How to continue an inheritance case if the inheritance process could not be completed due to occupation or hostilities

Receiving an inheritance is an important process governed by clear legal rules. Unfortunately, there are many cases where people have been unable to complete the inheritance process due to circumstances beyond their control. One such circumstance is the temporary occupation of parts of Ukraine or ongoing hostilities in territories where the inheritance was opened. Does this mean that the right to the inherited property has been lost? No! In such cases, the law provides an opportunity to continue the inheritance process. In this article, we explain how to do so.

Important: If an heir has not submitted an application for acceptance of an inheritance opened in temporarily occupied territories or areas of active hostilities at all, the procedure described in this article will not apply.

The main issue in such cases is whether the six-month period for accepting an inheritance established by Article 1270 of the Civil Code of Ukraine has been missed and whether there are grounds under Article 1272 of the Civil Code of Ukraine for granting an additional period for its acceptance.

To learn what to do if you have missed the deadline for accepting an inheritance, read our article: “How to formalise inheritance in case of missing the time limit for acceptance”.

If a person submitted an application for acceptance of inheritance within the prescribed period and a notary opened an inheritance case, but the inheritance formalities could not be completed due to circumstances beyond their control (for example, occupation, active hostilities, loss of documents or lack of access to the inheritance case), Ukrainian legislation provides a procedure for such situations.

The main thing to remember is that you do not need to open a new inheritance case but rather resume the one that was previously opened. After that, you can continue the inheritance formalities and obtain a certificate of inheritance.

Step-by-step procedure for continuing an inheritance case and completing the inheritance formalities

Step 1. Check whether the inheritance case is registered in the Inheritance Register.

You can do this by contacting any notary in government-controlled territory of Ukraine. Information from the Inheritance Register will allow you to find out:

1. the date on which the inheritance case was opened following the death of the deceased person;
2. the inheritance case number;
3. the surname of the notary who opened the case.

Step 2: Contact the notary who opened the inheritance case.

If the notary is still practising, has access to the case and can continue working on it, submit the missing documents to the notary and complete the inheritance formalities.

You can consult the Register of Notaries here: Register of Notaries.

If the original notary does not have access to the inheritance case due to occupation or hostilities, proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Contact another notary practising in Ukraine and submit an application to continue the inheritance case proceedings.

You may contact any private notary or state notary office authorised to perform the relevant notarial acts, located in government-controlled territory of Ukraine and outside areas of active hostilities.

The legal basis for such an application is subparagraph 2.11 of paragraph 2 of Chapter 10, Section II of the Procedure for Performing Notarial Acts by Notaries of Ukraine, approved by Order No. 296/5 of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine dated 22 February 2012.

Important! In this case, you are submitting an application specifically to continue the inheritance case proceedings, not to accept the inheritance again.

Upon receiving the application, the notary checks the Inheritance Register to determine whether an inheritance case, an inheritance agreement or a will has been registered.

If the notary establishes that an inheritance case has already been registered, the matter must be resolved by continuing the previously opened inheritance case, rather than by accepting the inheritance again.

In your application to continue the proceedings, you must provide:

1. details of the deceased person;
2. the date of their death;
3. information about the previous notary;
4. the inheritance case number, if known;
5. confirmation that an application for acceptance of inheritance was submitted;
6. the reason why the inheritance formalities could not be completed;a request to continue the inheritance case proceedings.

Step 4: Submit the documents required to complete the inheritance formalities to the notary.

In particular, documents confirming:

1. the death of the deceased person;
2. the identity of the heir;
3. the family relationship between the heir and the deceased person, or the existence of a will;
4. the composition of the estate;
5. the deceased person's ownership rights to the property;
6. the existence of other heirs (if known);
7. ther documents necessary to complete the inheritance process.

If these documents are unavailable, proceed to the next step.

Step 5: Determine whether the documents can be restored.

If documents confirming circumstances necessary to complete the inheritance formalities were left in occupied territory or areas of active hostilities, or were destroyed, you need to determine whether they can be restored or whether information confirming the relevant circumstances can be obtained from state registers.

For each missing document, it is necessary to determine whether a duplicate can be obtained or whether the information can be confirmed by:

1. a state register;
2. an archival institution;
3. a state authority;
4. a local self-government authority;
5. other appropriate evidence.

Important! At this stage, we recommend seeking advice from a lawyer who can help identify possible ways to restore lost documents.

Step 6: Submit an application to the notary for the issuance of a certificate of inheritance.

Once you have provided the notary with all available documents confirming your right to inherit, you need to submit an application for the issuance of a certificate of inheritance.

The notary will verify the key circumstances of the inheritance case: the fact of the deceased person's death, the date and place of opening the inheritance, your right to inherit, confirmation that the inheritance was accepted, and the composition of the estate.

If the documents are sufficient, the notary will issue a certificate of inheritance, completing the inheritance formalities.

However, if it is impossible to complete the inheritance formalities, for example, due to missing documents, the absence of originals or the inability to establish certain facts, the notary will issue a written decision refusing to perform the notarial act. This document will be necessary for the further protection of your rights, including through court proceedings.

The decision must specify:

1. the specific reasons for the notary's refusal to issue a certificate of inheritance;
2. references to the legal provisions on which the refusal is based;
3. the procedure and deadlines for challenging the decision.

Step 7: Identify what prevents you from completing the inheritance formalities and, if necessary, apply to court.

After receiving the decision refusing to perform the notarial act, you will be able to identify exactly what prevents you from completing the inheritance formalities. In most such cases, it will be necessary to apply to court to resolve the issue.

Depending on the circumstances of the case, it may be necessary to establish a legally significant fact, confirm a family relationship with the deceased person, establish that a particular document belongs to a specific person, or resolve a dispute concerning rights to inherited property.

At this stage, it is advisable to seek assistance from a lawyer. The lawyer will analyse your situation and available documents, help determine the most appropriate way to protect your rights and prepare the necessary documents for court proceedings.

Legal Advice

1. Do not start the inheritance process again. If you submitted an application for acceptance of inheritance within the prescribed period and a notary opened an inheritance case, you do not need to repeat this procedure. Your task is to complete the inheritance formalities.
2. Do not wait until access to occupied territory is restored. In many cases, it is already possible to continue the inheritance process in territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine.
3. Seek assistance from a lawyer. A legal professional can help assess your situation, collect the necessary evidence, determine the next steps and, if necessary, prepare documents for court proceedings to protect your rights.

If you need an individual consultation or legal assistance with humanitarian issues related to the consequences of the war, you can book an online consultation with a lawyer through this link. Assistance is provided free of charge.

This information material was developed within a project implemented by the NGO "STEP" in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with funding from the European Union. However, the views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or DRC.