Inheritance of property rights: according to the law in 2021

Order of inheritance according to law

Domestic legislation provides for two procedures for entering into inheritance rights - by will and by law . And if inheritance by will involves the transfer of property rights in accordance with the will of the testator, then inheritance by law is exclusively the will of the law itself . Let us note that receipt of inherited property by law is permitted only in cases where there is no will, it is declared invalid by the court, or it does not apply to the entire estate.

For your information

The provisions of Art. 1141 of the Civil Code, the legislator determined the basic principle of inheritance by law - all legal successors called to inherit receive an inheritance in order of priority . This principle involves dividing all heirs (who have kinship and family ties with the deceased) into eight lines , depending on the degree of kinship in relation to the testator.

Each subsequent line is called upon to inherit only in the case where the successors of the previous line are absent, have not accepted the property, are deprived of such a right, have renounced it, etc. In this case, all persons representing a specific line of heirs (except for persons inheriting by right of representation) receive equal shares of the inherited property and property obligations of the deceased (clause 2 of Article 1141 of the Civil Code).

Let's consider the inheritance queues provided for by law:

Heirs of the first stage. To them, according to Art. 1142 of the Civil Code, the legislator includes spouses, children and parents of the deceased testator. In addition, according to Art. 1147 of the Civil Code, adoptive parents and adopted children are equated to relatives by origin, i.e. they inherit as children and parents in the first line. Moreover, a child conceived by the testator before the opening of the inheritance, but born after that (clause 1 of Article 1116 of the Civil Code) will be considered a first-degree heir. The grandchildren of the testator inherit in the first place by right of representation.
Heirs of the second stage . According to Art. 1143 of the Civil Code, representatives of this line are the testator’s siblings and half-brothers, as well as his grandparents on both sides. The testator's natural and half-nephews receive the inheritance in the order of presentation (clause 2 of Article 1143 of the Civil Code).
Heirs of the third stage. According to Art. 1144 of the Civil Code, they are considered to be siblings or half-brothers or sisters of the parents of the deceased, i.e. his uncle or aunt. What is noteworthy is that, by right of representation within this line, the cousins of the testator inherit.
Heirs of subsequent queues . According to Art. 1145 of the Civil Code, they are called upon in cases where there are no successors of previous orders of the highest degree of kinship. The subsequent queues should include: the fourth queue - great-grandparents;
to the fifth stage - cousins, granddaughters, grandmothers, grandfathers;
to the sixth stage - cousins, uncles and aunts;
to the seventh stage - stepsons, stepdaughters, stepfather and stepmother;
to the eighth stage - disabled dependents of the testator, provided that all previous stages are absent.

Disabled dependents of the testator (who have been in this status for at least a year before the opening of the inheritance), if there are other heirs, are called to inherit along with the line called up , regardless of the presence of kinship (Article 1148 of the Civil Code).

How does inheritance work?

Civil law indicates that intangible assets are not subject to inclusion in the estate. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation indicates that heirs have the opportunity to protect such powers throughout their lives. Most rights cease to exist simultaneously with the death of the person who possessed them. However, several exceptions can be identified, which include works of mental and creative orientation. To establish the list, you need to refer to the Civil Code, to Article 4.

Among the main provisions according to which these rights are inherited is that the right to creativity can be inherited. At the same time, it will not be possible to become the legal successor of the name or recognition of authorship. The legislator excludes this possibility. Persons claiming inheritance have the opportunity to protect them throughout their existence.

It is not possible to divide copyrights. This suggests that the heirs have the ability to use the authority jointly. Even if the owner bequeathed for one. The author has the opportunity to indicate in the testamentary act the person who will be involved in the execution of his last will. Such a citizen acts as a defender of name and honor, authorship. In addition, the inviolability of creations is subject to protection. Often controversial issues arise over the exercise of the power to publish what was written by the deceased.

ATTENTION !!! It should be noted that cash payments for those texts that have already been published or profits received from a patent are considered as a tangible asset. Therefore, they are subject to division among legal successors.

The legislation provides basic instructions regarding the area under consideration. If the creation has not previously been published, then this can be done after the death of the citizen. The method used is the one available.

