How to find heirs and who should do it

Author of the article: Lina Smirnova Last modified: January 2020 2158

They do not always immediately become aware of the death of a citizen whose inheritance should pass to successors who have the right to do so by law or in accordance with a will. Therefore, they are not informed about the opening of the inheritance case and may miss the six-month period allotted by law to enter into their legal rights of inheritance. If the heir appears after the deadline designated for entering into the inheritance, he can file an application with the judicial authorities with a petition to restore this period. The reason for ignorance about the inheritance due to objective circumstances is valid, and the court can make a positive decision. In order not to bring the case to court, they are searching for the heirs. Who carries it out and how it is carried out will be outlined in this article.

In what cases is it necessary to search for heirs?

Most people are in no hurry to contact notary offices when they learn that their closest relative has passed on to another world. In addition, some people may not even realize this, so you should try to find heirs in these options.

Basically, search is resorted to in cases where citizens who are entitled to the property of the deceased:

1. Are located in another city or country.
2. During their lifetime, they poorly maintained contact with their testator and they have no idea about his departure to another world.
3. They do not know that they have rights due to legal incompetence.

Important: it is also necessary to conduct a search when other heirs want to take over. Since a citizen who did not contact the authorized persons in time will have a further chance to file a case in the magistrate’s court for restoration of inheritance within 3 years.

Thus, the rest of the people, who by this time will have inherited everything, will have to share.

If all heirs are found, then this allows:

• people to competently take over their rights;
• in the future, avoid problems that may arise with the redistribution of movable and immovable property;
• inherit in equal proportion not only the property, but also the debts of the deceased person.

Advice: authorized persons recommend that every citizen try to notify his relatives that a particular person is no longer alive.
Such events will allow all people who will enter into inheritance to contact notaries in a timely manner.

Ways to search for inheritance

The search for an inheritance is carried out through a series of requests submitted by the heirs themselves, notaries or hired specialists. Search for real estate, securities, bank accounts and transport. This search is complicated by the fact that there is no specific scheme, and a period of 6 months is not sufficient for a structural analysis of the property status of the testator.

Searching for property by last name is effective if the property is registered. This information will be provided by the State Register (if we are talking about real estate). There, upon request, an extract is issued that displays all the person’s property. If we are talking about transport, you need to contact the traffic police.

The search for items included in the inheritance must be carried out within six months. If the search is successful after this period, the issue will have to be resolved through a lawsuit demanding that the object be included in the inheritance.

Should a notary conduct a search for heirs?

No law states that the duty of notaries is to search for citizens who are applicants to inherit the property of a deceased citizen. However, these authorized persons are required to inform that the inheritance case has been opened.

Important: notaries do not take any active steps to search. By law, they can be limited to simple actions that are aimed at ensuring that the closest relatives or the person specified in the testamentary act are informed about the opening of the case.

Who must notify about the existence of an inheritance?

The law does not provide for special bodies to search for heirs or search for inheritance; only the duty of notifying them is assigned to an employee of a notary’s office if he knows their whereabouts.

The notary's obligation to inform applicants about the death of their relative arises only if there is a completed will.

Searches take place by name and address, through other legal successors or by transferring the information received to the newspaper. It is also possible to place a wanted notice on other official notary websites.

The specialist's obligations are considered extinguished immediately after notification is sent to successors by letter of notification. It is impossible to force him to find anyone else.

If the testator did not leave a last will, then there are no grounds for opening a search and there is nothing that obliges the notary to search.

How does a notary search for inheritance claimants?

The notary conducts each search according to the following procedure:

Asks the closest relatives of the deceased citizen if they know how to contact a specific person.

Collects all information about the missing heir, in particular his:

• permanent residence address;
• Mobile phone number;
• place of work.

Selects the fastest and most reliable option for notifying this citizen.

Important: 90% of notary offices practice conducting search activities in several ways at once for greater efficiency.

What data does it use?

For search activities, the following data is used:

1. Last names, first names and patronymics of the intended heirs.
2. Their mobile or home phone numbers.
3. Information provided by other relatives of the deceased person, such as email address.
4. Information about the place of employment.

Note: notaries can call at work and also send a notice to the legal address of the enterprise.

Methods of searching for heirs

Approximately 98% of all notary offices use the following methods for search:

Official notifications are sent to the registration address of potential heirs.

For this purpose, an authorized person:

• composes a letter stating that a particular person is no longer alive;
• prescribes when and where to go;
• indicates a list of documents that will be required to obtain specific real estate, cars, funds, as well as debt obligations.

Important: notification is sent only by registered mail and to the addresses of each immediate relative of the deceased citizen.

They are trying to contact by phone.

