIRTS, Housing Office, Homeowners' Association) and write an application using the prepared form.
- The benefits that the person received are canceled . Moreover, this happens immediately after his death, despite the fact that for the next six months, until the property is inherited, it is formally registered with the deceased.
Which institution should I contact to discharge the deceased?
Although the discharge process itself does not seem difficult, given the emotional and psychological state of relatives, it should be explained where to discharge a person from an apartment after death.
An extract is a deregistration. Therefore, to remove a person from an apartment, you need to contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of registration. The relative, having submitted all the necessary documents, writes a corresponding application (a sample is usually provided at the service department).
In certain cases, an extract can be carried out in absentia. For example, if the heir is forced to urgently go on a business trip and the apartment needs to be sold. Then the heir applies to the department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs at the place of residence with an application, submitting all the necessary documents. However, then you will still have to pay a visit to the migration service office at the place of registration to put a stamp in the house register. Whether it is worth doing double the work or checking out the deceased relative from the apartment after arrival, the heir decides for himself.
Also, as noted above, you can deregister a person by contacting the multifunctional center. The same documents are required. The only difference is that you will have to wait a little longer than if you contacted the migration department directly.
