Statement of claim for recognition of ownership of an apartment by inheritance (sample)

Procedure for taking ownership

Entry into ownership is a legal procedure that allows a citizen to gain the opportunity to own, use and dispose of property at his own discretion.

Legally, in relation to inherited property, entry into the right of inheritance implies a change in the owner of the inherited objects, as well as the fact that the rights and obligations of the testator are transferred to the heirs: the successor can accept them or refuse them.

In general, this process takes place in several stages:

1. Contact the notary with the appropriate application.
2. Providing the documents necessary to obtain a certificate of inheritance.
3. Payment for notary services.
4. Payment of state duty.
5. Receipt by the successor of a certificate of right to inheritance.

Grounds for filing a claim

Registration of inheritance is carried out through a notary office. However, if there are controversial issues, the notary cannot issue a certificate of inheritance rights; in this case, the situation will be resolved in court.

Recognition of property rights by inheritance is the granting of ownership rights to the property of the deceased to the applicant in court. This option is used if there is a controversial situation in inheritance.

The requirement for recognition of property rights is often associated with other requirements:

• recognition of actual inheritance;
• inclusion of an object in the hereditary mass;
• restoration of missed deadlines for entering into inheritance;
• contesting a will;
• redistribute shares in inherited property.

Expert opinion

Stanislav Evseev

Lawyer. Experience 12 years. Specialization: civil, family, inheritance law.

Let's consider the situation. Family members live in the same apartment. After the death of one of the owners, the remaining relatives continue to use the property without thinking about the need to put the papers in order. They accept the inheritance after the fact. Problems usually arise when there are other applicants or if an urgent sale of the home is required. Relatives turn to a notary, who explains that registration of an inheritance is required.

To do this, you need to provide evidence of actual acceptance of ownership.

Heirs must present the following documents:

• on ensuring measures to protect property;
• about paying bills;
• on repayment of loans of the deceased;
• on accepting debts from the debtors of the deceased;
• about carrying out repair work and others.

However, if citizens are co-owners, then their living in the apartment and paying bills may not be evidence of actual acceptance. Because they are using their property. If there is no irrefutable evidence of the actual acceptance of the inheritance, then the heirs will have to go to court.

What does a court decision provide? In fact, a judicial act replaces a certificate issued by a notary. The document allows you to register property in the name of the heir and receive funds from deposits.

What does it mean to open an inheritance?

Opening an inheritance is a legal procedure that allows relatives to claim recognition of their rights to inherited property. Its result is the transfer of rights to property, for example, when an heir becomes the owner of an apartment.

The inheritance is considered open from the date of death of the person, confirmed by a death certificate.

Successors have the opportunity to resolve disputes regarding property before the expiration of a six-month period from the date of opening of the inheritance.

When does ownership begin?

Most often, relatives of the deceased wonder at what point the apartment is considered to be owned by inheritance. The interest of the heirs in this issue can be explained: someone needs to pay utilities and rent for the period while the inheritance is being formalized.

The peculiarity of the right of ownership to inherited real estate or other property is that it arises simultaneously with the opening of the inheritance. That is, it does not matter when the heir actually began to own and use the property: accepted inheritance property is recognized as belonging to the successor from the day the inheritance is opened.

The law does not establish a specific period for state re-registration of ownership of real estate.

Nevertheless, the heir should still take care of this: property that is not properly registered will be difficult to dispose of: sell, donate, and so on.

Also, there is often a misunderstanding among relatives of what it means “the inheritance is recognized as belonging to the heir” if there are no documents confirming ownership. In practice, this means that the successor can, for example, move into an apartment, pay utility bills, make repairs in it, rent it out for the purpose of supervising and ensuring its safety immediately after the death of the owner.

In what order is property inherited?

By will or by law, but inheritance is the basis for acquiring ownership of property that the deceased owner used or disposed of during his lifetime.

If the owner specifies who receives his property and to what extent, the inheritance is divided in exactly this way (taking into account the requirements of the law on compulsory share).

A correctly drawn up will practically deprives relatives not specified in it of the opportunity to receive part of the inheritance.

When a will is declared invalid or absent, during inheritance the property of the deceased passes to other persons in order of priority. The essence of this order is that the heirs have the right to property depending on the degree of their relationship in relation to the deceased.

Russian legislation provides for eight lines of inheritance. The right to inheritance of relatives of the next line comes if there are no successors to the previous one.

Required documents

Before contacting the judicial authority, prepare the necessary package of documents. In each case they will be different, but the key ones can be considered:

• applicant's passport,
• in accordance with the law, the death certificate of the testator,
• refusal to issue a certificate of heir,
• papers confirming the right to allocate a share,
• documents for property, valuation report.

Depending on the essence of the issue, the list may differ significantly.

It is very important to provide a copy of the payment of the state fee. The amount of payment depends on the value of the property claimed by the heir.

