Any person can independently dispose of their own property. At any time, a will may be drawn up, represented by the last will of the citizen. It indicates who will be the recipient of the property of a person after his death. The procedure for compiling this document is clearly regulated by law. To this end, a notary public is involved in the certification of the document and the opening of the inheritance in the future. In this case, it is important to understand how the document is prepared, what is the validity of the will, and also in what period of time the opening of the inheritance takes place.
Concept of will
This document allows any owner of a certain property to decide who will be the recipient of these values after his death.
It is possible to indicate as an heir not only a relative, but even an outsider. If the document is missing, then the relatives will be the recipients of the property based on the requirements of the law.
Document Requirements
For a will to be official and valid, certain conditions must be met:
- the person involved in the preparation of documentation must be competent at the time the will is formed;
- the act must be notarized, and if the citizen does not want the contents to be known even to a notary public, a closed form is used;
- the text takes into account the rights of obligatory heirs, who can receive property even if they are not in the will;
- Experienced lawyers advise the involvement of independent witnesses who will be present during the preparation of this document, which will reduce the likelihood that relatives will be able to challenge its content in the future.
Many people who resort to this document think about how long a will will last for an apartment or other property. This document comes into force only after the death of the originator. Heirs shall claim the remaining values, and may also issue a waiver of the inheritance. The probate period is 6 months.
Document types
Each citizen can independently decide with what document he will distribute property. The main varieties of the will include:
- open, drawn up with the involvement of a notary, and the specialist must study the text, which allows him to make sure that it takes into account the interests of the obligatory heirs, and also that there are no violations or errors;
- closed, to which even a notary does not get access, but there is a possibility that the testator will make various mistakes in it, therefore there is an opportunity for relatives to challenge the text;
- an order that is generated directly at the bank, and according to it, funds are transferred to the heirs on the account at the bank institution.
The validity of a will of any kind is the same. It is regulated by applicable law.
Is the document limited by any validity period?
The duration of the will is limited. It completely depends on the condition of the property transferred under this document. The duration of a will after the testator's death may be different in different situations. Therefore, the document is valid as long as the property specified in it exists. This does not take into account the type of ownership of real estate.
It is believed that there are no restrictions on the duration of the will, but if, for various reasons, the values specified in it are destroyed, then in no way can they be inherited by other persons.
Limitation period
After the death of a citizen, the opening of an inheritance takes place. It is the notary public who notifies all the heirs about this, after which the will opens. The validity of a will after the death of the testator does not expire.
Within six months, the inheritance is accepted by all persons registered in the document. Often, citizens do not want to receive any values, so they draw up a testament.
The statute of limitations for a will begins from the moment when the heirs apply to the notary to open the inheritance, and not from the moment the testator dies. Therefore, if citizens were not notified of the death of a relative, then the statute of limitations will not be counted.
How long is the document for the apartment valid?
If a real estate document is generated, then the validity period of the will is unlimited. Therefore, this document is unlimited. This rule applies to any type of property.
But the heirs prescribed in the will should be careful with the timing. If they, after receiving information from a notary, do not engage in inheritance within 6 months, this will lead to the fact that they will lose the inherited property, so it can go to the legal recipients of the values. The property will be alienated, and for its return you will have to go to court, having evidence that the deadline for entering the will into the inheritance was missed for valid reasons.
If no one claims the right to real estate, then it will be transferred to the state.
When can a document be challenged?
By law, the duration of a testament is not limited to various extraneous factors. Therefore, this document is valid until the property indicated in it exists. As soon as the heirs enter into the inheritance, they become the direct owners of the values prescribed in the document. Therefore, the need for it is simply absent.
But there is a possibility that the validity of the will after the death of the testator will be interrupted, since the document is disputed in court. The will is a complex and specific document, the formation of which must be approached responsibly. Numerous requirements are imposed on him, so it is advisable to use the help of a notary in the process of drafting it, as a specialist can make sure that there are no violations of the law or serious errors in the text.
