Queues of inheritance by law in the Russian Federation

As you know, inheritance can occur by will or by law. In the latter case, the property is divided between successors in order of priority. What sequence of inheritance by law in the Russian Federation will be considered in this publication.

When there is inheritance by law

Civil law establishes that inheritance by law can occur only if one of the following cases exists:

• There is no will or in it the destiny of not all the estate of the testator is indicated.
• In the order established by the law, the will was declared invalid.
• The successors indicated in the will refused to accept the inheritance, are absent, have died, are deprived of the right to inheritance.
• If there are heirs with the right to a mandatory share.
• With escheat inheritance.

general information

According to the rule, the citizens who were alive at the death of the testator, and also his children, who were born after his death, can inherit the property. The call of successors to inheritance is carried out in accordance with the order. This sequence is based on the degree of kinship of the testator with other relatives. The main principle of inheritance by law is that the closest relatives are removed from receiving the inheritance of all other relatives. In total, now civil law provides for 8 stages of inheritance by law. Among the possible heirs now (in contrast to the recent past) now include stepmothers, stepchildren, stepfathers and stepdaughters, people who were kept by the deceased, relatives, up to the sixth stage of kinship, as well as the state.

Civil legislation of the individual, which may be successors, is defined. Their list, indicated in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, is complete, it can not be supplemented. For the process under consideration, a strict definition of inheritance is characteristic, that is, each subsequent turn has the opportunity to become an heir only in the absence of the previous line of inheritance by law. By the word "absence" it is understood here not only the actual absence of heir-persons, but also cases when they are deprived of the right, refused to accept the deceased's property, did not receive it on time, or were deemed unworthy.

Ownership among the successors of the same line in obtaining the inheritance is divided in equal shares. In particular, if the apartment of a deceased person is divided into his mother and spouse, who belong to the same queue, then they will receive an inheritance in the form of ½ share each. That is, one can not pass, for example, 1/3 share, and the other - 2/3 of the share of living space.

First of all. Children

First of all the successors of the deceased are his spouse, children and parents. Children can be adopted, as well as born after his death, but not later than three hundred days from the moment of this event. Under the parents are also implied and adoptive parents. The Civil Code, when determining these heirs, refers to the norms of family legislation, according to which it is necessary to determine who is what relative and what sequence of inheritance is required by law.

The children of the testator can be called to accept his wealth after death only if their appearance was legally confirmed by the authorized bodies, that is, in accordance with the Family Code. Children born from parents who are married, of course, will inherit from both parents. But those who appeared in an unregistered marriage will be able to inherit from their mother, and only in some cases from their father. If paternity is officially established (even if the parents are not in a registered marriage), then children can be successors to the first line of inheritance by law.

In those cases when a person was not married to a woman, but acknowledged by all his actions and deeds that he is the father of her child, this child, after the death of his own father, can apply to the court. The fact of paternity can be established in the judicial bodies. On the basis of a court order, such a child may become the heir of the first stage.

If the children were born in a marriage, which later broke up, their father is still considered the former husband of their mother. There are situations when a marriage concluded between people is recognized as invalid. If such children were born in such marriages, then such a decision of the court to recognize the invalid marriage does not affect the children in any way. Here the situation can be changed only by a judicial act, according to which it is established that the former spouse, for example, is not the father of the child, or that the father is another person. In other words, when children inherit from their mother's spouse or former spouse, such children will be considered successors under the law of the first stage of inheritance by law. This does not depend on the actual ownership of paternity and will be so treated until another position is proved in the established order.

It should be taken into account that not only the children of the testator who are born can be his successors. Thus, conceived children can also be such if they were born no later than three hundred days after the death of his father. Here, too, the norms of the Family Code have been used, according to which children born before the expiration of 300 days following the divorce, the recognition of the invalid marriage or the death of the spouse of the mother of these children, are considered the children of such a mother's spouse.

Deprivation of parental rights does not infringe upon the rights of a child who, after the death of such unworthy parents, will be the heir of the first line of inheritance by law. No other conditions, such as cohabitation or the like, are required if the parental connection is officially confirmed.

