History of obtaining a court decision establishing the fact of residence with the testator at the time of death for the purpose of inheritance

In July 2023, Iryna Babenko, a pensioner, turned to the lawyer of the STEP NGO, Hanna Babenko, to get help in accepting the inheritance after her deceased mother.

First of all, the lawyer provided a step-by-step consultation on the algorithm of actions for accepting the inheritance. During the consultation, it was found out that the inheritance was opened on the territory of the Government of Ukraine, and the deadline for Iryna to accept the inheritance had already been missed by more than a year. After contacting a notary, she received an explanation that it was impossible to open an inheritance case and formalize the inheritance due to the missed deadline for accepting the inheritance, as well as due to the lack of evidence of residence with the testator at the same address. This problem arose because there was no access to the registers of registered persons, as the testator lived in the territory not controlled by the Government of Ukraine, and also due to the fact that the applicant's registered place of residence was in Zaporizhzhia, and not in the house where the applicant had been living with her mother at the time of the inheritance opening.

During the consultation, the lawyer found out that at the time of the opening of the inheritance, Iryna was also at the testator's place of residence, as she had come to take care of her sick mother the day before. Thus, she was actually living with her mother at the time of the inheritance opening and accepted the inheritance by virtue of the provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine. Iryna returned to government-controlled territory at the earliest opportunity after burying her mother. This happened in September 2022, but she did not apply to a notary until June 2023, which was after the six-month statutory deadline.

 The lawyer helped to establish communication with the notary from whom Iryna planned to accept the inheritance. The specialist also prepared and collected the necessary evidence to confirm the circumstances. In addition, the lawyer and Iryna prepared a statement to the court.

The proceedings in this case were opened and the case was scheduled for trial. In order to avoid any delays in the proceedings, in particular, untimely receipt of procedural documents by the parties, the lawyer helped to speed up the exchange of procedural documents of the parties to the case and ensured that the court received them in time before the trial. Based on the results of consideration of the application and other applications from the persons interested in the case, which were received in advance of the trial, the court granted the application to establish the fact of permanent residence with the testator at the time of death.

Now Iryna has accepted the inheritance and has the legal right to formalize the inheritance from her mother with a notary.

The provision of free legal aid to IDPs in Zaporizhzhia region was made possible through the cooperation of the STEP NGO with the Danish Refugee Council and funding from the European Union's civil protection and humanitarian aid.