If the document is challenged, then it is recognized as invalid. The most common reasons for contesting a will are:
- the testator is recognized as legally incompetent;
- the text violates the rights of heirs that are binding;
- when drafting the document, the testator was under pressure or forced to indicate certain information using blackmail or lies;
- the testator was in a state where he was not responsible for his actions, for example, before taking the document he took drugs or psychotropic drugs, was intoxicated or was under extreme stress;
- the will shall indicate property belonging not only to the deceased citizen, but also to other persons, therefore he could not dispose of it on his own.
Relatives who do not agree with the contents of the document may use other grounds to challenge the documentation. The procedure in any case is implemented through the court. If the document is really challenged, then the testament will not be transferred. The document expires, so the heirs enter into the inheritance on the basis of legislative requirements.
Rules for Acceptance of Inheritance
Each person specified in the will must complete the process of accepting the inheritance, otherwise he will lose the property prescribed in the document. Therefore, the period of entry into the inheritance, represented by 6 months, is taken into account.
This period begins from the moment when a citizen learns about the opportunity to receive values from a deceased person. There are situations when a person is simply not informed about the death of a relative for even several years. Even under such conditions, it is possible to restore the term through the courts. This is given only three years, since this period is the limitation period.
The nuances of actual adoption
There is an opportunity for heirs to actually inherit. The procedure is confirmed only through the court. In this case, the citizen does not have a document from a notary confirming his ownership of certain property.
A person who goes to court must have evidence that he actually actually uses the property. Typically, this situation occurs when the heir lived with the testator in the same room until his death. After the death of the owner, he continued to live in this facility, without resorting to a notary. The evidence used by witnesses, checks for utility bills and other similar confirmations are used as evidence.
Challenging after the expiration of the term
In Art. 187 of the Civil Code, exact dates are set during which the relatives of the deceased citizen can challenge the text of the will. Claims are satisfied only if there are good reasons. The interested person must submit to the court evidence of a violation of the law when drafting this document.
The statute of limitations in cases related to inheritance is one or three years. It is during this period that citizens have the opportunity to challenge the documentation:
- if the reason for the challenge is the availability of evidence that the text of the will was drawn up under pressure, blackmail or by fraud, then the document can be challenged within one year after opening;
- if the plaintiff insists on the recognition of the document invalid due to the fact that it was drawn up by an incompetent person, the limitation period is three years.
The countdown starts from the moment when the person concerned understands that his rights were violated due to the legality of the will. An appeal may only be carried out by a person who is interested in the outcome of the trial.
Each situation is individual, as it depends on numerous facts and circumstances of the case. The will does not have an exact period of validity, so this period can only be terminated if the document is challenged in court.
When is the lawsuit filed?
Many heirs who do not agree with the information available in the document left after the death of a relative think about how long the will lasts. According to the law, documentation has legal force indefinitely, so the only option to stop this period is to challenge it.
The procedure involves filing a statement of claim, to which evidence is attached that the will was really drawn up under pressure or by a person who is incompetent.
A lawsuit must be filed within a year or three years, depending on the reason for its preparation. Information must be entered into it:
- the name and details of the court in which the specific case of inheritance will be considered;
- data about the plaintiff submitted by his F.AND.O., place of registration, contact details and information from the passport;
- all circumstances related to this case are described in detail;
- evidence available to the plaintiff;
- at the end, documents appearing that are annexes to the statement of claim are listed, moreover, they are usually represented by witness statements, numerous medical certificates or other similar papers;
- the application is signed by the direct plaintiff or a trustee with a notarized power of attorney to perform these actions.
Witnesses are often invited to court, confirming certain facts. If the claims are satisfied, then the document shall be declared invalid.
Conclusion
Many heirs want to know how long the will is established in law, and how it can be changed. All heirs must understand the timing of the inheritance and the rules for contesting a will, if they have evidence of its invalidity.
According to the law, the document is valid until the moment the property prescribed in it exists. But if the text is challenged in court, then the document will lose its legal force.