When does inheritance open?
An inheritance is opened as a result of the death of a person or his declaration of death. In this case, the time of opening the inheritance is the day of death of the person or the day from which the deceased is declared dead by the court.
This is an important element in the inheritance procedure, because from this moment the period for accepting the inheritance begins to count!
Attention! The period of six months, which is allotted for filing an application, begins to be counted not from the moment the application is submitted, but from the moment of the death of the testator.
From the moment when the inheritance was opened (the testator died), the heir already owns the right to the property that is part of it. But in order to receive an inheritance, the heir must declare this to the statepresented by a notary.
It is not uncommon for the heirs to wait six months and only then apply.
To the question "why?" the answer sounds that they were waiting for the state to “find out” the circle of heirs and fairly distribute the inheritance.
This is fundamentally wrong and dangerous! The state does not do anything “on its own”, therefore, it is imperative to submit an application. Moreover, under certain circumstances, the inheritance for which no one has applied for becomes the property of the state.
When an heir applies to a notary with a statement, the notary finds out the following information:
- the death of the testator;
- time/place of opening of the inheritance (time/place of death and registration);
- circle of heirs;
- the existence of a will;
- the presence of hereditary property;
- composition of the inheritance and its location;
- the need to take measures to protect hereditary property.
The notary checks the fact of the death of an individual and the time of opening the inheritance by obtaining from the heir a death certificate issued by the state registration authority for civil status acts (ZAGS).