6.4 Deadlines for accepting an inheritance

The concept of the timing of issuing a certificate of inheritance

In order to obtain an official certificate, you need to contact the notary office at the place where the inheritance was opened with an application. The deadline for filing it is limited to six months from the date of death of the property owner. The package of documents submitted to the notary must include:

• a document certifying the death of the testator;
• a document confirming the existence of an inheritance, its composition and valuation, issued by the relevant organizations;
• the notary determines the value of the shares transferred to the heir, which are subject to property tax and others that the notary will indicate.

According to the Tax Code of the Russian Federation, for issuing a certificate of the right to inheritance, close relatives who accepted the inheritance (children, husband/wife, parents) are required to pay a state duty. It is 0.3% of the value of the inheritance. But its size should not exceed 100 thousand rubles. More distant heirs must pay a state duty of 0.6%. Its size should not exceed 1 million rubles.

If the inheritance is accepted by will, then a document on the right of inheritance by will is issued, if by law, a document on the right of inheritance by law is issued.

It is not necessary to register the document. The successor only puts his signature in the register of notarial acts at the place of acceptance of the inheritance. But in order to use, for example, transport, it is necessary to legalize the rights: register the car.

What to do if the deadline has expired

You can miss the deadline for entering into an inheritance for many reasons:

• serious illness;
• service in the country's armed forces;
• long business trip;
• study abroad, etc.

If the pass is valid, it can be restored in two ways:

• will appeal to the heirs with a request for a conciliatory procedure for restoring the term. In this case, all heirs draw up a document in which a new person is included in the number of heirs. In this case, the notary cancels the previously issued certificates of inheritance and opens a new inheritance case;
• through the court, which is the most common option. The statement of claim is filed with the district court at the location of the property or residence of the defendant no later than 180 days from the moment the reasons for absence are eliminated (return from a business trip, discharge from a medical institution, demobilization, etc.). If this time is missed, the right to restore the deadline will be lost completely.

Reasons for suspending the issuance of a certificate of inheritance

The time limit for issuing a certificate of inheritance is not limited after six months after the death of the testator. But there are cases when the issuance of documents is suspended:

• if one of the successors refuses the inheritance, then the right of inheritance arises for other persons who have the right of inheritance;
• the period for accepting property for such heirs will be extended by another three months, after the period of six months established by law. Thus, the inheritance can be accepted nine months after its opening;
• if an heir appears who missed the legal deadline for entering into the inheritance, but he filed an application to the court and his rights were restored, and other heirs have already received certificates, then their validity will be terminated;
• the inheritance document will not be issued to other heirs until all the legitimate interests of the heir who missed the inheritance deadline for good reasons are taken into account;
• if there is a statement in court from a successor who disputes the right to inheritance. The issuance of documents is suspended until the court makes a decision. But, if no notification of such a statement is received from the court within ten days, then the issuance of documents will be resumed;
• if the notary requires additional documentary information. There is no complete list of documents required to submit to a notary;
• if the documents provided raise doubts, the notary will send them for examination and until a response is received, the suspension of the issuance of documents is inevitable;
• if there is a fact of fraud or there was an error in the document, then a court decision will make a decision to cancel the document;
• there is a conceived but not yet born heir. If no documents are presented within 300 days of the father's death, paternity will not be confirmed and the documents will be issued;
• if you need to find out from other interested relatives whether they have any objections to the issuance of the document;
• if there are no reasons for suspending the issuance of inheritance documents, then each of the heirs can receive their own certificate of inheritance without waiting for other successors to wish to receive it.

In all these cases, the deadline for issuing a certificate of inheritance can only be postponed for one month from the time the notary issued the suspension order.

Deadline for inheritance

Since the heir must formalize the rights to the received property within 6 months, it is the statute of limitations that protects the heirs who might simply not know about their rights until the end of this time.

The countdown of these 6 months begins:

• from the date of death of the testator;
• from the date he was declared dead in court.

The second case is typical for missing people from whom there is no information for a long time.

Within six months, all heirs must assume their rights. It can be done:

• actually;
• legally.

To document your inheritance rights, you need to collect the necessary documents and contact a notary to obtain a certificate of inheritance rights.

The actual way to enter into inheritance is to use the inherited property. To do this you need:

• Pay expenses related to inherited property;
• Manage and use this property;
• Improve its condition (including repair);
• Pay the decedent's debts associated with the property.

Despite the fact that this method of inheritance is also determined by law, obtaining a notarial certificate is a more reliable way to receive an inheritance, since it is certified by a notary and confirmed by legal documents. This is important in controversial situations. And such situations happen very often when some heirs try to deprive others of their inheritance.

It is important to know that 3 years is the general limitation period, and the maximum limitation period for entering into an inheritance by law is 10 years (according to Article No. 196 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Expert commentary

Karpova Ekaterina Vasilievna

In 2006 she graduated from Amur State University with a degree in jurisprudence. 2006-2013 — Arbitration Court of the Amur Region. 2013 to present - lawyer at the Amur Regional Oncology Center.

