HOW TO APPLY FOR INHERITANCE IF YOU ARE IN A CIVIL MARRIAGE

The issues of inheritance law are complex and controversial. Often, in order to protect your own rights, you need the help of a good lawyer who will help uphold and assert justice. Especially in situations where a person is less likely to defend himself on his own. One of these situations is when it comes to a partner or partner in a so-called civil marriage. Let's consider 2 variants of inheritance.

Testament - an opportunity to protect yourself from unpleasant surprises

Since it is possible to provide for anyone in the will as the heir, then, accordingly, there is an excellent opportunity to indicate there the person with whom the testator is in a civil marriage. In this case, there are much more legislative guarantees that such a person will be able to freely receive his part of the inheritance. Therefore, in the case when everyone is alive, you can make a will and protect yourself from unpleasant surprises in the event of tragic situations.

Inheritance by law

If the will was not drawn up or the court declared it invalid, then in this case inheritance occurs according to the law. There are 5 inheritance lines. Persons who lived with the testator as a family for at least five years before the opening of the inheritance belong to the fourth line of inheritance. It is this queue that includes spouses who lived with the testator in a civil marriage during the specified period.

What is the complexity of this inheritance

The complexity of inheritance in this case lies in the fact that in practice in most cases there are heirs of I-III lines. However, even if they are not, then in order to receive an inheritance, it is necessary to prove that the fact of residence by the family took place within 5 years. The team of the law firm "Prikhodko and Partners", for its part, provides clients with high-quality support in such cases. We will carefully focus on the topic of how to prove such a fact in court. This is very important, otherwise the notary will refuse to open the inheritance.

How is cohabitation established?

In addition to the relevant application submitted to the court, other evidence must be provided. For example, this is evidence of the overall budget, food, housing repairs and payment of utility bills. These are not the only options. We can also talk about general photographs from different events and other evidence of this nature. It is optimal if there are checks for the purchase of common property, for example, furniture. The court takes all this evidence into account when determining whether people live in the same family.

Also, when filing an application, you need to pay a court fee.

Changing the order of inheritance: is it possible?

There are different situations in life. It often happens that one of the partners in a civil marriage looked after the other when he was infirm and needed help and treatment for a long time. This could include both care and related expenses for medicines and other similar items. And now imagine, on the other hand, brothers or sisters who abandoned a relative while he was alive and infirm, and after death they remembered the inheritance.

It is in such situations that you can apply to the court to change the order of inheritance. But in this case, the help of a good lawyer is extremely important, who will first contribute to the collection of evidence.

The evidence must indeed be sufficiently convincing in this category of cases. If we are talking about a person who provided for the testator and took care of him in a state of weakness, then such a person can claim the inheritance together with the heirs and the queue, if there is an appropriate court decision.

In addition, there may be a voluntary procedure for changing the order of inheritance occurring on a contractual basis.

What happens to property acquired jointly

The legal status of property acquired jointly by persons in a civil marriage is identical to the status of spouses. It is jointly owned and you are entitled to your share. As for further inheritance, everything here again depends on how convincing the evidence base looks before the court.

The lawyers of Prikhodko & Partners will carefully examine your case and do everything in their power to defend your rights.