It must be pointed out that only those who have exclusive authority regarding the works of a deceased citizen have the right to perform such actions. In this case, the condition must be met that the person has not established prohibitions in this direction. Due to the fact that the successors after the death of the testator act as holders of exclusive rights, they have the opportunity to publish works. Also among their powers is that they can reduce or change the volume of works. They do this in such a way that the author’s idea does not change or suffer. Such powers are retained by these persons for a period of 70 years. The countdown begins from the day the author died.

If publication occurs after 70 years, then the heir acts as the publisher. There are two ways by which a person receives intangible assets. First of all, this is a testamentary act. Secondly, legislative provisions. In the latter situation, the order of successors is taken into account.

Deadline for inheritance according to law

Entering into inheritance rights presupposes the heir taking active actions aimed at expressing his will, acquiring a certain amount of inherited property and the property obligations of the deceased. As is known, the commission of such active actions (Article 1153 of the Civil Code) is permissible within a certain period, which is called the period of entry into inheritance .

Attention

According to paragraph 1 of Art. 1154 of the Civil Code, the majority of heirs must enter into inheritance within 6 months from the moment when the specified inheritance mass is opened. Provisions of Art. 1114 of the Civil Code defines 3 possible moments for opening an inheritance - the day of death of the testator, the day the court decision declaring him dead comes into force and the day of the expected death of the citizen, established by the court.

However, if the inheritance is opened on the day of the expected death, the period for entering into the inheritance begins to run from the moment the decision determining such day comes into force (clause 1 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code). Other special deadlines for entering into inheritance rights include:

A special six-month period for persons whose inheritance rights arose as a result of the refusal of other legal successors to receive an inheritance (Article 1157, Article 1158 of the Civil Code) or their exclusion from inheritance as unworthy (Article 1117 of the Civil Code). The specified period begins from the moment the specified right arises.
A special three-month period for persons whose right of inheritance arose as a result of non-acceptance of the inheritance by other heirs (clause 3 of Article 1154 of the Civil Code). The three-month period provided for them begins from the moment of expiration of the total period (6 months).
A special six-month period for newborn heirs born after the death of the testator, but conceived during his lifetime . Based on the provisions of Art. 1116 of the Civil Code, the course of the special period established for them begins from the moment the inheritance rights arise, and therefore, from the moment of their birth.
Special period for persons receiving inheritance by way of transmission . According to Art. 1156 of the Civil Code, they have the right to enter into an inheritance within the period provided for the main legal successor, from whom all rights were transferred to them. If such remaining period is less than three months, it shall be extended to three months.

According to Art. 1155 of the Civil Code, if the above deadlines are missed, they can be restored both in court and through conciliation . Thus, the conciliation form presupposes the presence of written consent to restore the term from all other heirs who have already entered into the inheritance. The judicial procedure will be relevant in the case of valid reasons for absence, as well as in the case of going to court, until the expiration of a six-month period from the moment the specified reasons disappear.

Mandatory share in inheritance by law

The provisions of Art. 1149 of the Civil Code, the legislator determined the circle of persons who have the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance, regardless of the presence of a will and its contents. Such persons include first-degree heirs - parents, children and spouses (Article 1142 of the Civil Code) who have the status of incapacity for work, as well as disabled dependents (Article 1148 of the Civil Code). The circle of such persons is exhaustive and cannot be expanded in any way.

Important

Definition and Features

Personal non-property rights include civil rights that are devoid of an economic or material component .
In particular, they directly relate to a specific person and are regulated by legal acts. If non-property rights in certain cases have a connection with property rights, then they receive a certain value. An example is the copyright of the testator to a particular work. In itself, it refers to moral rights. But royalties received from published work are subject to property rights. Moral rights have the following features:

They have no economic content.
They are subjective.
They usually have separate origination and termination conditions.
They cannot be sold, given away or transferred to another person in any other way.

In accordance with the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, non-property rights include:

Name, life, health, business reputation, etc.
Creative expression, copyrights, etc.

