Most of us have come across the inheritance procedure in one way or another. Property, formed in the process of life, after death passes to those who are declared heirs. But can they always be considered deserving of him? In today's article, we are talking about those who, by virtue of their own behavior, will remain without inheritance.
Key concepts: inheritance, unworthy heirs
Inheritance in legal practice means the procedure for transferring the property of the deceased to other persons in accordance with the procedure of universal succession. The last term involves the transfer of the indicated property (inheritance) in the form of a single whole (i.e. unchanged), and at the same time. But this rule may have exceptions, like most of the tenets of domestic law.
The list of participants in the inheritance relationship consists of the testator, the heir and the notary. The function of the latter is to act as a link, that is, an intermediary, between the first two. In the name of the state, a notary public carries out specific control functions in the process of transferring property rights. Its role is an official one, we will not mention it in detail in our article.
Some more terms
The inheritor is the person whose property, after death, is transferred to other citizens after the procedure specified above.
The heir is the one who is the very universal legal successor who receives the rights to the specified property.
The moment of such a transfer of ownership is the day of the death of the testator. On this day the inheritance opens. This right also applies to cases related to real estate, the transfer of rights to which must be registered with state bodies.
The term "worthy" in the literal sense is equivalent to "deserved." In this context - considering our topic - the worthiness or unworthiness of the heir is interpreted as his right to receive property or the absence thereof. And unworthy heirs - what kind of people are they?
So who are they?
An unworthy heir to the Civil Code of the Russian Federation refers to a person who does not have the right to inherit or is removed from him due to legally significant circumstances. Already by definition it is clear that the concepts of the absence of the right of inheritance and exclusion from it are delimited. To clarify the difference between them, let's look at three main grounds according to which an heir may be deemed unworthy.
Let us immediately explain that the circumstances due to which he can be recognized as such are caused by subjective reasons - actions or inactions of himself. The nature of these actions or omissions must certainly be considered intentional and guilty.
On the grounds for declaring an heir unworthy
So what are the reasons for this?
The main legal norm, according to which this issue is regulated, is contained in the article on the unworthy heirs of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (its number 1117). In addition, you can clarify the main or difficult to understand points by reading the text of the Decree of the Plenum of the RF Armed Forces No. 9 entitled "On judicial practice in cases of inheritance", released May 29, 2012
Conventionally, all the grounds can be attributed to three different groups. The criterion for such a distinction is, as already mentioned, a form of citizen behavior.
About illegal actions of citizens
So, the first group of reasons: those citizens who tried by their own unlawful actions to call themselves or other persons to inheritance, to increase the share due to the inheritance (their own or outsiders) cannot inherit in any form (by will or law). These are unworthy heirs. Such unlawful actions may be directed at the testator, his will expressed in the will or other heirs.
As for the second and third groups of grounds, we are no longer talking about third parties or the will of the testator - only the identity of the latter. Regardless of the motives of the unlawful actions (jealousy, revenge, etc.), they are necessarily intentional.
The right of inheritance is lost by the person who undertook them, regardless of whether these actions had any negative consequences or not. Unworthy heirs should be clearly aware of this.
What can they be
For clarity, we give an example of such unlawful acts directed against the last will of the testator, recorded in his will. This is a falsification of this document, its theft or destruction, as well as attempts to force the testator to draw up or cancel it, forcing other heirs to abandon their share.
As we see, any of these actions is intentional. It should be remembered that on this basis the heir is deemed unworthy only if the specified unlawful actions are confirmed by court order. What does this mean in practice? The court is obliged to pronounce a judgment in a criminal case or a decision in a civil case. An example of such a decision is the invalidation of a will, which was made under the influence of threats or violence.
What else to remember
In practice, they become unworthy heirs after the verdict comes into force - this is a prerequisite. This procedure will be sufficient to qualify the heir as an unworthy and separate court decision on this. Finally, the notary fixes his status. This happens by exclusion of the specified citizen from among the heirs, which is done on the basis of a certified copy of the court order received by the notary that has entered into force. This is the very decision that confirms the willful actions of the unlawful nature of the specified person.
