Inheritance is one of the most significant and significant categories of civil law. Sometimes the complexity of the operation of these rules causes certain difficulties for judges in resolving a specific issue. In the proceedings of a given situation, it is necessary to determine the types of inheritance, which you will learn about later.
Types of inheritance in Russia: Art. 111 of the Civil Code
According to the Civil Code of Russia, the following types of inheritance exist:
- According to law.
- In accordance with the will.
- By right of representation.
Relatives legally entitled
Inheritance under the law is considered to be the receipt of an inheritance after the death of a citizen, which is carried out in the prescribed manner without changes made by the legislator. In this case, the rights and obligations of the previous owner pass to the heirs in the order clearly established by the Code.
In such a situation, certain types of inheritance are legally regulated by articles from 1142 to 1145. According to these standards, children, spouse and parents of the testator are considered first-order heirs.
If a first line heirs no, then the property is transferred to the heirs of the second stage: brothers, sisters, grandparents. Moreover, the completeness or incompleteness of kinship does not matter, as well as the one on whose side the relatives act: father or mother. The types of inheritance in the Russian Federation, according to the law, determine the heirs of the third stage in the absence of the above steps: uncle and aunt of the testator.
The absence of the relatives listed above determines the further path of property that is transferred to the heirs of the 4th and 5th degree of kinship. As a rule, such persons include great-grandmothers, great-grandfathers, children of nephews or nieces, cousins and grandparents, cousins and aunts. In the absence of all of the above categories of persons, stepdaughter, stepsons, stepmother or stepfather will inherit as the last priority - this is the last category, which is mentioned by certain types of inheritance by law.
Inheritance by law: the reality
One of the powers possessed by types of inheritance in civil law is the right to transfer its property, based on the interests of the testator. However, despite the advantageous opportunity to dispose of their belongings independently even after death, probate inheritance is significantly inferior to the process of transfer of property by law. If we consider the types of inheritance in the Russian Federation with examples, for example, by studying judicial decisions, we can see a close relationship between the legal heirs and the transferring property. In addition, there are the following objective reasons for this trend:
- The absence of a will as a document with legal force.
- The testator transfers only part of his rights and obligations without indicating the transfer of the remaining powers.
- Invalidity of the will.
- Refusal of the heir to accept the inheritance.
- The death of the heir and the absence of a person following the deceased.
The procedure for the adoption of an inheritance by law
The moment of acquisition of the inheritance occurs after six months from the date of the death of the testator. After this period, legal entities acquire the right of inheritance, that is, they have a full set of powers of ownership. Any types of inheritance require the obligatory expression of the will of the heir to take property into ownership.
One of the most serious violations of the order of acceptance of the inheritance is the presence or fulfillment of any conditions or reservations. The immediate moment of opening the inheritance is the filing of a written application to the notary public about the acceptance of the inheritance at the location of the inherited property. The procedure for entering into the inheritance must be executed within two quarters from the date of opening of the inheritance.
When studying the provisions of the Civil Code on the order of inheritance, it is important to pay attention to the role of disabled people who have been dependent on the testator for no more than one year. This category belongs to the number of legal heirs in the manner determined by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, but does not claim to be property as heirs of a person of the I and II stages.
The correlation of the concepts of "disability" and "dependency" in the law of succession
The types and types of inheritance under consideration imply such concepts as “incapacity for work” and “dependency”, which at first glance seem similar, but have significant differences.
Disability occurs in connection with the achievement of a certain age:
- 55 years for women;
- 60 years for men.
In addition, it is present among citizens under 16 years of age (students under 18 years old). Disability can also be caused by a state of health (people with disabilities of I, II or III group).
In the presence of one of the abovementioned grounds, it does not matter whether a citizen is granted a pension, or if it is absent. It is important to note that the types of inheritance, which briefly characterizes the categories of possible heirs, are not considered to be incapable of work: pensioners who have received this status in the service, for example, employees of the police department, the penitentiary service, miners, dancers, and so on. On the other hand, the implementation of labor activities upon reaching retirement age does not deprive a person of the status of a disabled person.
Determining the status of a dependent
The concept of a dependent implies the presence of persons fully supported by the testator or who received help from him, which served as the only means of subsistence. As a rule, dependents actually acquired the status of a family member of the deceased. It should be noted that irregularly received material assistance is not a basis for obtaining the status of a dependent. There is also no provision in civil law on the mandatory cohabitation of the testator and the person receiving the livelihood.
Based on the foregoing, a dependent is a person who, regardless of the presence and degree of relationship, received regular financial assistance from the testator, which was the main and irreplaceable source of funds necessary for existence, regardless of their joint residence. Dependencies do not take into account categories such as health status and actual age.
Representation Inheritance
The right of representation is one of the institutions that includes common inheritance. The concept, grounds, types of inheritance by right of representation are reflected in 1140 articles of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.
This legal category provides the children of the heir under the law, who died before the opening of the inheritance, the right to claim the property of the deceased. Representatives of successors deprived of inheritance in turn, who are exempted from such a right by the testator himself. Children of the deceased heir shall not inherit if there were grounds for depriving the inheritance by law, for example, an attempt to kill the testator.
Types of inheritance: by will
Separate types of inheritance are gaining more and more popularity. The role of a certified document on the transfer of property after death cannot be overestimated, since inheritance by will allows:
- Determine the future fate of the hereditary mass.
- To bequeath to the person all his property or to divide it in shares.
- Do not limit the scope of the law to the circle of heirs chosen by the testator.
- There is a possibility of testament of property to the state and public organizations.
- If desired, one or all of the heirs can be excluded from the will.
It is worth noting that, repeatedly mentioning the concept of "will" in the norms, the legislator did not give a clear definition of this term. In this regard, the doctrine of civil law gives the following definition: a will is a unilateral transaction representing a personal order of a citizen in the event of death. The will is aimed at distributing the property mass between those persons whom the testator endowed with the status of heirs. It can be done both orally and in writing. This document must be certified by a notary public.
Testament as a type of civil law transaction
The main feature of the will as a civil transaction is its target orientation, that is, it is transformed into real relations in the event of the death of the person who made the document. The concept of inheritance, types of succession, categories of heirs, and so on - the will covers all aspects of inheritance law. In the presence of a correct, legally drawn up will, it is the basis for inheritance in the manner determined by the testator.
The procedure for notarization of a will
The special procedure for notarization of a will by a notary is characterized by the following features:
- One of the responsibilities of the noatrius is to establish the testator’s identity after viewing his documents (passport, driver’s or official license), and checking the person’s legal capacity.
- During the certification procedure, the testator is required to clarify the provisions of the law on the mandatory share, which is noted in the will.
- A completed will is signed by the testator under the supervision of a notary, after it has been read aloud to him.
- The notary does not have the right to sign a will where there are crossed out words, blots, corrections, postscripts, as well as documents written and signed in pencil. All names mentioned in the text should be written in words, without any abbreviations.
- The notary does not certify the will made in his name.
Forms of deprivation of inheritance
Forms of deprivation of the heir of the right to dispose of the estate are as follows:
- Deprivation of the right to inherit by a direct reference to those persons who after death will not be able to receive an inheritance.
- Deprivation of inheritance by delineating a strictly defined circle of persons as heirs, that is, silence about any of the applicants.
However, along with the opportunities provided for depriving the legal status of heirs, the legislator established the impossibility of depriving property of close disabled relatives. In addition, Art. 1149 of the Civil Code names the list of relatives who claim a legitimate share of the inheritance.