Peculiarities of inheritance in 2024

On January 30, 2024, new rules for opening an inheritance during martial law came into force.

Inheritance is the transfer of rights and obligations (inheritance) from a deceased person (testator) to other people (heirs). The law provides for two types of inheritance: by will or by law.

When does the right to inheritance arise?

The right to inheritance arises on the day of opening the inheritance, i.e. on the day of death or on the day on which the person is declared dead.

A person who has the right to inherit, in particular, may:

• accept the inheritance;
• refuse it in general or in favor of another person;
• do nothing (not take legally significant actions to accept the inheritance).

Place and time for opening the inheritance under the updated legislation

As a general rule, an inheritance case is opened regardless of the location of the inherited property, the testator's place of residence or death.

On January 30, 2024, new rules for opening an inheritance during martial law came into force. Thus, the last place of residence of the testator will now be considered the place of inheritance opening. If the last place of residence of the testator is unknown, the place of opening the inheritance will be the location of either real estate or its main part, or movable property if there is no real estate.

How much time do I have to file an inheritance claim with a notary?

6 months (until the end of the 6-month period). As a general rule, the heir must apply to a notary during this time and file an application for acceptance or rejection of the inheritance.

If the testator died in the uncontrolled territory

In this case, before applying to a notary to accept the inheritance, it is necessary to establish the fact of death.

To do this, you need to apply to the nearest local court in the government-controlled territory with a corresponding application. Such applications must be considered immediately upon submission to the court (in practice, from one day to three months, depending on the court's workload). Upon receipt of the court decision, a death certificate is issued at the nearest civil registry office.

On the basis of the death certificate, the heir may file an application for inheritance with any notary, regardless of the last place of residence of the testator.

How much time do I have to file an inheritance claim if the testator died in the uncontrolled territory?

According to the Law of Ukraine "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Ukraine on Improving the Procedure and Registration of Inheritance", which entered into force on 30.01.2024, it is stated that during the period of martial law in Ukraine and within two years from the date of its termination or cancellation, if the death of an individual is registered later than one month from the date of death of such person or the day from which he or she was declared dead, the period of six months is calculated from the date of state registration of the person's death.

What happens if you miss the deadline for accepting an inheritance

If the heir fails to file an application for acceptance of the inheritance within the above period, he or she will be deemed not to have accepted it.

Valid reasons for missing the inheritance period

If the heir had a valid reason for missing the deadline for acceptance of the inheritance, he or she may apply to the court, which may grant him or her an additional period of 1-3 months.

The system of free legal aid provides assistance in applying to the court, in particular to IDPs, people with low incomes, children, combatants, family members of deceased war veterans, and others. The full list of categories is provided in Article 14 of the Law of Ukraine "On Free Legal Aid".

You can find out how to get free legal aid here

The following are recognized as valid reasons for missing the deadline

• prolonged illness of the heirs;
• serving a sentence in prison;
• the heir's ignorance of the existence of a will;
• difficult working conditions, in particular, those associated with long business trips, including those abroad;
• the heir's being on active duty in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This list is not exhaustive and each reason for the missed deadline is considered by the court individually. The court takes into account mainly written evidence: certificates from medical institutions on the state of health and treatment; certificates of stay of the person on a business trip or outside Ukraine; other certificates, acts, correspondence containing information about the circumstances that prevented the heir from applying to the notary's office within the established time limits.

However, heirs should keep in mind that, depending on the specific circumstances of the case, the courts may recognize certain reasons for missing the deadline as valid and not preventing the heir from filing the relevant application within the time limit set by law.

In case of failure to prove the existence of these circumstances, the heir runs the risk of receiving a reasoned refusal from the court to determine an additional term for filing an application for acceptance of the inheritance and losing the right to inherit.

Free legal aid to IDPs in Volyn, Rivne, Lviv, Ternopil, Zakarpattia, Ivano-Frankivsk and Chernivtsi regions is provided by the Western Regional Center for Secondary Legal Aid in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and with funding from the European Union's civil protection and humanitarian assistance. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or the DRC. Neither the European Commission nor the DRC can be held responsible for any use which may be made of this information.