Is it possible to challenge a will after the death of the testator? How to challenge a testament to an inheritance?

As it often happens, there will always be someone who does not agree with the other's desire. In the case of the inheritance as well. The property testator expresses his last will in the relevant document, and after his death, most likely, there will be questions among relatives and friends. What if the person mentioned in the will does not consider himself entitled to a part of the property of the deceased? How to challenge a testament to an inheritance in accordance with the law? For an exhaustive answer, please refer to Russian legislation.

Right to challenge

In connection with the fact that a will is a one-sided, but still a transaction, the law provides for the possibility of challenging it. In this case, who has the right to challenge the will? Such a right is vested only in a certain circle of persons - these are legitimate candidates for heirs (first potential heirs of the first stage) and persons directly specified in the will-declaration. Is it possible to challenge a will after the death of the testator? Yes. To be more precise, it is impossible to do this until the demise of the testator, only after.

In what cases are the will disputed?

So, fortunately, the testamentary document can be challenged if there is any of the following violations:

• The deceased citizen in his will did not mention the so-called obligatory heirs;
• For any parameters, a testamentary document was incorrectly compiled;
• The will of the will when writing his will was in a state in which he could not clearly answer for his actions and decisions, perhaps, he was misled; The consequence of the recognition by the court of an inadequate state of the testator when drafting a will is the recognition of this document as having no legal consequences;
• Incapacity of the testator, which can be proved after his death;
• The document was drawn up under violent pressure / threats;
• The chief or sole heir was considered unworthy.

Where to turn?

How to challenge a will after death, if there is at least one of the above reasons? To express their disagreement with the will and demand its cancellation, it is necessary to apply to the court collecting evidence, confirmed by documents, on one of the grounds listed.

Who are the mandatory heirs?

• Children who at the time of opening the inheritance of the parent did not reach adulthood (juveniles).
• Dependents recognized as incapacitated.

If they are native people, then they should belong to a certain line of inheritance of property, while being financially dependent on the deceased relative and being at full support at least one year before his death. Such relatives include pensioners by age or disabled. But a retired seniority worker, who, for example, is 48 years old, can not become an applicant for inheritance.

Is it possible to challenge the will after the death of the testator, being not related to him by kinship? Yes, if it is not a native person, but being incapacitated, he had the right to receive regular assistance from the testator, and, unlike the case with a disabled relative, such a person must necessarily live with the deceased for at least one year before his death .

Defining these individuals as mandatory heirs, the state protects those who, for objective reasons, are incapable of self-employment and are unable to fully support themselves.

In this case, can the daughter challenge the will, if it is not specified in the document? Yes, if it falls under one of the above groups of mandatory heirs, for example, has not reached the age of majority or has a disability group. The listed persons in accordance with Russian legislation will certainly receive their share of the hereditary property, even if they were not specified by the testator. In the event that the heir indicated in the testamentary document can be deprived of the means of subsistence due to the transfer of a certain part of the inheritance to the obligatory heir, the latter nevertheless is deprived of the opportunity to receive his share of the property.

Unadulterated property

In addition to the property of the deceased, indicated in the will, there is also property not declared, it is from it, first and foremost, a part for obligatory heirs is allocated. If this is not enough, then the share of the bequest is captured so that it is enough to cover the inherited share.

The amount of the mandatory part of inheritance is calculated on the basis of what proportion the heir would receive under the law. At the moment, the law prescribes at least half of the legal part for mandatory heirs.

Invalid document

Those who do not agree with the will of the testator, first of all, the question arises as to which testament can be challenged. Only compiled in accordance with Russian law. The will is an important document that is formalized in strict accordance with the law. In the opposite case, it is possible to challenge the will after the death of the testator and to obtain recognition of such a document as invalid. For example, a document must contain the signature of the testator himself, which is missing, or, as required by the rules, there were no necessary witnesses, or the signature was forged. How to challenge a testament to the inheritance in this case? A person whose legal rights and interests, in his opinion, were infringed, has the right to file a claim with a judicial authority.

