Peculiarities of conducting civil proceedings in cases of establishing the fact of a man and a woman living in the same family without registering a marriage and determining an additional term for accepting inheritance during martial law

Living in the same family of a woman and a man without marriage is not the basis for their rights and obligations as spouses. Over time, couples living in a de facto marriage relationship have various issues and problems that need to be solved, in particular, the succession of a man and a woman who lived in a civil marriage. In order to exercise his right to inheritance, the spouse who survived the other in a civil marriage must apply to the court to establish the fact that a man and a woman live in the same family without registering the marriage. These applications are considered in the order of separate or lawsuit proceedings, depending on the presence or absence of a legal dispute. Thus, in the case of an appeal to the court with a statement in the order of a separate proceeding, the judge refuses to open a separate proceeding in the case, if a dispute on the right can be seen from the statement to establish the above-mentioned fact, and if a dispute on the right is revealed during the consideration of the case, – leaves application without consideration. The CPC of Ukraine establishes requirements for the form and content of the above-mentioned application in the order of a separate proceeding, namely in Art. 318 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of Ukraine and in the procedure of legal proceedings – Art. 175, 177 of the Civil Code of Ukraine. Judicial practice has determined which evidence is appropriate and admissible for establishing such a fact. For the most part, such evidence is evidence of joint residence, running a joint household, the parties having a joint budget, spending jointly, purchasing property in the interests of the family, the existence of mutual marital rights and obligations between the parties, and other evidence. After receiving a court decision establishing the fact that a man and a woman live in the same family without registering a marriage, the heir applies to the notary with an application for acceptance of inheritance, however, in case of missing the deadline for submitting such an application, he has the right to renew the deadline for acceptance of inheritance in court. The specified issue is considered in the procedure of legal proceedings with mandatory clarification of the validity of the reasons for missing the deadline for accepting the inheritance and the presence or absence of other heirs. The legal regime of martial law does not stop the deadlines for submitting an application for acceptance of inheritance. The heir must apply to the Central Committee of Ukraine within a period of six months from the day of the opening of the inheritance with an application for acceptance of the inheritance, and in case of missing such a period, renew it in court.