Deadline for acceptance of inheritance: legal aspects and consequences of omission

The article examines the question of the meaning of the term for accepting inheritance in Ukraine, the calculation procedure and the consequences of omission. The six-month period established by current legislation for submitting an application for acceptance of inheritance is sufficient for the heir to take legally significant actions regarding acceptance of inheritance. According to the civil legislation of Ukraine, the heir is obliged to take active actions to accept the inheritance, in particular, to submit an application for its acceptance to a notary, if he did not live with the testator. The passive behavior of the heir indicates a lack of desire to accept the inheritance and, accordingly, a rejection of the inheritance. In the civil legislation of the Republic of Poland, one can observe the opposite approach to acceptance or rejection of inheritance. However, in practice, there are often situations of missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance, which can lead to the loss of the right to inheritance, and in turn, raises problematic issues regarding the granting of an additional deadline for accepting the inheritance. The legislation of Ukraine provides for the possibility of the court granting an additional term for accepting the inheritance under certain conditions. The heir may submit an application for acceptance of the inheritance with the written consent of other heirs who have already accepted the inheritance. Also, the court can determine an additional deadline for submitting an application, if the deadline was missed due to valid reasons. Based on the analysis of judicial practice, the reasons for missing the deadline, which were recognized by the court as valid, were considered. These are the circumstances that objectively made it impossible to submit the application in a timely manner. Circumstances related to objective, insurmountable and significant difficulties for the heir in carrying out these actions are important reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance. The resolution of the issue of granting an additional term for acceptance of the inheritance depends on the specific circumstances of the case and belongs to the discretionary powers of the court, that is, it is decided at the sole discretion of the court. With this in mind, it is impossible to predict all possible circumstances that may be considered relevant.