You should be aware that the above actions committed by the heir do not automatically mean the final deprivation of his respective rights. Judicial practice on unworthy heirs says that there are situations like the following: if there is a court decision or a sentence according to which a citizen is deprived of the right to inherit due to unworthiness, he is reconciled with the testator, followed by the execution of the will.
Thus, the offender is considered forgiven and loses the status of unworthy with the restoration of the right to inherit property according to the will.
Base number two
According to legal norms, parents who cannot be legally deprived of parental rights cannot be the heirs of their own children. These are unworthy heirs of another category. This status should be relevant at the time the will is announced. That is, if the parents are restored in their rights, this basis is considered to be invalid.
Such a rule is a direct consequence of the provision that regulates the Family Code of the Russian Federation. Namely, that in the event of deprivation of the status of parenthood, the mother or father is deprived of any rights that are based on the fact of their kinship with the child. These include inheritance after the death of children under the law.
As in the first case, the unworthy parent is excluded by the notary from the number of heirs after receiving a court decision, which confirms the fact of the deprivation of parental rights.
Base number three
If the first two grounds (note) implied the existence of specific circumstances that need to be confirmed by a court order, then the third - removal from the inheritance procedure in accordance with the law - can only be done by the court by making a specific decision in connection with the request of specific interested parties.
The basis for such requirements is precisely the misbehavior of the person claiming the inheritance, while maliciously evading the obligation to maintain the testator assigned to him during the latter's life.
These duties are mandatory from the law. They represent alimony established by the IC of the Russian Federation. At the same time, there must be a court decision on collecting them in favor of the testator.
As an exception, we can name the situation of recognition as unworthy of a parent who maliciously failed to fulfill alimony obligations in relation to his minor child. In this case, you can do without a court decision to recover them.
Suspension occurs through action proceedings. To file a similar claim about an unworthy heir can anyone who is interested in the status thereof or in increasing their own share due. In addition, such a plaintiff may be a citizen who has been refused, or one whose interests and legal rights may be affected in the process of transferring rights to said property.
Quite often, other heirs act as such interested parties with the most common mercantile intentions to increase their own share
What does malicious evasion mean?
To qualify evasion as malicious, one should reckon with the reasons for non-payment of the content and the duration thereof. Moreover, legal practice has not developed common standards and each specific case requires an individual approach.
Suspension from inheritance will be made by the court in the event of evidence of malicious evasion. As confirmation of this circumstance, a court verdict consisting in conviction for such malicious evasion, or a decision on responsibility for untimely payment, as well as other evidence, including certificates of court bailiffs, may be used.
As a fact of malicious evasion, a situation of concealment by a person obligated to pay child support, the actual amount of income, a change of place of work or residence, and other similar actions may be used.
What next?
If the heir, recognized as unworthy, did not manage to get the indicated property, no problems arise. But what if he has already received one? In this case, due to unworthiness, this person is obliged to return completely everything received from the composition of the inherited property.
This happens regardless of the basis for recognizing it as such. If this action does not happen, we can talk about unjust enrichment, which is unacceptable from the point of view of Russian legislation.
It should be remembered that not a single provision on inaccessibility applies to heirs who are entitled to an obligatory share in the inheritance.
What is the fate of the property that the unworthy lost? In this situation, we are talking about the increment of hereditary shares, the mechanism of which is quite complicated and we will not consider it in this article. The bottom line is to distribute the share of the unworthy heir among all others who have accepted the inheritance.
Talk about the timing
To accept the inheritance, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation sets a period of 6 months. It is calculated from the day of death (opening of an inheritance). If one of the heirs is deemed unworthy, the distribution of property that was previously due to him shall be made as an exception to the general rule.
Such released property must be accepted by the other heirs within six months, the countdown of which begins the next day after the removal of the unworthy. This day coincides with the date of entry into force of the relevant court decision.