Children who have been adopted in due course will be represented as successors to their new parents, and at the same time will not inherit assets after the death of their own biological mother and father.

First of all. Spouses

The spouse of the deceased will enter the 1st line of inheritance by law, if at the time of death he was in a registered marriage with the testator. It must be understood that such a marriage must be registered with authorized bodies. Those marriages that are committed in an unspecified manner that is not recognized by the state, for example, some religious rituals, as well as actual marital relations of a man and a woman, in a society called "civil marriage", will not be considered valid. Therefore, such a "married couple" will not inherit any of them after the demise.

After the dissolution of the marriage relations between the people, the former spouses lose their inheritance rights if they survive their ex-husband (wife). In this situation, one point is interesting. This is the time of divorce. It is known that a divorce can be made through the registry office or through the judiciary. If the dissolution of the marriage takes place in court, then such termination is deemed to be committed at the time of entry into force of the relevant judicial document. Therefore, if the husband or wife died between the time when the divorce decree has been announced by the judge but has not yet received its legal force, such surviving spouse will be deemed to be still valid, and not former, accordingly, he will undoubtedly own the inheritance rights. The first line of inheritance by law will belong to such a spouse.

It is also necessary to distinguish between divorce and admission of the spouse to the deceased through the court. In such a situation, even if the surviving spouse enters after the death of the testator into another marriage, which will be registered in due order, he will still be called upon to obtain an inheritance.

First of all. Parents

Along with children and spouses, parents who are blood relatives on a straight ascending line are included in the first place. Their right is not affected by their age or disability. Just like children, parents exercise their rights on the basis of their children's birth (origin) established in a proper manner. When inheriting from children, similar rules are taken, as well as inheritance from parents. The adoptive parents are also equated with the parents, respectively, and in the hereditary issue have identical rights, whatever would be the biological parents.

Those parents who shied away from fulfilling their responsibilities for the upbringing and maintenance of the child, those who were deprived of their maternal and paternal rights in court, do not inherit property after the death of their children, but are recognized as unworthy heirs. Also, the adoptive parents will not be heirs, if such adoption was abolished. If parents are not deprived of their rights to the child, but only limited, they can not be determined by unworthy successors, based solely on this fact.

Grandchildren

The first stage of inheritance by law, as defined by civil law, also assumes that the grandchildren of the testator may enter it. Under grandchildren are meant the descendants of the second-degree testator, who are on a straight descending line from him. It can be children like a son or daughter, or adopted children by the testator.

It is believed that grandchildren are represented by assignees of the first stage by right of representation. That is, they have the right to property, if at the time when the inheritance was opened, that their parent who would be the heir of the first line of succession by law is absent. Grandsons may not be the only heirs by right of representation. The Civil Code does not explicitly provide, but it is assumed that, in addition to them, by right of representation, their children, and in general all descendant blood descendants along a straight line, can be heirs. When distributing the shares of the deceased's property to such heirs, such a share is due to the right of representation, which would have been lost to their deceased parent. This share is divided into equal parts.

For example: if a deceased person had a son who died before the opening of the inheritance, then the children of this deceased son (grandchildren of the testator) will be involved in the inheritance process. The whole inheritance will be divided equally among them. At the same time such grandchildren remove from the inheritance of the heirs of all subsequent turns. If the testator had two children, for example, a son and a daughter, and by the time of opening the inheritance the son died, then the property will be divided as follows: half to the daughter, the second half is evenly divided between the testator's grandchildren.

The second stage. Sisters and brothers

Out of 8 lines of inheritance by law, the sisters and brothers of the deceased person take the second turn. As already mentioned, in accordance with the principle of priority, they can become heirs in the absence of all persons who can be successors of the first stage. They are considered successors in the lateral line of the second degree of kinship. At the same time, it is not necessary that brothers and sisters have common parents with the deceased, one of them is enough. That is, the successors of the second stage include both full-fledged and half-siblings, brothers. It also does not matter what common parent they have - mother or father. During the distribution of the hereditary property of a deceased brother or sister, infernal sisters and brothers have equal rights with full-fledged sisters and brothers.