Article 1154 of the Civil Code establishes general and special deadlines for registration and acceptance of inheritance. In general cases, this period is six months from the date of death of the testator. In fact, the inheritance opens on the same day. But the period for its adoption in accordance with Article 191 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation is counted from the day following the day of the occurrence of the specified event. The six-month period ends on the corresponding date of the sixth month (Article 192 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). There are cases when the period for accepting an inheritance ends on a date that is not in a given month or it falls on a weekend or non-working day. Then, in the first case, the expiration date will be considered the last day of the month (Part 3 of Article 192 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation), and in the second case it will be transferred to the next working day that follows it (Article 193 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Early issuance of a certificate of inheritance

Early issuance of a certificate of inheritance is possible. This will happen if the notary is provided with all the necessary documents and it is reliably established that there are no other applicants for the property. The second option is a court order to issue the document early.

To the extent that the law does not provide criteria by which data can be recognized as reliable, such an assessment is made by a notary who delves into all specific situations and circumstances. Documentary evidence may include:

• marital status of the testator (marriage certificate);
• relationship of the heirs with the deceased owner of the property;
• documents from the place of work of the deceased testator: an extract from the registration sheet filled out by him. Issued by the human resources department at the place of former work;
• The required document can also be issued by the military registration and enlistment office where the deceased owner was registered with the military.

It is not the notary’s duty to issue a certificate ahead of schedule, but only his right.

Obtaining a certificate of inheritance is the basis for other legal actions in relation to inherited property. This is state registration of property, for example, an apartment or house, securities.

Author of the article

Registration of inherited property

The final stage is the registration of property in the name of the heir(s). You can take your time here. Registration has no minimum terms - the heir has the right to register inherited property at any time . The basis will be a certificate of inheritance. True, for some objects there is still a minimum period.

If you need to re-register a car or other vehicle, the heir must submit documents no later than 10 days from the date of receipt of the certificate. If you do not meet this deadline, the traffic police will issue a fine - from 1,500 to 2,000 rubles (Article 19.22 of the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation). There are no discounts for paying fines.

You also need to remember that a certificate of inheritance is a document of title. It does not give the right to dispose of inherited property. The assignee will not be able to sell, lease, mortgage, exchange or donate the property. For these transactions, you need to draw up an extract from the Unified State Register of Real Estate - a title document that assigns ownership to the heir (see “What to do next after entering into an inheritance”).

Duration and procedure for registration of inheritance

In addition to the generally accepted six-month period allotted for registering an inheritance, there are special ones that begin to operate under certain circumstances:

1. If a citizen is declared dead by a court, the six-month period begins from the date the court decision comes into force.
2. If an heir, by law or will, formalizes a refusal of the inheritance, then other applicants have the right to inherit his share from the moment the application for refusal is submitted to the notary.
3. In the event of non-acceptance of the inheritance, other legal successors can draw up documents for the undistributed share (or the entire inheritance) within 3 months from the end of the total period.
4. When one of the heirs is recognized as unworthy, the right to formalize the inheritance is transferred to other applicants, and they will also be able to realize it within six months from the date of the court’s decision.
5. If the testator was expecting the birth of a child, the inheritance procedure is suspended until the birth of the baby, since he is the heir of the 1st stage and, even in the presence of a will, has the right to receive a share of the property as a socially vulnerable member of society (Article 1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

During the period allotted for registration, you must:

• Express a desire to enter into an inheritance by contacting a notary with an application for the issuance of an appropriate certificate;
• collect identifying and title documents, a full list of which will be provided by the notary;
• evaluate the property and pay the state fee;
• obtain a certificate of inheritance;
• register property rights.

The last point is fulfilled when inheriting real estate (house, cottage, apartment, land) and vehicles (truck or car, motorcycle, etc.). Real estate is registered in Rosreestr, and transport is registered in the traffic police.

Problems of inheritance

The statute of limitations for inheritance may be violated for the following reasons:

• The heirs were not notified of their rights in a timely manner, due to objective reasons or due to the intent of other persons;
• The heir changed his place of residence and the notification came to his old address;
• Violation of the statute of limitations due to the fault of the heir himself, who contacted the notary with a delay;
• Late collection of necessary documents.

Often, inheriting a share in the apartment of a deceased spouse becomes a source of conflicts between heirs. The division of the share between the second spouse and the children of the deceased from different marriages, as a rule, occurs in court. By law, these proceedings are allotted three years from the date of the actual or court-determined death of the testator.

If the three-year period has passed and there is a good reason for its violation, then you can apply to the court to extend this period for another 6 months.

However, as noted above, the statute of limitations for entering into an inheritance after death can be calculated from the time the reasons for which the heir could not enter into the inheritance in a timely manner ceased to exist. That is, three years will be calculated from the moment of returning from a long business trip and when the heir learned about his rights, etc.

Is it possible to enter into an inheritance before 6 months?

Within the 6 months allotted by law, the notary who opened the inheritance case expects applications from the heirs to accept the inheritance or to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance (Clause 1, Article 1153 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation). A person authorized to carry out notarial acts can notify about the opened inheritance only the heirs whose place of residence is known to him.

A death certificate is issued 6 months to all heirs simultaneously. At their request, one document can be issued to everyone or to each individual (Article 1162 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The law provides for the possibility of entering into rights before the end of the established period.

Special situations:

1. The assignee can prove that he is the only heir . When inheriting by law, it is quite difficult to officially confirm this fact. For example, a man might not know that he has a natural child. And after the death of the owner, the child’s mother can submit an application to establish the fact of inheritance. However, the method may well be used in relation to a deceased woman.
2. The recipient actually accepted the property . A citizen can take actions to store, repair, and maintain the property of the deceased. In addition, he can use it for its intended purpose. Thus, the recipient is vested with interest in the property even before the expiration of 6 months.