The Constitutional Court did not allow restrictions on the rights of citizens to inherit movable property of persons who lived and died outside the Russian Federation
CrimeaPRESS reports:
Paragraph 1 of Article 1110 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation establishes that upon inheritance, the property of the deceased passes to other persons in the order of universal succession, i.e. unchanged as a single whole and at the same moment, and by virtue of paragraph 2 of Article 1152 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, the acceptance by the heir of a part of the inheritance means the acceptance of the entire inheritance due to him, no matter what it consists of and no matter where it is located. By virtue of paragraph 1 of Article 1224 of this code, inheritance of movable property is subject to the law of the country of the last place of residence of the testator, and inheritance of immovable property is subject to the law of the country where the property is located.
If the last place of residence of the testator is outside the Russian Federation, the place of opening of the inheritance is the location on the territory of the Russian Federation: real estate included in the inherited property located in different places, or its most valuable part, and in the absence of real estate — movable property or its the most valuable part. At the place of opening of the inheritance, a person is determined who is authorized to issue a certificate of the right to inheritance, accept an application for acceptance of the inheritance, and also take measures to protect and manage the inheritance — a notary.
In private law relations complicated by a foreign element, the risk of conflict cannot be ruled out when determining the scope of inheritance rights and their ownership. In relation to Russian citizens, such a risk can be minimized by interacting with the competent authorities of other states. Certain issues related to inheritance in these cases can be resolved within the framework of consular agreements.
Clause 1 of Article 1224 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation does not contradict the Constitution of the Russian Federation, since in its constitutional and legal meaning it cannot be used by a notary as a basis for refusing to formalize inheritance rights to movable property that belonged to the testator — a citizen of the Russian Federation who had his last place of residence in the territory of a foreign state , remaining on the territory of the Russian Federation, if without such registration it is impossible for the heir to further exercise his rights, and equally cannot be used as a basis for the court’s refusal to recognize the right of ownership of the heir — a citizen of the Russian Federation to this property with reference to the fact that such actions (decisions) must be carried out (accepted) by the competent authorities of a foreign state at the last place of residence of the testator, if in specific conditions the heir’s appeal to these authorities is impossible or significantly difficult.
The Constitutional Court noted the following: in the case of a citizen applying for registration of inheritance rights in relation to movable property remaining on the territory of the Russian Federation after the death of a person who had his last place of residence in the territory of a foreign state with which an international treaty of the Russian Federation has not been concluded containing provisions allowing the question of choosing the appropriate competent authority, as well as in cases where the prevailing circumstances objectively impede interaction with the competent authority of a foreign state and the registration of inheritance rights in such situations or significantly complicate such interaction, the Russian competent authority or person performing public functions is obliged to assess all the circumstances together case and make a decision that would most contribute to ensuring the protection of inheritance rights. This decision can be made taking into account the provisions of Article 1115 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, which determine the place of opening of the inheritance on the territory of the Russian Federation and do not fundamentally exclude the registration of rights to inherited property located on the territory of the Russian Federation by the Russian competent authority.
The federal legislator has the right to make appropriate changes to the current legal regulation of inheritance relations.
source: Consultant Plus
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