How long is the inheritance file kept by the notary, is it possible to get it after closing

To open an inheritance case, active actions of interested parties are required, while the inheritance is opened independently of the heirs (upon the death of the testator).

The inheritance case begins with the choice of a notary, sending an application from the heir and ends with the issuance of a certificate of inheritance.

The heir can submit the completed application form In the latter case, the sender’s signature is certified by a local notary (if there is none, by the secretary of the village council).

, if any, participate in opening an inheritance case With their initiative, the case can be opened within 6 months after any of them learned about the opened inheritance. If the heirs know about the existence of debts with the testator, they are obliged to inform creditors about the opening of an inheritance case.

According to Art. 1152 of the Civil Code (Civil Code), you can accept or renounce your part of the property only in full , with all obligations and unconditionally.

According to the law, only one notary can conduct inheritance business after the testator.

The case is opened at the place where the inheritance was opened , that is, taking into account the last address of residence of the testator. If it is impossible to determine this or the deceased lived abroad, the discovery occurs at the location of the remaining property.

How is an inheritance case started?

An inheritance case is opened by a notary on the basis of an application from an interested person. Such interested parties are the heirs of any queue. Or heirs under the will:

After receiving the first application, the notary creates a case and keeps it in his proceedings. From the moment the case is formed, it is assigned a special registration number. And the very first document on the basis of which the inheritance case was opened is registered in a special account book of the notary.
From the moment the registration number is assigned, the case is registered in a special system , the so-called bank of inheritance cases. The specified resource is open, and anyone can check information about opening an inheritance case.
All documents received simultaneously with the application for opening of inheritance are filed with the file and stored in it. The application can be submitted to any notary operating in the locality in which the testator lived.

If applications are received from different heirs to different notaries, the inheritance case is subject to consideration by the notary who first accepted and registered the corresponding application.

Notaries' work with inheritance

Inheritance cases are opened in accordance with territorial division.
Only an authorized person who works in the area where the inheritance was opened can work on the case. The latter is usually determined by the testator's last place of residence. When contacting a notary, you must confirm the place of opening of the inheritance. To do this, you can use documents proving the registration of the deceased at his place of residence. To figure out which notary office you can contact, you should use the following recommendations:

If a person primarily lived at the place of temporary registration, then it will be relevant. It is not allowed to open a case at the place of military service, study, or the address of a correctional institution. Exceptions are the presence of the testators before their death in boarding schools for the disabled, nursing homes, monasteries;
If the last place of residence of the deceased has not been clarified, then the territorial location of the office is determined by the place where the property of the deceased is located. If the estate includes several objects, the notary is determined by the largest of them;
Sometimes independently finding the place of opening of the inheritance may be considered impossible. In this case, this issue must be resolved through the court;
If the deceased lived abroad, then the place of discovery must be determined on the basis of international treaties.

The territorial division of the opening of a case is extremely important, and therefore the place where the case is initiated should be approached with the utmost care.

What are the deadlines for opening a case?

The legislation does not provide guidance on the timing of opening a case.
However, there is Article 1154 of the Civil Code, which contains the deadlines for accepting an open inheritance. They are 6 months from the date of death of the testator. The basis for initiating the case is the application of the heir, which, according to the first provision of Article 1154 of the Civil Code, is submitted to the notary’s office within 6 months from the date of opening of the inheritance. Based on all these points, we can conclude that an inheritance case after death must be opened within 6 months, allotted to the heirs to accept the property of the deceased. The opening of office work is carried out on the same date when the corresponding application or other document was received.

The acceptance of inherited property is preceded by the opening of the inheritance. Heirs need to know the procedure. Features of a will with an encumbrance on an apartment are here. This is one of the conditions that is often included in a will.

Procedure for conducting inheritance cases

From the moment the inheritance is opened, the notary has the rights, and in some cases the obligation, to perform certain inheritance actions.

So, for example, a notary has no right to refuse to accept an application for inheritance if the fact of kinship is not confirmed and/or there are no relevant supporting documents.