The procedure for entering into inheritance according to law

The procedure for entering into inheritance rights involves the performance by a potential heir, according to the law, of a number of actions aimed at acquiring a certain amount of inheritance previously belonging to the deceased testator. As a general rule, from the moment of the death of the testator (or the entry into force of a court decision declaring a citizen dead), his successor has six months to carry out all such actions.

Information

Art. 1153 of the Civil Code provides for 2 ways of entering into an inheritance - by actually taking possession of the inherited property and by submitting an application to the notary at the place of opening of the inheritance for its acceptance or for the issuance of an appropriate certificate.

The actual acceptance of an inheritance does not require subsequent contact with a notary, if the accepted property does not require subsequent state registration. Therefore, it is more advisable to consider the step-by-step procedure for entering into an inheritance, which involves contacting a notary. This order consists of the following steps:

Determining the presence of a will and heirs of previous orders . Let us remind you that inheritance by law is allowed only in the absence of a will or if it does not cover the entire estate. In this state of affairs, as well as in the absence of heirs of previous orders, the potential successor has the opportunity to receive the property of the deceased.
Determining the place of opening of the inheritance . Carried out according to the rules established by Art. 1115 Civil Code. It is of utmost importance, since it is at this place that the notary is contacted (clause 1 of Article 1153 of the Civil Code). It is determined by the last place of residence or the location of the property or its most valuable part.
Collection of necessary documents . When contacting a notary, to certify inheritance rights, he will need a list of documents related to these rights. It includes, among other things, documents confirming the presence of a relationship, a death certificate, a certificate of residence, etc.
Submitting the application and necessary documents to the notary . As already mentioned, notarization of an inheritance can only be carried out by a notary who carries out his professional activities in the notarial district at the place where the inheritance was opened.
Obtaining a certificate of inheritance . This certificate is issued by the specified notary, and in his absence in the locality - by an authorized official. After receiving the certificate, the successor is considered to have entered into the inheritance.

Features of inheritance of certain types of property rights

Articles 1176 - 1179 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation clarify the procedure for inheriting types of property that were under the control of one or more citizens. Individuals and legal entities can inherit them .

Rights in relation to a business company, partnership or production cooperative

Article 1176 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation defines the features of inheritance of shares in business partnerships and companies, production cooperatives. They are:

the share of a participant (or his share) of a cooperative or partnership, including in the authorized capital, is included in the inheritance after his death ;
if the heir is denied entry into the company (cooperative, partnership), he has the right to demand compensation for his share in it. To do this, the share is assessed, after which the heir receives compensation in money or property of the company (cooperative, partnership);
an investor in a limited partnership may inherit a share in the joint capital of this partnership;
A participant in a joint stock company leaves shares to his heirs. Heirs who receive shares become shareholders .

Rights in relation to a consumer cooperative

Inheritance of rights in relation to a share in a consumer cooperative occurs in accordance with Art. 1177 Civil Code of the Russian Federation. It follows from it that the heir's share in the cooperative is a share that previously belonged to the testator. The heir can become a new member of the cooperative instead of the deceased.

The legislation on cooperatives determines the procedure for paying amounts or property to heirs who have not become members of the cooperative. This situation is also possible if there are several heirs, of whom only one becomes a member of the cooperative.

From Article 130 of the Housing Code (LC) of the Russian Federation it follows that the entry of the heirs of the deceased into the membership of the cooperative is possible only with the permission of other members of the cooperative.

Rights in relation to the enterprise

In accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 132 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, an enterprise or its part can be inherited by law and by will. The composition of the enterprise or its share includes everything that is necessary for the implementation of activities and previously belonged to the testator. Thus, the inheritance includes the products of the enterprise, buildings, the land on which it stands, various equipment and other property.

Inheritance of the enterprise occurs in accordance with the rules of Art. 1178 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

If the heir is an individual entrepreneur (IP) or an organization acts as an heir, he has a preferential right to inherit an enterprise or a share in it. The provisions of Art. 1170 Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
In the absence of preferential rights to an enterprise or a share in it, it cannot be divided and becomes the common property of the citizens who inherit it. Each of them receives a share in it with the possibility of its subsequent sale.

Upon receipt of a disproportionate share in the inheritance, if there are preferential rights to it, the provisions of Art. 1170 of this Code.

