Sooner or later, someone dies, leaving behind a legacy inherited from his life. Unfortunately, this also happens when close and not very relatives begin to share among themselves the acquired assets of the deceased, and often conflicts arise on this basis. Russian law governs the process of inheritance, how to share, and who are the heirs of the first stage, defines the basic tenets.
Who is primarily entitled to the property of the deceased?
Under the Civil Code, several bursts of relatives can claim an inheritance. Who has the primary right? They are the following persons: husband, wife, children of the testator and his parents.
Does a spouse always have the right to inherit?
A person legally receives his inheritance only if the spouse was married to the deceased testator. Any other form of cohabitation is not a legal basis for inheritance. If this is a former husband and wife, then he or she is not entitled to claim the inheritance of the deceased spouse, even if the divorce took place on the eve of death.
As with a divorce, inherited property is divided according to a similar scheme. Namely: the husband and wife their property is considered common, jointly acquired. It follows that after death, two halves of the joint property of the spouses are distinguished, one of which goes to the legal wife / husband, and the other is divided between the other primary relatives and again the widow / widower. From this legislative fact gives the impression that the main part of the inherited property goes to the living spouse. This is not true: just a living spouse receives his half of the property that belongs to him as jointly acquired over the years of marriage, plus an equal share with primary relatives from the second half of the property (inheritance). At the same time, his personal property, not only jointly acquired with his spouse, is inherited from the deceased.
I would like to give advice to a cohabitant of a deceased citizen with whom the marriage was never completed. Not everything is lost. For example, if such a cohabitant is indicated in the will, he will certainly receive the indicated share in the inheritance. In the opposite case, he can apply for a part of the mandatory share of the inheritance guaranteed by the state, acting as a dependent, namely, the disabled partner of the deceased person, if he is a pensioner or disabled person.
Do all children have the right to inherit?
The children of the testator are mandatory primary heirs by law, they include:
- born in a legal marriage and illegitimate children;
- relatives and step-parents (duly executed adoption);
- those that were born with a living father or conceived, but not yet born.
The testator’s parents also have a priority right to his property
Father and mother in equal parts inherit a share of their child’s property. At the same time, the relationship in which they are currently involved does not matter: they are divorced, unmarried or unmarried. It should be noted right away: parents who were once deprived of their parental rights to a deceased child are not legally entitled to receive an inheritance. Adopters of a deceased child in such cases have the same rights as their parents.
Other persons who may primarily claim the property of the testator
There is still such a concept in Russian law as the right of representation. It is interesting to understand what it consists of. In practice, it happens that the testator dies later than the primary heir (son, daughter) or simultaneously with him. In this case, how is the inheritance properly divided between the heirs of the first stage? The law allows the grandson / granddaughter of the deceased to exercise the right to replace the primary heir, in this case his parent. Moreover, that part of the inherited property from the deceased citizen, which passes by the right of representation, is divided between grandchildren in equal parts. However, if the testator refuses the inheritance on the basis of the right of representation in his will, in such a case nothing shall be relied to grandchildren / granddaughters.
Dependents are another group of people who can claim the inheritance by law. But this requires compliance with some rules:
- such a dependent should be disabled;
- the dependent has lost the main source of income with the death of the citizen;
- during the last year, the dependent was fully supported by the testator until his death;
- the residence of a dependent who is not a relative of the testator is proved, together with him during the year, until his death.
How is the inheritance divided among first-order heirs with dependents? By law, such an heir cannot receive more than a quarter of the property, even if there are no other representatives of the primary heirs.
In order to divide the inheritance between the heirs of the first stage, the law provides the right to draw up an agreement in which they themselves will distribute the parts of the inheritance among themselves, and also indicate the order of their inheritance. If one of the heirs does not agree with certain points of such an agreement, then he does not sign it, and the inheritance will be divided through the court.
But what if a will is made? How then is the property divided?
Often a situation arises that a person prepares a will in advance. How is the inheritance divided among the first-order heirs in this case? The law is on the side of those close relatives of the deceased citizen who were not included in the will. So, the following disabled persons can claim their required share: living spouse, mother / father, children. Including children under the age of majority at the time of the death of the parent. Obligatory heirs receive half of the share that should have belonged to them by law, if not for the will.
Inheritance Dates
The law provides for a period of exactly six months from the date of opening of the inheritance in order to formalize it properly. However, the law allows for an extension of the term, but there must be appropriate reasons for this:
- if the court finds the citizen dead or missing;
- there are sufficient reasons that prevented the execution of the inheritance on time;
- if the primary heir is a conceived baby who is not yet born.
If none of the primary blood heirs for any reason receives their inheritance in the allotted time, this right passes to the heirs of the next - second stage, who are also given a period of six months.
How to share an apartment between the heirs of the first stage?
The most common, expensive and sought-after human inheritance is undoubtedly real estate. How is the inheritance divided between the heirs of the first stage, if the deceased citizen did not have time to make a will? In this case, the inheritance of an apartment or other real estate will take place according to the law of the Russian Federation. According to this law, an apartment (or other inherited property) owned by a deceased citizen is transferred to the heirs of one turn in equal parts.
If a first line heirs absent, then heirs of the second stage are taken into account, as an option, grandfather and grandmother.Each of them will receive his half of the apartment. If there is also a sister, then everyone will receive ownership of a third of the inherited apartment.
How is the inheritance divided between the heirs of the first stage, if a will for an apartment was made?
Then the shares of this apartment will be distributed strictly as the testator expressed his will in his will. At the same time, relatives may not be indicated as heirs of the apartment. Nevertheless, close people of the deceased citizen may well challenge the corresponding will on the apartment in court. It is possible that they have the right to receive an obligatory share, even if they were not indicated in the will.
In Russian inheritance law There is an interesting concept - testamentary denial. For example, the testator in his will wants to inherit his daughter’s apartment, but with the proviso that she must allow him to live common law wife. Even if subsequently this apartment is sold by the daughter, the new owner is also required to fulfill this testamentary denial.
How to share the inheritance between wife and children?
The question of how to divide the inheritance between the wife and children is solved relatively simply. The wife, with whom the marriage was duly executed, legally receives her half of the jointly acquired property with her late husband. For example, in marriage, the spouses purchased an apartment, after the death of the husband, half of the living space immediately goes to the wife. The other half is subject to inheritance, since it was the property of the deceased. This part of the apartment is distributed in equal shares between the wife again and the child / children, unless a different inheritance order is specified in the will.
Debt and inheritance
The division of the inheritance between the heirs of the first stage is not always positive for the persons who entered it. Good advice to future heirs: before you nominate yourself for your part, you need to check if the deceased left behind debts and obligations. After all, it also happens that, having entered into an inheritance, a person receives unpaid loans in the appendage. And if the debts are comparable in size to the share received, is it worth it to enter into such an inheritance? You have to be alert here.