Recognition of the made will is invalid: full or partial

Upon consideration of the case, the court may invalidate the testamentary document both in full and in a certain part. The latter case occurs when the parts recognized as invalid do not interfere with an understanding of the basic meaning conveyed by the testator in the hereditary document.

If the court decides on the invalidity of the entire document, then it loses its legal significance and the property of the testator is divided among the heirs by law, in accordance with the order. Maybe this: except for an invalid hereditary document, there is another will. In this case, the heirs receive their shares according to the last document.

How to prove the insanity of the deceased deceased

Is it possible to challenge the will after the death of the testator, if the person making it could not give an adequate assessment of their actions? To prove the insanity of the testator in court, as a rule, one has to resort to the following methods:

• Carrying out a posthumous psycho-psychiatric examination, during which all information about the illnesses of the deceased is determined during the drafting of the will, is examined, by what medicines he was treated and what possible side effects and so on of these medicines. As a result of the medical analysis of the deceased's health, an opinion is drawn about possible mental abnormalities / disorders of the testator, who at the time of writing his will could not afford to properly dispose of the inheritance in the testamentary document.
• Indications of close people living with the testator, as well as neighbors and acquaintances, may outweigh the scales in disputed questions about the state of the deceased. Perhaps they noticed his unusual behavior: he was lost on the street, forgot his name, where he lives, maybe, he often communicated with himself and others.
• Representing as evidence proof of irresponsibility of certificates from medical institutions that the testator was registered and treated for mental illness for the period of drafting.

Unworthy heirs: who are they?

Is it possible to challenge the will after the death of the testator, if one of the heirs indicated in it behaves illegally with respect to others? In inheritance law clearly defined the provisions by which the heir falls under the concept of the unworthy and loses his share of the inheritance. They are conditionally divided into several categories:

• Heirs who deliberately attempted to destroy the life of the testator or deprived him of life. Or the same acts against other heirs by will. It is important that the court be able to prove the deliberate intentionality of unlawful acts against these persons. In this case the motive itself does not matter.
• Potential heirs, who by various illegal actions seek to increase their personal share in the inheritance, resorting to blackmail, threats against the originator of the will and other heirs. Also, a forgery of a signature in a testamentary document or a situation where the will itself is maliciously destroyed in order to obtain its share, which will be owed to an intruder by law.
• Those persons who are malicious defaulters of alimony in relation to the property testator. For example, a granddaughter who does not allocate funds for the maintenance of her grandfather will be unworthy to inherit his property. This applies to cases where the relevant obligations were determined by the court.

It is important to know that those receivers of the inheritance who at the time of applying to the notary for the purpose of obtaining a certificate of the right to inheritance do not disclose information about other heirs that the notary does not know about.

The consequences of revealing unworthy heirs

The listed persons, if it will be proved in court, being unworthy heirs, lose their part of the inheritance. This may serve as the basis for the cancellation of a part or a whole testamentary document.

Nevertheless, the Russian law provides for the probability of transfer of unworthy heirs to the category of worthy ones, relying on the principle of forgiveness. It consists in that the testator, after the heir has proved unworthy, showing goodwill, has issued another will, in which, forgiving the unworthy, bequeaths to him a part of the inheritance.

Terms for challenging a will by inheritance

Can a will be challenged even during the life of its originator? This document can not be objected until the opening of the inheritance, that is, during the life of the testator. Otherwise, the time for challenging the following:

• Three years on the opening of the inheritance after the death of the testator. This term relates to a will that is considered null and void and does not have legal consequences.
• One year from the date of opening by the interested person of new facts, such as testamentary compilation by the testator under pressure and / or threats, which is one of the grounds for objections.

The best time to challenge is still 6 months from the date of opening the inheritance, when none of the heirs has yet received a certificate giving the right to inheritance.