Who is the first heir after the death of a husband, mother, father, wife by law or by will?

The spouse received an inheritance from his parents: what should the “other half” know about his rights?

The current legislation of the Russian Federation provides that property rights during inheritance can be transferred between blood relatives or officially married spouses.

However, there is an exception to the rule. In this case, it is a will. The owner of the property can order that his property be transferred not only to relatives. It can be:

strangers;
enterprises or organizations;
authorities.

Freedom of expression is limited by the right to an obligatory share. In this way, the state protects socially vulnerable people. This category includes disabled relatives of the testator:

minor children;
spouses;
parents;
other dependents.

Citizens of pre-retirement age are also recognized as disabled. For women it is 55 years old, and for men it is 60.

Thus, the wife has the right to her husband's inheritance (the property of his parents) only if a will has been written for her. The situation is the same if a spouse lays claim to his wife’s property.

Who is the heir of the first stage in 2021

According to existing legislation, in 2021, first of all, the following are called for inheritance:

Spouses

The first priority of inheritance by law is the wife or husband who was in an officially registered state marriage with the deceased. At the same time, “common-law” spouses, as well as dependents and cohabitants, do not have the right to claim the property of the testator , except in cases where this is provided for by the laws of the Russian Federation (we will discuss this further).

Expert opinion

Oleg Ustinov

Practicing lawyer, author of the website “Legal Ambulance”, one of the co-founders of the “Our Future” foundation.

However, even when inheriting after the death of a spouse, it is necessary to understand that not all property is subject to division between relatives. After all, all real estate, movable property or things acquired during the period of marriage are considered marital property. That is, such property belongs to the wife and husband on equal rights.

That is why experienced lawyers recommend, before proceeding with the registration of an inheritance, to allocate from the joint property of the spouses the share of the one who can further dispose of it. Then you can distribute the remaining inheritance (the deceased's share) among the heirs in order of priority.

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It is worth noting that joint property, according to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is not property that is not subject to allocation to the married half. That is, the property that was received by the testator before marriage, no matter whether it was purchased, received as a gift or inherited.

Parents

The testator's mother and father are also included in the first priority of inheritance. At the same time, it does not matter at all whether they are married or divorced. Also, adoptive parents, who by law have rights similar to parents, are treated as parents, except in cases where the adoption was canceled according to a court decision.

Parents who are legally deprived of parental rights in court are deprived of inheritance rights.

Children

The same category of primary heirs also includes the children of the testator. Remember that if the latter was deprived of parental rights, he lost the right to inherit property after the death of the child, but children do not lose this right after the death of the parent who did not have parental rights. This fact is due to the fact that a mother or father deprived of parental rights, although they lose their rights to the child by a court decision, are still not released from the responsibilities associated with their children.

Who is the first heir after the death of his wife?

The situation is the same with the distribution of property after the death of a spouse. Before the immediate division, the part of the property that was acquired during the marriage to the deceased is separated from the common inheritance. Thus, 50% of such property belongs to the husband, and the remaining half is subject to inheritance by the following persons:

spouse;
children;
parents of the testator.

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Who is the first heir after the death of her husband?

So, having considered the information described above, we can conclude that the first heirs after the death of the husband are his:

spouse;
children;
parents (mother and father).

The process of distributing the common inheritance begins only after calculations and the allocation of half the share of property acquired jointly by the spouses during marriage. It is the husband’s part, in this case, that will be the share of the inheritance to be distributed among the remaining heirs.

If only one citizen from the list acts as heir and there are no others, then he will receive all the property of the testator. Well, if the deceased does not have any of the heirs of the 1st category or they refused the inherited property, the right of inheritance passes to the remaining heirs in order of legal priority.

Who is the first heir after the death of the mother?

According to the legislation existing in 2021, among the first applicants for inheritance after the death of the mother are:

spouse;
children;
parents.

At the same time, the husband has the right to inherited property only if he was in a state marriage with the deceased, which will need to be documented when opening a case.

The same applies to children and parents - they will also need to present relevant documents proving the degree of relationship with the testator.

If the mother was in an official marriage, then before dividing movable and immovable property, it is necessary to isolate the share of property acquired jointly during the marriage (only necessary if the husband is alive). The second half of the inheritance will be divided among the remaining heirs.

Lawyer's Note

The father and mother (grandfather and grandmother) have the right to inherit property if they have parental rights and have not been deprived of them in court.

Also, instead of the mother’s children, her grandchildren have the right to receive the inheritance first if their parents died with her or before her.

Who is the first heir after the death of his father?

If the head of the family did not leave a will, then the following may inherit his property first:

spouse;
children;
parents of the testator.

