Deadlines for acceptance of inheritance and the consequences of their omission

Acceptance of inheritance in any legal state of the world is a very important issue because it is always associated with the occurrence of certain legal consequences for legal heirs after the death of the testator.

However, in practice, citizens of Ukraine often wonder what are the legal terms for accepting an inheritance, and what will happen if you miss the terms of acceptance defined by legislation. This shows the relevance of the chosen topic for today.

And that is why we will talk about these problematic issues in this informative article, taking into account the current provisions of Ukrainian legislation.

What are the deadlines for the heirs to accept the inheritance?

The Civil Code of Ukraine in Part 1 of Art. 1270 stipulates that the heirs have a period of 6 months to accept the inheritance from the moment of its opening.

The day of the death of the testator, or the day when the person was declared dead (Part 2 of Article 1220 of the Civil Code) should be considered the time of the opening of the inheritance.

The place of opening of the inheritance should be considered the last place of residence of the testator if such a place is unknown - the place of opening of the inheritance is the location of the main part of the inherited property.

By the above, the heirs should apply to the notary, who is territorially located at the place of the opening of the inheritance, with a statement on its acceptance. Further, based on the application, the notary opens an inheritance case (Part 1, 2 of Article 1221 of the Civil Code).

What will be the consequences of missing the deadlines for acceptance of inheritance?

From the analysis of the legislative provisions of the Civil Code of Ukraine, it can be seen that if the heirs did not submit an application for acceptance of the inheritance within the period established by Article 1270 of the Civil Code, then they should be considered as having not accepted the inheritance.

Therefore, such heirs lose their legal right to inherit the property after the death of the testator.

Importantly! If the heir lived with the testator permanently, then at the time of opening the inheritance, he doesn't need to apply for acceptance of the inheritance, because he is automatically considered to have accepted it, if he did not write an application to renounce the inherited property.

What should be done if the heir misses the deadline for accepting the inheritance?

An heir who has missed the deadlines for accepting the inheritance has 2 options for possible actions, namely:

• to obtain consent from all the heirs who have applied for acceptance of inheritance, that they do not object to a person applying for acceptance of inheritance outside the terms specified in the legislation (Part 2 of Article 1272 of the CCU). Such consent must be notarized and submitted at the place of inheritance opening;
• apply to the judicial authorities with a claim to establish an additional term for accepting the inheritance (Part 3 of Article 1272 of the Civil Code). In this case, it will be necessary to substantiate the reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance, noting their validity.

If you missed the deadlines for accepting the inheritance, but you want to accept it, then in this case you need the help of qualified lawyers - the Prikhodko and Partners law firm.

Our lawyers have practical and many years of experience in the application of the provisions of inheritance law, and therefore they guarantee that you will receive the desired result during cooperation. Get in touch!