How to receive an inheritance by will

Inheritance is an important issue for many people. Receiving an inheritance by will has its own peculiarities and nuances. This article will help you understand how to inherit.

What is included in the inheritance

Inheritance in Ukraine includes all the rights and obligations that belonged to the testator at the time of opening the inheritance and did not terminate as a result of his or her death. These may include:

real estate (houses, apartments, inherited land);
movable property (cars, household appliances, furniture, jewelry);
cash and bank deposits;
securities (shares, bonds), corporate rights;
intellectual property rights, copyrights;
rights of claim under contracts (for example, under a loan agreement);
property rights and obligations under lease and insurance agreements.

A heir can inherit all of the property owned by the testator, as well as his or her share in joint ownership. At the same time, the testator's obligations are also transferred to the heirs, such as the need to repay existing debts and loans.

At the same time, personal non-property rights (the right to life, health, freedom, name, honor, dignity), as well as rights inextricably linked to the testator's personality (the right to alimony, compensation for damage to health), are not included in the inheritance and cease upon the death of the person.

Types of inheritance

There are two types of inheritance in Ukraine:

by will;
by law.

Testate inheritance occurs when the testator has made a written will in the event of his or her death. In it, the testator determines the circle of heirs and distributes his or her property among them.

A will must be made in writing, indicating the place and time of its execution, signed by the testator and certified by a notary or other officials designated by law. The notary also registers the will in the Inheritance Register.

When making a will, the testator may make a testamentary refusal - to oblige the heir to perform certain property actions in favor of third parties (for example, to transfer certain property to someone).

A testator has the right to cancel a will or make a new one at any time. A new will cancels the previous one in full or in part to the extent that it contradicts it.

However, the law establishes certain restrictions on the freedom of will. For example, minors, minors, adult disabled children of the testator, disabled widows (widowers) and parents are entitled to a mandatory share of the inheritance without a will - half of the share that would have been due to them if they had inherited by law, regardless of the content of the will.

If there is no will, inheritance is carried out by law - in accordance with the order of heirs established by the Civil Code of Ukraine. The first line of heirs includes the testator's children (including those conceived during the testator's lifetime and born after his or her death), the testator's surviving spouse, and parents. They inherit property in equal shares. The testator's grandchildren and great-grandchildren step into the shoes of their parents in the right of inheritance by law.

Secondarily, siblings of the testator, his or her grandparents on both the father's and mother's side have the right to inherit. Third-priority heirs include uncles and aunts. The fourth line of inheritance is inherited by persons who lived with the testator as a family for at least five years before the opening of the inheritance. In the absence of heirs of the previous lines, the inheritance passes to persons of the fifth line - other relatives of the testator up to and including the sixth degree of kinship.

Dependents of the testator who were not members of his or her family have the right to inherit on an equal footing with the heirs of the line of succession. If there are no heirs by law, the will is absent or invalidated, the inheritance is recognized as escheated and becomes the property of the territorial community at the place of opening the inheritance.

What documents are required to accept an inheritance?

In order to inherit by will, the heir must apply to the notary at the place of opening the inheritance and submit the following documents:

an application for inheritance;
the original death certificate of the testator;
documents confirming kinship with the testator (birth certificate, marriage certificate, etc.);
documents confirming the testator's ownership of the property (sale and purchase agreements, donation agreements, certificates of ownership);
a will and copies thereof (if the inheritance takes place by will).

This list of documents is basic and may vary depending on the specific situation. A notary will explain which documents are required in your case.

How much time is available to accept the inheritance

The period for inheritance registration is 6 months from the date of opening the inheritance, i.e. from the date of the testator's death. If the heir does not file an application for acceptance of the inheritance within this time, he or she will be considered not to have accepted it.

However, if there are valid reasons (prolonged illness, long business trip, lack of awareness of the existence of a will, etc.), the court may extend the period for acceptance of the inheritance. To do so, the heir must file an application with the court for an additional period of time with justification of the reasons for missing the 6-month period. It should be remembered that ignorance of the law on inheritance of property does not exempt from its implementation, so ignorance of the 6-month period for acceptance of inheritance is unlikely to be recognized by the court as a valid reason.

Where to submit an application for inheritance

An application for inheritance in Ukraine is submitted to a notary at the place of opening the inheritance. The place of inheritance opening is the last place of residence of the testator. If the place of residence is unknown, the inheritance is opened at the location of the real estate or the main part of it, and if there is no real estate, at the location of the main part of movable property.

As a rule, the application is submitted personally by the heir. If he or she is unable to come to the notary, the application may be submitted by a representative under a power of attorney or sent by mail. The main thing is that the heir's signature on the application must be notarized.

What to do after receiving a certificate of inheritance?

After receiving a certificate of inheritance from a notary, the heir becomes the full owner of the inherited property. However, in order to exercise their rights to certain types of property, they need to take registration actions.

Thus, ownership of inherited real estate is subject to mandatory state registration. To do this, you should contact the administrative services center or a notary at the location of the property and submit:

an application for registration of ownership;
a certificate of inheritance;
a document confirming payment of the administrative fee;
documents confirming that the testator has acquired ownership of the property.

Upon consideration of the application, the state registrar enters information on the registration of the heir's ownership in the State Register of Real Property Rights.

Specifics of other types of inheritance:

If you inherit a vehicle, you must re-register the vehicle at the service center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to register your ownership of it.
Registration of ownership of an inherited land plot is carried out at the territorial office of the State Geocadastre.
Inherited corporate rights, i.e. shares in the authorized capital of business companies, are formalized by amending the constituent documents of these companies and their state registration.
Inheritance of intellectual property rights also has its own specifics. The heir must apply to Ukrpatent for re-registration of the title of protection for the intellectual property object in his or her name.

Inheritance is not only the acquisition of rights, but also of obligations. Along with the inherited property, the heirs also receive the debts of the testator. Liability for such debts is limited to the value of the inherited asset. If there are several heirs, they are jointly and severally liable for the debts of the testator.

In certain cases, after receiving a certificate of inheritance, you will have to pay personal income tax. The rate of this tax depends on the degree of kinship between the heir and the testator:

0% for heirs of the first and second line of succession;
5% - for heirs who do not belong to the first and second line of succession;
18% - for non-resident heirs, regardless of the degree of kinship.

The tax is paid on the net value of the inherited property within 60 days from the date of receipt of the certificate of inheritance.

To summarize, inheritance by will is a sequential process that includes acceptance of the inheritance, registration of rights to the inherited property and its distribution among the heirs. At each stage, certain legally significant actions must be taken within the established timeframe. Strict adherence to the inheritance procedure and understanding of your rights and obligations as an heir allows you to avoid many problems and successfully exercise your inheritance rights.