As in the case of the mother, before distributing the common inheritance between the above-mentioned persons, the spouse’s share (part of the property acquired during marriage) is allocated. This part of the property is not subject to division and is the property of the mother, while the father's share is distributed among the heirs by law. At the same time, the shares of the heirs of the 1st stage are equal .

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In the event that the above persons have renounced their shares or there are none, the right of inheritance passes to the applicants of the 2nd stage of inheritance. It is worth noting that if the testator does not have a single heir in any of the queues, then all of his property will be considered escheat and will become the property of the state.

Inheritance of a spouse received during marriage: what rights does a spouse have?

Can a husband claim his wife's inheritance?

This is a pressing question that concerns many spouses. Lost wives or divorced husbands often ask notaries about these questions. It's actually simple. What was purchased while living together is joint property. It is this that is divided upon the dissolution of a marriage or the death of the “other half.” But, if the property was inherited (donated), the spouse does not have the right to it.

So, for example, if an apartment was inherited, the husband does not have the right to claim it during a divorce. During the period of living together, he can use such housing without hindrance.

Is a husband entitled to his wife's inheritance in the event of her death?

This is personal property and is inherited by close relatives in the shares established by law.

How is property acquired before marriage distributed after the death of a spouse?

If the property was acquired by a spouse before marriage, then the second spouse does not have the right to 50%, as is the case with property acquired during marriage.

For example, an apartment was purchased by a deceased man before marriage. In this case, the shares are distributed in the same amount among all heirs of the first priority. For example, a man bought an apartment, and a year later he brought his chosen one into it and registered his relationship.

The marriage produced three children. After his death, his wife and each of his children are entitled to 25% of this apartment.

On the rights of spouses when one of them receives an inheritance

At the beginning of the conversation, we talked about the personal property of married persons. How to change the regime of such property? There are several options. Can:

sign a marriage contract;
enter into an agreement on the allocation of a share;
achieve a resolution of the issue in court.

If these steps are not followed, the property inherited by the husband or wife will not be subject to division in the event of a divorce. In this case, only the regime of jointly acquired property will change.

By going to court, the situation can be significantly changed. If the “other half” manages to prove that as a result of its actions the condition of the inherited property has significantly improved, the court may decide to allocate a share in such property.

Does a wife have the right to her husband's inheritance after his death?

The law clearly defines the right of inheritance of spouses. The share of the “second half” can be allocated before the division of property. In the absence of a will, the remainder of the property will be divided among close relatives in the manner prescribed by law. This is explained by the fact that inherited property is private property.

Composition of the inheritance after the death of the husband

According to Art. 1150 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the personal property of the deceased spouse, as well as his share in joint property , are included in the inheritance . His wife acts as an heir on the general basis determined by this Code. Moreover, she is the heir in the first place (Article 1142 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

Based on Art. 256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, joint ownership includes :

property that was acquired by spouses during marriage, with the exception of personal belongings (clothing);
jewelry and other luxury items. In fact, they are personal belongings, but at the same time, according to paragraph. 2 p. 2 art. 256 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, are part of jointly acquired property;
personal property, if common funds or funds of the second spouse were used for its repair, reconstruction and other changes (buyout, redevelopment);
funds received as a result of the use of the fruits of the author's labor (royalties), while authorship will remain with the creator of the work (Article 1228 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation);
any personal property of the spouses, if there are agreements according to which, in the event of division, it goes to the husband (wife).

The inheritance that a spouse can receive as a first-priority heir includes his personal belongings, as well as property acquired before marriage, received in the form of an inheritance or a gift.

Briefly about the rights to real estate inherited from relatives

When a marriage is dissolved, the question of housing division arises. Does a wife have the right to her husband’s inheritance if he inherited the apartment from relatives? You can apply for such real estate only if:

the spouse has improved the condition of the property, and she can document this;
the procedure for dividing property is determined by agreement;
When creating a family, a marriage contract was concluded, in which the corresponding clause was spelled out.

In the absence of a will, you can claim a share of inherited real estate in the manner prescribed by law. A declaration of will drawn up by the owner is the only way to obtain an apartment or house for sole use.

So, for example, in the event of the death of a wife, the property she inherited is divided in equal shares. If the deceased had two children, then they and the spouse will each become the owners of 1/3 of the share.

A notary can provide detailed advice on this issue.

Methods of inheriting property

The Civil Code provides for three methods of inheriting the property of a deceased citizen. The first is the acquisition of property rights on the basis of a will.

This is the only way in which not only relatives, but also strangers can act as candidates for receiving property. The testator independently determines the list of heirs and records the share of each of them.

After the will is announced, the heir can:

accept values in full (property and debt obligations);
refuse part of the inheritance;
refuse a share of property in favor of another candidate;
write an application for a complete renunciation of inherited values.