The heir who has the priority right to receive a share in the inheritance, when exercising this right, must transfer other property of the testator to the other heirs or pay compensation.
Compensation is not provided if the heirs have reached an appropriate agreement among themselves.

Preemptive rights to indivisible things from the property of the deceased belong to the heirs specified in Articles 1168 - 1169 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. They are:

persons who, together with the testator, owned an indivisible thing . The preemptive right is exercised by them only in front of the heirs who do not own a share in this property;
heirs who used indivisible property . They have a priority right over heirs who do not own a share in it and have not previously used it;
heirs living in the premises included in the inheritance have a priority right over persons who are not its owners.

Rights of a participant in a peasant (farm) enterprise

The transfer of the rights of a member of a peasant or farm enterprise is possible through their inheritance in accordance with Art. 1179 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. In this case, the provisions of this article must be observed.

Inheritance of the rights of a participant in a peasant farm after his death is carried out in accordance with the provisions of Articles 253 - 255 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, as well as 257 - 259 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and with the application of the basic provisions of Section V of this Code.
If the heir of the deceased is not one of the members of the farm, he is entitled to compensation equal to his share in the farm . The amount of compensation can be changed by agreement with other members of the household.
If the farm is terminated due to the fact that the testator was its only member, the property within the farm is inherited in accordance with the instructions of Articles 1182 and 258 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

Example Citizen Vasiliev was a co-owner of a company that sold and installed video surveillance systems. After his death, an inheritance case was opened. Due to the absence of a will, only heirs by law were called to inherit, and Vasiliev’s two adult sons acted as them. The share in the company was inherited by one of the two sons, who was an individual entrepreneur at the time of opening the inheritance. The second son received compensation in the form of his brother’s money and part of the property of the enterprise. In the certificate of inheritance issued by a notary, the only heir to a share in the company was listed as only one of the sons of the deceased.

Refusal of inheritance by law

The provisions of Art. 1157 of the Civil Code, the legislator determined an additional power of potential heirs under the law - the possibility of refusing to receive an inheritance. It is noteworthy that such a refusal can be made by a successor both in relation to any other heir under a will or law, regardless of the order (clause 1 of Article 1158 of the Civil Code), and without indicating the person in whose favor such a refusal was made.

For your information

However, according to the Resolution of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation dated December 23, 2013 No. 29-P, clause 1 of Art. 1158 of the Civil Code does not allow one to unambiguously determine the list of persons in whose favor such a directed refusal can be made.

Based on this, different approaches to law enforcement practice are possible, which may unreasonably exclude some persons from the circle of heirs under the law, which is why this provision was recognized as inconsistent with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, and therefore, in this part has lost force.

Refusal of inheritance is an expression of the will of the potential successor, aimed at the reluctance to acquire all the inheritance rights and obligations due to him, based on which, it should be considered a unilateral transaction . This procedure requires compliance with a lot of features, including:

Both directed and ordinary refusals of inheritance are made in writing and submitted to the notary who conducts the inheritance case at the place where the inheritance was opened. Refusal, in accordance with paragraph 2 of Art. 1157 of the Civil Code, can be committed during the period provided for acceptance of the inheritance, including after such acceptance.
In the case where there is actual possession of the inherited property, refusal of the inheritance in court is also permissible after the expiration of the period provided for that time, but only if the reasons for missing the deadline for refusal are recognized as valid.
According to paragraph 2 of Art. 1158 of the Civil Code, refusal of inheritance made with reservations or under suspensive and disqualifying conditions . Moreover, according to paragraph 3 of Art. 1157 of the Civil Code, the refusal cannot subsequently be withdrawn or changed in any way. Refusal of an inheritance is unconditional and irrevocable - the inheritance cannot be accepted again by the successor after its renunciation.
In order to protect the legitimate interests of incapacitated people, limited in legal capacity and minors, refusal of inheritance on their behalf must be previously agreed upon with the guardianship and trusteeship authorities . In addition, refusal of the obligatory share in the inheritance (clause 1 of Article 1158 of the Civil Code) or the part due to the successor of the share (clause 3 of Article 1158 of the Civil Code) is unacceptable.