From the moment of formation of the inheritance case, the notary, by virtue of his direct duties, identifies the property that is subject to inheritance. To do this, he has the right to perform the following actions:

Takes measures to protect the inheritance. Including on a reimbursable basis.
Send inquiries to banks and other credit organizations about the availability of accounts . Thus, the notary can notify potential creditors of the debtor
Sends requests to registers of movable and immovable property, as well as property rights . These may include, among others: Unified State Register of Real Estate, State Traffic Safety Inspectorate, Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service, Registrars maintaining registers of shareholders, etc.
Makes an inventory of property . For example, valuable items such as antiques and jewelry may be included in the inventory. In case of obstacles in performing the specified notarial act, the notary draws up a corresponding act

USEFUL : watch a video about the procedure for registering inheritance rights

Duration of conducting an inheritance case

The legislator has not currently established a specific period for conducting an inheritance case. However, it is certainly associated with certain events that must take place during the proceedings.

So, for example, the inheritance case ends in the following cases:

Receipt of inheritance by heirs by issuing appropriate certificates
Refusal of a notary to issue certificates of the right to inheritance to potential heirs
Refusal of existing heirs from inheritance

However, these events do not indicate that in the future, the inheritance case can be resumed again. For example, after a certain period of time, previously issued certificates may be challenged in court. And the consequence of this is the emergence of new heirs.

Therefore, after the completion of the inheritance case, it is prepared for transfer to the archive and is transferred there accordingly. If the appropriate need arises, it is resumed.

The shelf life of the inheritance file is 10 years from the date of its last completion. After this it is destroyed.

Documents for opening an inheritance case

So, the application was written, we contacted the notary office. What's next? Now comes the next stage - you need to prepare a package of papers. It is on the basis of these documents that the notary will open an inheritance case.

This requires not only an identification document (passport), but also a number of other papers:

Death certificate. This document should be issued by the civil registry office on the basis of a death certificate or a decision of a judicial authority. The death certificate clearly states the day on which the testator died. It is with this number that the notary will open the case;
You will need to prove family ties to the deceased. These documents are required if there is no will. Therefore, in order to prove family ties, you will have to collect a lot of certificates and certificates that allow you to trace the applicant’s entire life;
You will also need documents showing where the testator most recently lived. Such certificates are issued by the management company or you can contact the EIRC. This document indicates the number of people living in the apartment, as well as who most recently lived with the deceased. This allows you to confirm your rights to real estate;
Documents that confirm which property of the deceased is indicated in the will. It is often necessary to prepare the necessary acts, certificates and much more.

It is also worth taking care of other documents. It is worth contacting the Pension Fund, the place of work of the deceased, about whether there were payments at this place. After the application has been accepted, you will need a certificate from a notary office stating that the inheritance case has been opened. This document may be required in some situations.

What should be done after the documents have been collected?

A lot depends on the actions of a notary; this is a very responsible matter. It is the notary who ensures compliance with the rights enshrined in the constitution to enter into inheritance. Each notary has the right to conduct only one inheritance case. It is not allowed to transfer it to other offices or open it in several places. The activities of notaries are controlled very carefully by the state.

A notary performs a huge number of actions that are related to the conduct of inheritance business. After the application is accepted, the lawyer issues the appropriate certificate and begins to complete all the required formalities.

Suspension of an inheritance case by a notary

In fact, the suspension of an inheritance case entails the suspension of a certain action by a notary. In the practice of inheritance, such a situation usually arises precisely in the course of the action of issuing a certificate of inheritance. The grounds for suspending an inheritance case may be different.

The most basic of them are:

Receipts to the notary from the court about the existence of a dispute about the right that forms the inheritance . In legal disputes about inheritance, a notary, as a rule, is engaged by a third party. Or the court makes a ruling on securing the claim, and it is sent to the notary
At the request of the interested party . Such a person will be the plaintiff in a claim to challenge a person’s right to inheritance. In this case, the case may also be suspended, but after receiving a message from the relevant court
there is a bankruptcy case against the testator , which by the time the certificate of inheritance is issued has not yet been completed
Additional information and documents required

After this, the inheritance case is resumed again. And the action that must be performed by the notary is performed.

Is it possible to transfer an inheritance matter to another notary?

It is possible to transfer the case to another notary, but it is not so easy. This requires reasons.

One of the unconditional grounds is the transfer of inheritance by ownership. As we indicated earlier, the place in which the inheritance is to be opened is the place of last residence of the testator. And if, during the inheritance proceedings, a different place is established, outside the notarial district in which the case was initiated, the inheritance case is subject to transfer to another notary.