Attention! To control the fulfillment of the terms of the will, an executor may be involved, who, for a separate fee (withheld from the inheritance), looks for recipients of property, helps to prepare the necessary documents, introduces them to the inheritance procedure, and controls the timely receipt of property by each candidate.

In the absence of a will, inheritance occurs based on the legal order. Also, legal priority is taken into account in the following circumstances:

the will was canceled by the testator himself;
the administrative document was canceled in court;
invalidation of the will;
exclusion of heirs from the list as unscrupulous.

In the case of inheritance by law, the transfer of material wealth is available only to relatives. Applicants are divided into legal queues according to degree of relationship. Only if there are no candidates of the first stage, the property is transferred to representatives of the second stage.

The third method is the actual acceptance of the inheritance. Citizens living with the deceased, who continued to care for the property of the testator, are recognized as having entered into an inheritance without opening a case with a notary.

Order of succession by law

Table “Legal priority”

A separate group of applicants includes dependents who are not related to the deceased testator, but lived with him before his death, and were also in the full care of the deceased. Dependents receive a share of the inheritance, regardless of the presence of heirs in other lines.

Mandatory share of inheritance

Article 1149 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation provides for the right to an obligatory share in the inheritance. This means that the candidate will receive part of the property, regardless of the contents of the will, and also regardless of the applicants of other queues.

Attention! The resulting share will be ½ of the share that would have been inherited by law.

The following may apply for a compulsory share of ownership:

minors and disabled children;
disabled parents;
disabled dependents.

The allocation of a share occurs even at the expense of reducing the part of the inheritance of the candidates in turn (if the will does not cover all the property of the deceased). If the owner bequeathed all his property, then the interests of the obligatory heirs are satisfied at the expense of the bequeathed property.

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Recognition of property as common property

Married persons are aware of the existence of such concepts as personal and jointly acquired property. Could his status change? The answer to this question is voiced in Article 37 of the Family Code of Russia. It says that the regime of the object can be changed if its value increases significantly. It doesn't matter how the price increased. It can change thanks to the investment of personal funds by the “other half”, the efforts of both spouses, or thanks to the actions of the wife’s husband. Actions should include repairs or reconstruction.

It should be remembered that the status of inherited property can only be changed through a judicial procedure. When filing a claim, you will have to document that it was the applicant’s actions that changed the value of the property. During the trial, the court will compare the condition of the property before and after the changes were made. If they are noticeable, a decision will be made to allocate the marital share. Such claims are filed when controversial situations arise in the event of divorce or death of a spouse.

Who is the direct heir after the death of one of the spouses?

Registration of an official marriage is the basis for the emergence of mutual rights/responsibilities of spouses (including property).

Therefore, when inheriting, the marital share is allocated first, which is considered in the following way:

under the terms of the marriage contract;
half of the property acquired after marriage is transferred to the remaining spouse if no prenuptial agreement has been drawn up.

Important! If the deceased spouse included in the contents of the will a mention of the property of the second partner, the valuables are excluded from the list of inheritance.

After the spousal share is allocated, the remaining part of the property is divided, to which the spouse also claims. The common-law husband and wife do not inherit, except on condition of dependency.

Inheritance after the death of a husband

Example 1:

Citizen O. died in a car accident. He is survived by his wife, citizen P., with whom a marriage agreement was not signed, son S., and daughter of his wife T., who was not adopted. An apartment worth 3,000,000 rubles is inherited. The notary determined the marital share - ½ of an apartment worth 1.5 million. The remainder is divided as follows:

wife – ¼ part of the property;
son – ¼ share of the apartment.

The wife's daughter does not receive the inheritance.

Example 2:

After marriage, citizen K. inherited a house worth 4.5 million rubles. The marriage contract was not signed, so the house belongs entirely to the spouse. The man died, leaving the property as an inheritance. After the opening of the inheritance, it was established that in addition to his official wife, the man had an illegitimate child. The court ordered a DNA test to confirm the relationship. The house is divided equally between the official wife and the illegitimate child.

Civil marriage: is it fashionable to claim an inheritance?

Many people prefer not to formalize their relationship. In the event of their breakup or the death of one of the common-law spouses, the question of division of property arises. Does a common-law wife have the right to her husband's inheritance? A will or an appropriate agreement concluded between the parties will help solve the problem. In the absence of the owner's will, inheritance occurs according to law. In this case, the right to property is given to blood relatives or persons who are officially married (their relationship is registered by the relevant authorities). Otherwise, you will have to defend your rights in court. The plaintiff will need to prove that he lived with his common-law spouse for more than a year and ran a joint household. You can raise the issue of allocating a share or confirm that the condition of the property has been improved due to the “second half”. In any case, such proceedings take a long time and require the involvement of a specialized lawyer.

What does the law say?

Inheritance is the transfer of property into the ownership of a successor after the death of the testator. Any citizen can receive an inheritance - this opportunity is not limited by age or other restrictions.

