Renewal of the deadline for acceptance of inheritance

Acceptance of inheritance is a question that sooner or later arises before the heirs after the death of the testator.

The legislation of Ukraine establishes a clear deadline for accepting an inheritance of 6 months, however, citizens may often have circumstances that prevent them from submitting the appropriate documents for its acceptance, and thus miss this deadline.

The question arises, what to do in such a case, and does the heir have the right to renew the deadline for accepting the inheritance? This shows the relevance of consideration of this topic.

Therefore, in this article, we will talk about how to renew the deadline for accepting the inheritance and what needs to be done for this.

How to determine the additional term for accepting the inheritance?

According to the general rule established by Ukrainian legal acts, a citizen who is an heir and has not submitted an application for acceptance of inheritance is considered to have not accepted it.

The grounds for establishing an additional term for acceptance of inheritance are the following circumstances:

• if the citizen receives consent in written format from the heirs who have already accepted the inheritance within the term specified by law;
• if a citizen applies to the judicial authorities with a statement about the need to establish an additional term for accepting the inheritance, during which he will have enough time to submit an application for accepting the inheritance. At the same time, the court will need to justify the presence of good reasons for missing such a deadline and relevant evidence of this.

What reasons indicate that the deadline for accepting the inheritance can be extended?

As evidenced by the analysis of judicial practice, the courts in inheritance cases most often consider the following reasons for the omission of inheritance to be valid, namely:

• treatment of heirs in inpatient healthcare facilities, which takes a considerable amount of time. It is confirmed by certificates that the person was indeed receiving treatment and had a medical condition, etc.;
• if the inherited property and the permanent place of residence or stay of the citizen are at a considerable distance from each other, which makes it impossible to accept the inheritance. For example, a person lives abroad and it is not possible to come to Ukraine in order to receive an inheritance;
• difficult working conditions associated with constant business trips. For example, a person was abroad for a long time on a business trip and did not have the opportunity to appear in Ukraine to accept the inheritance;
• if the heir is permanently in conscripted service in the Armed Forces. This reason became very relevant after February 24, 2022;
• if the citizen was not notified or did not have the opportunity to find out about the existence of a will.

Importantly! The above-mentioned good reasons for failure to accept the inheritance must be confirmed not by oral evidence or testimony of witnesses, but usually by a written evidence base.

What reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance can the court recognize as disrespectful?

 In addition to valid reasons for omission, some life circumstances are usually not taken into account by the courts when deciding on the extension of the term for acceptance of inheritance, namely:

• if the citizen was legally unaware of the legally established term and procedure for acceptance of inheritance;
• if the citizen did not know that there is additional inherited property;
• if the citizen is at a fairly respectable age (elderly);
• if the citizen does not work;
• if the heirs cannot agree among themselves about which of them will receive the inheritance and in what part;
• if there were sufficiently unfavorable weather conditions to submit the application;
• if the citizen was in depression, apathy, or mourning due to the death of the testator;
• if the citizen does not have sufficient funds to come to the place of inheritance opening;
• in case of establishing a fact of legal significance, etc.

Importantly! The above list is incomplete and may contain other grounds and facts that the court recognizes in practice as invalid reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance.

Do you want to resolve the issue of renewal of the term for acceptance of inheritance?

In the event of such a life situation, be sure to contact the lawyers from the Prikhodko and Partners law firm.

Our team has considerable practical and many years of experience in the field of civil law, and therefore perfectly understands the specifics of establishing an additional term for acceptance of inheritance.

So don't delay and come to us for a consultation!