Sisters and brothers who do not have common parents with the deceased, the so-called consolidated, do not have the right to inherit by law. The queues of the heirs of such uncircumcised relatives do not include themselves.

Concerning the adopted children of the parents of the deceased testator, we can say that they have the same rights as the native children. That is, an adopted child is equal in its rights to blood relatives not only exclusively with regard to the adopter, but also in relation to other relatives of such an adoptive parent. Consequently, the adopted children of the parents of the testator have identical rights with their own children and will be represented by heirs of the second stage without any restrictions with respect to them.

In situations where, for example, two brothers are separated from each other by adoption into different families, their connection seems to break off, so such brothers can not inherit each other.

The second stage. Grandmother and grandfather

The second line of inheritance by law, in addition to sisters and brothers, includes grandmother and grandfather to the heirs. However, in order for them to become successors, a blood relationship with the deceased is required. The mother and father of the testator's mother may always be the heirs of the second line. But the father and mother of the father of the deceased only in the event that the origin of the child and paternity are determined in accordance with the established procedure. The adopters of the mother or father of the testator will also be attracted to the inheritance in the second stage.

The distribution of property between grandfathers and grandmothers, sisters and brothers takes place in equal proportions.

By right of submission, the assignees of the testator can only be the children of brothers and sisters, that is, the nephews and nieces of the deceased testator.

Third line

The established order of succession of inheritance by law continues the third turn, consisting of the sisters and brothers of the deceased's parents, that is, his aunts and uncles along the lateral ascending line. Family relationships in such cases are defined similarly to the relationship of brothers and sisters of the testator, his parents, and also children.

By right of presentation, the children of the aunt and uncle of the testator, that is, his cousins and sister, are included in the third turn. The distribution of shares occurs on the same principle as in the case of inheritance by right of representation in other lines.

More distant brothers and sisters of the testator (second cousins and even further) are not allowed to inherit.

Other queues

All other relatives of the testator, who were not listed above, are the heirs of the following queues. They basically consist of the ascending and descending lateral branches of the relatives. And although the legislator recently expanded the number of potential heirs, yet their list is not infinite, and ends at the fifth degree of kinship. Such a restriction can be safely stated in favor of the state, since in the absence of relatives from the testator, who can inherit, the property will be declared escheated and transferred to the state. Restriction on inheritance by law is imposed on such distant relatives as second cousins nephews, grandchildren, etc.

The legislative act in the field of civil legal relations established that the degree of kinship should be determined on the basis of the number of births that separate one's relatives from others.

Thus, to the fourth line belong the relatives of the testator, the kinship with whom is determined in the third degree. They are great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers of the deceased. In the fifth stage, respectively, there will be family members of the fourth degree, to whom the legislator has referred the children of their own nieces and nephews, who can also be called cousins. In the fifth turn, cousins and grandmothers are still included, that is, siblings and brothers of the grandmother and grandfather of the testator.

The sixth line is the children of great-grandsons, granddaughters, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, grandmothers. They can be called cousins great-grandchildren, great-granddaughters, nephews, uncles, aunts.

Stephens, stepdaughters, stepmother and stepfather are in the seventh line of inheritance by law. CC RF 8 turn, that is, the last, gives dependents - people who are not included in the remaining lines of inheritance. However, such persons can be called to inherit on a par with other queues.

Thus, despite all the apparent complexity of the system of hereditary priorities, if we carefully understand this issue, we can conclude: it is quite simple. Of course, in all the nuances and subtleties of the process of calling for inheritance, a notary must be dealt with, who will conduct the hereditary business. It is he who should call for the distribution of property all the lines of inheritance by law. RB (Belarus), as well as the Russian Federation and other CIS countries, are unanimous in this matter, therefore the legislation governing the inheritance law is very similar for the former countries of the Soviet camp.