The civil code secured for a citizen such a right as non-disclosure of his will of those persons from whom it was certified. A notary should not talk about the will of a person as long as he is alive. A notarial case of inheritance shall be opened the day after the death of a citizen, who indicated how his property will be distributed after his death, and only then everything becomes known. How to find out if there is a will? Let's talk about it.
Can I learn about the will?
Such situations are frequent when a person who has left this world does not tell or does not have time to say whether he left a will. Relatives of the deceased citizen do not know what to do with his property and, accordingly, are wondering how to find out if there is a will for the inheritance. The difficulty is that in the Russian Federation registries on this topic are not compiled, and therefore, relatives will have to deal with searches on their own.
The will is always made in duplicate. One remains in the hands of the testator, and the second at the notary. Therefore, the first thing is to check all the personal belongings of the deceased. In this case, special attention should be paid to the storage location of various documents.
It is important to remember that the person indicated in the will must contact the notary service no later than six months after the death of a loved one. Otherwise, all property and funds will be distributed between the next of kin.
Problems Having a Probate
Sometimes the testator bequeaths all his property to a person close to himself, but not a relative. As a rule, relatives who found a security try to hide this fact. Therefore, if you find yourself in such a situation, it will not be easy to find out if there is a will. How to do this? Only one way out: try to negotiate with the relatives of the deceased person.
There are times when a will is written for relatives, but not close. At the same time, the testator died an accidental death and did not have time to tell about him. Unaware of anything, relatives will never know about the inheritance, and after six months all property will be divided between the primary heirs in shares fixed by law.
How to find out if a will is made: good advice
If you are not relatives of the deceased, then try to maintain a friendly relationship with them. Learn about their lives, visit them and help them. Take an interest in their life and try to join in their circle so much that they become attached to you. Many will say, and how can this help to find out if there is a will. How to join a family where you are strangers? And, of course, they will be right. After all, not everyone will receive a new guest at home, especially knowing that the inheritance of a close relative will go to a stranger. But there are exceptions to the rules. It’s worth trying, especially as they say, who does not take risks, does not drink champagne.
If the relatives of the deceased are kind and helpful people, they will certainly invite you to the funeral and tell you about your inheritance rights.
Where to look for strings indicating inheritance?
If the relatives are well aware that there is indeed a will on them, then accordingly they begin to wonder where to find out if there is a will.
To do this, the first step is to find out where the nearest notary office is located. Its employees will indicate a notary public who is assigned to the territory of the place of registration of the deceased citizen. After the specified specialist is found, it will be possible to find out whether the will is made.As practice shows, this usually gives positive results. But do not forget that citizens of the Russian Federation have the right to apply for notary services in any territory of their country, regardless of their place of residence or registration.
A package of documents for a request to a notary office
In order for the notary to reveal all the cards, you must provide the following package of documents:
- Death certificate of the testator.
- Your passport.
- All documents that confirm your family ties. This is a birth registration certificate and a certificate of registration of marriage, certificates of cohabitation, documents confirming the change of surname, certificates confirming dependency.
If the local notary has no administrative document for the deceased person, a request should be made to the notary chamber of your region, district or territory. Copies of all the above documents must be attached to the request. This method is ideal for those who live far from the testator.
For security, you must send a registered letter with a notification. So you will be sure that it is delivered and you will receive an answer.
If documents confirming family ties are lost, then you can contact the registry office to restore them. If it was not possible to get them in this way, then the court will help confirm family ties.
What if you live in a different area?
How do I know if there is a will if you live far from the place of residence of the testator? To do this, it is worth finding the relatives and friends of the deceased and try to find out information from them.
You can also send a request to the notary chamber at the place of residence of the deceased person. If the answer is no, then a request is sent to the district notary.
If you get an answer that you are not in the administrative document, then you can leave this matter alone, since no one will ever disclose information about the real heirs and their shares to you.
How to find out if there is a will of the deceased without the help of a notary?
In addition to a notary public, the following shall have the right to confirm the authenticity of a will:
- Ship commanders.
- The heads of the colony.
- Chief physicians.
- Heads of expeditions.
- Heads of military units.
- Heads of nursing homes.
That is, those people who directed the institution where the deceased citizen spent the last days of his life.
It must be remembered that if the will was made without the help of a notary, then documents are needed to confirm that the testator was in the places where it was made.
Closed will
Sometimes, in search of an answer to the question of how to find out if there is a will after death, relatives encounter such a problem as a closed will. That is, each relative knows only about the property that bequeaths to him. Information about other heirs and their shares were not disclosed.
If there were no instructions to close the will from the testator, then the specialist of the notary office reads out the contents of the document aloud in the presence of all the heirs.
Sometimes a request to a notary is sent by people who are not in the will. He sends them a negative answer, that is, indicates that they are not indicated in the order of the testator. The notary is silent about the real heirs.
Primary relatives may apply to the court to declare the will invalid, but to prove this fact is always problematic.
Inheritance Procedure
If for you the question of how to find out whether a will has been left is left behind, then it’s worth starting the execution of your inheritance.
First you must pay the state fee. This is the main condition. Otherwise, you will not receive the property and money of the deceased. The amount for payment is calculated by a specialist of the notary's office.For primary relatives, it is 0.3% of the value of all bequeathed property. All other heirs pay the state a fee of 0.6% of the total value of the entire inheritance.
Mandatory heirs receive their share in any case, regardless of whether their testator indicated in the administrative document or not.
Do not forget that, even after finding the treasured piece of paper, after six months you will have to prove your right to inheritance in court and that the probability that you will win is negligible.