Disinheritance procedure

In the modern world, the process of acceptance of inheritance plays an important role, because thanks to it, the rights and obligations of the testator are transferred to the future heirs.

This ensures the democratic development of society and has a significant impact on the development of civil law in the country.

However, in the life of every citizen, there are cases when, for one reason or another, it becomes impossible to accept an inheritance (for example hostilities, a person's stay in a temporarily occupied territory, illness, etc.) or a person wants to renounce the inheritance in favor of another heir.

This procedure has its own legal nuances, which is the relevance of the topic in general.

In this article, we will consider the peculiarities of the procedure of disclaiming inheritance according to Ukrainian legislation.

Can a person refuse to accept an inheritance?

According to the general rule provided for in the Civil Code of Ukraine, the heir can both accept the inheritance and refuse to accept it (Article 1268). He can exercise this right within 6 months from the day the inheritance is opened.

Importantly! During the period of martial law in our country, the expiration of the time limit for acceptance of inheritance or its refusal was stopped until its expiration, but could not exceed the time limit of 4 months.

As of June 18, 2023, this norm was canceled and now the general term for accepting inheritance and rejecting it will be 6 months.

What is the legal procedure for refusing to accept inheritance?       

If a person expressed a desire to refuse to accept an inheritance by law or a will, then in this case, he must apply with a statement, in which he indicates his will to renounce the inherited property in favor of other heirs, to a notary public or the relevant local self-government body (if the inherited property is located in a rural area) at the place of the opening of the inheritance.

In addition, it is also important to distinguish between two different situations that have different legal consequences:

• when a person has not submitted an application for acceptance of inheritance;
• when a person wrote a statement and indicated in it his will to renounce inheritance.

In the first situation, the citizen does not exercise his right to accept the inheritance, but if there are good reasons for skipping and not submitting an application for inheriting the property, the court may grant an additional period for submitting such an application to accept the inheritance.

In the second situation, the citizen takes active action and expresses his right to refuse to accept the inheritance, which entails a conscious loss of the possibility of accepting the inheritance.

Can a person change their mind and withdraw their application?

Thus, within the statutory period (6 months), a citizen has the right to withdraw his application for refusal to accept inheritance. But no later than the expiration of this term.

If you are an heir by law or by will and you plan to give up the inherited property, but you do not know all the features of this process, then in this case, the help of experienced specialists - the law firm "Prykhodko and Partners " is absolutely necessary.

Our team of lawyers will provide you with a professional consultation and decision to support this question and will defend your rights and interests because we have considerable experience in practical application inheritance law. So don't delay and apply!