Important reasons for skipping the acceptance of inheritance

Acceptance of inheritance is an important process in any country of the world, including Ukraine.

Its significance is manifested in the fact that most people sooner or later face questions about accepting inheritance after the death of the testator.

However, in practice, not every citizen can accept the inheritance on time within the period established by the law for one reason or another.

This creates a situation in which a person needs to apply to the court to establish an additional deadline for accepting the inheritance.

However, for the decision of the judicial body to be positive for the plaintiff, there must be good reasons for skipping such a period. We will talk about this issue in this article.

What is the concept of valid reasons for missing the deadline for accepting inheritance?

Important reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance are those life circumstances that did not allow the legal heirs under the will or by law to accept the inheritance within the period established by law (6 months) from the moment of its opening by the notary.

That is, it can be said that valid reasons are associated only with objective, insurmountable, and significant difficulties, due to which the legal heir could not accept the inheritance on time.

Is there a statutory list of good reasons for missing the deadline for accepting inheritance?

Today, Ukrainian legislation does not contain clearly defined reasons for missing the deadlines for accepting inheritance, which should be considered valid.

Therefore, in this matter, it is necessary to analyze the judicial practice, from which cases of recognition as valid reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance can be seen, namely:

• The disease of the heir has a long-term character. If the heir provides the court with a medical certificate stating that he was in the hospital for most of the period for accepting the inheritance, the court will consider such a reason valid;
• Absence of the heir on the territory of Ukraine and his permanent place of residence abroad. In this situation, it is important to prove the circumstances that the person could not submit an application for acceptance of the inheritance by mail, and was also unable to appear at the consular office or diplomatic mission of Ukraine abroad, which essentially made it impossible to accept the inheritance on time;
• If a person is serving a sentence in places of deprivation of liberty ;
• If the heir could not find out about the existence of a will in any way;
• If the heir has a long distance between his permanent place of residence and the physical location of the inherited property. The concept of "long-distance" is evaluative, and therefore the courts in each specific case take into account various factors to determine the conditions under which the heir must reach the place of opening of the inheritance;
• If the heir has difficult working conditions, which are primarily associated with long trips both abroad and in Ukraine ;
• If the heir serves in the ranks of the Armed Forces.

If you need to recognize valid reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance, contact the Prikhodko and Partners law office.

Our lawyers will advise you on all issues that will arise during cooperation, and will also help you apply to the court and recognize valid reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance. Get in touch!