In some cases and at the request of the interested person, the inheritance case may be sent to another notary, for example, in the following cases:

When most of the property is located in the territory of another notarial district, in relation to the actual place of opening of the inheritance
The notary in charge of the case is temporarily not performing his duties. This may be due, for example, to illness

What You Shouldn't Overlook

Many citizens have to learn what an inheritance case is only after they are faced with the need to defend before the state the rights to an apartment, house, car and other property left by a close relative.

If you are a member of the family of the deceased, who lived in his living space for a long time and shared material assets with him, this does not mean that after his death you will retain the right to occupy your own room and use the vehicle that you considered yours. According to the Law, the heir is obliged to officially confirm the rights to everything that remains to him after the death of a close relative, and to submit the necessary documents.

The first thing that should not be overlooked is the timing. A delayed case will lead to the need to go to court, and will result in additional expenses associated with hiring a lawyer, collecting additional papers, etc.

Another feature is the choice of a notary. The legislation of the Russian Federation also provides for an appeal procedure in this regard. Conducting an inheritance case requires a responsible approach to collecting documents. The outcome of the process depends on what you provide.

How to close an inheritance case?

You are not required to take independent or additional actions in order to close the inheritance case. This, as we indicated earlier, is subject to closure, or, more precisely, completion, after the issuance of all certificates of the right to inheritance or the performance of other notarial actions that must be performed by a notary as part of the conduct of the case.

To close the inheritance case, all heirs who have applied for inheritance must receive the above certificates. After this, the notary will independently prepare the case for closure and transfer it for storage.

The closure of an inheritance case can also probably be associated with the end of its storage period. And as a consequence of its destruction. Although no one will ever notify you as heirs about this information. And this information itself does not carry any consequences for you. Indeed, theoretically, even after the destruction of the inheritance file, the interested party can contact the notary with an application to accept the inheritance. And then a new inheritance case will be opened.

What to do to open an inheritance case

According to the law, it is allowed to conduct a hereditary case with only one notary and there should be only one case. If you contact different notaries and open several cases, it will be illegal.

An inheritance case occurs immediately after the death of the testator becomes known. As you know, inheritance can be by law or in accordance with his last will, set out in a will (you can read about the order of priority in Articles 1142-1148 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation).

The procedure begins after the heir of the deceased relative comes to the notary, which is located at the place of residence or permanent registration of the deceased. If for a number of reasons it is not possible to establish the place of residence of the testator, then they turn to a notary, who is located in the same place where the largest part of the inheritance is received.

If there is a will, then you need to visit the notary office where it is kept. The first thing to do is to find out whether the testator left a will.

To do this, potential heirs can do the following:

You can talk to acquaintances whom the potential testator knew, or carefully read his documents;
Contact a notary who is located in the same area where the deceased lived, or where the largest part of the inheritance is located;
Contact the notary chamber, which has a common database of all notarial actions.

At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that every citizen has a legislative right that gives him the right to write a will in any form and not have it certified by a notary. In this case, the document will be considered valid.

If the will is drawn up by a notary, the latter is obliged to keep this fact secret until the death of the testator becomes known. In addition, the person who left the inheritance has the right to remain silent until death.

So, we have found out the main points related to the will. If there is no will, then the inheritance procedure takes place according to law.

In order for a notary to open an inheritance case, you must write an application to the notary's office. In it you need to express your desire to enter into an inheritance. In addition, you will need to write a statement stating that it is necessary to prepare a certificate of inheritance.

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There is a certain procedure for entering into inheritance:

First, the heirs contact the notary's office with an application. In addition, you will need to prepare a package of documents (only a lawyer can tell you more details). The number of documents may depend on which heirs claim the property, the type of inheritance, the degree of family relations with the testator;
You will also need to pay a fee for preparing documents on inheritance;
Obtaining a certificate of entry into inheritance rights for property that is due to the heir.

Lawyer for inheritance cases in Yekaterinburg

Usually, our lawyer in inheritance cases represents the interests of his client at the official level in court, and his presence also allows the heir to avoid exhausting trips to the offices of officials.

Using help from professional lawyers at the Law Office “Katsailidi and Partners” will increase your chances of finding the right solution in situations that can be very confusing.

The sooner you turn to such help, the easier all controversial issues will be resolved. Each lawyer with enough experience considers the cases of his clients individually and finds individual options for solving them.