Note: this option is acceptable when close people of a deceased citizen give this information to an authorized person.

Place advertisements in local newspapers.

Note: the newspaper will say that the inheritance case has been opened. This option is the least reliable, since people rarely pay attention to such advertisements.

Place an informational advertisement on special notary sites.

Advice: experts advise people who have seen these ads to check the accuracy of the information, since sometimes the information is posted by scammers.

Use social networks.

Important: this option is the simplest, and most importantly, the most effective. According to notary offices, 65% of lost heirs were found thanks to social networks.

If there is no will

In the absence of orders from the testator regarding the fate of his property in the event of death, that is, in the absence of a notarized will, we are guided by the rules established by law.

And these rules are such that all possible heirs (that is, relatives and not only) are divided into queues in accordance with the degree of relationship. Therefore, the people closest to the deceased go first, and the most distant relatives, as well as disabled dependents who inherit simply by virtue of the direct instructions of the law, go last.

When a specific notary does not have a special order in the form of a will, he therefore does not have information about potential heirs. Therefore, hoping that he will suddenly become aware of your place of residence or work is, at a minimum, naive.

The heir must reveal himself

Most likely, if after the opening of the inheritance no one shows up within the time specified by law, the notary will simply publish information about the opening of the inheritance in the media. That's all. And after the expiration of the period established by law, the property will be recognized as escheated and transferred to local governments.

Article 1151 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. Inheritance of escheated property

In some sources you may come across the opinion that in this case the notary will contact the internal affairs bodies to search for the relatives of the deceased. But we can say with confidence that this is nonsense. No one compensates him for the time spent on this (often meaningless) activity, so no notary will be puzzled by what the law, in principle, does not oblige him to do.

What can be advised in such cases: do not lose contact with relatives. Fortunately, in the modern world of social networks and the Internet, this task is more feasible than ever before.

Inheritance is carried out according to the laws of the country of the testator

Independent search for heirs

Since notary offices do not have the responsibility to search for presumptive heirs, other citizens who have rights to the property of a deceased citizen can try to find them themselves.

To do this you should try:

• Call this person.
• Send him a letter.

It is better to send the letter by registered mail, so that later there will be confirmation that people tried to find a specific citizen.

• Write on social networks.
• Call his place of employment.
• Ask mutual friends if they know where the presumptive heir is now.

When people actively conduct a search, and most importantly, have confirmation of these activities, for example, a notification that a registered letter was sent, and the intended heir ignores them, then they can receive all the property without it.

Note: the missing heir will have the opportunity to later challenge the receipt in court.
However, he will need exculpatory certificates, for example, from a hospital. Otherwise, his relatives will prove that he was aware, but did not want to contact the notaries.

Features of searching for applicants for foreign inheritance

There are cases when the testator lived in another state and after his death the entire inheritance remained there. Then the search for heirs has to begin in the state where this inheritance is located.

The following may be involved in the process of searching for heirs:

• employees of diplomatic missions;
• persons who lived in the neighborhood of the deceased citizen;
• organizations in which the testator carried out his activities during his lifetime;
• heirs who have already declared themselves;

A notary who has opened an inheritance case outside Russia can send a request through international channels about Russian heirs. To do this, he can attract notaries and lawyers operating in Russia.

Important! If the inheritance is located abroad in the country where the testator lived, and the heirs live within our country, then when registering the inheritance they must be guided by the laws of the country where the inheritance is located. Moreover, if these heirs are found in Russia, then the process of registering the inheritance must begin with a Russian notary, and then declare their rights of inheritance abroad.

Should a notary search for the property of the testator?

By law, notaries are not required to search for property that belonged to the testator. Close relatives or persons specified in the will must independently carry out such activities.

This can be done in the following ways:

Carefully search in the house or apartment where the person lived before death for documentation on:

• immovable objects;
• motor vehicles;
• land plots;
• open bank deposits, etc.

Contact the banks and find out if the deposits are in the name of the testator.

Important: an authorized person can contact the bank. However, such a service will need to be paid in a fixed amount.

Write an official appeal to the relevant authorities and clarify whether the deceased owned real estate abroad.

It is also possible to contact Rosreest and find out which real estate is owned by a specific person.

Important: in order for the relevant authorities to issue information, you will have to present a number of documents, which are negotiated individually.

Register of Wills

To facilitate the search, and most importantly, to prevent various problems with entering into inheritance, Unified Registers of Wills have been created.

With this program, every notary will be able to see:

• whether a particular citizen drew up a testamentary act;
• in which notary office he did this;
• what number does the will go under?
• who is listed in it.

Important: only authorized persons, as well as immediate relatives who have requested permission to study the register at the notary chamber, have access to the Unified Registers.