Transfer of property is possible by will or by law. In the first case, the testator himself determines the legal fate of his property during his lifetime; in the second, the transfer of property occurs in accordance with the norms provided for by Chapter 63 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

If the testator has drawn up a will, then there will be no problems with the distribution of shares, since the text of the document will contain a clear indication of what is intended and to whom. In the absence of a will, inheritance will take place according to Art. 1141 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation - in the order of priority provided for in Art. 1142-1145 and 1148 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

According to the law, the primary heirs after the death of a husband are his wife, children and parents. If there are no relatives other than the spouse, then all property will become her property.

The issue of distribution of shares is currently being actively discussed. Often, relatives argue about what property they are entitled to and cannot agree within the permissible period for accepting an inheritance - six months. To avoid this, there is a bill in development according to which, if the heirs are unable to reach an agreement within six months, all property will be sold and the proceeds will be distributed proportionally among the claimants for the share. However, the law is under consideration and may never be adopted.

What you need to know about a will

A will is an expression of the will of the property owner.

He may decide to transfer it to one of his relatives, a stranger or the state. This method of disposing of property makes it possible to resolve property disputes in the family. The Civil Code of the Russian Federation (Article 1137) provides that when drawing up a document, the owner can oblige the heir to perform certain actions. So, for example, when transferring ownership of an apartment, its owner may indicate that the heir must provide relatives with living space or support one of them.

The will is drawn up by a notary. The lawyer must check the applicant’s legal capacity and the absence of pressure on him. After the death of the testator, the notary announces the contents of the document and explains to the relatives their rights. Find out if a will is divided in a divorce.

Shares of children and wife according to law

When distributing the shares of the wife and children, some nuances may arise. In accordance with the law, if a husband and wife had common property, then his wife receives her 50% of it, and the remaining 50% is divided in equal shares among all first-priority heirs, which also includes the spouse.
The man's inheritance is divided in the same way if the property was purchased during marriage (car, apartment, shares, etc.).

For example, after marriage, an apartment was purchased and registered as the property of the husband. The marriage produced two children together. After the death of a man, his wife receives 50% of the apartment as her property, as her property acquired during marriage.

If there is no will, how will the inheritance be distributed?

If the order of inheritance is not determined by the will, then the norms established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation come into force. Heirs are divided into primary (primary) and secondary. There are eight queues in total.

The primary heirs are spouses, children, fathers and mothers. Secondary are brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents.

Inheritance occurs as follows: initially, the legal inheritance right is received by the heirs of the first priority. In a situation where they are not there or if they have abandoned the property, then secondary persons are involved - heirs of the second stage. Inheritance occurs strictly one after another, without violating the order.

Which persons can count on the obligatory share?

There are certain categories of the population that the state takes care of, so they can receive a share in the inheritance even if there is a will:

legal wife . Moreover, it does not matter how many years the spouses have been married, or whether she is currently able to work.
Children under 16 years of age , as well as those under 18 if they are undergoing training.
Relatives with disabilities from groups 1 to 3 .
Relatives of retirement age and disabled family members .
People who have been dependent on the deceased for more than a year.

In the absence of a will, the legal spouse will receive half of the husband's property, the rest will be divided equally among other heirs (if there are any).

If there is a will, mandatory heirs not specified in it can count on acquiring 50% of the share that they could receive.

So, after the death of one of the spouses, his property can be distributed in two ways: using a will or by law . In the first case, the shares of the property will be received by the people indicated in the document and the obligatory heirs, in the second - by members of the inheritance line.

The shares are distributed evenly between relatives, but you can refuse yours by filling out certain documents. A legal wife can also count on her husband’s inheritance, but if they lived in a civil marriage, it will be very difficult to receive even a small part of it.

What is considered the inheritance of a deceased person?

Inheritance can take place in two forms:

in law;
by will.

In the first case, the heirs have the right to receive their share in order of priority. There are eight queues, which is directly enshrined in law . In the second case, inheritance occurs according to the rules prescribed in the will. There is no relationship here; an outsider can also receive the property.

The hereditary mass is of particular importance. This includes all the property that the deceased managed to acquire and was in his possession at the time of death. The inheritance is considered open only from the date of death. It may include movable and immovable things, as well as property rights and obligations.

Property must be inherited in the place where it was opened. It can also be the place of permanent registration of the citizen, which existed at the time of death. If there is none, the place where the person’s real estate or movable property is located is taken into account. This provision is regulated in more detail in Article 1115 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

The period for opening an inheritance is not regulated by law. There are only time frames established at the regulatory level for accepting the property of the deceased. This is due to the fact that the inheritance opens automatically after the death of a person. A child, parent, or other family member may waive their share, but this will not close the estate.