Composition of the inheritance

Provisions of Art. 1112 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation stipulate that the inheritance includes the following that belonged to the testator at the time of opening of the inheritance:

• things (objects created by nature or human activity);
• property obligations (debts of the testator to any creditors);
• property rights, for example, the testator’s right to residential premises as part of shared construction;
• intellectual property (works of art, culture, practical models, trademarks and other results of intellectual activity created during the lifetime of the deceased).

The rights and obligations directly related to the person of the deceased (alimony, tax and social benefits), material assistance under civil law contracts, property that the deceased used during his lifetime but did not own, maternity capital funds, as well as property are not included in the estate. , for which there are no properly executed documents.

All groups of property are discussed in more detail in the article “Inherited mass”.

Arbitrage practice

The legal process for recognition of rights to receive property may vary significantly. The more convincing the evidence and a well-written appeal, the higher the likelihood of a favorable outcome of the event. The main mistakes are an illiterately prepared application, failure to pay the state fee, or an incorrectly selected court branch.

Quite often, cases come up for consideration in which property is not included in the inheritance mass. Lack of a complete package of documents, illegal buildings, purchase of real estate at the construction stage. A notary office specialist does not have the right to issue certificates of inheritance under such circumstances. The heir will have to collect a package of documents confirming that the property belongs to the deceased. These can be statements, checks, purchase and sale agreements. The situation with unauthorized buildings is more complicated. The heir needs to obtain documents for the land and prepare a BTI survey.

There may be a lack of documents confirming kinship when distributing inheritance according to the law. The registry office may refuse to issue a duplicate document. The applicant must attach a certificate of refusal to the package of documents. Evidence can include photos, video materials, and witnesses. It is likely that an examination will be ordered to confirm the relationship. The more extensive the documentary base, the more significant the documents, the higher the chances of success.

Pre-trial procedure for recognition of property rights

The laws of the Russian Federation do not provide for the settlement of disputes in cases concerning the recognition of ownership of inheritance in a pre-trial manner.

Therefore, the term “pre-trial procedure” is mainly applied to situations where entering into an inheritance and recognizing property rights during inheritance does not cause difficulties. That is, all the documents are in order, there are no dissatisfied heirs, the will is not in doubt.

Under such conditions, ownership rights are registered with a notary as part of the procedure for accepting an inheritance on a general basis.

Applying to court to recognize ownership rights

When the necessary documents are missing, but it is possible to confirm the legality of ownership and use of inherited objects, the successor can obtain recognition of ownership rights through inheritance through the court.

This procedure means the court's consideration of a claim to recognize the legality of the successor's possession of the inherited property.

This procedure is necessary, since the notary cannot include an apartment, car, or other property that is not properly registered in the inheritance estate. Therefore, a statement of claim for recognition of property rights by way of inheritance is the only option for adding property to the estate and its further inheritance.

On what grounds is the application being prepared?

The law does not indicate an exact list of situations that allow filing a claim for recognition of property rights by inheritance. However, successors in title can assert their claims when recognition of ownership is required:

• for the testator - in the absence of documents for the property;
• for property – for the person who actually accepted the inheritance (to establish the fact of the heir’s use of the property);
• for unfinished transactions;
• for unauthorized construction;
• for residential premises as an object of unfinished privatization.

In case of lack of documents

Heirs who demand to legitimize the recognition of the property rights of the deceased and the inclusion in the estate of property that was not properly registered during the life of the testator must understand that this procedure can be quite lengthy.

First, you need to apply to the court to recognize the testator's right of ownership of the disputed property. It is necessary to provide the court with evidence that the deceased during his lifetime owned and disposed of the property legally:

• utility bills;
• MTPL insurance policy;
• property tax receipts;
• various certificates;
• witness statements.

Only when the claim for recognition of property rights by inheritance by law (or will) is satisfied by the court, the notary can include the property in the inheritance estate. Which, in turn, allows the heirs to begin the inheritance procedure.

For unfinished transactions

If a person dies during the period between the conclusion of an agreement to purchase an apartment or other real estate object and the completion of the procedure for its state registration, then the apartment remains not properly registered.

In such a situation, the heirs will make a mistake by filing a claim for entry into the inheritance and recognition of property rights: it is necessary to file a claim for the transfer of the right of state registration to the heirs.

For unauthorized construction

Art. 222 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation states that a person who has made an unauthorized construction cannot register it as property. This means that it is impossible to pass on an unauthorized building by inheritance.

But heirs have a legal way to recognize ownership of an unauthorized building. First, a claim is filed to recognize the right of ownership by inheritance to the land plot itself, where the unauthorized construction site is located; only then can the construction be legitimized by proving its reliability and safety, the absence of interference for neighbors and other points.

For unfinished privatization

Privatization as a separate type of unfinished transaction is distinguished by its gratuitous nature. The heir can file a claim for recognition of the ownership right by inheritance to the apartment as an object of privatization. But this is possible only if the testator began the privatization process during his lifetime without withdrawing his application.