Notaries are not required to conduct searches for heirs. However, they can send official notice to a specific address that probate cases are open.

Citizens are expected, when they receive such notices, to immediately contact authorized persons, and to assert or waive their rights.

Blitz tips:

• You should not wait for an authorized person to look for the remaining heirs; it is better to start the search yourself in order to avoid problems with the division of property in the future;
• be sure to save all notices, correspondence, etc., in order to confirm the search for a specific person;
• there is no need to try to hide from notaries where the intended recipients of the property of a deceased relative are located, since they will still be able to restore their rights through the court.

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Basic Rules

Let's start with the fact that the issues of searching for heirs change depending on whether the testator left a will or not. As is known in the Russian Federation, inheritance is possible in two ways: by law and by will. Each of us has the right to leave instructions in the event of our own death in relation to all property acquired during life, or in relation to only part of it. Each of us has the right, by will, to leave our property to any person we wish. It may even deprive those who have a right to claim it by law from inheritance. In this regard, there is complete freedom of will, limited only by the rules on compulsory share.

Article 1119. Freedom of will

Where can I find the inheritance database?

A timely application to the notary office basically eliminates the problem of searching for wills. But it is important to clearly understand the sequence of steps to enter into an inheritance.

How to search

After receiving news of the death of a relative, a potential purchaser has a legal basis to request information from the Unified Register of Wills database.

Basic steps:

• submit a search request to the notary office;
• if the result is positive, draw up an application for inheritance from a notary;
• six months later, receive a certificate of ownership.

The publicity of the notary reveals it as a body that has the authority to issue guarantee papers.

The main establishing documents include:

• will;
• certificate of sale and purchase;
• certificate of privatization;
• annuity agreement;
• the court's decision.

What documents are needed to search for a will?

Checking the presence of a will at the notary begins with personal identification using a passport, death certificate and a document confirming family ties.

The package of documents for obtaining a certificate of inheritance includes additional information about the testator:

• address of the place of registration;
• certificate of deregistration at the place of residence;
• certificate of ownership;
• technical passport of the inherited housing;
• document assessing its value;
• receipt for payment of state duty.

Is it possible to contact the notary office in writing?

An application for inheritance is submitted personally or by an authorized representative to the notary office where the will was executed.

If it is not possible to submit the application in person, the application:

• drawn up by a local notary and sent by mail through notarial channels;
• a notarized power of attorney is drawn up and sent by mail to the selected person for registration at the place where the will is stored.

Prices for legal services for an heir

As of January 1, 2016, the tax on inherited property was abolished. Regardless of its type, only notary services and a state fee equal to 0.3% of the assessed value of the property are paid. As for the cost of notary services, it is necessary to separate the issues that are resolved by the applicant (drawing up the text of the application, collecting certificates) from the tasks of the notary (studying the case materials, issuing a certificate of acceptance of property). Then their cost will decrease significantly.

How are heirs notified?

The opening of an official business is carried out by the notary chamber. The search for heirs occurs in the standard way. To do this, the appointed notary sends special alerts to known places of residence of citizens. When drawing up this document, the following data must be entered:

• Full name of the citizen;
• place of his registration and residence;
• occupation;
• place of work;
• contact number;
• information about acquaintances and friends.

All information about each heir is obtained by a specialist independently. To do this, you can use the information provided by the declared legal successors.

The procedure for opening an inheritance

Most often, citizens are not aware whether the heir is obliged to inform the notary about the presence of other heirs. But since the procedure for opening an inheritance case begins with the preparation and submission of an application for the acceptance of property by each heir, there is no need to inform the specialist about other applicants for the inherited property.

A package of documents is attached to the application. On their basis, the heir is issued a certificate confirming the right to the inherited property.

What data is used to search by a notary?

It is impossible to find the recipient of the property just by name. To search and alert you need:

• FULL NAME.;
• Contact details;
• place of work;
• residential address.

So, there are traditional and remote methods of searching for heirs. Regardless of who is looking for and who gets the property of the deceased, the main purpose of the search is to resolve the issue of registration of ownership. If you have a will, it is not only easier to find heirs, but also to distribute property between them.

What to do if no heirs are found?

If the notary fails to find even one legal successor, then the property passes to the state. It is selective.

The transition to the state is carried out even if all the heirs renounced the values ​​or were found unworthy. The latter include citizens:

• previously caused harm to the testator or his relatives in order to receive property after the death of the citizen;
• those who do not care for a sick testator if they have obligations to deal with this process;
• parents deprived of rights to deceased children.

The presence of obligatory heirs represented by unemployed close relatives, minors or disabled children is taken into account.