Educational program: five steps to the perfect will

This corresponds to the indicator of the previous year, that is, the trend towards conscious inheritance planning continues. People determine the fate of their assets in advance, and this helps to avoid unnecessary disputes between heirs or, for example, splitting up the business.

Most often in the past year, Moscow residents registered their last will with a notary — the capital accounts for 11% of all executed wills. Also among the leaders were the Moscow region (7%), St. Petersburg (5%), Krasnodar region (4%) and Rostov region (3%). The top 10 is completed by the Sverdlovsk region, Tatarstan, Samara, Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions.

At first glance, writing a will is not difficult. It is enough to select one or several heirs, register their names with a notary — and the document is ready. However, this tool is much more flexible and variable than many people think.
We talk about the non-obvious possibilities of a will that will help take into account different life situations and scenarios.

A will can be made in favor of almost any person or organization. But life is sometimes unpredictable: a legal entity may cease to exist, and the designated heir may die before the testator himself. It also happens that a person dies after the opening of an inheritance, without having time to accept it. Or voluntarily refuses it. And the heir may be considered unworthy and excluded from inheritance.

Property intended for such people is considered intestate. It will be distributed according to general rules among the relatives of the testator. At the same time, the heirs of the “retired” applicant, for example his children, do not receive rights to this property. To protect against such cases, notaries recommend using a special tool — sub-appointment of an heir. It allows you to appoint a “spare” successor in case the main one is unable or unwilling to accept the inheritance.

So, one day an elderly woman approached a notary who wanted to leave an apartment to her beloved nephew. At the same time, she immediately entered her other nephew as the “spare” heir. All so that in the event of unforeseen circumstances, the son, with whom the woman had not communicated for a long time due to his alcohol addiction, would not receive housing.

In another case, a woman wanted to transfer heirlooms to specific family members. She bequeathed them to her eldest daughter, and her daughter, that is, the granddaughter of the testator, became the designated heir. Without this condition, if the main heir had not assumed her rights, the valuable collection could have gone entirely to the testator’s son or in parts to all her daughter’s children, and not just to the designated granddaughter.

The number of “spare” heirs in a will is not limited by law — you can build a whole chain of succession. This eliminates uncertainty and ensures that the property goes to those chosen by the testator.

Distribute so as not to divide

If there are several heirs, it is better to clearly state in the will what property is due to whom. The more specific the wording, the less reason for disagreement. For example, instead of bequeathing “all property to children in equal shares,” you can indicate that an apartment and a car are intended for the son, and a house with a plot of land for the daughter.

Sometimes such detailing is used in relation not only to large assets, but also to personal belongings that are important to a person. In one of her wills, the woman, among other property, divided her home library among six heirs, indicating the names and authors of specific publications.

It is also important to ensure that part of the property is not left “outside the brackets”. For example, a notary receives information about the testator’s accounts opened in Russia by electronic request from the Federal Tax Service and a number of banks. Even if the heirs are not aware of such savings, they should not get lost.

At the same time, no one may know about the presence of a deposit in a foreign bank. The same goes for securities — no matter where they are stored. The fact is that not a single Russian department or organization has generalized information about all the accounts of the owner of securities in the name of a certain person or about the issuers whose securities he owns. And it is not always possible to find out about them.

Therefore, information about such assets as brokerage accounts, futures, or, say, money in another country should be conveyed to the heirs. It is better to report about cryptocurrency, leaving access keys to wallets. Information can also be included in a will. The notary will tell you what to do best in a given situation.

In addition, experts recommend warning heirs about debts. These are not necessarily “global” obligations like a mortgage or a car loan, which the notary will already find out about by making mandatory inquiries to the Central Control Commission and the BKI. The testator may also have debts to individuals, which is not recorded in any system. Therefore, if there are such obligations, it is better to tell potential heirs about them. Having all the information, they will be able to decide whether to accept the inheritance or refuse it.

Leave on your own terms

In a will, heirs can not only be “gifted,” but also obligated to perform certain actions in favor of third parties. For example, granting the right to lifelong residence in an inherited apartment to a disabled relative. Or take care of a pet. Compliance with these conditions can be monitored by the executor — the executor of the will, who is appointed with his consent.

One of the common types of so-called “testamentary assignment” is an order for one’s own funeral. Real case: the owner of a small business made two wills with a notary. The first is the usual one, with the distribution of property between relatives. And the second contained only one special requirement — to control the organization of the funeral.

The woman thought through all the details in advance, entered into an agreement with the funeral service and paid for its services. She appointed her long-time business partner as the executor of the second will. I was worried that the heirs might deviate from the plan at an emotionally difficult moment. All the nuances could have been written down in one document, but having made two wills, the woman was able to calmly give the second one to the executor. So that when the moment comes, he can act quickly and not depend on the “exchange of papers.”

However, freedom of will is not unlimited. It is impossible to indicate in it conditions that violate the rights of the heir, as well as what is, in principle, impossible to control. Sometimes notaries are approached with such requests. For example, a man wanted to indicate that he would leave all his property to his daughter, but only if she did not smoke and received a higher education. The notary explained to the testator that it was impossible to include such conditions in the document.

The notary will have a detailed conversation with the testator and clarify his wishes. He will tell you what points can be included in the text, help you draft it and certify the document, which will give it legal force.

Imprint the will in ka dr

Even if the will leaves no doubt about to whom, on what terms and what property is intended, a dispute between the heirs is still not excluded. Those whom the testator ignored may try to challenge his will. Often, offended relatives refer to the fact that the person was “out of his mind.”

A will, like any notarial document, has increased evidentiary power. For additional protection, the notary may suggest that the testator obtain the opinion of a forensic psychiatrist so that no one can definitely refer to his “incapacity.” In addition, the entire process of certifying a will can be filmed. This is especially true if a person has difficult family relationships and he assumes that relatives will try by hook or by crook to discredit his last will.

At the same time, video can perform not only a “legally protective” function, but also a communication one. A case from practice: a man asked a notary to record a video greeting with explanations for his heirs — his children from different marriages. So he wanted to prevent disagreements between them. Such instructions have no legal force, but they do not contradict the law and can be drawn up as an additional element of the will.

Lift the veil of secrecy

Information about all certified wills is entered into the Unified Notary Information System, where an electronic copy of the document is stored in encrypted form. The text can only be read by the notary who certified it. And also the one who will conduct the inheritance business after the death of the testator. Other notaries will not have access to the contents of the document. This way the notarial secret is preserved.

A person is also not obliged to disclose to anyone the contents of his will or the very fact of its existence. However, sometimes it makes sense to warn future heirs that they have been chosen. Especially if these are not close relatives. Not knowing that they are owed some property, such heirs miss the six-month deadline, and later they can only try to restore it in court.

Another option is to provide an executor of the will, who will ensure that the people appointed by the testator know their status as heirs when the time comes. Notaries themselves are not required by law to search for heirs, although they take all measures available to them to do this. Among them may be requests to the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to clarify the registration address using the full name and date of birth of the person indicated in the will.

When drawing up a will, the notary may also recommend entering the contact information of those to whom the person leaves his property. For example, telephone and email for prompt communication. Sometimes this helps to find, for example, an heir located abroad.

source: Federal Notary Chamber