Filing a claim for recognition of property rights by inheritance

Since most often disputes arise over real estate objects: apartments, houses, land plots, an application for recognition of ownership rights by inheritance is submitted to the judicial authority of the locality where the property is located. Since the claim relates to property, the price of the claim is determined by the value of the object.

The number of copies of the claim is equal to the number of participants in the case. The state fee depends on the value of the claim.

Rules for drawing up an application

In order for a claim for recognition of property rights by inheritance by will (or by law) to be accepted for consideration, it must be drawn up in accordance with certain norms and rules:

• The application must be submitted in printed form. If it is handwritten, the handwriting must be legible (to avoid distorting the meaning of the property claims formulated by the plaintiff). The text must be formatted correctly.
• The conditionally mandatory text is divided into three parts: the preamble contains information about the court, the plaintiff and the defendant;
• the main part describes the current situation and the consequences that arose for the plaintiff in connection with this;
• claim part - it indicates all the demands of the plaintiff, the amount of material costs spent in preparing for the court hearing.

Who can act as a plaintiff

As a rule, the plaintiff is the person whose ownership is in doubt. Such a person goes to court to protect his property rights through inheritance.

The plaintiff can defend his interests in court independently or with the help of a representative (his powers are formalized by the appropriate power of attorney).

The interests of the plaintiff are protected by a representative in cases where the rights of a minor, partially capable or incompetent person are violated.

Both independent lawyers and authorized persons of organizations where citizens whose rights have been violated reside can act as representatives.

Documents attached to the claim

The more complete the package of documents, the faster the judge will be able to make a decision on the case without requesting additional documents.

The following must be attached to the claim:

• A notarized copy of the plaintiff's passport.
• Copies of the application (according to the number of participants in the case).
• Confirmation of relationship with the testator (copy of birth certificate, marriage certificate or other documents confirming relationship).
• A copy of the death certificate of the property owner.
• Documents confirming the fact of the testator's ownership of the specified property (purchase and sale agreement, decision to provide land for permanent, unlimited use, etc.).
• A copy of the plaintiff's personal account.
• Confirmation of property value: information about the cadastral value, a certificate or other document from an independent appraiser about the market value.
• A certificate from the house register (when challenging the right to housing), which indicates who is registered and lives in the object of the dispute.
• Receipt for payment of state duty.

What state duty will you have to pay?

The amount of the state duty depends on the value of the object. The ratio is established by law (Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Let's take a closer look at what state duty you will have to pay in this or that case.

The court may take into account the property status of the plaintiff and, at his request, exempt him from paying the duty, reduce it or defer payment. But difficulties of a material nature must be documented.

More information is in the article “State Duty”.

Limitation periods

Limitation periods can be of two types:

1. To enter into an inheritance.
2. To protect violated rights in inheritance cases.

In the first option, we are talking about missing the six-month period provided for entering into an inheritance. That is, if for good reasons, within six months from the date of death of the owner, the successor did not have time to formalize the ownership of the inheritance properly, then the court may extend this period.

You can file a corresponding claim, supported by evidence of a valid missed deadline, within 6 months from the date of expiration of the initial deadline.

If there is a challenge to the order of inheritance and protection of rights and legitimate interests, then the corresponding claim can be filed within 3 years from the date of death of the testator or from the date the heir receives notice of his death.

Courts often do not apply a statute of limitations to a claim for recognition of property rights, citing the fact that the statute of limitations is a period for protecting or restoring a violated right.

And in case of recognition of property rights, a claim is filed with a demand for recognition or establishment of an existing right.

Read more about this in the article “Is there a statute of limitations for entering into inheritance?”

Is it possible to appeal a court decision?

The law provides that a court decision to recognize property rights by inheritance, which does not satisfy any of the parties to the case, can be appealed. This is done by filing an appeal to a higher court. That is, when considering the initial claim by a district court, we file an appeal to a higher court (territorial, regional, republican).

The complaint is filed before the decision enters into legal force, that is, within a month from the date of the decision on the claim.

If the deadline for filing an appeal is missed for a valid reason, it may be accepted after the expiration of this period.

Who is the defendant in a claim for recognition of the right to inheritance?

To determine the defendant, you need to start from the reason for filing the claim:

1. The recipient missed the deadline for accepting the inheritance - the defendants will be the persons who accepted the property.
2. If the property is accepted after the fact, then the defendants are the relatives of the deceased citizen. Let's say a son inherits property. If at the time of the testator’s death the spouses were alive or there were other children, then they are potential claimants to the property. Therefore, these persons are defendants.
3. If the deceased citizen did not have time to draw up papers for the property, then when filing a claim, the defendants are the applicants for his assets. This situation often occurs with privatized housing. In this case, the defendant is the municipality.
4. When challenging a will, the defendant is the heir specified in the order - an individual or an enterprise.
5. If the property is recognized as escheat, then the defendant is the state represented by the Federal Property Management Agency (Article 5 of the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court No. 9).